Uma Bharti says it will take 10 years to clean Ganga completely in a phased manner

Union minister Uma Bharti on Sunday said it will take 10 years to completely clean the Ganga, and that it would be done in a phased manner. [caption id=“attachment_3501061” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Uma Bharti. PTI[/caption] “In order to ensure clean Ganga, the industrial units which are located on the banks of Ganga will be shifted to other places. The framework of this plan has been drawn. The Uttar Pradesh government is making efforts to shift the tanneries located in Kanpur to other places,” said Bharti, Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, who was here to participate in Ganga Dashera celebrations. She also said once the Ganga is cleaned, mass awareness will be needed to maintain its cleanliness, for which she will herself undertake a padyatra from Gangotri to Ganga Sagar. On 31 May, Bharti had said that a central team will visit Bihar as well as Farakka Barrage in West Bengal soon to assess the situation of silting in river Ganga. Stressing that the central government is serious about the silting in river Ganga, Bharti said that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar raised the issue during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi in May. With inputs from agencies