Question 66 from UPSC CSE 2016 - Current
Affairs

Question

Which of the following are the key features of âNational Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA)?
1. River basin is the unit of planning and management.
2. It spearheads the river conservation efforts at the national level.
3. One of the Chief Ministers of the States through which the Ganga flows becomes the Chairman of NGRBA.
Which of the above statements are correct?

IASCODEX · Accepted Answer

Correct Option: A. 1 and 2 only

Strategy: - Identify the core operational principle of the NGRBA from Statement 1, focusing on the river basin as the planning unit.
- Verify the overarching goal described in Statement 2, which aligns with the NGRBA's national conservation mandate.
- Critically evaluate Statement 3 regarding the Chairmanship, recognizing that national authorities are typically chaired by the Prime Minister, not a Chief Minister.
- Eliminate any options containing the factually incorrect Statement 3 to arrive at the correct answer.

Key Info: The National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) was constituted in February 2009 under Section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, as an empowered planning, financing, monitoring and coordinating authority for the Ganga River. It was later dissolved in 2016 and replaced by the National Ganga Council (NGC).

- **River Basin as Unit:** NGRBA adopted a holistic approach to river conservation, considering the entire river basin as the unit of planning and management, rather than fragmented efforts at city or state levels.
- **National Level Efforts:** Its primary mandate was to take up regulatory and developmental functions with sustainability needs for effective abatement of pollution and conservation of the river Ganga at the national level.
- **Chairmanship and Composition:** The **Prime Minister of India** was the Chairperson of NGRBA. Its members included the Union Ministers of relevant ministries and the Chief Ministers of the Ganga basin states (Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal).
- **Namami Gange Programme:** In 2016, the NGRBA was replaced by the National Ganga Council (NGC) under the Namami Gange Programme, with the Prime Minister as its head, to oversee the comprehensive conservation of the Ganga and its tributaries.

IASCODEX · Answer

Option B: 2 and 3 only

IASCODEX · Answer

Option C: 1 and 3 only

IASCODEX · Answer

Option D: 1, 2, and 3