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           | New Delhi, Feb 17 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday   approved the notification for setting up the Ganga River Basin Authority for   comprehensive management of the basin.  The framework for the proposed authority was finalised at a   meeting chaired by T.K.A. Nair, the principal secretary to the prime minister,   with the chief secretaries of the Ganga Basin states of Uttarakhand, Uttar   Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. West Bengal was represented by its principal   secretary, department of environment. 
 "The five states unanimously   endorsed the proposal, based on which the ministry of environment and forests   will issue the notification under the Environment Protection Act," said a   release from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
 
 The setting up of the   authority will help replace the current piecemeal efforts to clean up the Ganga   with an integrated approach that sees the river as an ecological entity.
 
 This will also help address issues of quantity in terms of water flows.
 
 The authority chaired by the prime minister will consist of the chief   ministers of the Ganga basin states as members along with related ministers of   the central government.
 
   
      
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