Namami Gange Programme: National Mission for Clean Ganga, Mission-II and Arth Ganga

Namami Gange Programme: Aims, Pillars and the River It Serves

What Is the Namami Gange Programme

The Namami Gange Programme is an integrated conservation mission for the Ganga and its tributaries, approved as a flagship programme by the Union Government in June 2014 with an outlay of ₹20,000 crore. Its twin objectives are to abate pollution effectively and to conserve and rejuvenate the National River Ganga. The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, runs it.

The programme rests on a vision of the river's wholesomeness, described by two terms. Nirmal Dhara means an unpolluted flow, and Aviral Dhara means a continuous flow. A Ganga River Basin Management Plan prepared by a consortium of seven IITs set out the approach of integrated river basin management, in which many sectors and agencies act together. The programme's work falls under five pillars.

• Sewerage treatment infrastructure: Plants and sewer lines that stop untreated sewage from reaching the river.
• River-front development and river-surface cleaning: Ghats, crematoria and the removal of floating waste.
• Biodiversity and afforestation: Restoring aquatic life and planting along the banks.
• Public awareness and Ganga Grams: Bringing riverside villages and towns into the effort.
• Industrial effluent monitoring: Checking the waste that factories discharge.

The Ganga River Basin and the Sources of Its Pollution

The Ganga rises in the Gangotri glacier near Gaumukh as the Bhagirathi, meets the Alaknanda at Devprayag, and enters the plains at Haridwar. It is 2,525 km long, of which 110 km lie in Uttarakhand, 1,450 km in Uttar Pradesh, 445 km in Bihar and 520 km in West Bengal; with the short stretch in Jharkhand, five States lie on its main stem before it reaches the Bay of Bengal near Sagar Island.

The basin is the largest in India. It covers about 27 per cent of the country's land mass and supports about 47 per cent of its population, across 11 States. Measured by the rainwater it receives for each person, it is also the second most water-stressed basin in India, after the Sabarmati basin.

Pollution comes from towns and factories along the main stem. Domestic waste from towns such as Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Patna and Kolkata enters the river, Kanpur also adds industrial effluent, and carcasses are dumped into it. The major water-polluting industries are leather, pulp and paper, textiles and chemicals, and the fertilisers and pesticides of modern farming wash into the river as well.

From the Ganga Action Plan to Namami Gange Mission-II

Ganga Action Plan and the National Ganga River Basin Authority

The Ganga Action Plan (GAP) began in June 1985. It covered 25 Class I towns, with ₹862.59 crore spent, and aimed to intercept, divert and treat domestic sewage and to keep toxic industrial waste out of the river. Phase II followed in 1993 and was later widened to some tributaries. The plan made moderate gains in arresting the decline in water quality, but it had limitations in implementation.

The next step was a basin authority. The National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) was set up by a gazette notification of 20 February 2009 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Its objectives were to abate pollution and conserve the Ganga by adopting a river basin approach for comprehensive planning and management, and to maintain environmental flows in the river. The Authority was organised as follows.

• Chair and members: The Prime Minister chaired the Authority; Union Ministers and the Chief Ministers of the Ganga States were its members.
• Coordinating role: It was the planning, financing, monitoring and coordinating authority for the joint efforts of the Centre and the States.
• State tier: State Ganga River Conservation Authorities in the five main-stem States were chaired by their Chief Ministers.
• Target: By 2020, no untreated municipal sewage or industrial effluent was to flow into the Ganga; the target was missed, and a treatment gap of about 2,340 MLD remained in 2025.

At its first meeting, on 5 October 2009, the NGRBA decided to declare the Gangetic dolphin the National Aquatic Animal, as an indicator species of the river's health.

Namami Gange Mission-I and Mission-II: Outlay and Progress

Namami Gange ran in two phases. The first ran from 2014‑15 up to March 2021 with ₹20,000 crore. The Government then approved Namami Gange Mission-II with ₹22,500 crore, which covered existing liabilities of ₹11,225 crore and ₹11,275 crore for new projects, and sanctioned it for the period till March 2026. Its projects were still being completed after that date, and the Empowered Task Force reviewed them in July 2026.

The Empowered Task Force on the Ganga held its 19th meeting on 2 July 2026 under the Union Jal Shakti Minister, C.R. Paatil. It reviewed the projects still under way, the safe reuse of treated wastewater, groundwater recharge along the main stem and the conservation of wetlands, and directed States to complete ongoing projects on time.

