National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) has started the Mission Clean Ganga with a changed and comprehensive approach to champion the challenges posed to Ganga through four different sectors, namely, of wastewater management, solid waste management, industrial pollution and river front development.

        NGRBA has been established through the Gazette notification of the Government of India (Extraordinary) No. 328 dated February 20, 2009 issued at New Delhi with the objectives of (a) ensuring effective abatement of pollution and conservation of the river Ganga by adopting a river basin approach to promote inter-sectoral co-ordination for comprehensive planning and management; and (b) maintaining environmental flows in the river Ganga with the aim of ensuring water quality and environmentally sustainable development.

        NGRBA is mandated to take up regulatory and developmental functions with sustainability needs for effective abatement of pollution and conservation of the river Ganga by adopting a river basin approach for comprehensive planning and management. The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation(MoWR, RD & GR) is the nodal Ministry for the NGRBA. The authority is chaired by the Prime Minister and has as its members the Union Ministers concerned, the Chief Ministers of the States through which Ganga flows, viz., Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, among others. This initiative is expected to rejuvenate the collective efforts of the Centre and the States for cleaning the river.

         NGRBA functions include development of a Ganga River Basin Management Plan, regulation of activities aimed at prevention, control and abatement of pollution, to maintain water quality and to take measures relevant to the river ecology in the Ganga basin states. It is mandated to ensure the maintenance of minimum ecological flows in the river Ganga and abate pollution through planning, financing and execution of programmes including that of –

1) Augmentation of Sewerage Infrastructure
2) Catchment Area Treatment
3) Protection of Flood Plains
4) Creating Public Awareness

         NGRBA has been mandated as a planning, financing, monitoring and coordinating authority for strengthening the collective efforts of the Central and State governments for effective abatement of pollution and conservation of river Ganga so as to ensure that by the year 2020 no untreated municipal sewage or industrial effluent will flow into the river Ganga.

         The NGRBA is fully operational and is also supported by the state level State Ganga River Conservation Authorities (SGRCAs) in five Ganga basin States which are chaired by the Chief Ministers of the respective States. Under NGRBA programme, projects worth Rs. 4607.82 crore have been sanctioned up to 31st March 2014.