An analytical review on the integrated management of river resources through Namami Gange

The Namami Gange project (NGP) is a flagship integrated conservation mission of the Indian government for the rejuvenation of the revered Ganga River. Over the years, the approach toward the Ganga has primarily focused on its material aspect, evident from the canal construction in the upper Ganga segment during the East India times. However, with the increasing population and urbanization, pollution from industries and municipalities has posed a threat to the river's purity. All prior efforts to curb the rising pollution and poor water quality of this holy river have mostly failed. Despite many such challenges, the Ganga remains a symbol of spiritual purity and cultural significance in India, embodying a blend of material and divine qualities that make it a living entity like no other river on the planet. The current version of the river cleaning-cum-rejuvenation program is officially known as ‘Namami Gange,’ which translates to ‘paying respect to the Ganga River’ and seeing it as more than simply a stream of materialistic water. The establishment of human connectedness to the river remains at the center of this integrated, multi-sectoral, and thorough rejuvenation approach, which is based principally on the features of Aviralta (Quantity of flow), Nirmalta (Quality of flow), and the ecological restoration strategies. The data show that this approach has yielded results, with the completion of numerous key projects along the Ganga, leading to an improvement in the river's overall health (PTI, 2021; NMCG, 2023).

The construction of sewage treatment plants (STPs) and pumping stations along the Ganga route is prioritized as a long-term requirement under the National Mission for Clean Ganga Project to prevent pollutants from entering the Ganga River. However, for this to happen or for the successful implementation of this project, public communication, and engagement, as well as complete consideration of public opinion at all levels of governance, is required (Varma & Jha, 2023). Surprisingly, there is very little scientific literature in the public domain about the effort that intends to rejuvenate the river Ganga (Alley, 2016; Mathur, 2020). Observing the critical gap, this review tries to document its overall functioning beginning from its inception and critically analyzes its progress by presenting case studies, pilot studies, and analytical critiques. We have also suggested our sectoral inputs by segregating numerous aspects of Ganga rejuvenation under three broad interventions, namely agricultural, sludge management, and biodiversity conservation, sustainable forestry, and livelihood generation interventions. This will further assist the administration in the improvement of sustainable water governance by presenting sectoral interventions based on the underlying challenges.

Strategy: Starting with the GRBMP (Ganga River Basin Management Plan) framework, the NGP has implemented a conservation and restoration plan for Ganga under the NMCG (National Mission for Clean Ganga). This review examines the key and innovative components of the Ganga's Integrated River Basin Management Plan.

Data curation: Published works in English and Hindi were consulted from Google Scholar, Elsevier (Mendeley), Semantic Scholar, and Zenodo databases to retrieve the most recent information on the subject using terms such as Ganga River, Ganga cleaning, Namami Gange, river conservation, basin management, sustainable management, and integrated water resource management. The literature search for this article was complemented with published material from a varied range of web sources, such as government databases, reputable news portals, editorials, expert interview excerpts, and opinion articles that may be freely available.

