Clean Ganga mission head flags ‘extremely slow’ pace of project expenditures

₹15.16 crore have been spent on six projects in Jaunpur, Kasganj, Varanasi, Bareilly, Salori and Agra. File image.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

The head of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), the Centre’s marquee project to clean the Ganga and its tributaries, in a recent meeting, expressed concern over the tardiness of river-cleaning projects being executed in various States under the mission.

While a variety of projects have been commissioned since 2015 as part of the Namami Gange mission, the costliest and the most critical is in the development of sewage-management infrastructure. In all, nearly ₹37,550 crore have been sanctioned under various Namami Gange projects but only ₹18,033 crore have been spent as of June 2024, records show. Sewage infrastructure projects alone make up ₹15,039 crore of the latter.

“DG, NMCG (Rajeev Mittal) observed that the pace of expenditure so far is extremely slow,” say records of a meeting to review projects conducted on July 12. He asked authorities in Uttar Pradesh, which has the bulk of the projects, why expenditure was low. In response, the representative said that ₹15.16 crore have been spent on six projects in Jaunpur, Kasganj, Varanasi, Bareilly, Salori and Agra. He said funds that have come in April, or in the beginning of the quarter, were received in mid-June. “Payment amounting to ₹25 crore are under process,” the official said.

In response to a request for clarification from The Hindu,the NMCG said that the observation was made in context of all the States and was not specifically for Uttar Pradesh. The expenditure in the first quarter was normally “sluggish” and tended to accelerate in subsequent quarters. “The focus of the review by DG (NMCG) was to ensure that the pace of expenditure picks up in the remaining quarters of the financial year,” the note added.