The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has indicted the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), a nodal central agency to implement the government's flagship 'Namami Gange' programme, for delay in executing the Ganga cleaning projects, non-utilisation of fund meant for river cleaning and lapses in monitoring. In its report on performance of the 'Namami Gange' (Rejuvenation of River Ganga) programme, tabled in the Parliament on 19 December, 2017, the CAG also highlighted its findings which show that the river water quality in eight out of 10 cities/towns (except Rishikesh and Haridwar) along Ganga does not meet even the outdoor bathing standards. The cities towns come under this category include Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Munger, Bhagalpur, Gayespur and Budge Budge. The CAG in its comparative study of river water quality found that the Total Coliform (TC) level in all these cities was very high, ranging from six to 334 times higher than the prescribed standards, during 2016-17.