Ganga Gram-The Hindu-06-10-2022

Ganga Gram-The Hindu-06-10-2022
GS-3
ENVIRONMENT
CONTEXT :
Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, Uma Bharati, held the fourth Ganga Gram Swachhta Sammelan to strengthen Sanitation based all-round development in the villages on the banks of Ganga.

In Background

Ganga Gram aims to transform the banks of the village of River Ganga into ideal villages with emphasis on the following:

Open Defecation Free (ODF)
Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM)
Water Conservation
Ground Water Recharge
Modern crematorium
Tree plantation
Organic and medicinal plant agriculture
This project was launched under the clean Ganga mission-Namami Gange Programme to have holistic sanitation development in villages on the banks of River Ganga.

The minister has said that within one-year sanitation coverage in the state of Uttar Pradesh has reached about 99% from a meagre 50%. And India’s sanitation coverage has increased from 39 to 96 per cent in just 4 years with the construction of 8.8 crore toilets.

Finally, she mentioned that her Ministry is focused on SLWM interventions now, after the ODF achievements.

Background

In August 2017, Center had declared that overall 4,470 villages on the banks of River Ganga, comprising states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal as Open Defecation Free (ODF). Among such villages, the Center and state governments have found 24 villages to be taken up under pilot project to transform them into ‘Ganga Grams’