Case study on: Ganga water pollution

A Case Study On: The

Ganga river water

pollution. The pollution of environment is the ‘gift’ of the industrial revolution. In the

following case study we would study how the sacred river of Ganga has

been polluted along the years and what is its present situation.

Submitted by:

Shradddha Samant

MMS Marketing

Div.C

Roll no. 133

A Case Study On: The Ganga river water pollution. 2014

1 Name: Shraddha Samant, Div.C, Roll no. 133.

Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………..

2

The Ganges……………………………………………………………………….

3

Exploitation of the river…………………………………………………………..

6

Previous work…………………………………………………………………….

7

Present Situation…………………………………………………………………

8

Cleaning efforts…………………………………………………………………

11

Conclusions and Lessons learnt………………………………………………..

13

Recommendations……………………………………………………………….

13

References………………………………………………………………………..

14



Introduction

Most ancient civilizations grew along the banks of rivers. Even today, millions of

people all over the world live on the banks of rivers and depend on them for their

survival. All of us have seen a river - large or small, either flowing through our town,

or somewhere else. Rivers are nothing more than surface water flowing down from a

higher altitude to a lower altitude due to the pull of gravity. One river might have its

source in a glacier, another in a spring or a lake. Rivers carry dissolved minerals,

organic compounds, small grains of sand, gravel, and other material as they flow

downstream.

Rivers begin as small streams, which grow wider as smaller streams and rivers join

them along their course across the land. Eventually they flow into seas or oceans.

Unfortunately most of the world's major rivers are heavily polluted. The pollution of

environment is the ‘gift’ of the industrial revolution. Prior to this the agrarian cultures

created significant environmental deterioration in the form of soil erosion- through

deforestation and overgrazing. The environmental degradation is a by product of

modern civilization.

There has been a steady deterioration in the quality of water of Indian rivers over

several decades. India’s fourteen major, 55 minor and several hundred small rivers

receive millions of litres of sewage, industrial and agricultural wastes. Most of these

rivers have been rendered to the level of sewage flowing drains. There are serious

water quality problems in the cities, towns and villages using these waters. Water

borne diseases are rampant, fisheries are on decline, and even cattle are not spared

from the onslaught of pollution.

According to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) five rivers in Asia serving over 870

million people are among the most threatened in the world, as dams, water

extraction and climate change all take their toll. The Ganges, Indus, Yangtze,

Salween-Nu and Mekong-Lancang rivers make up half of the WWF’s “top ten” most

threatened river basins.

India has a large number of rivers that are lifelines for the millions living along their

banks. These rivers can be categorized into four groups:

1. Rivers that flow down from the Himalayas and are supplied by melting snow

and glaciers. This is why these are perennial, that is, they never dry up during

the year.

2. The Deccan Plateau Rivers, which depend on rainfall for their water.

3. The coastal rivers, especially those on the west coast, which are short and do

not retain water throughout the year.

4. The rivers in the inland drainage basin of west Rajasthan, which depend on

the rains. These rivers normally drain towards silt lakes or flow into the sand.



The Ganges

The river Ganga occupies a unique position in the cultural ethos of India. Legend

says that the river has descended from Heaven on earth as a result of the long and

arduous prayers of King Bhagirathi for the salvation of his deceased ancestors. From

times immemorial, the Ganga has been India's river of faith, devotion and worship.

Millions of Hindus accept its water as sacred. Even today, people carry treasured

Ganga water all over India and abroad because it is "holy" water and known for its

"curative" properties.

However, the river is not just a legend, it is also a life-support system for the people

of India. It is important because:

• The densely populated Ganga basin is inhabited by 37 per cent of India's

population.

• The entire Ganga basin system effectively drains eight states of India.

• About 47 per cent of the total irrigated area in India is located in the Ganga basin

alone.

• It has been a major source of navigation and communication since ancient times.

• The Indo-Gangetic plain has witnessed the blossoming of India's great creative

talent.

