ON RIGHT TRACK: With Rs 150 crore sanctioned, the bumpy ride on the road along the Ganga in Patna (above) will be a thing of the past after beautification of its banks with parks like the one in Calcutta (top). Telegraph pictures

Patna, Jan. 12: Stinking Ganga ghats could soon be spic and span. Green patches along walkway, parks and swanky restaurants can make the eastern banks of the river in the city the most sought-after chill out zone.

With Rs 150 crore in the state kitty, all these can be a reality. The Centre sanctioned the amount for beautification, restoration and conservation of the 20-km-long eastern banks of the river.

Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh today suggested the Bihar government to follow the Bengal model for developing the Ganga riverfront.

“Bihar has got Rs 150 crore for riverfront development. I think the riverfront development in Calcutta, especially the three Millennium Parks, has been quiet good. Officials from Bihar should go to Calcutta and have a look before replicating the model in Patna,” Ramesh, who was here today, told The Telegraph.

Calcutta has three Millennium Parks on the banks of Ganga. With lot of planned greeneries, open air amphitheatre and boating facility, the Ganga riverfront has become very popular among Calcuttans.

However, Calcutta riverfront development projects worth Rs 300 crore were still pending with the central government, said Ashok Bhattacharya, the municipal affairs and urban development minister of Bengal.

Back in Patna, Ramesh sailed on a boat on Ganga with state government officials and R.K. Sinha, the environmentalist popularly known as Dolphin man. Ramesh was elated to see dolphins in river, but at the same time was upset with the discharge of untreated sewage into it.

The riverfront project in Patna, to be developed on the lines of the riverfront being developed in Calcutta, can make Jairam happy on his next tour. For, its thrust will be on social uplift, urban rejuvenation and environment cleanliness.

One of its focus areas will be development of drainage system across the river as Patna is one of the few cities where large volume of untreated waste is discharged into the river everyday.

Ramesh said: “Tripartite agreements between the Centre, the state and the municipal body will earmark the responsibilities for conducting the project.”

The Union minister said: “In Patna, drainage of untreated waste in Ganga is the biggest problem. There are several places across the river where large volume of untreated waste is disposed into the river.”

He said: “My ministry officials spoke with the state officials and we have plans to check the drainage of untreated waste into the river.”

Talking about the riverfront project in Patna, the Union minister said: “For the first phase, the Union government has sanctioned Rs 150 crore for development of the riverfront. The Union government will bear 70 per cent of total expenditure, while the state government will spend the rest 30 per cent.”

In the first phase, around 7km stretch along the river will be developed. After the completion of the projects under the first phase, the second phase of the riverfront development would be started.

Ramesh also said an ambitious project to prevent the discharge of untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluent into the Ganga would be executed by 2020. Around Rs 15,000 crore would be pumped in for the project over the next 10 years.

He said: “Of the 2,500-long stretch of Ganga, 415km is in Bihar. The Union government has approved two more projects apart from the riverfront development project in Patna.”

The Union government has sanctioned Rs 440 crore for development of the drainage system in four cities of Bihar —Begusarai, Buxar, Hajipur and Munger. Besides, 19 cities and towns on the banks of Ganga in Bihar will be developed. For this, the Union government has sanctioned Rs 3,100 crore. The project would be funded by World Bank.