Namami Gange scales up 'urban river management plans' to 60 Ganga-basin cities

The Clean Ganga mission, with the National Institute of Urban Affairs, has completed river plans for 13 cities and is extending the river-centric urban-planning model to 60 cities across Uttarakhand, UP and Bihar.

What happened

• The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), in collaboration with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), has completed Urban River Management Plans (URMPs) for 13 cities.
• Building on this, URMPs are being prepared for 27 cities under Phase-I and 33 additional cities under Phase-II — taking overall coverage to 60 cities across the Ganga Basin.
• Supported under the Namami Gange Programme, it is described as one of the world's largest coordinated efforts to integrate river health with urban planning.
• The initiative is rooted in PM Modi's vision at the National Ganga Council meeting in Kanpur in December 2019, where he called for a shift from city-centric to river-centric development.
• Locally tailored interventions are being undertaken across cities in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, placing rivers at the heart of urban planning and civic life.

For Prelims

• Namami Gange: The flagship programme (launched 2014) for cleaning and rejuvenating the Ganga — covering sewage treatment, riverfront development, afforestation, biodiversity and public participation.
• NMCG: The National Mission for Clean Ganga — the implementing body; given statutory backing under the Environment (Protection) Act via the 2016 'River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order'.
• National Ganga Council: The apex body for the Ganga, chaired by the Prime Minister (formally the 'National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga'), replacing the earlier National Ganga River Basin Authority.
• NIUA: The National Institute of Urban Affairs — a think tank under the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs supporting urban policy; here it co-develops the river plans.
• Urban River Management Plans (URMPs): City-level plans to integrate river health (pollution control, floodplains, ecology) into urban planning — a 'river-sensitive' urban-development approach.
• Ganga basin: India's largest river basin (~26% of the country's land), spanning multiple states; the URMP push focuses on Uttarakhand, UP and Bihar.
• Don't confuse: NMCG (Clean Ganga mission) is distinct from NIUA (urban think tank); URMPs integrate rivers into city planning — they are not the same as sewage-treatment (STP) projects, though they include them.

For Mains

Syllabus: GS3.14 · Linkage L2