Crores of rupees being spent on saving the Ganga from pollution does not seem to be working as bacterial contamination in India’s most sacred river has crossed the maximum permissible limit at several key cities due to discharge of sewage, Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
“The levels of bacterial contamination in terms of faecal coliform are reported to be exceeding the maximum permissible limit at a number of locations,” she said.
“There is no doubt that our holy river is very polluted, and the flow of the river also is not to the extent that it ought to be to maintain the purity and the continuous ecological flow of the river as we desire … All along the river, the industrial effluent accounts for about 20 per cent; 80 per cent is basically the domestic untreated sewage which flows out from the cities that lie along the river Ganga,” she said replying to a question in the Upper House.
Pointing out that lack of coordination between the Central and State agencies was affecting proper implementation of various projects, Ms. Natarajan said: “Money is allotted for sewage treatment plants and for central effluent treatment plants. But unfortunately, all those plants do not work, perhaps, because of lack of electricity and perhaps, because the network of sewers is not connected to the central plants in that particular city.”
The Minister, however, said the water quality in terms of BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) values was reported to have improved, compared to the pre-Ganga Action Plan (GAP) water quality on major monitoring locations.
The government is implementing GAP since 1985 for undertaking pollution abatement activities in the identified polluted stretches through implementation of works like interception and diversion of sewage and setting up treatment plants.
The project, involving an estimated cost of Rs. 7,000 crore, has been approved under the National Ganga River Basin Authority, while Rs. 1,441 crore has been released for the implementation of various pollution abatement works in towns along the Ganga, and sewage treatment capacity of 1,091 million litres per day has been created.
Pesticide residues found
Meanwhile, Minister of Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation Jairam Ramesh said residues of different pesticides have been found in groundwater in the key Ganga river basin States of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Quoting an IIT-Delhi study, he said the groundwater in Palla-Burari region near Delhi was found to contain moderately high levels of pesticides, some of them residues of long-banned pesticides such as DDT.
He also pointed out that a larger study on the entire Ganga basin covering Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar has shown that different organochloride pesticide residues are present in different regions of the river basin depending upon land use pattern.
“HCH, a by-product of agricultural insecticide lidane, was detected mostly in the mountainous stretch of Uttarakhand. The water in Uttar Pradesh contained more of endosulfan residues, while the Bihar region contained more of aldrin group of pesticides,” he added.
Keywords: Ganga river, Ganga pollution, river pollution, Ganga conservation
To clean up a river which has been polluting for a long time is
naturally difficult but the Ganga is our holy river and peole dip in
it all the time when rituals related with deaths are done.Purification
plants should be working round the clock to clear the wastes There
should be education of the masses regarding this subject.All
governments at the centre and the states including the local self
governments should take up cleaning operations of all rivers ,streams
and all water bodies on a war footing so that the people understands
the efforts of cleaning which willhelp clean ganga in the long run.
This is sad to hear. Rajiv Gandhi as a PM tried his best to clean-up Ganga. It is a collective effort between the State and Central Govt. and the State Government have to come to the party. Failing to do so this is what will happen. The Central Govt. will have to impose huge penalties if the State Govt. does not follow the rule. Tanneries in places like Agra (took it as an example only) should have their own treating facility and the treated water should be recycled back to the tanneries. Private companies should step in right at the concept phase so that they understand the project and provide proper technology. In addition, the private companies should be accountable on the water discharged and /or recycle water quality from the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP). With a proper technology and treatment facility I am quite confident we can recycle most of the treated water. My only concern in this regard is the money spent and accountability. I do not have an answer or suggestion.
We have to learn a lot from foreigners in this regard. Simply if we pray
the River Holy Ganga will not do . It has to be in every movment.
