Dolphins have started coming back to the Ganga river with improvement in the quality of its water through the Namami Gange programme, said the Uttar Pradesh government. The government claimed on Sunday that with the completion of 23 projects under the ambitious programme started in 2014, the State has successfully stopped flowing of more than 460 MLD of sewage into the Ganga in the State. “Under the programme, additional treatment capacity of about 33 MLD (including 130 MLD that has been repaired) will also be created between September 2022 to December 2022 in Jhansi, Kanpur, Unnao, Shuklaganj, Sultanpur Budhana, Jaunpur and Baghpat at the cost of ₹2304.55 crore,” said the State government.
Dolphins have also been seen breeding in Brijghat, Narora, Kanpur, Mirzapur and Varanasi, which is likely to increase their number further in the coming days. At present, the population of dolphins in Ganga in Uttar Pradesh is estimated to be around 600. The U.P. government added that there has been a lot of improvement in dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical demand (BOD) and fecal coliform (FC) parameters as well, the assessment of river water quality carried out during the period 2014-2022 at 20 locations in Uttar Pradesh reveals. The government said the test found that pH (how acidic the water was) at 20 locations met the water quality criteria for bathing, while DO, BOD and FC improved at 16, 14 and 18 out of 20 locations, respectively.
The Namami Gange programme was launched in 2014 with the objective to rejuvenate Ganga by adopting an integrated approach which focused on the interception and diversion of sewage by tapping the drains flowing into the river Ganga.
