Mumbai, July 9 (IANS) Maharashtra Environment Minister Pankaja Munde on Wednesday in the Legislative Council said that the government will soon prepare an action plan to undertake the river rejuvenation programme, adding that the local bodies in the state are lax in setting up sewage projects.

She also announced that department-wise meetings will be held after classifying the 56 polluted rivers in the state.

She replied to a question by Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil and other members on what measures the state government is taking to prevent water pollution in the state’s rivers. They also asked what action has been taken against companies that pollute water, stating that 311 out of 6033 rivers in the state are polluted.

“According to the Central government’s National Water Quality Measurement System, a total of 603 rivers in the country are regularly surveyed. Accordingly, the report published in 2022 said 56 rivers in the state were included in the polluted river belts. Also, only 50 per cent of the sewage discharged into the rivers from local bodies in the state is treated and discharged. Department-wise meetings will be held after classifying the rivers regarding polluted river belts and sewage treatment. Also, a monitoring committee has been formed to control water pollution and suggest measures,” said Minister Munde.

Minister Munde said that the sewage from industries should be discharged into rivers and canals instead of being processed. Therefore, she added that the government will discuss with the industries department and find a way out.

“Nag, Mula, Mutha and Chandrabhaga river rejuvenation projects have been undertaken. Some local self-government bodies have been lax in setting up sewage treatment projects. Therefore, a monitoring committee has been formed to control it. Currently, the sewage treatment project has not been completed. Therefore, notices will be given to the entities responsible for pollution,” she added.

Meanwhile, Minister Ashish Shelar on Wednesday assured the Legislative Council that the government will take necessary measures to ensure that the medical reimbursement scheme provided by the government to its employees is processed online and transparently and will also study the cashless scheme being implemented in Haryana and other states.

The Minister was replying to a calling attention motion by MLA Satyajit Tambe regarding the medical scheme for government employees in the Legislative Council.

He said that the Public Health Department provides health coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family per year to beneficiary families under the combined Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana and Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. This scheme is cashless.

“Group B of this scheme includes families holding white cards (including government and semi-government employees) and families not holding any type of ration card. This also includes government and semi-government employees of the state. Benefits are admissible for medical treatment in 2184 approved hospitals. A total of 6,958.2 crores have been spent in this scheme since 2020-21 in 37 lakh 62 thousand 601 cases,” said the minister.

Minister Shelar said that in the five years from 2017 to 2022, the government spent Rs 238.13 crore, Rs 248.32 crore, Rs 213.86 crore, Rs 226.47 crore, and Rs 346.13 crore on reimbursement, respectively. He assured that this system would be made more transparent.

–IANS

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