National Ganga River Basin Authority is a financing, planning, implementing, monitoring and coordinating authority for the Ganges River, functioning under the water resource ministry of India. The mission of the organisation is to safeguard the drainage basin which feeds water into the Ganges by protecting it from pollution or overuse. In July 2014, the NGRBA has been transferred from the Ministry of Environment and Forests to the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, formerly Ministry of Water Resources. Union government in a notification issued on 20 September 2016 has taken decision under River Ganga Authorities Order 2016 for a new body named "National Council for River Ganga " NCRG to replace existing NGRBA. The new body will act as an authority replacing the existing National Ganga River Basin Authority for overall responsibility for superintendence of pollution prevention and rejuvenation of river Ganga Basin.
The Prime Minister is the chair of the Authority. Other members include the cabinet ministers of ministries that include the Ganges among their direct concerns and the chief ministers of states through which the Ganges River flows. The Chief Ministers as members are from the states through which Ganges flow viz. Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, among others. The first meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority was held on 5 October 2009. In the 2010 Union budget of India, the allocation for National Ganga River Basin Authority doubled to 500 crore.
Members of the NGRBA
There are total of 23 members of the NGRBA. 14 out of 23 come from the government sectors whereas the remaining 9 come from the NGO sector.
Government members of the Committee
Members belonging to the government sector are as follows:
Prime Minister of India, chair
Minister of Environment and Forests
Minister of Finance
Minister of Urban Development
Minister of Water Resources
Minister of Power
Minister of Sciences and Technology
Chief Minister of Uttarakhand
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister of Bihar
Chief Minister of Jharkhand
Chief Minister of West Bengal
Ministry of Environment and Forests
Ministry of Environment and Forests, secretary
Expert members of the committee
Members belonging to the NGO sector are as follows: