The News Minute | July 10, 2014 | 05:28 pm IST
Cleaning up the Ganga was one of the major issues raised in the campaign of then prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. So it was only expected that the budget would carry a plan for reviving and cleaning up the majestic river.
An Integrated Ganga Development Plan was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on July 10 as part of the Modi government's maiden budget.
Rs 2,037 crores have been allocated for the project which has been named 'Namami Ganga'. An NRI fund for conservation of river Ganga is also on the cards.
However, the allocation made for the river got mixed response from Twitteratis. Previous governments also had made promises to focus on the rejuvenation of the Ganga, one of the most important rivers in the world. A lot was spent and very little came out of those projects. So it was only normal for people to be sceptic about any new measures announced. Some still have their hopes pinned with the new government.
Here's a quick look at what some thought about whether the Rs 2,037 crores set aside for the river will bear any successful result or not.
In the coming days, we can see how the fund allocated for Ganga river development will be misused. Another scam is sure shot.#Budget2014
— Ratheesh Padmanabhan (@adv_ratheesh) July 10, 2014Rs 2000 cr fr Clean Ganga Project & 7000 cr for 100 new cities, both important bt ratio of amount set aside seems irrational #Budget2014
— Anjana Om Kashyap (@anjanaomkashyap) July 10, 2014#Budget2014 FM says #Ganga needs money. Not true. Needs right direction and approach. That is why Ganga not clean
— Sunita Narain (@sunitanar) July 10, 2014Looks like ganga is the only river in India #Budget2014
— Prashanth (@itisprashanth) July 10, 2014NRI fund for Ganga? What? WE pay NRI's to clean the Ganga? DETAILS! #Budget2014
— Deepak Shenoy (@deepakshenoy) July 10, 2014Only 100 cr for unifying rivers and 2000 cr just for #Ganga ah !? Poda dei !! #Budget2014
— Durgesh Haridas (@thegouyalle) July 10, 2014I propose a sum of Rs. 200 Crores to stop people from dumping corpses in the Ganga river. #WishfulThinking #Budget2014
— Madhu Menon (@madmanweb) July 10, 2014If you are talking about just the Allahabad-Haldia corridor on the Ganga, then its fine. That will actually be quite awesome. #Budget2014
— Preet Tyagi (@Preet_Tyagi) July 10, 2014#RailBudget2014 #Budget2014 Putting too much of expectation on Arun to clean all the mess is like cleaning Ganga River in one day.
— Reema Banerjee (@reemabanerjee) July 10, 2014#2037cr for #Ganga cleaning project .. hope the clenaing process #GoCleanNo Brastchaar Modi Sarkaar #Budget2014 #SuperBudget
— SRIKANTH ADEPU (@srikanthviru) July 10, 2014#cleaningganga is an excellent initiative. But why only #ganga? #Budget2014
— nidhi mundra (@nidhimundra) July 10, 2014Trying hard not to be cynical about Ganga action plan budget. #Budget2014
— Patakha (@madpr) July 10, 2014