To keep this river flourishing, a new approach to its rejuvenation was urgently required. Consequently, a holistic natural resource management plan of the ‘NGP’ was launched as a long-term intervention for the entire river basin, with a focused strategy, planning, implementation, and supervision plan. The NGP commenced with a sanctioned outlay of INR 20,000 crores in 2015, envisaged to unite the traditional knowledge of river water management with the cutting-edge technology of sewerage management and river bed cleaning. It is currently being implemented under the National Mission for Clean Ganga, by the Ministry of Water Resources, GoI (Alley, 2016). The program was based on a report prepared by the IIT consortium known as ‘The Ganga River Basin Management Plan' (GRBMP), which was published back in 2013. GRBMP considers the Ganga as a geological and ecological entity and suggests scientific measures such as ensuring adequate ecological flow (E-flow) to the river and its tributaries, sustainable management of the aquatic resources, and limitations to anthropogenic activities for an uninterrupted and unpolluted flow of the river. Consequently, the key pillars of NGP included creating sewage infrastructure, monitoring industrial effluents, supporting technologies to clean river surfaces, and issues like biodiversity, afforestation along the banks, and public awareness. NMCG is a nodal agency under MoWR tasked with the multi-disciplinary program of Namami Gange, and since its inception, 424 projects totaling over Rs. 35,000 crores have been approved, of which 244 stand completed and the remaining are under different phases of progress as of April 2023 (PTI, 2022; NMCG, 2023). Another significant program is to connect all the 1,632 Gram Panchayats (Village councils) along the Ganga to a sanitation system (Jal Jeevan Mission) and achieve a significant observable change in the water indicators along the stream by 2022. Although in conjunction with NGP, it was a separate project granted a corpus fund of Rs 3.5 lakh crore (Times of India, 2019). The competing roles of the river which are power generation, irrigation, domestic water supply, fisheries, and riverbed agriculture, result in a variety of services, and if managed responsibly can contribute to the country's long-term economic prosperity. With this collective vision and to ensure people's participation and their financial upliftment along with Ganga rejuvenation, an economic framework model for the Ganga Basin (Arth Ganga) was formulated in the year 2019. This economic model aims for a 3% contribution to GDP from all concerted efforts made in this direction (Times of India, 2019).

Unfortunately, time and again, the NGP has been subjected to criticisms like the underutilization of corpus funds, delays in the compilation of DPRs, finalization of tenders, and payments to the contractor (Mathur, 2020). Back in 2017, a performance audit report of the NGP issued by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) looked at the design and implementation of projects, effective utilization of funds, the adequacy of human resources, and the efficiency of monitoring and assessment mechanisms. This report emphasized the hundreds of crores of funds found unspent in banks, a failure to implement any long-term strategy, as well as delays in project clearances between FY15 and FY17. Among the other issues were the ODF (Open Defecation Free) status of villages along the river bank (Ganga grams), shortfalls in forestry interventions, and immature usage of remote sensing data (CAG, 2017). A change in the situation was observed after the state assembly election win of 2017, as the government at the center gained a vital advantage after securing administrations in four of the five states along the major Ganga stem. The Ganga basin states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh were given strict directions to ensure public participation as well as proper dispersal of project-related information. As a result, NMCG transitioned to the PFMS platform and is now using it to conduct all financial activities, including releases and payments to various entities. Currently, the PFMS node of NMCG is completely up to date on the entries in four Heads of Accounts through which funds are received and released to various NGP entities (The Economic Times, 2017). NMCG was also asked by the CAG to develop an annual action plan in tandem with the completion of the GRBMP to prioritize the implementation of long-term Ganga rejuvenation interventions. These activities contributed to the expediting of various projects, which are now either completed or nearing completion. The administration is planning to undertake similar initiatives for other rivers throughout the country (NMCG, 2023).

According to the traditional literatures, Ganga is everlasting and has thousands of years of history, with at least hundreds of years of documented literature. The river not only provides ecological (biodiversity) and social values but also economically sustains the people of India (livelihood). However, the non-judicial and irrational behavior of economic agents has jeopardized its resources. A recent case study on Ganga's resources and accompanying livelihood possibilities (ferry and tourism) and non-flow (riverbed farming) called our attention to the current situation. The tragedy of the commons, state-provided subsidies, and myopic behavior within the community, according to the report, have reduced the sustainability of river resources, significantly impacting biological, physical, human, and management systems across the rivers. The article advocates comprehensive research of environmental assets to develop information on the socio-economic advantages of river resources, and an effective knowledge-based allocation of resources as an urgent intervention (Panta, 2019).

