Government may levy charge on river water users, polluters

News:

• In view of the high costs involved in cleaning up and inter-linking of rivers, the government is considering levying a charge on river water users and those polluting them.
• The cost of inter-linking of rivers has risen from Rs 5 lakh crore to Rs 11 lakh crore. The cost of cleaning up GANGA, is likely to be around Rs 50,000 crore.
• The groundwater level is depleting at an alarming level in some states like Punjab. Barring the poor, there should be some charge levied on those using the water. The cost should be recovered even from those polluting rivers.
• The Water Resources Ministry will soon submit its plan for cleaning up Ganga to the NGT, as it did for  Yamuna.
• The government is also considering grading rivers in three categories such as A, B and C, according to their cleanliness level.
• The government is also thinking of roping in Australia for river basin management and Israel for drip irrigation. It is also studying the rejuvenated Rhine river, which shows some similarities to Ganga.

Source: ET