NAMAMI GANGA PROGRAMME - ENVIRONMENT
News: In
Varanasi, turtles help clean the Ganga
What's in the news?
● As
part of its multi-pronged efforts to clean and rejuvenate the Ganges River,
hundreds of turtles will be released into the river in Varanasi district of
Uttar Pradesh over the next two months.
Key takeaways:
● Under
a joint aegis of the Namami Gange Programme, the Forest and Wildlife
Department, and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), turtles hatched at one of India’s first breeding and rehabilitation centers
for turtles situated in Varanasi, will improve the cleanliness of the Ganga.
● The
river is polluted by the disposal of half-burnt dead bodies, rotten meat and
garlands of flowers that are thrown into it.
Improvement of Ganga and Role of turtles:
● Improvement
in biochemical demand (BOD), faecal coliform (FC) and dissolved oxygen (DO) was
found in river water quality checks.
● The
quality of water in the Ganga has improved, and definitely turtles have a role
as they feed on meat and waste products thrown in the river.
Namami Gange:
● Namami
Gange Programme is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as a ‘Flagship Programme’ by the Union
Government in June 2014.
Aim:
● Effective
abatement of pollution.
● Conservation
and rejuvenation of National River
Ganga.
Vision:
● Restoring
the Aviral Dhara (Continuous Flow)
and Nirmal Dhara (Unpolluted Flow).
Nodal Ministry:
● It
is being operated under the Department of Water Resources, River Development
and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
Implementation:
● The
programme is being implemented by the National
Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), and its state counterpart organizations i.e
State Program Management Groups (SPMGs).
Features:
The
major areas of the programme are as follows.
● Sewage
Treatment Infrastructure
● River-Front
Development
● River-Surface
Cleaning
● Biodiversity
● Afforestation
● Public
Awareness
● Industrial
Effluent Monitoring
● Ganga
Gram