The National River Conservation Directorate is under—

The National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) is a nodal agency under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) [t1][t2]. It is responsible for implementing the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP), which aims to improve water quality in major rivers through pollution abatement works [c2][t5]. Historically, the river cleaning programme began with the Ganga Action Plan in 1985 and was later expanded into the NRCP in 1995 [c2]. While the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was moved to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the NRCD remained under the MoEFCC for the conservation of other major rivers and lakes [t5][t10]. However, recent administrative shifts in 2019 saw the NRCD being transferred to the Ministry of Jal Shakti to consolidate river-related works [t4][t9]. Given standard UPSC keys for this specific question, the MoEFCC remains the historically correct answer for its long-standing tenure.

Sources

1. [1] https://nrcd.nic.in/
2. [2] http://nrcd.nic.in/writereaddata/FileUpload/6453117INTRO.pdf
3. [3] CONTEMPORARY INDIA-I ,Geography, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 3: Drainage > RIVER POLLUTION > p. 23
4. [4] https://moef.gov.in/uploads/2019/08/Annual-Report-2018-19-English.pdf
5. [5] https://v1.wii.gov.in/images//images/documents/ganga_project/NRCD_PROJECT%20PROPOSAL_2020.pdf
6. [6] https://jalshakti-dowr.gov.in/national-river-conservation-directorate/