Furthermore, a joint report by NCAER (New Delhi) and TCD (Chicago) emphasized the need for immediate regulation of traditional river fishing methods, particularly in the states of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, where the Ganga is used for drinking, fishing, and bathing by the fisherfolks. The author highlights the recognition of fishing communities as an important part of the river ecology, recommends improvements in the water monitoring and control measures, and calls for a synchronization of their indigenous knowledge with current scientific results. According to the research, including the fishing community in government river development and alternative skilling initiatives will significantly help them diversify their economic possibilities (NCAER-TCD, 2020). The government appears to have embraced such concepts, as it acknowledges people's connection and engagement as a critical facilitator across different platforms. As per the available facts, all past efforts failed owing to a lack of focus and participation from the public. The NGP rightly recognizes this issue and hence, aims for massive public involvement and support by transforming it into a mass movement, as the number of businesses and individuals involved in the cause is said to be among the largest across sectors (Mathur, 2020; The Hindu, 2021).

The NMCG recently established the ‘Arth Ganga,’ which is defined as ‘the development of economic activities surrounding Ganga as a key enabler of self-sustenance,’ and it intends to improve the river's socio-economic activities to increase job possibilities. By lowering chemical use in agriculture, the first objective is to promote zero-based natural farming in the river basin area. Following that, the goals are to improve freshwater fisheries, with a focus on the fishing community and those who live near river banks. This would ostensibly create a positive feedback loop in which individuals are more likely to care for the river, which in turn generates cash for them. In due course, the establishment of cold storage facilities starting in select locations, and beautification, as well as the construction of new ghats to promote tourism, have been planned (The Statesman, 2022).

The conservation of the Ganga River is also facing a crucial challenge of sustaining the E-flow of the river that maintains its aquatic life and the various goods and services offered by the river (Sedaghat & Howell, 2019). Unfortunately, the E-flow is being severely affected by dams, diversions, and blockades at tributaries, leading to a critical lack of water that is being removed faster than it can be replenished naturally. Projects for water diversion for irrigation and domestic use are being used along the upper- and mid-Ganga River basin, which must be monitored closely to ensure that they don't affect the E-flow of the river (Table 1). It's high time to take immediate action as the situation is becoming increasingly worrying. The E-flow policy, whose strict implementation is necessary, has gained momentum only after an Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) report came out (Singh, 2019a). The lean season, which occurs in October, April, and May, is a time when the river's current is not sufficient to meet the various biological needs of the river. As a sign of relief, the E-flow assessment processes are continuously evolving and becoming more accurate with the emergence of new data. Recent research reviews have thoroughly discussed the hydraulic habitat requirements of different biotic communities, and have presented a case for improving current irrigation and agricultural practices (Kaushal et al., 2019).

With the significant anthropogenic strain on water resources, it is critical to focus on water conservation and the efficient and effective use of water resources. Rainwater harvesting, organic farming, efficient irrigation systems, climate-smart agricultural approaches, and less water-intensive crops will all benefit the cause. In support of the cause, the NMCG has agreed to secure off 5–7 km along the Ganga's banks and notify farmers that they must only practice organic farming. Farmers along the Ganga River are also being encouraged to practice sustainable agriculture, such as Zero Budget Farming, and are being trained to reduce water loss from water distribution systems by implementing measures such as lined irrigation canals, covered aqueducts, and leak-proof pressure valves in drinking water distribution systems, among other things (NMCG, 2019).

The Padma Shree awardee Dr A. P. Joshi's work includes building sustainable technologies that are ecology-inclusive economies for ecosystem development. He stands in stark opposition to GDP (gross domestic product), and believes in the contrasting notion of GEP (gross environmental product), while arguing that GDP should not be the sole metric of determinant of a national progress, as it either ignores or rarely considers the environmental parameters such as the periodic state of the soil, water, forest, and air. This seems to be a very valid assertion as agriculture provides a living for more than 70% of people in agricultural countries like India, and hence their subsistence pattern differs dramatically from other economies. The country's desire for economic progress while also meeting its ecological needs is currently a dichotomy, but a periodic evaluation of its biological assets such as forest cover, soil, and water bodies will pave the way (DoWR RD&GR, 2022).

