Prime Minister Modi has urged the authorities related to central government’s ambitious project Namami Gange to change the model of Arth Ganga to Clean Ganga. Recently, the Director-General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga spoke about the Arth Ganga model during his virtual keynote address at the Stockholm World Water Week 2022.

Short Details of Arth Ganga Scheme

Arth Ganga is a new model of government for sustainable development of Ganga and its surrounding areas through economic activities related to river Ganga. According to experts, only pollution-reducing measures cannot rejuvenate the river Ganga.

Under this scheme, farmers in the areas along the banks of the river Ganga will be encouraged to adopt sustainable agricultural practices, which include zero budget farming, planting fruit trees and construction of plant nurseries on the banks of Ganga.

Development of infrastructure for water sports and construction of camp sites, cycling and walking tracks etc. will help in increasing the important tourism potential like religious and adventure tourism in the river basin areas.

Development of inland waterways is one of the most important pillars of the “Arth Ganga” project. They also play an important role in the creation of employment in the area related to National Waterways. Through this project, efforts are being made to contribute at least 3% to the GDP from the Ganga basin only.

In the first meeting of the National Ganga Council, which was held in December 2019, the Prime Minister had urged to convert the “Namami Gange” project into a sustainable development model like “Arth-Ganga” with focus on economic activities related to river Ganga. 

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