Dutch PM inaugurates Indo-Dutch Ganga Forum

Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 25

Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Friday inaugurated the Indo-Dutch Ganga Forum to take forward the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (Government of  India) and his country’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment in June last year.

Addressing a gathering, Rutte appreciated efforts being made under the Namami Gange programme and acknowledged the vastness of the task at hand. Local governments, financial sector and private sector, as well as communities, will need to join hands with the Indian and the Netherlands governments, he said.

He pitched waste-to-wealth approach to encourage sustainability of projects. The approach has been devised by the Indian government under its “ODF Plus” programme which envisages convergence of projects under the clean-Ganga drive and Swachh Bharat Mission.

Netherlands’ Minister of Water Infrastructure Cora van Nieuwenhuizen also advocated “trash-to-cash” approach. She evinced her country’s government’s keenness to work closely with National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).

Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Ministry’s Secretary U.P Singh informed on the occasion that there are more than 2,000 aquatic species in river Ganga and around two million people bathe in it every day. Cleaning of the Ganges is a continuous process, she added.

The inauguration of the Indo-Dutch Ganga Forum was followed by a sessions during which issues like “Innovative Financing Models for Indo-Dutch PPP Projects” were discussed.

Other themes included “Dutch Approach to Partnership in Public Utilities in India” and “Innovative Dutch Solutions for Urban Water Challenges”. 

The Netherlands government delegation also shared the experiences of their collaboration with Uttar Pradesh government to reduce water consumption and employ cleaner technologies in tanneries in Kanpur.