Restoration of the Ramganga River: development of a programme of measures

More than 450 million people in India live in and from the Ganges River basin. However, the river and many of its tributaries, such as the Ramganga, are heavily polluted and overexploited, affecting their ecological processes with devastating effects on the people living there. Among the reasons for this are wastewater discharges, uncontrolled use of groundwater resources, mining activities, and increasing surface sealing. In order to improve the ecosystem services of the Ganga River, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development supported the Indian government programme "Namami Gange" with the programme "Support to Ganga Rejuvenation". The aim of the programme was, among other things, to improve the qualitative and quantitative condition of the river and its tributaries as well as that of the environment in the catchment area.

On behalf of the "National Mission of Clean Ganga" (NMCG) and GIZ India, adelphi supported the development of a programme of measures for the Ramganga River basin, a tributary of the Ganga River. The measures addressed five pre-identified key issues, including water quality deterioration, alteration in river hydrology and water quantity, and increased flood risk caused by e.g. sand mining.

The main tasks of adelphi included:

• preparing a programme of measures for each identified key issue at basin level, including an implementation plan, time plan, and details on funding and responsibilities of local authorities
• consulting responsible implementation groups (e.g. local authorities)
• information exchange and coordination between contractors and key stakeholders

The project built on past project activities (The Restoration of the Ganges River in India), in which adelphi, in collaboration with the National Mission of Clean Ganga (NMCG), assisted districts located in the Ganga River basin in developing district plans to protect, control and reduce pollution of the Ganga River.