The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, pulled up State Governments for tardy performance on sewage treatment and asked them to take action against industries polluting the river on Tuesday. He warned that time was running out to preserve the Ganga.
Voicing concern over discharge of 2,900 million litres of sewage in Ganga every day, Dr Singh asked State Governments to send proposals for new sewage treatment plants and said that adequate funding was available to take up projects.
Addressing the third meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority, he also flagged the issue of industrial pollution and said that industrial effluents, though only 20 per cent of the total effluents, were a cause of major concern as they were toxic and non-biodegradable.
Dr Singh said the State Pollution Control Boards were required to monitor compliance of effluent discharge standards.
“Action must be taken against the defaulting industries by the State Boards under the powers delegated to them by the Central Government,” the Prime Minister said.