Namami Gange

Cleaning the Ganga had been attempted for decades with limited success. Namami Gange, launched in June 2014 with a ₹20,000 crore outlay (later extended to about ₹22,500 crore to 2026), took a more integrated approach — treating sewage, tackling industrial effluent, developing riverfronts and restoring ecology under one mission, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG). Total sanctioned outlay has since grown past ₹40,000 crore.

The core work has been sewage-treatment plants (STPs). Around 355 projects have been completed and roughly 4,000 MLD of treatment capacity added — about thirty times the pre-2014 level. Varanasi's capacity quadrupled from 100 to 420 MLD; Prayagraj, Kanpur, Patna and the Yamuna cities near Delhi and Agra all gained major plants. Ecological signs are encouraging: the Gangetic dolphin population rose from about 3,330 (2018) to 3,936 (2024), and the programme was named a UN World Restoration Flagship.

Cleaning a river as vast as the Ganga means stopping pollution at source, not just treating the water. The core of Namami Gange is building sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the towns and cities along the river, so untreated drains no longer empty into it. Alongside come riverfront development, industrial-effluent controls, afforestation on the banks, and biodiversity work (reviving the Gangetic dolphin) — coordinated by a single National Mission for Clean Ganga.

Water quality has improved in stretches and the Gangetic dolphin is returning, but a river this large needs sustained, decades-long effort. The next step is turning treatment plants into continuously working, well-maintained infrastructure (many STPs underperform), extending the model to tributaries like the Yamuna, and — hardest of all — changing the industrial and civic habits that pollute the river in the first place.

The next step is turning treatment plants into a genuinely cleaner river — completing sewer networks, keeping the plants running at capacity, and tackling smaller drains and industrial waste so the gains hold.

~355 projects completed of ~524 sanctioned. ~4,000 MLD STP capacity added (~30× pre-2014). ₹40,000 crore+ sanctioned since 2014. Dolphins: ~3,330 (2018) → ~3,936 (2024). Sources: National Mission for Clean Ganga, CPCB, WII.