You just won't believe what Centre is using Google for

Even after three years of the formal launch of the Namami Gange project, the Centre is yet to get a full grasp on the number of drains releasing polluted water into the holy river. This admission came from none other than the Minister for Water Resources, Nitin Gadkari, during a media briefing on the progress of the NDA's flagship project.

"Like the population census, the census of nullahs has not been done properly. State governments have not given us the complete list of nullahs. I asked them (officers) to use Google and find out where the nullahs are located. So, the work of locating nullahs is on," Gadkari said. The minister did not mention which states have not submitted the list.

Along with the Group of Secretaries, the Indian Institute of Technology-consortium (IIT-C) comprising seven IIT's, was engaged in preparation of a 'Ganga River Basin Management Plan', which became a roadmap for cleaning the river. One of the key things this report did was identify the major and minor drains that pollute it. According to this report and reports of the Central Pollution Control Board, 30 major drains discharged the most polluted effluents in Ganga, along its main stem.

Even as Gadkari said that information on smaller drains is still being gathered, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), during its hearing on the Ganga pollution matter, had based many of its observations and final verdict on the data of major drains provided by Water Resources Ministry. The NGT had sought physical inspection of 30 crucial drains discharging effluents into Ganga and had found discrepancy in the ministry data provided by Centre and state agencies.

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Gadkari said during the briefing that his ministry will take efforts to tap all drains polluting Ganga in the course of its project execution.

Source: DNA India