The Ganga river

The Ganga rises on the southern slopes of the Himalayan ranges (Figure 2) from the

Gangotri glacier at 4,000 m above mean sea level. It flows swiftly for 250 km in the

mountains, descending steeply to an elevation of 288 m above mean sea level. In

the Himalayan region the Bhagirathi is joined by the tributaries Alaknanda and

Mandakini to form the Ganga. After entering the plains at Hardiwar, it winds its way

to the Bay of Bengal, covering 2,500 km through the provinces of Uttar Pradesh,

Bihar and West Bengal (Figure 1). In the plains it is joined by Ramganga, Yamuna,

Sai, Gomti, Ghaghara, Sone, Gandak, Kosi and Damodar along with many other

smaller rivers.

The Ganga river carries the highest silt load of any river in the world and the

deposition of this material in the delta region results in the largest river delta in the

world (400 km from north to south and 320 km from east to west). The rich mangrove

forests of the Gangetic delta contain very rare and valuable species of plants and

animals and are unparalleled among many forest ecosystems.



Figure 2: Map of India showing the route of the Ganga river

Figure 1: Location map of India showing the Ganga River



The Holy Ganga.

River Ganga (Ganges) of India has

been held in high esteem since time

immemorial and Hindus from all over

the world cherish the idea of a holy dip

in the river under the faith that by doing

so they will get rid of their sins of life.

More than 400 million people live along

the Ganges River. An estimated

2,000,000 persons ritually bathe daily in

the river.

Historically also, Ganga is the most

important river of the country and

beyond doubt is closely connected with

the history of civilization as can be

noticed from the location of the ancient

cities of Hardwar, Prayag, Kashi and Patliputra at its bank. To millions of people it is

sustainer of life through multitude of canal system and irrigation of the wasting load.

Hundreds of the villages and even the big cities depend for their drinking water on

this river. It is believed, a fact which has also been observed, that the water of

Ganga never decays even for months and years when water of other rivers and

agencies begins to develop bacteria and fungi within a couple of days. This self-

purification characteristic of Ganga is the key to the holiness and sanctity of its

water. The combination of bacteriophages and large populations of people bathing in

the river have apparently produced a self-purification effect, in which water-borne

bacteria such as dysentery and cholera are killed off, preventing large-scale

epidemics. The river also has an unusual ability to retain dissolved oxygen.

However, the purity of the water depends on the velocity and the dilution capacity of

the river. A large part of the flow of the Ganga is abstracted for irrigation just as it

enters the plains at Hardiwar. From there it flows as a trickle for a few hundred

kilometres until Allahabad, from where it is recharged by its tributaries. The Ganga

receives over 60 per cent of its discharge from its tributaries. The contribution of

most of the tributaries to the pollution load is small, except from the Gomti, Damador

and Yamuna rivers, for which separate action programmes have already started

under Phase II of "The National Rivers Conservation Plan".



Exploitation of the river

In the recent past, due to rapid progress in communications and commerce, there has been

a swift increase in the urban areas along the river Ganga, As a result the river is no longer

only a source of water but is also a channel, receiving and transporting urban wastes away

from the towns. Today, one third of the country's urban population lives in the towns of the

Ganga basin. Out of the 2,300 towns in the country, 692 are located in this basin, and of

these, 100 are located along the river bank itself.

The belief the Ganga river is "holy" has not, however, prevented over-use, abuse and

pollution of the river. All the towns along its length contribute to the pollution load. It has

been assessed that more than 80 per cent of the total pollution load (in terms of organic

pollution expressed as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)) arises from domestic sources,

i.e. from the settlements along the river course. Due to over-abstraction of water for irrigation

in the upper regions of the river, the dry weather flow has been reduced to a trickle.

Rampant deforestation in the last few decades, resulting in topsoil erosion in the catchment

area, has increased silt deposits which, in turn, raise the river bed and lead to devastating

floods in the rainy season and stagnant flow in the dry season. Along the main river course

there are 25 towns with a population of more than 100,000 and about another 23 towns with

populations above 50,000. In addition there are 50 smaller towns with populations above

20,000. There are also about 100 identified major industries located directly on the river, of

which 68 are considered as grossly polluting. Fifty-five of these industrial units have

complied with the regulations and installed effluent treatment plants (ETPs) and legal

proceedings are in progress for the remaining units. The natural assimilative capacity of the

river is severely stressed.

