Towards a clean Ganga

The Constitution of India mandates the central and state governments to provide both clean and decent environment and clean drinking water for the people (Article 48A, Art. 51 (A) (g), Article 21). The Supreme Court has also declared that the right to a decent and clean environment is a fundamental right. The Ganga Action Plan of the 1980s and currently the Namami Gange programme with a Rs 20,000-crore outlay during 2015-2020 have set in motion many river cleaning activities, but their positive outcome is nowhere in sight. Being the fifth largest polluted river in the world, the Ganga is one of the many rivers originating in the Himalayas. he pollution of the river is the result of industrial pollution, sewage (domestic) discharge, etc. Unlike easily manageable "point sources", so-called of pollution, non-point sources come from different sources which are not easy to collect or treat.