India has joined hands with Germany to attain pristine status of Ganga by adopting river basin management strategies used for cleansing rivers like Rhine and Danube of pollutants. In a statement, Water Resource Ministry said that the objective of the agreement is to enable responsible stakeholders at national and state levels to apply integrated river basin management approach for Ganga’s rejuvenation. The agreement was signed between Ministry of Water Resources and German International Cooperation in New Delhi yesterday.

The Ministry said, initial actions will focus on Uttarakhand, with scope of expansion to other upstream Ganga States. The duration of the project is three years and the German contribution in the project will be to the tune of 22.5 crore rupees. Namami Gange is the flagship programme of the government that aims at reducing pollution and conserving the river.