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CCEA clears Rs.7,000-cr. project to clean Ganga
The Cabinet
Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved a Rs.7,000-crore
project to clean the Ganga. It will be implemented by the National Ganga River
Basin Authority (NGRBA).
The Centre's share
will be Rs.5,100 crore and that of the governments of Uttarakhand, Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal Rs.1,900 crore.
The World Bank has
agreed in principle to provide a loan assistance of $1 billion (roughly
Rs.4,600 crore) for the NGRBA project, which will form part of the Central
share of the project.
The duration of the
project will be eight years. The NGRBA was constituted in February 2009 as an
empowered planning, financing, monitoring and coordinating authority for the
Ganga under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
The objective of the
Authority, which is chaired by the Prime Minister, is to ensure conservation of
the Ganga by comprehensive planning and management, adopting a river basin
approach.
The project is
envisaged as the first phase in a long-term programme of World Bank support to
the NGRBA.
The project, which
will support the NGRBA's objective of Mission Clean Ganga, has been designed
keeping in view the lessons learnt from the previous Ganga Action Plan and
international river clean-ups.
The project will
have components relating to institutional development for setting up dedicated
institutions for implementing the NGRBA programme, setting up Ganga Knowledge
Centre and strengthening environmental regulators (Pollution Control Boards)
and local institutions.
It will also have
components relating to infrastructure investments, including municipal sewage,
industrial pollution, solid wastes and river front management, and project
implementation support.
The CCEA has also
cleared an intensified malaria control programme for the seven North-Eastern
States at a cost of Rs.417 crore. The programme is being run under the National
Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) with support from Global Fund
to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM - Round 9).
The approval
envisages continuance of the erstwhile Global Fund Supported Intensified
Malaria Control Project (IMCP-I) (2005-10), with revised geographical focus in
high-endemic seven North-Eastern States for accelerated control of malaria, a
government spokesperson said.
Human resources
development, procurement and distribution of commodities and drugs,
information, education and communication, behaviour change communication (BCC)
activities and planning, monitoring and evaluation are the main components of
the programme.
The project will
facilitate upscaling of detection of Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) cases through
Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs), treatment of cases with Artemisinin Based
Combination Therapy (ACT) and distribution of Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets
(LLINs).
Further, it includes
measures for improving behaviour change communication, vector and parasite
surveillance, partnership development and capacity building.
The aim of the
project is to reduce malaria-related mortality and morbidity in project States
by at least 30 per cent by 2015 as compared with the 2008 levels.
The
project will cover a five-year period from October 1, 2010 to September 30,
2015.
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