The Ganga Pollution

Group-6Abhinav AnandAnkit KumarShubham MouryaJayant JoshiVinod Polimera

Ganga - An Introduction

Sources Of Pollution

❏ Inadequate water flow needed to dilute and assimilate waste.

❏ Untreated sewage.

❏ Point source pollution from industries.

❏ Rapid growth of population and industries.

❏ Religious beliefs and rituals.

❏ Decrease in the number of bacteriophages.

❏ Lack of funds.

Present Situation

2009 2013

Sewage generation(MLD) 2,638 2,723

Treatment Capacity(MLD) 1,174 1,208

Gap(MLD) 1,464 1,514

%gap 55 55

❏ Domestic Sewage: Sewage adds up to 85 percent of the river’s pollution load. The 2009 and 2013 CPCB estimates are shown in the table:

MLD- Million liters per day

The actual gap between sewage generation and treatment capacity is underestimated. According to most recent data provided by CPCB, the actual measured discharge of wastewater is 6,087 MLD which is much higher than the estimated discharge of wastewater.

Industrial Wastewater:

2013 CPCB estimates show that 764 industries in the mainstream of ganga consume 1,123 MLD of water and discharge 500 MLD of effluent.

STPs are ineffective because of factors like lack of electricity, lack of connectivity with drains etc.

Kanpur-Varanasi-Allahabad : A Case Study

Kanpur-Varanasi-Allahabad

❏Alone Uttar pradesh contribute 90% of ganga water pollution of which In the Kanpur-Varanasi stretch, 3,000 MLD of domestic wastewater is discharged into the river which is roughly half of its total load.

WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN KANPUR-ALLAHABAD-VARANASI :

❏ Some of the statistics (taken from CPCB, POLLUTION ASSESSMENT: RIVER GANGA (JULY, 2013)) of the lower stretch of Uttar Pradesh i.e Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi are following :

Ka n p u r ( U / S ) Ka n p u r ( D / S ) A l la h a b a d ( D / S ) Va r a n a s i ( U / S ) Va r a n a s i ( D / S )0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

min. mean max.D

O(m

g/l)

Standard :Drinking Water : 6 mg/L or moreOutdoor Bathing: 5 mg/L or more

Ka n p u r ( U / S ) Ka n p u r ( D / S ) A l la h a b a d ( D / S ) Va r a n a s i ( U / S ) Va r a n a s i ( D / S )0

2

4

6

8

10

12

min. mean max.bo

dStandard :Drinking Water : 2 mg/L or lessOutdoor Bathing: 3 mg/L or less

Ka n p u r ( U / S ) Ka n p u r ( D / S ) A l la h a b a d ( D / S ) Va r a n a s i ( U / S ) Va r a n a s i ( D / S )0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

90000

100000

min. mean max.FE

CA

L C

OLI

FOR

M(M

Pn/

100)

Ka n p u r ( U / S ) Ka n p u r ( D / S ) A l la h a b a d ( D / S ) Va r a n a s i ( U / S ) Va r a n a s i ( D / S )0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

min. mean max.to

tal C

OLI

FOR

M (M

Pn/

100

mL)

Standard :Drinking Water : 50 MPN/100 mLOutdoor Bathing: 500 MPN/100 mL

Cleaning Efforts … So far ..!!

❏Ganga Action Plan❏ The National Ganga River Basin Authority

(NRBA)❏ Save Ganga Movement❏Role of Major Activists❏Namami Ganga

Ganga Action Plan

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.

Therefore, this plan was withdrawn on 31 March 2000, after spending Rs 901.71 Crore .

Million litres of sewage was 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.

Reasons for failure :•Inappropriate Environmental Planning•Insignificant cooperation between Central, State and Local Government bodies•Lack of local technical expert committees for monitoring the work•Improper mass awareness and involvement of Ganga users in different projects•Least political dedication and vision to save Ganga •U.P. and Bihar were not able to provide uninterrupted electricity for running the facilities

Major Activists Acharya Jitendra - National General Secretary of Ganga Mahasabha - put a lot of efforts to abandon all state hydro-dam projects.

Nigmanand - fasted unto death, protesting against illegal mining happening in the district of Haridwar (in Uttarakhand) resulting in pollution.

Prof. G.D. Agrawal - protested the building of dams in the Upper course of Ganges - Manmohan Singh admitted publicly to cease any further hydroelectric damming of the Ganga in Uttarkhand.

Namami Ganga

❏ In July 2014, the Government of India announced an integrated Ganga development project titled “Namami Gange” launched by NDA Government and a sum of INR 2,037 Cr set aside for this purpose.

❏ A sum of INR 100 Cr allocated for developments of Ghats and beautification of River Fronts at Kedarnath, Haridwar, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna and Delhi in the current financial year.

❏ Namami Gange builds on ongoing efforts of UPA, and plans for a concrete action plan for future. The interventions at Ghats and River fronts will facilitate better citizen connect and set the tone for river centric urban planning process.

Components of Namami Ganga

❏ Nirmal Dhara- ensuring sustainable municipal sewage management - managing sewage from Rural Areas - managing Industrial discharge

❏ Aviral Dhara

❏ Ensuring ecological rejuvenation by conservation of aquatic life and biodiversity

❏ Promotion of Tourism and Shipping in a rational and sustainable manner

❏ However, to control the spread of pollution and to contain it in manageable limits certain interventions would be necessary…

Scheme for rehabilitation and up-gradation of existing STPs along Ganga Ensuring 100% sewerage infrastructure in identified town alongside Ganga In situ sewage treatment in open drains River Front Management for Ghat’s developments in selected cities and towns Industrial pollution abatement at Kanpur on priority Action Plan for Char Dham Yatra –Public amenities, waste disposal and sanitation Afforestation – Conservation of Flora Conservation of Aquatic life – special attention on Dolphin, Turtles and Ghariyals etc. Disposal of flowers and other puja material GIS data and Spatial Analysis for Ganga basin Study of communities depending on Ganga for their traditional livelihood Special guidelines for sand mining in Ganga

Story Of Thames

❏ Thames is one of the cleanest Rivers in the world which flows through a major city. But there was a time it was considered as a Biologically Dead River.

❏ In 1878 the pleasure steamship Princess Alice sunk in a river collision. Most of the 600 or so passengers who died did not die from drowning, they died because of the pollution in the river.

❏ It was then decided that Treatment plants should be built to clean the water from the Thames before it was pumped to homes. The treatment plants also cleaned the dirty water from homes before it went back into the Thames. Not only did the peoples' health improve, but also the water in the Thames became cleaner.

Recommendation

There are three problem areas that need to be addressed in order to find a comprehensive solution to Ganga pollution:

❏ the inadequate flow of water in the river, needed to dilute and assimilate waste

❏ the growing quantum of untreated sewage discharged from cities along the river

❏ the lack of enforcement against point-source pollution from industries discharging waste into the river.

❏ Moratorium on dam building till study of cumulative impact on environment is done

❏ Zero tolerance policy

❏ Minimum flow fixed

❏ Not to use electrical dependent pumps in STP, instead use gravity based❏ Electric /improved wood crematoria

Recommendation

Sewage Treatment

Sabarmati - India