A special allocation of Rs. 200 crore for the clean-up of some important lakes and rivers other than the Ganga has been made in the Budget 2011-12.

Announcing this in his Budget Speech in the Lok Sabha today, the Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that a number of projects under the National Ganga River Basin Authority have been approved in 2010-11 and the momentum will be further stepped-up. There are many rivers and lakes of cultural and historical significance that need to be cleaned, the Minister added.

Special allocation of funds for cleaning significant lakes and rivers other than the Ganga announced in national budget. A special allocation in the national budget establishes a targeted budgetary provision to finance cleaning and remediation of important lakes and rivers other than the Ganga, supporting projects under river-basin project frameworks and extending similar interventions to culturally and historically significant waterbodies.