By NewsGram Staff Writer

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), an autonomous society under Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation today launched 'Nirmal Ganga Sahbhagita' for initiating a sustainable partnership with 118 Urban Local Bodies (ULB) located along the river Ganga.

During the launch of Nirmal Ganga Sahbhagita initiative, the Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Uma Bharti said that, " The ULBs have a major role to play in this regard as they are directly communicating with the people at the grass root level."

The Minister said that the 'Clean Ganga Mission' should be an example for the whole world and we should be able to invite foreigners to see our clean Ganga.

She said this task is very arduous and complex but not impossible to achieve.

The main objectives of the 'Nirmal Ganga Sahbhagita' is to provide required assistance by the Centre to Urban Local Bodies for forrmation of Ganga Project Implementation Units (PIU) in various towns.

The initiative will also address the issue of systematic solid waste management near ghats and confluence of Nalas into the river.

As of now, untreated municipal sewage account for the bulk (over 75 per cent) of pollution in Ganga, mostly generated by the larger cities. Currently, the responsibility for provision of adequate sanitation and waste management services overlap considerably across the State Governments and the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).