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Minister of Environment and Forests Thiru A. Raja has urged the State Governments to give a higher priority to the river and lake conservation programmes. Addressing the third meeting of the Consultative Committee of Parliament for the Ministry of Environment and Forests here yesterday, Thiru Raja stressed the need for adopting a holistic and integrated approach by addressing not only river pollution but other components like internal sewerage, solid waste, etc., which the States will have to fund from their own resources.
“It is also necessary to strengthen the local bodies, which would be the ultimate custodians of the assets created under the National River and Lake Conservation Plans. These institutions should be associated fully with the programme right from the beginning. The State Governments/ local bodies should also ensure that the assets created on completion of the schemes are continuously operated/utilized for which they must earmark funds and generate resources through innovative means”, the Minister added.
Thiru Raja further stated that major problems which lead to delay in implementation of the river and lake conservation schemes include problems of land acquisitions/encroachments, litigation and court cases, repetitive invitation of tenders/contracts, inadequate capacity of local bodies/ implementation agencies, weak monitoring mechanism, and low level of public awareness and participation.
Similarly, after commissioning of schemes like sewage treatment plants, electric crematoria, etc, bottlenecks experienced in project sustainability are inadequate and untimely provision of funds for operation and maintenance of assets by State Governments, non-availability of uninterrupted power supply for the operation of assets, non-involvement of local public/NGOs in launching awareness campaigns by State Governments, and lack of full public acceptance for electric/improved wood based crematoria and low cost sanitation resulting in their under utilisation, THE minister observed.
Stating that there is a growing demand from the States for including additional rivers and lakes which are polluted under the conservation plans, the Minister pointed out that the availability of Plan funds is a major constraint in this regard. “Unless the outlay is increased and funds mobilized from other sources, it will be difficult to meet the expectations of the people”, he said, adding that “preliminary estimates indicate that additional funds to the tune of Rs. 8000 crore would be required over and above the agreed X Five Year Plan outlay of Rs. 1637 crore for river and lake cleaning programmes”.
Members of Parliament emphasised the need for improving the water quality of the rivers and lakes, which are major source of fresh water in the country, through the expeditious implementation of pollution abatement schemes.
Minister of State for Environment and Forests Shri Namo Narain Meena thanked the Members of Parliament for giving their valuable suggestions.
Members of Parliament who attended the meeting include Smt. Menaka Gandhi, S/Shri Lt. Col. (Rtd.) Maharaj Manabendra Shah, Dushyant Singh, Mani Charenamai, Kishore Chandra S. Deo Vyricherla, and Ramji Lal Suman.
AKS/rs
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