Some of the major concerns and causes of damage to Ganga's aquatic flora and fauna are rapid urbanization, removal of topsoil (for bricklaying, etc.), increasing population (75 million per year globally), conversion of prime cropland to urban use (3 million ha.), deforestation of alluvial regions, and alarming rates of water abstraction for Agri-purposes in the Ganga basin area. An effective solution, as per ex-NMCG DG, would be to reduce soil erosion in basin states, which must include the mandatory practice of organic farming in the bank area (at least to a stretch of 5 km² along the banks), make use of micro-irrigation techniques, and traditional practices of flood irrigation. NMCG is currently working in close coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farming Welfare to promote organic farming and improve farming techniques to alleviate these detrimental effects (Alley, 2016). Additionally, large-scale deforestation, illegal mining, and extensive use of agrochemicals are the prime disruptors of the river ecosystem, resulting in further deterioration of the river system. For an effective abatement of soil erosion and land degradation, and sustaining the E-flow of water streams, a huge number of plantations and a stringent implementation of laws to protect older trees along river banks could be a good start. Furthermore, a restriction on the mining of sand and stones (for minerals and other construction purposes), and the rampant use of dangerous agrochemicals (insecticides and pesticides) in the entire basin area should be the immediate goal. Residents of the basin area should feel a connection to the river, and have a sense of shared responsibility, as they are part of the problem.

The NGP has achieved some serious milestones, including assisting in the release of Kanpur from the harmful effects of the Sisamau drain after a 128-year gap, which was infamous for the filth it was contributing to the Ganga. According to reports, approximately 140000 m³/d of waste has been stopped from flowing into the Holy Ganga (IINS, 2019). Additionally, to achieve the target of bathing quality water all along the river, various types of projects were implemented along with the investment of copious amounts of funds. In Table 2, we have presented the status of the river before and after the NGP program at various specific monitoring sites.

Furthermore, a total of 97 towns within a 5-km stretch of the Ganga have been identified to make necessary interventions, and several user-friendly mobile-based applications, such as the Green Ganga App and the Bhuvan Ganga App, have been launched to support the cause (IINS, 2019). While the former is used for geo-tagging seedlings and delineating plantation borders as part of NGP's afforestation initiatives, the latter is targeted at the public which helps to collect and submit information on different pollution sources that influence Ganga water quality. The primary goal of the planned forestry interventions is to support the Ganga's holistic conservation, which includes increasing the river's flow through a multi-pronged strategy across the riverscape. Since 2016–17, the State Forest Departments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal have been implementing the ‘Forestry Interventions for Ganga’ project following the DPR of FRI, with NMCG providing financial assistance to the appropriate State Forest Departments (NMCG, 2020a).

The concept of Arth Ganga under NGP visualizes energizing socio-economic development along the river banks and is being pushed as a sub-component of the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP). It was originally mentioned by the Prime Minister during the NGC's first meeting in Kanpur on December 14, 2019, to revitalize economic activities along the Ganga River's bank (PIB, 2020). The project's main goal was to channel economic activity along the Ganga River's banks to help India's inclusive growth and create a lot of employment opportunities. The project is now being undertaken by the Indian Ministry of Shipping in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources (via NMCG). To produce sustainable financing for cleaning the Ganga, all the Gangetic states were instructed to emphasize increasing adventure, and religious as well as cultural tourism along the Ganga. This observed a shift in focus from NGP to Arth Ganga, which foresees supporting the sustainable development paradigm through economic activity. Water being the most essential prerequisite for life, a Drinking Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance Framework for villages and urban bodies was also suggested under the program (Lalchandani, 2019). The government is also pushing its ‘Arth Ganga’ and ‘Gyan Ganga’ projects, which it expects will eventually lead to Ganga tourism, Ganga Medicine, Ganga Products, and so on, to give Ganga a global appeal and make it a national as well as global brand (DoWR RD&GR, 2021).