National Ganga Council, NMCG and the Environment (Protection) Act

River Ganga Authorities Order, 2016: The Five Tiers

The NMCG was registered as a society on 12 August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and acted as the implementation arm of the NGRBA. As a society it could fund projects, but it had neither the mandate to take note of threats to the river nor the power to issue directions to polluters.

The Union Cabinet changed this on 21 September 2016 by approving the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016, known as the River Ganga Authorities Order, 2016. Issued under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Order replaced the NGRBA, which was dissolved with effect from 7 October 2016, with the National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga, known as the National Ganga Council. The Order set up five tiers.

• National Ganga Council: Chaired by the Prime Minister, with overall superintendence of pollution prevention and rejuvenation in the basin.
• Empowered Task Force: Chaired by the Union Minister in charge of Ganga rejuvenation, now the Jal Shakti Minister; it ensures action plans and coordination among ministries and States.
• NMCG: Declared an authority with powers to issue directions under the Environment (Protection) Act; it has a Governing Council and an Executive Committee, both chaired by its Director General.
• State Ganga Committees: Authorities in each main-stem State.
• District Ganga Committees: Authorities in each district on the banks of the Ganga.

Under the Order, the NMCG uses its direction powers only where the Central Pollution Control Board has not taken the required action, and the Board may also act together with the NMCG under the same Act. The revamped structure was also meant to keep the river's ecological flows.

Ganga Floodplain Rules and the August 2026 Amendment

The 2016 Order also protects the floodplain, defined as the area that comes under water on either side of the river or its tributaries in a once-in-a-hundred-years flood. It declared the bank and floodplain a construction-free zone, to reduce pollution and keep the floodplain's groundwater recharge working.

An NMCG gazette order of 10 August 2026 amended this. It removed the construction-free clause and divided the floodplain by flood frequency into three zones, following guidelines that the Central Water Commission released in July 2025.

• Active floodplain: Next to the channel, flooded at least once in five years; building is prohibited here, with minor exceptions for temporary set-ups such as religious events.
• Regulatory zone: Flooded every five to 25 years; construction needs official clearance.
• Warning zone: Flooded only in 25- to 100-year floods; construction needs official clearance.

Every project, from roads and bridges to riverfront works, still needs prior approval from the NMCG and the regional authorities. The amendment also gives a defined meaning to zones that no State had clearly marked, and the Government holds that it does not dilute standards. Petitions before the National Green Tribunal against riverfront roads and embankments had relied on the old blanket construction-free mandate.

Namami Gange Components: Sewage, Biodiversity and People

Sewage Treatment Plants and the Hybrid Annuity Model

Untreated domestic and industrial wastewater is the main cause of pollution in the river, so most projects build sewage infrastructure. By 2 July 2026, 145 sewerage projects had created or rehabilitated 4,263 million litres per day (MLD) of treatment capacity and over 4,611 km of sewer network; 538 MLD of it was added in 2025‑26 alone. In 2025, 70 sewerage projects were implemented, including 25 plants commissioned.

To keep the plants running after they are built, the Cabinet approved a Hybrid Annuity Model in 2016, a public-private partnership mode that ensures the infrastructure created works on a sustainable basis. Recent plants show the model at work. A 55 MLD plant at Bhagwanpura in Varanasi runs partly on a 750 kW solar plant, and a 100 MLD plant at Dhandhupura in Agra had begun trial testing by July 2026. The programme also works beyond sewage plants.

• Industrial effluent: Common effluent treatment plants at Mathura (6.25 MLD) and Jajmau, Kanpur (20 MLD) have been completed.
• Reuse: City-level reuse action plans for Agra, Prayagraj and Varanasi identify uses for treated wastewater in thermal power, railways, landscaping and irrigation, subject to quality standards.
• Nature-based solutions: Constructed wetlands are treating about 10 MLD from the Shastri Park and Kailash Nagar drains in Delhi, which discharge into the Yamuna.

Biodiversity: Gangetic Dolphin, Gharial, Hilsa and Wetlands

The Gangetic dolphin is the programme's flagship species. The first nationwide estimate, made from 2021 to 2023, put its population in India at 6,327. India's first Dolphin Rescue Ambulance was inaugurated on 13 January 2026 at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, and about 6,800 aquatic animals have been rescued and rehabilitated under the programme.

The dolphin's decline has several causes. Dams and barrages cut up its habitat, dolphins are caught accidentally in fishing nets, and they build up pesticides, heavy metals and other pollutants because they sit at the top of the river's food web. That is why they serve as indicators of the river's health. Other species and habitats are tracked as well.