The principal sources of pollution of the Ganga river can be characterised as follows:

Domestic and industrial wastes. It has been estimated that about 1.4 × 106 m3 d-1 of

domestic wastewater and 0.26 × 106 m3 d-1 of industrial sewage are going into the

river.

Solid garbage thrown directly into the river.

Non-point sources of pollution from agricultural run-off containing residues of

harmful pesticides and fertilisers.

Animal carcasses and half-burned and unburned human corpses thrown into the

river.

Defecation on the banks by the low-income people.

Mass bathing and ritualistic practices



Previous studies

A number of investigations have been carried out on the physiochemical and

biological characters of the Ganga.

Lakshminarayana (1965) published a series of papers reporting the results of studies

carried out at Varanasi during the period between March, 1957 and March, 1958. it

was observed by him that the values of the most of the parameters decreased during

rainy season while no marked variation was observed during winters and summers.

A year later Saxena et.al. (1966) made a systematic survey of the chemical quantity

of Ganga at Kanpur. According to the study, the biological oxygen demand, i.e.

B.O.D. varied from 5.3ppm (minimum) in winter to 16.0ppm (maximum) in summer.

The chloride ranged between 9.2 and 12.7 ppm and the river was found to be

alkaline in nature except in rainy season. He concluded that the tanneries

significantly increased the pollution load of river as they discharge huge amounts of

effluents containing organic wastes and heavy metals. It was further reported that

forty five tanneries, ten textile mills and several other industrial units discharged

37.15 million gallon per day of waste water generating BOD load of approximately

61630 Kg/day.

At the 1981 session of Indian Science Congress at Varanasi, scientists expressed

concern at the growing pollution in the river Ganga in presence of the then Prime

Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi who inaugurated the session. At her instance, Dr. M.S.

Swaminathan, the then member, Planning Commission asked the Central Board for

Preventation and Control of Water Pollution, New Delhi to conduct studies on the

state of the river Ganga.

In collaboration with the State Pollution Control Boards of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and

Bengal and the centre for study of Man and Environment Kolkata (Calcutta), studies

were conducted on the ‘Sources’ of pollution including all human activities, land use

pattern and water quality of the river at selected sites during 1981-82 and report

entitled “Basin, sub-basin inventory of water pollution in the Ganga basin part-II” was

published in 1984. According to this report sewage of 27 class I cities and towns and

effluents from 137 major industries were the main source of pollution of the river. In

addition cremation of ad human bodies and dumping of carcasses aggrevated the

pollution of the river.

It was Chandra (1981) who conducted studies on the pollution status of river Ganga

at Allahabad, pointed out that industries manufacturing nitrogenous fertilizers have

significant role in polluting the river water.



According to the report published in a book by Mr. U.K. Sinha (1986), the

concentration of iron is higher in sediments collected from 10 metres along the bank

at Mandiri region. The concentration of all the toxic metals i.e copper, zinc, nickel

and cobalt are higher in all the sediments collected from near the storm drain and

diminishes towards mid-region of the river. The concentration of zinc is highest in the

sediments collected from near the Mandiri storm drain, Antaghat storm drain and

Krishnaghat storm drain. The concentration of copper is highest in the sediments

collected from near the Krishnaghat storm drain suggesting the presence copper due

to utensil work being done in Thatheri Bazar and hospital wastes also, said report.

The chemical pollution of the river Ganga in Patna city in Bihar state has been found

somewhat alarming beside the storm drain, especially in the regions like Rajapur,

Mandiri and Krishnaghat.

Present Situation

For some time now, this romantic view of the Ganges has collided with India's grim

realities. During the past three decades, the country's explosive growth (at nearly 1.2

billion people, India's population is second only to China's), industrialization and

rapid urbanization have put unyielding pressure on the sacred stream.

Ganga, the most sacred of rivers for Hindus, has become polluted for some years

now. But a recent study by Uttarakhand Environment Conservation and Pollution

Control Board says that the level of pollution in the holy river has reached alarming

proportions.

