Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari presided over the ceremony of signing of concession agreement for sewage treatment infrastructure in Kanpur under One-City-One-Operator concept and Hybrid Annuity Mode between National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), UP Jal Nigam and the private concessionaire – consortium of M/S Shapoorji Pallonji and Company limited & SSG Infratech Limited.
Addressing the gathering, Gadkari said that the dream of clean Ganga is now within reach as positive changes are visible on the ground as a result of the steps taken towards cleaning the river.
Gadkari said that a total of 73 projects have been sanctioned in Uttar Pradesh under Namami Gange at an estimated cost of Rs. 9,934 crores,,. Out of which, 13 projects are complete and others are at various stages of implementation.
Congratulating the Ministry and NMCG for their work, Gadkari said that the Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) is a success story in this sector. Six projects (Haridwar, Varanasi, Mathura and Kanpur, Allahabad and Farrukhabad) have been awarded under this model and many other projects are at various stages of execution. He added that robust monitoring is being done for the projects.
Gadkari further said that the One-City-One-Operator concept where a single operator is made responsible for the entire sewage infrastructure of a city including the O&M, will ensure single point accountability, desired performance, and long term sustenance. The Minister also emphasized emphasized on the importance of reuse of treated water and said that in Mathura, Indian Oil is buying the treated water from the STP as per a recently signed agreement. NMCG is trying to work this out for other projects also.
Talking about ensuring the Aviralta of River Ganga, the Minister said a notification has already been issued in October this year in this regard, and he was confident that a minimum flow will be maintained in the river in the coming lean season.
