Uma Bharti launches 'Ganga Gram' project as part of clean Ganga mission

Taking forward the government's clean Ganga mission, Union Minister Uma Bharti has launched the "Ganga Gram" project on Saturday.

The project aims for holistic sanitation development in 4,470 villages on the banks of the river. 

Calling for collective efforts of the villages located on the banks of the river, the union minister said that the Ganga Gram project depends on the commitment and resolve of the people living on its banks. 

"Development takes place only if adequate care and precaution are taken in the project to protect the environment of the Ganga," she added.

The project was launched at the Ganga Gram Swachata Sammelan in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. 

The programme was attended by over 1,400 delegates including 500 village heads from Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, state government officials and Ganga Swachhta (clean Ganga) volunteers.

The government had launched the clean Ganga mission called "Namami Gange" as a flagship program in June 2014.

A recent report released by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has revealed that about Rs 2,500 crore of the Namami Gange project had remained untouched.

The report was presented before the Parliament on December 19, 2017.

The report said that the fund was lying unutilised in the banks till March 31.

The performance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General has revealed "underutilisation" of funds and "delays" in project approvals between 2014-15 and 2016-17, PTI reported. 

An RTI (Right to Information) revealed in 2016, that the much-hyped project was "largely on papers".