Ganga Pollution Case

The River Ganga popularly called “Mother Ganga” is more than a source of water for millions of people living in India
sub-continent. It symbolizes the great culture and civilization which developed on its banks. People from all over the
country come to have a glimpse of this mighty river. It originates at 4000 metres above sea level from Himalayas at a
place know as Gomukh, enters the plains at Rishikesh and stretches down 2500 kms, passing through different states of
India, Bangladesh and finally to the Bay of Bengal. Several rivers like Jamuna, Gomti join Ganga on its way. There are
nearly 700 towns in the Ganga basin, of which 27 major ones are located on the bank of Ganga itself. Thickly populated
and highly industrialized cities like Kolkata and Kanpur are also situated on its bank. In ancient scriptures, the Ganga
water is called Amrit, it is said to have such qualities as coolness, sweetness, transparency, highly tonic property, ability
to remove evils, etc.

The Ganga water, even today has a remarkable high capacity to purify itself by removing organic pollution load added to
it. The point load discharge of biological oxygen demand (BOD) in Ganga takes less than a day or a run of less than 100
km for complete recovery to the original state. The dissolved oxygen (DO) along with the entire course shows a stable
pattern and oxygen content never falls below the critical level of 5 milligrams per litre except near some large cities like
Kanpur, Allahabad and Varanasi. The pollution load added to Ganga has been rising with the population explosion,
urbanization and industrialization (average density in the Ganga basin is around 300 persons per square kilometre) and
use of pesticides. As soon as Ganga descends the plai9ns, its pollution begins. In Rishikesh the Indian Drugs and
Pharmaceuticals, and at Haridwar, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd had been throwing solid wastes and untreated water into
it before the launch of Ganga Action Plan. In Kanpur about 70 tanneries had been mixing domestic and highly toxic
tannery wastes and carrying it the river upto 10 kms, down stream, making water unfit for consumption in any form. In
Varanasi 60 million litres of untreated sewage had been coming to the river through six major and 61 minor drainages at
Patna every day. Kolkata and other towns in West Bengal with 150 factories which include 87 Jute mills, 12 textile mills, 7
tanneries, 5 paper and pulp factories and 4 distilleries have been using Ganga (known as Hoogly in that part) as their
drain. The maximum pollution takes place in 256 km. Stretch from Barauni to Farakka. It was estimated in mid 1980’s
that 1400 million litres of domestic sewage and 250 million litres of industrial sewage were discharged in Ganga every
day. In addition to this, Ganga had carry un-burnt bodies, animal carcasses, garbage from cities, harmful residues of
pesticides and fertilizers caused by run off from agricultural fields.

The Ganga Action Plan-I

The central pollution control board was to asked to study the water pollution in Ganga basin and submitted a report in
1984 which formed the basis for the Ganga Action Plan. The report revealed that almost three fourths of the pollution of
Ganga was from untreated municipal sewage, because only a few cities have sewage treatment facilities. Industries
accounted for one fourth of the total river pollution. The problem was acute in such areas like Kolkata and Kanpur. The
organic pollution load in Ganga was found to be significantly high for BOD, i.e. more than 3 milligrams between Haidwar
and Trighat and 10 to 20 milligrams per litre in the stretch from Cauvary to Kanpur. The Coliform count in Ganga was
high, in the lower reaches of Hoogli, very high total coliform count was observed during October to June.

The ambient water quality was found to be in a state which could be put to class C and D which are fit for drinking after
conventional treatment followed by disinfection.

The Central Ganga authority was established in 1985 under the chairmanship of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
and the Ganga Action Plan was formally launched in 1986. A total of 261 schemes were sanctioned under the plan which
was broadly dived into six categories.

