Panel formed to prepare Ganga de-siltation plan

New Delhi, July 22 (IANS) The government has set up a committee to prepare guidelines for desilting the Ganga river from Bhimgauda in Uttarakhand to Farakka in West Bengal, officials said on Friday.

The committee has been asked to submit its detailed report within three months, said the officials in the Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Ministry.

Madhav Chitale, a member of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), has been appointed chairman of the committee.

The committee has the Secretary of Ministry of Water Resources, Secretary of Ministry of Environment, and Director of Central Water and Power Research Station - Pune as its members.

"The committee has been asked to establish difference between de-silting and sand mining and also to establish need for de-silting for ecology and e-flow of the Ganga," officials said.

Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Uma Bharti earlier this month stated that a committee will be set up soon for de-siltation of Ganga.