• Gharial: Surveys over about 7,680 km of river documented 3,037 gharials and led to a National Gharial Conservation Action Plan.
• Hilsa: The Farakka Barrage of 1975 cut the fish's migration route; after more than 3.85 lakh fish were ranched upstream between 2019 and June 2026, Hilsa was recorded in 2026 at Tanda Khurd in Chandauli district, Uttar Pradesh.
• Fish: The river holds 215 recorded fish species, 206 of them native.
• Riverbank forests: Native species have been planted over 33,024 hectares across the five main-stem States.
• Wetlands: The basin now has 35 Ramsar wetlands, and seven Ganga Biodiversity Parks are being developed in Uttar Pradesh.

Jan Ganga: Ganga Praharis and Urban River Management Plans

Jan Ganga is the public-participation pillar of the programme. More than 5,500 Ganga Praharis, trained volunteers, work across 113 districts; the Ganga Swachhta Pakhwada runs every year from 16 to 31 March in the five main-stem States, Delhi and tributary towns; and University Ganga Clubs take the work into colleges.

Cities are the other half of the effort. With the National Institute of Urban Affairs, the NMCG is preparing Urban River Management Plans for 27 cities in Phase I, 13 of which are complete, and for 33 more in Phase II, with the aim of covering all 97 cities on the main stem. Each plan has a ten-point agenda that includes floodplain regulation, wetland revival, riparian buffers and the reuse of treated water.

Arth Ganga: The River Economy Model of Namami Gange

Six Verticals of Arth Ganga

Arth Ganga is a sustainable economic model, conceived under Namami Gange, that links the people of the basin to the river's revival. Its logic is that people who earn from a clean river have a reason to keep it clean. The NMCG works on it with central and State ministries and with NGOs. It works through six verticals.

• Natural farming: Zero Budget Natural Farming is promoted in the Ganga basin.
• Treated water and sludge: Urban local bodies earn revenue from treated wastewater, and sludge becomes manure, pavers and bricks.
• Livelihoods: 'Ghat Main Haat' markets sell local products, and Jalaj units give Ganga Praharis an income.
• Public participation: Ganga aartis, cleanliness drives, Ganga guide training and Yoga on Ghat bring people to the river.
• Culture and tourism: Local tourism circuits, boat tourism through community jetties and Ganga trails are promoted, and a river cruise on the Ganga was launched on 13 January 2023.
• Institution building: District Ganga Committees are strengthened for local water governance.

Ganga Water Quality, the Sewage Gap and Environmental Flows

Ganga Water Quality in 2025: Polluted Stretches and Bathing Criteria

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) monitors the river at 112 locations across the five main-stem States. Its 2025 report on polluted river stretches shows partial improvement since 2018.

In 2025 (January to August), pH and dissolved oxygen met bathing norms at every location. Biochemical oxygen demand met them across Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal, but not in parts of Uttar Pradesh, including Farrukhabad to Purana Rajapur at Kanpur, Dalmau at Raebareli and stretches from below Mirzapur to Tarighat at Ghazipur.

Challenges: Sewage Gap, E-Flows and Industrial Pollution

The largest gap is sewage. In the five main-stem States, about 10,160 MLD of sewage is generated against an available treatment capacity of 7,820 MLD, a gap of about 2,340 MLD, and projects of 1,996 MLD are at various stages of completion. Delays come from finding land for new plants and from statutory clearances, such as rights of way and road-cutting permissions.

Flow is the second concern. Environmental flows are the flow regimes a river needs to stay in a desired environmental state. The Government notified minimum e-flows for the Ganga on 9 October 2018, from its origin to Unnao, and the Central Water Commission monitors them. The notified minimums differ by stretch.

• Upper stretch to Haridwar: 20 per cent of the monthly average flow in the dry season (November to March), 25 per cent in the lean season (October, April and May) and 30 per cent in the high-flow season (June to September).
• Barrages from Haridwar to Kanpur: Minimum releases of 36 cumecs (non-monsoon) and 57 cumecs (monsoon) at Bhimgoda, Haridwar, and 24 and 48 cumecs at Bijnor, Narora and Kanpur.

In July 2025 the Jal Shakti Minister asked whether the 2018 e-flow framework needed improvement, especially to protect the Yamuna. Industrial waste is the third concern, above all the effluent of tanneries and other factories in towns such as Kanpur; common effluent treatment plants, such as the one at Jajmau, are the programme's answer.