Almost 2500 cr funds allocated for Ganga clean up lie unused: CAG report
The performance audit of the Namami Gange program looked at availability and utilisation of funds in 87 projects with an outlay of Rs 7,992.34 crore of which, 50 projects were sanctioned after April 1, 2014.
Almost Rs 2500 cr of the funds that were allocated to the Namami Gange programme lay unused with various agencies as of March 31 this year, according to a Comptroller and auditor general (CAG) report tabled in Parliament Tuesday.
The performance audit of the Namami Gange program looked at availability and utilisation of funds in 87 projects with an outlay of Rs 7,992.34 crore of which, 50 projects were sanctioned after April 1, 2014 .
“Funds amounting to Rs 2,133.76 crore, Rs 422.13 crore and Rs 59.28 crore were lying unutilized with the National Mission for Clean Ganga, various state programme management groups and executing agencies/ central public sector undertakings respectively as on 31 March 2017,” it found.
The poor utilisation was reflected in the water quality, the report noted. “Total coliform [bacteria] levels in all the cities of UP, Bihar and west Bengal was very high — ranging between 6 to 334 times higher than prescribed levels,” the report said. According to data accessed by HT, in 60% stations in UP for which data was available, the maximum values for fecal coliform levels exceeded norms. In West Bengal the water quality is even worse, with all 10 stations failing to meet the norms.