Jayanthi hauls up Maya for ignoring pollution of rivers (Times of India 23 January 2012)

New Delhi: The UPA government launched another salvo at BSP supremo Mayawati with the Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan writing to the Uttar Pradesh CM pointing out that industries were polluting select rivers in the state leading to contamination of groundwater in some regions.
The minister also criticized the state government for not utilizing Central funds properly to abate pollution in the water bodies. “In last two years, the environment ministry has sanctioned several projects for conservation of river Ganga and lakes like Ramgarh Tal at Gorakhpur. Hundreds of crores have been released to Uttar Pradesh for implementation of these projects. I hear that the state government has not used the money properly,” she said.
“Our efforts, to clean river Ganga that flows to important parts of UP have not been able to succeed because of the ndifference shown by the state government with regard to pollution,” she added.
Natarajan has asked the state government to direct her state pollution control board to curb pollution, specifically in Aami River in Gorakhpur.
She noted that effluent from industries in Gorakhpur industrial area and untreated municipal solid waste was making its way unchecked into the river and polluting the groundwater of villages in the vicinity. The central pollution control board, which works under the environment ministry, had found that the effluent treatment plants of the area were not working and the waste of Gorakhpur too was being dumped in Rapti river despite directions from the Centre against it.
In the last two years the environment ministry has sanctioned seven projects at a total cost of Rs 1341.60 crore for conservation of Ganga in Allahabad, Varanasi, Garhmukteshwar, Moradabad and Kannauj.
Of the sanctioned amount, Rs 204.20 crore has been released to the state so far. Another Rs. 217.14 crore has been transferred to UP in the last three years for implementation of ongoing sanctioned schemes under the Gomti Action Plan and the Ganga Action Plan Phase-II.