Integrated River Management Systems

Presentation for:
Ignite Round, Ashwamedha, Ahvan 09, IIM Indore

Presentation by:
Gyanesh Sinha, FMS Delhi

River pollution-Ignite-Ashwamedha-Ahvan 09-IIM Indore

1 The state of River Pollution in India

India is undergoing severe river water pollution crisis, with all major rivers listed as world’s
most polluted rivers. The recent government initiatives have also failed to deliver….

 89 million litres of sewage is daily disposed into Ganga from the 12 municipal towns that
fall along its route till Haridwar
Ganga  In Varanasi, India's most sacred city, the coliform bacterial count is at least 3,000 times
higher than the standard established as safe by the United Nations world Health
Organization

 Almost 57% of the New Delhi’s waste is dumped into the river Yamuna
Yamuna  Yamuna has become one of the most polluted rivers in the world

 Ganges Action Plan (GAP). Launched in 1985, the ambitious project was meant to
clean up India's most important river. But after 12 years of work and $300 million in
Failure of
funding, the GAP has achieved few of its objectives. A recent study found that the
river action
amount of sewage flowing into the Ganges has doubled since 1985, while a government
plans
audit found evidence of widespread corruption in siphoning off funds earmarked for the
project.

Need to look beyond the ineffective conventional policies and strategies. Need for alternate, innovative and
integrated approaches to be implemented

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2 River pollution management in India- An overview

The rivers in India have been classified on the basis of their pollution levels. With almost
25% of the polluting industries still continuing, all major rivers have become category “D”

Classification of Rivers Summary status on polluting industries

 A : Drinking water source without conventional Units Not

Closed performing
treating but after disinfection
36% Satisfactori
 B: Outdoor bathing (Organized) ly
25%
 C: Drinking water source with conventional
treating followed by disinfection
 D: Propagation of Wildlife and Fisheries
 E: Irrigation, Industrial cooling and controlled
waste disposal
Performing
Satisfactori
ly
39%

Most rivers in India are so polluted that they At least 25% of the polluting industries are still
have been categorized as “D”. Even Ganga unsatisfactorily controlling effluents leading to
and Yamuna are category “D” rivers a severe pollution problem

River pollution-Ignite-Ashwamedha-Ahvan 09-IIM Indore 3

3 An analytical evaluation of the problem

Analysis of available options to tackle river pollution problem shows tha public private
partnerships and community programs are the feasible strategies

Evaluation of different options

On the basis of Impact and ease of

Government
implementation of strategies, it can
Initiatives
be seen that though government
initiatives can have the highest
PPP impact , they are the most difficult
to implement. On the other hand
Impact

Community Individual initiatives are easiest to

Programs implement but are low on impact.
Individual This leads to basic strategies
initiatives which are PPP and community
programs which will form the basis
of the recommended solution
Ease of implementation

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4 The Solution

A three pronged solution is recommended based on the analysis of options. The solution
will involve creating awareness, adopting new technology and effective implementation``

Integrated community based river management

Technological
innovation

Solution

Awareness Implementation

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5 The solution- Creating Awareness

There are five basic steps in creating awareness in the area of river pollution and its impact.
These steps will be carried out with the help of community groups

Creating Awareness

1
Identifying pollution hot spots

2
Community drives to investigate causes

3 Awareness sessions delineating impact of the

pollution

4 Public private participation to design community

specific solutions

5 Constant feedback and Iterations in the

recommendations

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6 The solution- Technological innovation

Adopting technology is a key consideration for fighting debilitating environmental changes.

This solution also works on the back bone of technology..

Technological Innovation

1
Creation of social media channels for specific
communities

2 Developing integrated Water harvesting solutions

to lessen the burden on Rivers

3 Installation of RFID based early warning systems

for threat response

4 Public private participation to design community

specific solutions

5 Adoption of advanced sewage treatment plants for

residential and commercial spaces

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7 The solution- Implementation

Implementation will be of critical importance in the solution. The focus will be on creating
responsibility ownerships with communities

Implementation

1
Creation of community and Student forums for
river restoration

2
Segmentation of river banks on the basis of
sewage disposal to create ownership

3
Creation of a separate canal, to facilitate religious
activities

4
Creation of data center for seamless exchange of
weather and environmental information

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8 Benefits and Challenges

Some key benefits of the solution is that it will have a long term impact by creating
sustainable model. However, eliciting participation from communities is the key challenge.

Key benefits Key challenges

 Increased community participation will ensure  Involving communities as the river water quality
long term solution building is a public good
 Public private partnerships will ensure  Involving factories and industry owners
participation from industries and will help them
 Funds to carry on the technological
mitigate the adverse effects of water pollution
upgrading, for datacenters and for running daily
norms
operations
 The integrated solution will help in knowledge
transfer across other regions with similar river
pollution crisis
 Implementation of technologies such as RFIDs
will ensure preemptive measures in case of
abnormalities
 Feedback and iterative recommendations will
ensure that the solution is contemporarized

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Thank You

River pollution-Ignite-Ashwamedha-Ahvan 09-IIM Indore