Namami Gange: Acing Sustainable Development Goals through Geo-enabled Governance

Overview

Namami Gange is the flagship programme of the Government of India for the rejuvenation of Ganga and its tributaries. National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) is the implementing authority of this programme. The authority has been constituted under the provisions of the Environment Protection Act (EPA), 1986, and is a part of the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Namami Gange programme is adopting state of art technologies like cloud-based GIS, LiDAR, geostatistical analysis, big data, internet of things (IoT), machine learning, blockchain, deep learning, artificial intelligence, drones etc. towards its vision of rejuvenation of the Ganga basin addressing all key environmental parameters. This model of Geospatial Governance or g-Governance is acting as an extended module of e-Governance with the additional functionality of Geospatial technologies.

In December 2019, the first National Ganga Council meeting was convened under the Chairmanship of the Hon’ble Prime Minister. The concept of Arth Ganga was chalked out based on the symbiotic relationship between nature and society and channelizing economic activity along the banks of River Ganga. Six Key verticals for Interventions were identified, including Zero Budget Natural Forming, Monetization and Reuse of Sludge and Wastewater, Livelihood Generation Opportunities, Public Participation, Cultural Heritage and Tourism, and Institutional Buildings.