The NGP, driven by NMCG, is attempting to engage public-private partnerships to deliver comprehensive and long-term solutions for a healthier ecology along the river's stretch of more than 90 towns and 4,400 villages. In May of 2019, NMCG, HCL Foundation, and INTACH signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding. Observing the Arth Ganga's primary verticals the NMCG also intends to promote Ganga tourism by beautifying not only the ghats but also allowing floating flower and fruit markets, like those in Srinagar's Dal Lake, as well as a ferry service, to transport commuters to various areas of towns at strategic locations, which is currently being worked upon. The purpose of this project is to construct tiny community terminals (jetties) to convey flower, vegetable, milk, and pottery vendors to lively markets along the Ganga's banks. In addition, the government has recommended that boat services be launched to connect various areas throughout the city, including tourist attractions (ANI, 2019a; Gupta, 2020).

In a case study by IIT Kanpur, based on the E-flows related livelihood in the Ganga River, Mr Panta focuses on the interaction between river resources and livelihood, within the context of river resource exploitation generating an imbalance in flow-related livelihood which ultimately leads to the endangerment of river resources. For the first time, a study recommended that the river's Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) be kept in a desirable state to increase E-flows and encourage livelihood opportunities such as tourism and pilgrimage in the states like Uttarakhand (Haridwar-Rishikesh) and Uttar Pradesh (Kachhla Ghat-Bithoor) (Panta, 2014).

NMCG is working toward establishing a connect between people and the Ganga through a bridge of commerce. The six key verticals of Arth Ganga model, namely zero budget natural farming, circular water economy, building livelihood, promotion of culture, people's participation, and institutional building, have been aligned to achieve the purpose. Furthermore, natural farming (chemical-free farming) is being promoted along 10 km on both sides of the river, to reduce chemical pollution load in the river and the concept of ‘more crop per drop’ is being encouraged. Although, the natural farming method sees a slight drop in productivity at first, but with lower input costs, profit margins are expected to be higher. A multitude of concepts have been used to formulate the viability of these goals, involving agencies such as AoL, Patanjali, INTACH, and others who are experts in their fields. Monetizing sludge (by supplying farmers with natural manure) and treated water (delivery to industry) is further expected to serve the twin objective of lowering waste burden while benefiting from its reuse in the circular economy, which is important considering the sustainability standpoint (Devdiscourse, 2022).

The economic model of a value based closed-loop cycle of sewage to sludge-to-compost resulting in the transformation of sewage into natural manure (organic soil conditioners) will provide urban local governments with long-term revenue. Riverfronts could also function as small-scale marketplaces to promote local economies and provide livelihood options, such as encouraging fish farming, allowing farmers to exchange their organic food, promoting Ganga Artis, and so on. A collaboration with NAFED to expand the Namami Gange natural product line and promote it as a brand is also being considered by the NMCG. NAFED is also currently involved in mapping out the potential cultural tourist attractions along the river banks, and working in close association with the NMCG, on development of a Mahabharat and Ramayana circuit based on stories from the sacred scriptures to promote tourism and culture (Bharat Times, 2022; Devdiscourse, 2022).

Inland waterways are also one of the most important proponents of the Arth Ganga project, which would result in inclusive growth and play a critical part in the establishment of enormous job opportunities along the National Waterways stretch. Along the 1,400 km stretch of National Waterway-1 from Banaras to Haldia, many efforts, such as the establishment of small harbors, have been carried out under the Ministry of Shipping, for the benefit of local people, particularly traders and farmers. Farmers can gain a larger return on their goods which can now easily be transported and at a much lower cost. It will increase the ‘Ease of Living’ and the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ (PIB, 2020).

Among the major contributors to soil erosion and nutrient loss, modern agricultural practices, water pollution, and depletion of natural resources in the Ganga basin have accelerated the degradation of its agricultural lands. This phenomenon is seriously affecting the river and its associated ecosystems. Consequently, there is a pressing need to develop and endorse suitable agricultural practices to prevent rapid agricultural land degradation. Soil Erosion, Soil Nutrient Availability, Soil Biodiversity, and Water Usage are the primary concerns and for this reason, environmentally sustainable agriculture should be promoted in the basin area. Given the importance of human displacement, land flooding, damage to ecology, and the operational, transportation, as well as evaporation losses of large dams, any plan to rejuvenate the Ganga must emphasize the water storage distributed in the groundwater, tanks, lakes, and ponds, of the basin area, as well as the promotion of its wetlands and forests.

