The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has asked the Centre,the Ganga basin States, civil society and industry to come together to clean the Ganga. He was chairing the meeting of National Ganga River Basin Authority in New Delhi today. Expressing concern that the efforts in the past have not been very successful, he sought a renewed and sincere commitment in both thought and action to make a definite change in the situation.

The Prime Minister asserted that all the stake holders must find the right balance between the need for environmental and ecological conservation of the Ganga and its basin on the one hand and the imperatives of growth and development on the other.

Dr. Singh said that in order to formulate long term policies and actions, the Ministry of Environment and Forests commissioned a consortium of seven IITs to prepare a comprehensive River Basin Management Plan for the Ganga. Dr singh urged the stake holders to carry on their work expeditiously and with due diligence.

Prime Minister called upon the Chief Ministers to make an assessment of the situation with regard to both untreated sewage and industrial pollution and present a report to the National Ganga River Basin Authority, NRGBA . He said, states should earmark adequate resources and give priority to capacity building of urban local bodies.