Why is it in the news?

• As per the original plan, cleaning the Ganga was inextricably linked to ensuring that ecological flows —or a minimum quantity of water at various stretches— were maintained.
•  Mr. Gadkari said that ecological flows would “automatically result” when the river was clean, indicating a different approach to the task of cleaning the river. 

New treatment plants

• The tenders for the STPs in all the cities concerned would be issued by December.
•  It would take at least two years for the plants to be built and become operational.
• So it wouldn’t be until the end of the present government’s tenure that “significant results” would be visible.

Mission Clean Ganga

• The Clean Ganga Mission was allocated ₹20,000 crore to be spent over five years.
• Of the ₹20,000-crore, about ₹15,000 crore has been sanctioned so far, and of this amount, only ₹2,700 crore had been spent as of August 2017.
• Of the 87 sewage infrastructure projects approved as part of the Mission, only 14 had been completed as of August 2017, according to NMCG records.