The US-based revered soil scientist Dr Rattan Lal recently won the 2020 World Food Prize for inventing and mainstreaming a soil-centric approach to increase food production that restores and conserves natural resources while mitigating climate change. Throughout his five-decade career, he has endorsed revolutionary soil-saving techniques which have profited the lives and health of over 500 million smallholder farmers, managed to improve the food security and nutrition of over two billion people, and ended up saving millions of hectares of natural tropical ecosystems. Dr Lal contends that soil health is a dynamic notion that evolves with each generation, and that we must adapt our techniques to meet the changing needs. While commenting on the notification on E-flow for Ganga which recognizes the right of the river to perform its ecological tasks, he indicated that in a similar sense, we need to reflect on the right of soil to protect against flood to mitigate soil erosion and improve soil health (World Food Prize, 2020).

Wetland conservation is one of the important components of river rejuvenation. Wetlands are separate ecosystems that are permanently or seasonally inundated by water. Floodplains and surrounding wetlands are especially important because they can directly contribute to improved river flows. NGP is working with a variety of partners, including the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), and state wetland agencies, to develop a comprehensive inventory, ground verification, and integrated management plans (IMPs) for conservation and protection. For example, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, a unique project is underway with the primary objectives of building IMPs for a massive 226 wetlands spanning 10 km of the river, covering over 1,000 km, as part of a one-of-a-kind effort to scale up wetland conservation to river and basin level (Mishra, 2021).

Dr Tripathi reproaches the existing administration, to which he says that, ‘despite forming a separate ministry and investing a large sum, only a little has been done, and the results are far from satisfactory’. The results of Ganga cleaning are not exactly reflecting what is being claimed, and the flow of the Ganga is still tipping, reducing her diluting capacity, he elaborates. Dead zones are leading from industrial waste dumps that may be up to 2 km long. Every year, over 700 tons of ash collected from the burning of around 33,000 bodies, as well as the remains of those bodies, are dumped into the river. These are some of the things he describes as impeding efforts to clean the Ganga (ANI, 2019b).

Since 2016, the Indian government has been implementing a pilot afforestation project along the Ganga's banks, with NMCG serving as the financing authority. With an initial budget of Rs. 2,293 crore, the project is being executed by the state forest departments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. Today many people say it has been a tremendous failure over 5 years. Some experts have even commented that planting new trees can reduce the streamflow 70% of the time, particularly during the dry season. According to a report, providing a mix of shrubs, grasses, and trees in appropriate densities and species composition, commensurate with the river's flow regime and the area's temperature, is crucial to ensuring that tree-planting does not drain water (Perinchery, 2022).

For the first time, the mission received and began implementing a scientific plan for afforestation along the full length of the Ganga developed by the Forest Research Institute. This was designed to address the natural, urban, and agricultural riverscapes. Using it as a model, the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change is presently applying a similar technique to 13 additional rivers around the country (Perinchery, 2022). However, NMCG recently informed the empowered task force (ETF) that despite repeated efforts made in the past, including allocation of funds from central CAMPA for scaling up afforestation activities under the NGP, these pilot projects of afforestation have not yielded any specific results, and thus the comprehensive DPR developed by FRI Dehradun could not be fully implemented. In this regard, the ministry (MoWR) stressed conducting a third-party appraisal of the afforestation project under the NGP to assess the impact of such large-scale intervention and going beyond simply reporting on the number of hectares and number of plants planted in the region. NMCG has currently contracted IIFM Bhopal as a third party for this purpose (NMCG, 2021).

