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The Prime Minister, Mr A.B. Vajpayee, flanked by the Minister for Environment and Forests, Mr T.R. Baalu, the Finance Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, and the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Mr K.C. Pant, at a national river conservation meet in the Capital on Monday.

NEW DELHI, June 16

THE Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has asked the participatory States to focus "immediate" attention on the implementation process of the Ganga and the Yamuna action plans — work on the first phase of which have both been completed - as the operation and maintenance of the assets created under these programmes has been "unsatisfactory".

Chairing the 11th meeting of the National River Conservation Authority here on Monday, Mr Vajpayee said that the time had come for the State Governments to evolve new strategies for making the programmes more sustainable by way of capacity building of the local bodies and revenue enhancement.

Past experiences have shown that the success of such programmes depends on an integrated approach covering all aspects of river pollution as well as urban sanitation and waste management. "We have to formulate river action plans in an integrated and holistic manner so that these programmes become more effective in terms of cost, impact and outreach," he said.

For this, he said the various concerned Ministries at the Central and State levels, as also municipal bodies, have to work together with effective coordination. "It is also necessary to strengthen the institutional mechanism in the local bodies for speedy implementation and proper monitoring of the projects," he said.

Expressing concern at the pollution of the country's rivers, the Prime Minister said, "it is ironic that, although we consider our rivers holy, we have allowed river pollution to assume alarming proportions". Mr Vajpayee pointed to the "disposal of untreated sewage from large and medium towns" as a major reason for the pollution of rivers and, while emphasising on the involvement of religious personalities and institutions for a more positive role in these programmes, he also stressed on the "need to implement the river conservation programme with a greater sense of urgency and commitment".

Mr Vajpayee noted that with the phenomenal increase in population and the dramatic rise in living standards of people in many parts of the world, there has been a sharp increase in the demand for fresh water. On the contrary, the total availability of fresh water has not increased and, to make

matters worse, its availability has actually dipped on account of man-made pollution.

"This is a cause for great concern, especially since the planet's population is projected to increase to about 8 billion by 2025," he said. Rightfully, the United Nations has proclaimed the year 2003 as the `International Year of Fresh Water' with the slogan "Water - Two billion people are dying for it."

The Government's river cleaning programme, Mr Vajpayee said, started with the launch of the Ganga Action Plan. This programme has now been extended to the national level and covers 157 towns along 31 polluted stretches of major rivers in 18 states. It is estimated to cost about Rs 4,063 crore. The Tenth Plan has accorded high priority to address this problem effectively.

"I am told that there have been some delays in its implementation but now the constraints have been removed and the programme is progressing in full swing," he said.

The meeting was attended by the Minister for Environment and Forests, Mr T.R. Baalu, the Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh and the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Mr K.C. Pant. Besides, Chief Ministers, Ministers and senior officials from all the States also participated in the meeting.

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