The 63rd Executive Committee meeting of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) recently approved an ambitious sewerage management project worth ₹126.41 crore for the historic city of Agra in Uttar Pradesh.

Officials here on Thursday said this project will play a vital role in cleaning and preserving the city’s water sources and environmental conservation for decades.

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Under this project, 40 interception and diversion structures will be constructed to enhance the efficiency of the city’s sewer network. Additionally, 21.20 km of interception and diversion sewer lines will be laid to ensure proper sewage management from different areas.

Equipped with modern technology, the project includes the installation of eight state-of-the-art pumping stations to control and ensure the swift transportation of sewage water. Effective trash screens will also be installed in five major drains to block pollutants and waste, thus safeguarding water bodies.

Officials said the project will follow the Design-Build-Operate-Transfer (DBOT) model, providing a technically sound and sustainable management solution. This will not only keep Agra’s environment clean and healthy but also improve the quality of life for its residents.

The National Mission for Clean Ganga has approved a crucial project for assessing the environmental flow in the Ghaghara and Gomti river basins, with a budget of approximately ₹8 crore.

This project will create a detailed database of river ecosystems using UAVs (drones) and on-site monitoring across different weather conditions. The database will cover water quality, flow, biodiversity of flora and fauna, and local social aspects, offering a comprehensive understanding of the environmental conditions of these rivers and their surroundings.

The collected data will help in developing conservation strategies while factoring in climate change, land use, and cover changes, along with human water demand. Various models will be used to identify suitable management options, which will be reviewed and improved regularly.

This project will help in understanding the relationship between flow hydrology, ecosystems, and flow governance, enabling accurate assessment of required environmental flows and development of best management practices for sustainable conservation of the Ghaghara and Gomti river basins. Over the next three years, the project will pave the way for sustainable and adaptive flow management.

To strengthen the quality and sustainability of on-site sewage treatment in the country, the meeting approved a domestic wastewater treatment project based on Johkasou technology. The aim is to establish new standards for better wastewater management at the household level. In the coming 12 months, the project will take concrete steps to improve the quality of water treatment and contribute significantly to environmental conservation.