Things have come to such a pass that the Ganga water is at present not fit just for

drinking and bathing but has become unusable even for agricultural purposes.

As per the UECPCB study, while the level of coliform present in water should be

below 50 for drinking purposes, less than 500 for bathing and below 5000 for

agricultural use— the present level of coliform in Ganga at Haridwar has reached

5500. Based on the level of coliform, dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen, the

study put the water in A, B, C and D categories. While A category is considered fit for

drinking, B for bathing, C for agriculture and D is for excessive pollution level.

Since the Ganga waters at Haridwar have more than 5000 coliform and even the

level of dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen doesn't conform the prescribed

standards, it has been put in the D category.

According to the study, the main cause of high level of coliform in Ganga is due to

disposal of human faeces, urine and sewage directly into the river from its starting

point in Gaumukh till it reaches Haridwar via Rishikesh.



Nearly 89 million litres of sewage is daily disposed into Ganga from the 12 municipal

towns that fall along its route till Haridwar. The amount of sewage disposed into the

river increases during the Char Dham Yatra season when nearly 15 lakh pilgrims

visit the state between May and October each year.

Apart from sewage disposal of half-burnt human

bodies at Haridwar and hazardous medical

waste from the base hospital at Srinagar due to

absence of an incinerator are also adding to

pollution levels in the Ganga.

The result has been the gradual killing of one of

India's most treasured resources. One stretch of

the Yamuna River, the Ganges' main tributary,

has been devoid of all aquatic creatures for at

least a decade.

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. Coliform are rod-shaped bacteria that are normally found in the

colons of humans and animals and become a serious contaminant when found in the

food or water supply.

A study by Environmental Biology Laboratory, Department pf Zoology, Patna

University, showed the presence of mercury in the Ganga river in Varanasi city.

According to the study, annual mean concentration of mercury in the river water was

0.00023 ppm. The concentration ranged from NT (not traceable) to 0.00191 ppm.

Study done by Indian Toxicological Research Centre (ITRC), Lucknow during 1986-

1992 showed maximum annual concentration of mercury in the Ganga river water at

Rishikesh, Allahabad district and Dakshineswar as 0.081, 0.043 and 0.012 ppb

respectively.

Ganga river at Varanasi was found well within the maximum permissible standard of

0.001 ppm prescribed for drinking water by the World Health Organization.

The mercury studied in the Ganga river could be traced in biotic as well as abiotic

components of the river at the study site. The Hindu devotees take bath in the river

where mercury was detected in 28%, 44%,75%, 96%, 42% and 89% of the river

water, sediment, benthic fauna, fish, soil and vegetation samples respectively.

Though mercury contamination of the river water has not reached an alarming

extent, its presence in the river system is worrisome. In the study annual mean

concentration of the metal in the sediments was 0.067 ppm. Sediments constitute a

major pool of mercury in fresh water.



As Ganga enters the Varanasi city, Hinduism’s sacred river contains 60,000 faecal

coliform bacteria per 100 millilitres, 120 times

more than is considered safe for bathing.

Four miles downstream, with inputs from 24

gushing sewers and 60,000 pilgrim-bathers, the

concentration is 3,000 times over the safety limit.

In places, the Ganges becomes black and septic.

Corpses, of semi-cremated adults or enshrouded

babies, drift slowly by.

The tannery industry mushrooming in North India has converted the Ganga River

into a dumping ground. The tanning industry discharges different types of waste into

the environment, primarily in the form of liquid effluents containing organic matters,

chromium, sulphide ammonium and other salts. As per an estimate, about 80-90% of

the tanneries use chromium as a tanning agent. Of this, the hides take up only 50-

70%, while the rest is discharged as effluent. Pollution becomes acute when

tanneries are concentrated in clusters in small area like Kanpur. Consequently, the

Leather-tanning sector is included in the Red category of industries due to the

potential adverse environmental impact caused by tannery wastes.

