Case Study

Cleaning the Ganges

1. Introduction – Ganga Mata

The Ganges has been a lifeline to the people of North India since time immemorial, flowing
through the vast Indo-Gangetic Plain and providing sustenance to the hundreds of millions of
people living along its course. It is revered as a mother, for just as a mother provides food and
care, the Ganges provides life-giving water. It is worshipped as a goddess by 1.1 billion Hindus
and is the holiest of the seven holy rivers of Hinduism. It is indeed a very important river as it
and its tributaries account for nearly 25% of India’s water supply.

The 400 million people living in the Ganges River Basin and a huge range of wildlife depend on it.
But today, the Ganges, on which so many people depend on for water for drinking, agriculture,
sanitation and more, is being driven to the brink of catastrophe. Extreme water pollution, over-
damming and removal of water from the river by canals have seriously affected the health of the
river. Vast swathes of the river are now considered ecological ‘dead zones’.

In this case study, we are going to examine the effects of human pollution on the Ganges and
the vast ecosystem that depends on it. We will observe the impact of the numerous projects
undertaken to clean up the Ganges and try to understand why they aren’t effective and will find
out what can be done to save the Ganges.

2. Literature Review – Previous attempts to clean the Ganges

The first concrete initiative taken to clean the Ganges was the Ganga Action Plan (GAP),
launched in 1986 by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Its stated objectives were to control
pollution from agricultural runoff, human defecation, cattle wallowing and throwing of unburnt
and half burnt bodies into the river, conserve the biodiversity of the river and to act as trend
setter for similar action plans in other rivers. Unfortunately, the GAP was plagued by corruption
and apathy, and the initiative was a dismal failure, with the Ganges ironically becoming even
more polluted in the years following its implementation. Even the government in 2009 admitted
that the GAP and its sister project, the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) have been failures.

No other action was taken to slow down the river’s descent into ecological disaster until nearly
25 years later, in 2009, when the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) was established,
comprising of the Prime Minister, the chief ministers of states through which the Ganges flows,
and various environmental experts. Its objective was to safeguard the vast drainage basin that
feeds water into the Ganges by protecting it from pollution and overuse. The organization failed
miserably in its goals and in implementing its sister project, the National Ganga River Basin
Project (NGRBP) and was eventually scrapped in 2016 in favour of the National Council for River
Ganga (NCRG).

The most recent attempt to save the Ganges was the Namami Gange project, with its eight
pillars of ‘Sewerage Treatment Infrastructure, River-Front Development, River-Surface Cleaning,
Bio-diversity, Afforestation, Public Awareness, Industrial Effluent Monitoring and Sanitation’. It
was officially launched in 2014.

3. Observation – What went wrong?

A common, defining characteristic of all initiatives to clean the Ganges seems to be the
overwhelming presence of corruption, non-adherence to deadlines (It was estimated that the
Ganga Action Plan would clean up the Ganges by the year 2000, but it was been two decades
since the deadline had been surpassed) and apathy.

Corruption in India is a widely prevalent problem ever since independence. Though it permeates
through every aspect of Indian life, be it through bribes for official documents or siphoning of
public funds by government officials, it seems to be especially prolific in the various Ganges
cleanup initiatives. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has noted that ₹7000 crores have been
spent on the Namami Gange project between 2015-17 without any change the quality of the
river Ganges. The scheme’s intended deadline of 2019 to clean the Ganges had been extended
to 2020 and it has surpassed even that deadline. The deadline is now 2021.

Another big problem is the extreme pollution in the Ganges’ main tributary, the Yamuna. The
Yamuna is often called a ‘dead river’, so great is the amount of pollution in the river. Devotees
during the annual Chhath Puja festivities have to stand knee deep in putrid foam, formed due to
the use of Yamuna water for cleaning clothes.

Though we worship the Ganges, our worship and our festivals in its honour are slowly killing it.
The future for the Ganges may seem bleak, but with proper planning and real concern for the
river, Ganga Mata can be restored to her former glory.

4. Conclusion – What can we do?

A big problem faced by the river is the immersion of half-burnt and unburnt bodies into the
river, the immersion of idols after festivals and the throwing of flowers into the river. All of these
things can be prevented by proper planning and spreading awareness.

All hope is not lost. Several important steps to save the Ganges are being taken, one of which is
declaring it, the Yamuna and the glaciers from which they originate ‘legal persons’. This means
that the river has a basic ‘right to exist’ and to flow freely, without contamination.

Some steps that the common man can take to reduce the pollution in the Ganges are –

1. Stop immersing plaster idols in the river and its tributaries, only immerse bio-degradable
clay idols.
2. Do not throw offerings and flowers into the river.
3. Do not bathe in the river.
4. Do not wash clothes in the river.

If these basic guidelines are followed, along with government action on the pressing problems of
overutilisation of Ganges water, untreated sewage going into the river, and overdamming of the
river, the Ganges could be returned to its pristine state, providing sustenance for the people of
the Gangetic Plains for generations more.
 Bibliography
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