National Ganga River Basin Authority
National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) is a financing, planning, implementing, monitoring and coordinating authority for the Ganges River, functioning under the water resource ministry of India. The mission of the organisation is to safeguard the drainage basin which feeds water into the Ganges by protecting it from pollution or overuse. In July 2014, the NGRBA has been transferred from the Ministry of Environment and Forests to the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, formerly Ministry of Water Resources (India).[1]
Establishment
It was established by the Central Government of India, on 20 February 2009 under Section 3(3) of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, which also declared Ganges as the "National River" of India.[2]
Overview
The Prime Minister the chair of the Authority. Other members include the cabinet ministers who include the Ganges among their direct concerns and the chief ministers of states through which the Ganges River flows. The Chief Ministers as members are not from all the 11 states through which Ganges flow but only from 5 of the 11 states viz. Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
The first meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority was held on 5 October 2009.[3]
In the 2010 Union budget of India, the allocation for National Ganga River Basin Authority doubled to ₹500 crore.
Members of the NGRBA
There are total of 23 members of the NGRBA. 14 out of 23 come from the government sectors whereas the remaining 9 come from the NGO sector.
Government members of the Committee
Members belonging to the government sector are as follows:
- Prime Minister of India, chair
- Minister of Environment and Forests (Union Minister)
- Minister of Finance
- Minister of Urban Development
- Minister of Water Resources
- Minister of Power
- Minister of Sciences and Technology
- Chief Minister of Uttarakhand
- Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
- Chief Minister of Bihar
- Chief Minister of Jharkhand
- Chief Minister of West Bengal
- Ministry Of Environment and Forests (state minister)
- Ministry Of Environment and Forests, secretary
Expert members of the committee
Members belonging to the NGO sector are as follows:[4]
- Justice(Retd.) Giridhar Malviya , Patron, Ganga Mahasabha, Varanasi.
- Shri Mohan Singh Rawat Gaonwasi, Ex. Minister Uttarakhand.
- Shri M.A. Chitle, Maharashtra.
- Dr. Bhure lal,IAS (Retd.),Delhi
- Shri N.Vittal,Chennai
References
- ↑ "Organizational history of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation". Government of India. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ↑ NGRBA Ministry of Environment, GoI.
- ↑ http://cpcb.nic.in/ngrba/about.html p.1.
- ↑ p.2. Composition of the Authority Ministry of Ganga Rejuvenation