Evaluate the effectiveness of the Namami Gange Programme in achieving its twin objectives of pollution abatement and river rejuvenation. What structural reforms are needed?

Launched in June 2014 with a ₹20,000 crore outlay and restructured under the River Ganga Authorities Order of October 7, 2016 [1], Namami Gange has delivered measurable gains in pollution abatement but has fallen short on ecological rejuvenation, which demands floodplain and flow restoration rather than infrastructure alone.

Achievements in pollution abatement

• Sewage infrastructure at scale: sewerage projects under the mission have created treatment capacity of over 4,000 MLD, with a majority of sanctioned projects completed [3].
• Institutional continuity: approval of Namami Gange Mission-II (₹22,500 crore till 2026) signals sustained financing rather than the stop-go pattern of the earlier Ganga Action Plan [2].
• Empowered architecture: the 2016 Order gave NMCG statutory backing under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, with a three-tier chain — National Ganga Council (PM-chaired), State and District Ganga Committees [1].

Shortfalls in rejuvenation

• Floodplain encroachment persists: NMCG has repeatedly advised basin states to demarcate, notify and clear floodplains, with limited compliance [4]; the Supreme Court in 2026 sought a status report on Ganga bank encroachments — effectively a compliance audit of the 2016 notification.
• Weak zoning law: only a handful of states have enacted floodplain zoning legislation, and even they have not completed delineation [4].
• Federal coordination gap: riverbank land records and enforcement rest with state revenue and police machinery, while NMCG is a central agency — treated STP output is thus offset by encroachment, plastic waste and inadequate e-flow.

Structural reforms needed

• Make floodplain notification and zoning legislation a binding, time-bound condition for central fund release.
• Shift outcome metrics from capacity created to water-quality and e-flow parameters, with third-party audits.
• Strengthen District Ganga Committees with dedicated staff and revenue-department convergence.
• Adopt a rehabilitation-linked eviction policy distinguishing vulnerable riparian livelihoods from commercial encroachment.

Namami Gange has professionalised river governance; converting that into genuine rejuvenation now requires enforceable basin-level land-use regulation. Treating the Ganga as a public trust — clean water and healthy ecosystems under Article 21 and SDG 6 — must guide Mission-II's next phase.