One report cites a study conducted by the Sankat Mochan Foundation (SMF), a Varanasi-based NGO, which discovered a substantial increase in coliform and BOD levels between 2016 and 2019. Given the March 2019 deadline for all NGP-approved projects, which was then extended to December 2020 (the most recent deadline is March 2022), this comes as serious criticism. All the while, SMF has been using its laboratory to regularly analyze Ganga water samples. According to these statistics, the coliform level increased from 5.2 crores in 2016 to 14.4 crores in 2019. Similarly, between January 2016 and February 2019, BOD levels increased from the range of 46.8–54 mg/l to 66–78 mg/l. During the period, however, there was a minor improvement in sewage flow statistics of the Ganga (Singh, 2019b).

A research affiliate with the Nature Conservation Foundation in a very intriguing and recent study has presented a new difficulty arched as a side-effect of the drive to the waterways economic model of Arth Ganga. He argues that the Ganga is already overburdened with motorized vessel traffic and that any increase in vessel traffic will cause more harm than good to the Gangetic Dolphins. In this model, not only will the number of vessels transiting the river rise, but they will also do so on a more regular basis, resulting in a more chronic noise environment than a vessel that passes by only occasionally. According to the findings, preserving E-flows, rationalizing vessel traffic, and propeller changes to reduce sounds could all help to reduce the impacts of sound on Ganga River dolphins (Dey et al., 2019).

Nonetheless, there are several excellent developments related to the NGP's holistic objective of river rejuvenation, despite some setbacks. One such case study is from Uttarakhand, where Mothugad, a rain-fed river in the Chamoli district, began to dry up over time, forcing the district administration to begin work on cleaning and rejuvenating the river as a part of the NGP. The District DM applauds the region and its people for their level of commitment, social awareness, and unique effort in crafting a Gadwali language Anthem for the Mothugad River. Around 80,000 people are said to have been influenced directly and indirectly as a result of the endeavor. According to NMCG, harvesting structures were built and plantation was carried out with the help of villagers, all while utilizing already available funds from MNREGA and CAMPA, making the project cost-effective. The project was stated to be incredibly scalable and practicable with the deployment of geo-tagging and drone surveillance, and GIS mapping and monitoring for all actions were meant for transparency (NMCG, 2020b).

Another success story is the establishment of a Bio Gas (CNG) Generation plant from 18000 m³/d Jagjeetpur STP at Haridwar. It started with Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan's (UJS) recommendation for generating biogas (Bio CNG) by mandating relevant improvements in the digestor and building an upgrade to the plant in PPP (Public-Private Partnership) mode on a revenue-sharing basis to address the problem of sludge disposal created at the plant. The NMCG supplied funds for the STP's foundation level upgrades, while the DST provided an additional Rs. 431 lakhs in funding through its Technology Development Board for the technological installations at its processing unit. Besides helping with NGP objectives, this project is said to support a few other government projects, including Atmanirbhar Bharat, Swadeshi, and Swachta (NMCG, 2020b). In a research article released in 2021, data on the traditional practice of flood recession farming (FRF) was gathered from field trips, community surveys, and focus group discussions (FGDs). FRF refers to farmers who produce crops in the floodplains' moist, nutrient-rich soil after the water recedes and harvests them before the river floods. The study finds that the actual potential of FRF can only be determined by comprehensive research into its various elements and the mainstreaming of this technique in policy-making for long-term food production (Singh et al., 2021).

The ecohydrological and technological framework for the river rejuvenation could be based on four primary components: rural, urban, watershed area, and flood plains. The rural segment can deal with farmers based on Ganga grams, and institutional support to improve their income while promoting natural or traditional (zero-chemical) farming. The urban component shall deal with sludge and wastewater management and ensure their utilization under the notion of circular economy. Also, solid–liquid waste management needs to be vigorously promoted in semi-urban to rural areas. Subsequent components can aim to identify the wetlands and floodplains and ensure rigorous monitoring involving geo-referencing and tagging techniques. Hence, part of the solution lies in promoting nature-based farming and promoting related sectors like horticulture, floriculture, fishery, etc. Furthermore, a convergence of monitoring and implementing agencies as well as the target demography would be required. For this, the governments and their implementation agencies should work with data-driven analytical approaches. Some of the major improvements that need immediate attention could be:

• A digital farmer's registration inventory, and Cadastral mapping, complete with geo-referencing, geo-tagging, and geofencing data should be linked to the digital inventory for smooth functioning.

