To tackle pollution in the Ganga River, the Ganga Action Plan was developed in 1986. The primary purpose of this plan was to clean up the Ganga River by removing pollution from cities along its banks. From Rishikesh to Kolkata, the purpose was to clean up the Ganga. The central pollution control board created a five-year plan to clean up the Ganga in 1984. The central Ganga authority was founded in 1985, and a Ganga action plan was launched in 1986 to clean up the Ganga.

The Ganga Action Plan’s first phase was launched by late Rajiv Gandhi at Banaras’ Rajendra Prasad Ghat. For its implementation, the National Protection Agency was established. 256 programmes totaling 462 crores were implemented during the first phase of the Ganga Action Plan in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal. Water quality monitoring stations have been established.

Professionals from Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and the National Environment Engineering Research Institute tested the water quality. Despite all of the effort, the Ganga action plan failed miserably, despite having cost billions of dollars. The failure of such a massive scheme has resulted in economic pollution.

In 2001, the government initiated the second phase of the Ganga Action Plan, which is being implemented by the central pollution board, central public works department, and public works department.

A flagship Namami Ganga Program was established under a separate union Water Ministry as part of the river repair endeavour. The initiative aims to incorporate the Ganga conservation mission, which is in action to clean and conserve the river while also providing socio-economic advantages to the river-dependent community through job development, improved livelihoods, and health benefits.

The Namami Ganga projects have made significant progress in the following areas:

1. 63 sewerage management projects are being implemented in the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal to increase sewage treatment capacity Twelve sewage management initiatives were launched as part of these projects.

2. River surface cleaning: Construction, management, and refurbishment of 182 ghats and 118 crematoria has begun on 28 riverfront development projects and 33 entry-level projects. The collecting of solid floating waste on the ghats and rivers is referred to as river surface cleaning. These wastes are piped into treatment stations following collection.

3. Public Awareness: A variety of events, such as seminars, workshops, and conferences, are organized to raise public awareness and increase community transmission.

4. Monitoring of Industrial Effluent: The Grossly Polluting Industries are regularly checked. In industries that follow the rules, environmental compliance is monitored. The reports are sent directly to the central pollution control board without the need of intermediaries.

The Ganga Action Plan now came to be known as the National Ganga River Basin Authority. Both prior to and post the name change, the aim of the mission remained static. The purpose of the National Ganga River Basin Authority was to “improve the quality of the water of River Ganga so that it achieves acceptable standards.” This can only be made possible by averting any kind of polluting substance from entering the river. The sewage system, which contains most of the polluting substances needs to be cut off, and the water which it carries should be treated before discharging it off to the river.