1. Interception and diversion of waste.

2. Sewage Treatment Plants
3. Low-Cost Sanitation
4. Electric Crematoria
5. River Front Facilities
6. Biological Regeneration of River

Ganga Action Plant-II

The second phase of the Ganga Action Plan incorporates pollution abatement of Yamuna, Gomti and Damodar rivers.
Yamuna emanates from galciers in lower Himalayas at an elevation of 6378 metres above sea levels in Uttar Kashi. It
covers 1200 kms. It has been observed that very high level of pollution exist along vast stretches of Yamuna. From Delhi
to Agra Jamuna water is unfit for drinking and bathing. Fifteen towns in Yamuna basin are selected for population
abatement in Phase II. The plan envisages the use of appropriate treatment technologies and resource recovery from
sewage by using the treated sewage for irrigation and aquaculture, and bio-gas for power generation. The sewage
treatment plants with a total capacity of about 900 million litres per day would be set up. The scheme also provides for
constructing low cost sanitation, improved crematoria, and improved bathing ghats. The schemed was formally launch in
june 1993.

Since 2007, when it was recognised as the fifth most polluted rivers in the world, the public has been made to realise the
rising pollution levels and how this problem needs to be solved. There have been no serious laws that have been made
enforceable by the government towards the offenders. As a result, the public has been treating the Ganga as a waste
bin, tossing all kinds of hazardous substances into her waters without a second thought.

The need to clean our sacred river has been in the blueprint for several decades now. Governments have changed hands,
and each time a new proposal touches the ground only to be overlooked and ignored into negligence. The first of this
campaign was launched by the Rajiv Gandhi Government in 1985 as The Ganga Action Plan. The initiative that was
launched at a good 462 crore rupees, and although a good one, it was rendered unsuccessful after some tries and was
given up altogether in 2000. At this point, The Ganga Action Plan was a part of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
Although the campaign has been on and off since, it was brought into prominence again with the 2014 elections, when
Prime Minister Modi ascended to power.

Pooled in with the prodding efforts of social organisations like Jhatkaa and Sankat Mochan Foundation, the
Government’s Ganga Action Plan now launched the Clean Ganga Project, aiming to adopt measures to help clean up the
National River of the country by 2018. According to an article, these included measures like capturing sewage from all
the sources where it enters the river, working primarily on gravity instead of electricity, removing all harmful bacteria
present so that citizens don’t suffer from cholera, typhoid and various intestinal diseases, reclaiming water, precious
nutrients and energy for re-use, and facing the challenge of the volume of sewage being dealt with and anticipation into
the foreseeable future. The Ganga Action Plan has now been shifted to the efforts of Uma Bharti, the Water Resources
Minister. Under her jurisdiction, several measures are being implemented to help advance the project.

The Modi Government along with these social organisations have made it their agenda to make the majority of the
public aware of the Clean Ganga Project. To this end, they have been using the platforms of social media, SMS, e-mails,
missed calls, web tools, person-to-person contact and more. Although it was meant to have been inaugurated earlier
this May, the Government has ordained that the project be taken up post-monsoons, as the rivers tend to get constantly
dirty during this season.They have announced the construction of sewage treatment plants among the 118 towns along
the course of the Ganges and claimed that it will take a year’s time to complete. They have also tied up with a German
Government Agency to provide national and state-level support by integrating various approaches in the
implementation of the program.As per the regulations of the Water Resources Ministry, the 2,525 kilometres of the
Ganga’s length will be divided into five stretches – Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkand and West Bengal. They
have also called for the 48 industrial units around the Ganga to be shut down. It is the Supreme Court which deals with
the closure and relocation of plants along the Ganges, and the stretch of the river between Gaumukh and Uttarkashi has
been termed as ‘eco-sensitive’, as per 2010.

During the question hour of a Parliamentary session, Uma Bharti said the return of river dolphins, turtles and gold fish in
the Ganga aqua life system would be the biggest benchmark to prove that the river has rejuvenated. She also said that
by July 2018, she would be announcing in the House that the river has been cleaned and rejuvenated.

It is imperative to be a part of this Clean Ganga Campaign, in whichever contributory form that you wish to extend. Our
National River has been contaminated and is being compromised by her own, on a daily basis and needs to be saved.
We’re doing our part. Are you?