Plans to clean up the Ganga — India’s Holiest River and also one of its Most Polluted

Massive inflow of sewage and industrial effluents makes the river's clean-up one of the most complicated missions. Fifty cities located along the more than 2,500-km river discharge 2,723.3 million litres a day of wastewater into it

Existing treatment systems can handle only 44 % (or 1208.8 MLD) of the wastewater.
“The assessment of sewage generation and development of treatment capacities indicate a gap of 1,515 MLD, which should be reduced to improve water quality of river Ganges,” says the report that is yet to be released by the Environment Ministry.

Of the 50 cities along the Ganga, 36 classified as “class I towns” generate 2,601.3 MLD of wastewater, but have the capacity to treat only 46 per cent or 1,192.4 MLD waste.
Fourteen “class II towns” produce another 122 MLD of wastewater and can treat only 13 per cent or 16.4 MLD of wastewater.

Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh produces the highest volume of sewage at 339.3 MLD, followed by Allahabad at 208 MLD and Varanasi at 187.1 MLD.
These three highly polluting towns have capacities to treat only 171.1, 89 and 141 MLD of sewage, respectively.
Patna in Bihar generates 249.2 MLD of waste and has the capacity to treat only 109 MLD

The cleaning of Ganga is a priority item on the agenda of PM Narendra Modi,who declared his commitment to the issue during his Ganga aarti on May 17 after winning the Lok Sabha elections.
“When I see the pitiable condition of the Ganga, I feel pained, but I feel it is Maa Ganga who has decided I have to do something for her.
"The need of the hour is to restore the glory of the Ganga. Today Maa Ganga is calling us, her children to make the river clean once again,” Modi had said.
The PM’s commitment to cleaning the holy river is reflected by the appointment of Uma Bharti as Minister for Water Resources and renaming the ministry as Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
Bharti,who launched a Ganga Samagra Yatra in Sept. 2012, travelled across the length of the river in five states and has also demanded national heritage status for the river