Highly polluted sediments are adversely affecting the ecological functioning of rivers

due to heavy metal mobilization from urban areas into biosphere. Distribution of

heavy metals in sediments of the river Ganga and its tributaries have been carried

out by several workers. Monitoring of Ganga River from Rishikesh to Varanasi

indicated that Kannauj to Kanpur and Varanasi are the most polluted stretches of the

river Ganga . Analysis of upstream and down stream water and sediment revealed a

10-fold increase in chromium level.



Cleaning efforts

Ganga Action Plan (GAP)

The Ganga Action Plan or GAP was a program launched in April 1986 in order to

reduce the pollution load on the river. But the efforts to decrease the pollution level in

the river became more after spending Rs 901.71 Crore Therefore, this plan was

withdrawn on 31 March 2000. The steering Committee of the National River

Conservation Authority reviewed the progress of the GAP and necessary correction

on the basis of lessons learned and experiences gained from the GAP phase; 2

schemes have been completed under this plan. A million litres of sewage is targeted

to be intercepted, diverted and treated. Phase-II of the program was approved in

stages from 1993 onwards, and included the following tributaries of the Ganges:

Yamuna, Gomti, Damodar and Mahananda. As of 2011, it is currently under

implementation.

Scientists and religious leaders have speculated on the causes of the river's

apparent self-purification effect, in which water-borne bacteria such

as dysentery and cholera are killed off thus preventing large-scale epidemics. Some

studies have reported that the river

retains more oxygen than is typical

for comparable rivers; this could be

a factor leading to fewer disease

agents being present in the water.

National River Ganga Basin

Authority (NRGBA)

NRGBA was established by the

Central Government of India, on 20

February 2009 under Section 3(3) of the Environment Protection Act, 1986. It also

declared Ganges as the "National River" of India. The chair includes the Prime

Minister of India and Chief ministers of states through which the Ganges flows.

Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court has been working on the closure and relocation of many of the

industrial plants like tulsi along the Ganges and in 2010 the government declared the

stretch of river between Gaumukh and Uttarkashi an “eco-sensitive zone”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crore

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysentery

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholera

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Minister_(India)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttarkashi



Conclusions and Lessons learnt

Poor resource recovery due to poor resource generation because of the lower organic

content of Indian sewage. This may be due to less nutritious dietary habits, higher water

consumption, fewer sewer connections, higher grit loads, insufficient flows and stagnation

leading to bio-degradation of the volatile fractions in the pipes themselves. The assumed

BOD design load of the plants were, in some cases, considered much higher than the actual

BOD loading. This was due to a lack of practical experience within India and the fact that

western experiences were not entirely appropriate.

The river pollution plan being "action" orientated, avoids involvement in long-term town

planning, which continues to remain deficient with respect to environmental sanitation. This

is due to a lack of overview by any stakeholding agency and to the blinkered foresight by the

already beleaguered city authorities who remain perpetually short of funds for their daily

crisis-management.

The most important lesson learned was the need for control of pathogenic contamination in

treated effluent. This could not be tackled before because of a lack of safe and suitable

technology but is now being attempted through research and by developing a suitable

indigenous technology, which should not impart traces of any harmful residues in the treated

effluent detrimental to the aquatic life. This is an aspect difficult to control in surface waters

in tropical areas, but it is very important for the Ganga because the river water is used

directly by millions of devout individuals for drinking and bathing.

Recommendations

The Action Plans start as "cleanliness drives" and continue in the same noble spirit with the

same zeal and enthusiasm on other major rivers and freshwater bodies. Its effectiveness

could however be enhanced if these efforts could be integrated and well accepted within the

long-term objectives and master plans of the cities, which are constantly under preparation

without adequate attention to the disposal of wastes. More information on polluted

groundwater resources in the respective river basins will prove useful, because the existing

levels of depletion and contamination of groundwater resources, which are already

overexploited and fairly contaminated, will increase the dependency in the future on the

rivers, as the only economical source of drinking water. This aspect has not been seriously

considered in any long-term planning.



References:

http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/~amit/other/ganges.html

http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.

http://www.shvoong.com/exact-sciences/physics/1637757-holistic-study-

mercurypollution-ganga/

http://www.wordfocus.com/word-ganges.html

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary

http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/~amit/other/ganges.html

Case study on: Ganga water pollution

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