- According to a report submitted to the Central Water Commission by the World Bank, Ganga river basin could see crop failures rise three-fold and drinking water shortage rise by as much as 39% in some States between now and 2040.
- The Ganga river basin is the largest river basin in India and provides over a third of India’s available surface water and contributes more than half the national water use, of which 90% is for irrigation.
- Combinations of different interventions will help in addressing drinking water shortage such as (a) increasing water use efficiency and implementing “more crop per drop” (b) improvement of municipal wastewater treatment (c)Government should also operationalise a river law to address issue of river’s ecology and (d) Reduce pollution in the Ganga basin.
- In order to prevent, protect and Control Pollution in Ganga River Basin, National Ganga Council(NGC) was formed. It was set up under the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities order 2016.Its implementation wing is National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG).
- The order envisages five tier structure:(a) National Ganga Council under chairmanship of Prime Minister of India (b) Empowered Task Force (ETF) on river Ganga under chairmanship of Hon’ble Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.(c) National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) (d) State Ganga Committees and (e) District Ganga Committees in every specified district abutting river Ganga and its tributaries in the states.
