The prime objective of the Namami Gange programme is to make the water of the Ganga suitable for outdoor bathing, not drinking, the Centre told Rajya Sabha on Monday.
Surface water, including that of the rivers, is required to undergo "necessary treatment/purification" for making it potable or fit for human consumption, Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu said in a written reply.
The Centre launched the Namami Gange programme in June 2014 for a period up to March 31, 2021, to rejuvenate the Ganga and its tributaries. The Centre subsequently extended the programme up to March 31, 2026.
"The main objective of the river rejuvenation programme is to meet the primary water quality criteria for outdoor bathing notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and not drinking water quality," the minister said.
In a question, Janata Dal (United) member Ram Nath Thakur and the Samajwadi Party's Javed Ali Khan had sought to know from the Jal Shakti Ministry if the Ganga water was "still not potable or bathable" after spending thousands of crores since the launch of the programme to clean the river.
In his written reply, the minister said the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has been carrying out water quality assessment of the river at 97 locations in five main "stem states" through the respective State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) under the Namami Gange programme.
As per CPCB data for January to October, 2022, the minister said, the "observed water quality" of the river indicates that dissolved oxygen (DO), which is an indicator of the river's health has been found to be "within acceptable limits of notified primary bathing water quality criteria and is satisfactory to support the ecosystem of the river for almost the entire stretch of the river Ganga".
"As a result of multi-sectoral interventions, as per comparison of median data of water quality parameters viz, DO, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and faecal coliforms (FC) of the year 2014 and 2022 (January to October); DO (median) has improved at 33 locations; BOD at 41 locations and FC at 28 locations, respectively," he said.
The minister said a total Rs 13,709.72 crore was released to the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) from the 2014-15 fiscal till 31 December, 2022.
Of this, Rs 13,245.68 crore have been disbursed by the NMCG to the state governments, state missions for clean Ganga and other agencies for implementation of the projects related to the river's rejuvenation, he said.
"Cleaning of river Ganga is a continuous process and National Mission for Clean Ganga is implementing various projects for conservation and rejuvenation of river Ganga and its tributaries," the minister added.