Germany has come forward to help India in its massive effort to clean the river Ganga. The two countries on Wednesday signed an implementation agreement to rejuvenate Ganga under the ‘Namani Gange Programme’.
The deal was signed by India’s ‘River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation’ and Germany’s ‘German International Cooperation (GIZ)’.
Germany has vast experience in cleaning and rejuvenating European rivers such as Rhine, Elbe and Danule.
The main objective of the agreement is enabling stakeholders at both national and state level to apply integrated river basin management approach to rejuvenate Ganga. The project duration is estimated as three years—from 2016 to 2018. The German government’s contribution to the project is Rs 22.5 crores.
German ambassador to India Dr Martin Ney and secretary of union ministry of water resources (River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation) Shashi Shekhar signed the agreement in New Delhi.
Dr Martin Ney said that Germany understands the devotion and cultural importance of river Ganga and will do its best to bring back the river to its pristine glory. Shekhar thanked the German government and said that the technical know-how support from Germany will be immensely helpful. He said, “Now onwards we will move at a much faster pace for cleaning of river Ganga”.