Every one should take interest in keeping ganga clean. It is not only
the river but surroundings. do not litter in public keep garbage at trash
only urinate or toilet only in rest rooms such teachings must be
followed very strictly even you can enforce it by law and punish
disobedience. Such measures implemented through out India. Learn from
our own brotherhood kerala people.
there is a total public apathy towards all such places. When i visited varanasi and prayag i shuddered to enter the holi river.Why not RSS/BJP breathing Hindutva day in day out roll up the sleeve start this holy work of cleaning the river-They can take cue from army which periodically clean the Ulsoor lake in Bangalore.But when a foreign visitor has send in the net a most disgusting powerpoint of his visit to varanasi highlighting the ugly unkempt aspects of the city there is a hue and cry from them. Cleanliness has never been in our culture. The indian who shamelessly spits on the indian road will behave like a disciplined soldier in abroad-because of of stringent penalty.Even God cannot help our country.
SN Jha from the physics department at Sardar University created a device for adding oxygen to the water. It uses the water current to power the process, something like an old water wheel so no electricity is required. The high levels of bacteria leave the water of polluted rivers nearly depleted of oxygen. This creates opaque, odorous water that is unsafe to use. It does not require high tech solutions, a simple water wheel that churn the water are helpful, windmill driven pumps, or partial re-routing of the river into artificial cataracts every few kilometers would help immensely. But leaving slow moving stagnant water alone is a recipe for disease. Of course blocking or treating waste before it ever enters the water is critical, but this requires high expense, high tech facilities that take a long while to implement. With so many using the river system, immediate employment of some quick, low tech, low cost remedies would be a great start. The knowledge is available.
I think too much religiousness in UP and Bihar is the factor. And govt
won't be able to do anything to stop that. It will be only when people
come to their senses that it's above par.
This is a very sad news.Despite government efforts and the
environmentalists, the local communities and visitors do not pay any
attention to problem of pollution of Ganga Maiya. In addition, the
industries as well as local authorities and lack of electricity supply
contribute to the problem.
It is a customary to give Gangajal before a person dies. Perhaps present
gangajal will hasten the death!
By making speeches in air condition halls and allotting huge sum of public money to clean Ganga has not delivered any good result.Why industrialists polluting Ganga with harmful chemicals are left scot-free?There should be strict laws and action taken against the polluters otherwise it will remain an endless effort to clean on one hand and to pollute on the other hand.Public awareness is nil and no effort has been initiated in this regard.Some times social workers raise there concern which is appreciated but yield no result from Government side except pleading their helplessness in this regard and blaming the public only.
For how long will the friction between State and Center cause delays/ obstructions in the development projects , which will benefit us all?
In INDIA: Other then Ganga, even small rivers, Ponds and Lake are also having similar issues.
In a Pond the following are the activities happens:
1) Peoples cleaning the Vehicles (Truck, Bus, Jeep , Car etc)
2) Peoples Wash their clothes using Soaps (which is having Chemical)
3) Peoples takes bath using Soap (which is having Chemical)
4) Peoples wash their cattles like OX and Cow
5) Peoples wash after going to TOILET.
6) Peoples wash their House Utensils using some Chemical Liquid and Chemical Powder.
THen the same above Water (now contaminated) animal (Cattle) drinks. The same animal which consumes contaminated water is eaten later by HUmans. Even some time the same water is also used for small cultivation of vegetables and the same vegetables is consumed by Humans later
Even the peoples who are living near (around say 100 mtrs away) to the Lake or Pond takes the Ground Water for Drinking.
You can imagine what will happen to the human health.
WOW!! Ganga came down to clean us and ended up Polluting herself.
What a shame on all of us.I really wonder are we really that hopless and inefficient in managing anything. Just for the sake of few bucks and to fill up our stomach, we just throw everything in the Air. Are we Indians are that bad.no matter which river or a water hole or any place in India we must try our maximum to keep it clean.since we have lost hope on our system. We have to do it by ourself.
Our rivers are among the most polluted in the world, they have become giant sewages. I dont understand peoples mentality, they throw all rubbish and s**# and then worship the same river. They are mentaly ill. Even if governments spend crores of rupees its not going to help. The only measures to save our rivers are tougher laws and proper awareness campagnes.
It is good that they have made a start.As we live our life and look
after ourselves so also we should inculcate the desire to look after
the river on a continous basis and budget to satisfy that continous
looking after.It is not going to be a one day affair and the situation
should be continously monitored and gradual and steady improvement is
required.That sustained desire to improve and work to achieve it is
to be exhibited and that is what is important.
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