GAP full of holes

Lying idle: a crematorium cons (Credit: Amit Shanker / CSE)Major lacunae have been detected in the functioning of the Ganga Action Plan (gap). The public accounts committee (pac) of parliament came down heavily on the government for diverting funds earmarked for the river conservation programme, and suggested a number of measures to achieve the desired objectives of the plan.

The pac also found that while states had mentioned lack of funds as the main reason for delay or failure in achieving targets, many implementing agencies failed to utilise the allocated amounts. The committee's report noted that the Union ministry of environment and forests did not fix any time-limit for the states to submit detailed project reports in the second phase of the plan. gap was launched in 1985 and is now in its second phase. Overall, about Rs 1700 crore was earmarked for the project.