• Adoption of organic and natural farming (crop diversification, zero-chemical, no-tillage, organic soil cover, etc.).

• Farmer training programs to generate soil health-related awareness for a judicial and optimized usage of chemical fertilizers.

• Market linkages: Development of an online market platform for agribusinesses.

The Ganga River contains a diverse aquatic population. The WII has designated as many as six high biodiversity zones, and there are over 5 lakh wetlands reportedly spread over the five Ganga River states. Wetlands provide a varied range of ecosystem services, including irrigation, domestic water supply, freshwater fisheries, and recreational water, in addition to supporting and maintaining a high degree of biological diversity. Apart from tourism, the protected areas throughout the Ganga Basin might also be converted into biodiversity parks, which will additionally help in protecting the ecosystem. Based on our observations of current developments under the Arth Ganga project, we propose the following actionable ideas:

• Use of geo-tagging technology, especially during the afforestation programs.

• Community-led conservation programs involving SHG clusters.

• Promotion of wetland tourism, biodiversity-based eco-tourism, and water sports.

• Skill-based training programs and promotion of local artisans.

Among the multi-sectoral interventions, the specific challenges being faced by the agriculture and sludge management sectors are of huge scale and need immediate attention. Such challenges need not a piecemeal approach but an integrated technology-based framework that can address the monitoring and marketing aspects while covering all other facets. A multi-facet approach must include provision for farmers' acceptability toward organic and natural farming, their linkages to the big businesses, warehousing solutions for pre-and post-harvest management, promoting safe farming practices, monitoring the activities on a dashboard level, and region-based tree plantation and monitoring mechanisms.

The Ganga River cleaning and rejuvenation plan Namami Gange has made significant progress in India, providing a clean and improved water flow in the basin. However, several challenges need to be addressed based on sectoral interventions. Agricultural interventions should focus on four primary components: rural, urban, watershed area, and flood plains. Rural segments can be supported through Ganga grams and institutional support to improve income and promote natural or traditional farming. Urban components should manage sludge and wastewater under the circular economy and promote solid–liquid waste management.

Sludge management interventions should focus on converting sludge to compost or organic fertilizers, with NMCG forming multistakeholder collaborations with organizations working in this field. Biodiversity conservation, sustainable forestry, and livelihood generation interventions should focus on the diverse aquatic population of the Ganga River. Actionable ideas include using geo-tagging technology, community-led conservation programs, promotion of wetland tourism, biodiversity-based eco-tourism, water sports, and skill-based training programs.

To address these challenges, an integrated technology-based framework should be implemented, including provision for farmers' acceptability toward organic and natural farming, linkages to big businesses, warehousing solutions, promoting safe farming practices, and monitoring activities on a dashboard level.

The authors are deeply grateful to the Honorable Swami Ramdev for his advice and assistance. The prompt administrative assistance by Lalit Mohan and Gagandeep is also greatly appreciated. We also acknowledge Hashit Thakur for his efforts in designing the visualizations used in this article.

All co-authors have approved the final version of the paper. We declare that an earlier version of this work is available as a preprint on Authorea's server with the DOI: 10.22541/au.164933883.39788172/v1, under a non-exclusive, no reuse policy.

This study received no specific financial support from any external sources.

A.B. conceptualized the study, collected resources; S.G. and S.B. did data curation; V.A. supervised and reviewed the study; S.V. wrote, reviewed, and edited the article; S.K.S. wrote the original draft, did research, interpreted the results, and did graphic visualization.

All relevant data are included in the paper or its Supplementary Information.

The authors declare there is no conflict.