Ganga: Sacrificing its Purity

You will not believe but this is Ganges
source-oukas.info

We Indians give status of mother to River Ganga, but do we treat her like mother should be treated? The reason why I am saying this so is pollution in Ganges. Descending from Uttarakhand, she travels 10 more states but the major are- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal and offers libation of water directly to almost 40% of population of India. We are unaware of the pollution of river Ganges which gambles the life of almost 500 million (50 cr.) people which are directly dependent on Ganga.

Several International News Channels bothered concern towards the ill health of Ganga. One of them was BBC which covered Ganges by quoting, “Ganga: India’s dying mother” even France 24 said, “Sacred but polluted: River Ganga drowns in the sea of rubbish”.

source- learn.culturalindia.net

Facts about Ganga

Before knowing the pollution in Ganges you must know what are ‘Did You Know’ facts about Ganges which can throttle you up.

        I.            It is the largest river in India and is known as Life Line specially for the North India.

      II.            The mouth of River Ganga forms a vast delta, the Sundarban delta (the largest delta in the world).

    III.            Today, over 50 crores (500 million) people reside in the Ganga basin.

    IV.            The Ganga passes alongside the most populated cities (population near 10,00,000).

      V.            In 2009, National River Ganga Basin Authority(NRGBA) gave a status of ‘National River’.

    VI.            Ganga is the only river which has a status of “Living Entity” and that too was given by Uttarakhand High Court.

  VII.            Today, Ganga is considered as sixth most polluted river in the world.

VIII.            The amount of toxins, chemicals and other dangerous bacteria found in the river are now almost 3000 times over the limit suggested by the WHO as ‘safe’.

    IX.            The amount of pure Ganga water in Varanasi is only 1%.

      X.            Polluted river Ganga causes 12% of diseases in UP.

    XI.            The project of Ganga water treatment first began in 1986.

  XII.            Till today there is nearly no change in Ganga water rather it is more polluted in comparison to 1986.

Pollution in the Ganga

source-gangaaction.org

Before moving towards the pollution in the ganga one should know that ganga fetches more than half of the Indian population. Indian cinemas like bollywood have used ganga as context in their films and songs but the concern for pollution in the ganga has been ill tempered.

Ø According to the report of Hindu Frontline, 80% of the pollution in Ganga is due to untreated sewerage and 20% stands for tanneries in cities like Kanpur. Those 5 states where Ganga flows through are directly pumping 12,000 million liters day (mld) sewage in the river which holds the treatment capacity of 4,000 mld and actually 1,000 mld was operational. This suddenly rings the alert siren in our brain but the authorities which are responsible are in deep sleep.

Ø  The fecal coliform level of the river is far more shocking than the sewerage stats. According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the safe level of coliform should be 500 MPN/100ml (most probable number) for bathing and domestic purpose and 50 MPN/100ml for drinking. But in Haridwar, the MPN/100ml is 1,600. In Allahabad it is 48,000, 70,000 in Varanasi and 1,30,000 in Kanpur. In Bihar the level is 1,60,000. In West Bengal’s Howrah, it is a shocking 2,40,000.

Ø  The Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) 2017 report titled “Performance Audit of the Rejuvenation of River Ganga” unveiled that only 35 out of 86 sewerage treatment plants (STP) had been completed. The fecal coliform level across the river was found to be six to 334 times higher than the prescribed level.

Ø  In June 2016, data collected by Sankat Mochan Foundation (SMF), an organization which is dedicated towards Ganges revealed the fecal coliform level in Assi Ghat was 41,00,000MPN/100ml and in Varuna was 53,00,000/100ml. They allege that the government officials take the sample of water from the mid of river which manipulates that coliform level by small changes. They say that the samples must be taken from the shore where people interact with Ganga first.

Ø  According to the report of Down To Earth, the discharge of waste water was more than 60% in Varanasi & Kanpur and 40% in Prayagraj than the prescribed level. From the perspective of whole nation, it is 123% higher.

Ø  From the report of The Wire, In Varanasi, Modi’s constituency, the maximum BOD level was 5.1 mg/l in 2013. It was to 6.1 mg/l in 2017. Similarly, in Allahabad, the BOD level was 4.4 mg/l in 2013 and increased to 5.7 mg/l. Scientific parameters dictate that the BOD level in a clean water body should be less than 3 milligram/litre.

source-techexplorist.com

Ø  The chairman of Ganga River Water Monitoring Centre said to Hindu Frontline that 33,000 bodies are cremated every year on the banks of the river in Varanasi, using 16,000 tonnes of wood. This generates 800-900 tonnes of ash, which is immersed in the river. Besides, a large number of semi-burnt bodies are dumped in the river at Harishchandra and Manikarnika Ghat every day.

Ø  He also added, “While the water flow has reduced considerably, the volume of pollutants has increased multifold, but the treatment facility remains the same as in 1986. The river could be cleaned only if its flow was increased.”

Ø  A study conducted by the National Cancer Registry Program (NCRP) under the Indian Council of Medical Research in 2012, suggested that "those living along its banks in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal are more prone to cancer than anywhere else in the country".

Ø  Due to all this National Green Tribunal (NGT), commented that the government should consider putting a health warning in ‘Gangajal’.

Do you believe all this about Ganga? At first I didn’t believe it but after several fact checks I came to know it is 100% truth. Do you ever imagine that she is the same Ganga for which Mark Twain wrote, “Older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.” She is the same Ganga where we Hindus celebrate Kumbh and pray for ourselves and others for purity in life. Can you conceive that the Ganges which is dying due to dirt and filth can give you faith? We have a special attachment towards her like a child has to his mother. Then why do we keep committing sins which affects her? We keep beating the trumpet of being Hindu and revering Ganges as mother but on back we are stabbing her.

Several Attempts to Save Her

The fight for her is too long to perceive but it is worth knowing it. The government had played a vital role to save Ganges but lacking was dedication. The struggle began before the independence of India and still it is on.

1.      In the history of Ganga, Ganga Mahasabha was the first foundation which came into existence in 1905 by Madan Mohan Malviya; for continuous the flow of Ganges.

2.      The main course started in June 1986 when Ganga Action Plan (GAP) was launched by then Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi. It covered 25 towns in which the Ganga was very ill. Its main objective were i) to improve the water quality ii) treatment of domestic sewage and iii) to prevent toxic and industrial chemical wastes from entering the river. The overall cost of this project was around ₹862 crore.

3.      Under the Environment Protection Act 1986 in 2009 National River Ganga Basin Authority was established which gave status of ‘National River’ to Ganga. In 2011 World Bank approved $1 billion loan to NRGBA for Ganges.

4.      Then in 2014 a campaign named ‘Namami Gange’ was launched by PM Narendra Modi. The total cost of the program was Rs. 20,000 crore with deadline upto 2019. Despite of huge amount of money that was sanctioned only its one fifth i.e. Rs. 4,000 crore was spent. There were numerous programs under this campaign such as promoting afforestation but as earlier it also missed dedication. If this program was completed successfully it would have changed (450)millions of lives. Govt. knew that they were failing to clean Ganga so they borrowed time and shifted the deadline to 2022.

There were more attempts that were initiated for Ganges but those were the bold ones and took by the govt. of India. There are still many organizations and NGO’s that vowed to save Ganges and they are on it.

We are unaware of our mother that she has been suffering too long. If I say hard then I can easily tell that these Ganges is on its last breath. We don’t know when this will end but it is for sure that it will end soon if we will be like what we were earlier.

A humble and benign request to you, Please aware people and tell the condition of Ganga to everyone. At this time only awareness is our biggest tool to save and clean Ganga or it will be a memory.