From grey to brown and having to bear perpetually increasing sewage torment
Ganga transforms from a crystal clear Himalayan river into toxic sludge in its journey through India. A 3 billion dollar fund was committed over five years to clean-up the Ganges. As per Water Resources Ministry plans to clean the river are on track. Government claims water quality improvement as priority job. But only a tenth of the funds had been used for the project. Land for new treatment plants is not easily available. The United Nations lamented the state governments not complying with orders from courts of the land.
Find the towns and cities and industrial hubs and devotional places of worship lining the Ganges in this article. They have a graphic that depicts sewage flowing into the river from drains - segregated on basis of both left and right banks. It tells also graphically the magnitude of sewage flowing into the river for a quick grasp, say pictorially speaking. This graphic also shows how the colour of the river changes as it trundles along. So when you scroll down quick here on this graphic you grasp the increase in magnitude of amount of total sewage from drains that flows into the river at that place as well as the colour change. It is dramatic? It is appalling for us Indians.
At a place (earlier) as you scroll down the river reveals its journey step by step (along a line - its flow path) till it enters Bangladesh. Further scrolling then starts revealing other river/s and Ganges’ tributaries, and sub tributaries too - eg ones flowing into Yamuna. And further scrolling reveals the population density along the river. Further scrolling reveals the monitoring stations along the river. All along (while you are scrolling) the river and its surrounding region of northern India stays on your screen. Interesting you could say. :-)
Following are the cities, drains pictorially mentioned on this web article as contributors to pollution via untreated sewage (includes treated sewage water? - not sure actually) alongwith the magnitude of the sewage (thickness of arcs):-
Rishikesh, Rambha Drain (Rishikesh), Haridwar, Jagjitpur Drain and SIDCUL (Haridwar), Laksar, Najibabad Sewage Drains, Shukratal, Bijnor (Bijnor Sewage Drain), Chhoiya Drain, Garh, Anupshahr, Gajraula, Babrala, Badaun (Sot River after Badaun Sewage Drain), Permia Drain, Sisamau Drain, Unnao (Loni Drain and City Jail), Kanpur, Dabka Nalla, Pandu River, Rae Bareli, Mirzapur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Varuna Drain (Varanasi), Buxar, Patna, Munger, Bhagalpur, Kalyani, Halisahar, Hooghly, Naihati, Bhatpara, Barrackpore, Serampore, Titagarh, Rishra, Khardah, Kamarhatti, Baranagar, Bally, Circular Canal and Dahi Ghat (Kolkata), Najerganj Kha (Howrah), Kolkata, Howrah, Uluberia.
Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers converge in the small hill town of Devprayag and the Ganges begins. :-) Pristine “Mother Ganges” Waters become a memory as the 2,525 km-long river flows across northern Indian plains eventually forming a huge delta with Brahmaputra and then into Bay of Bengal. The river and its tributaries are relied upon by millions for drinking, bathing, irrigation. Simultaneously industrial waste and sewage pours in from open drains, turning the river red in places while clouds of toxic foam float on the surface in others.
The Ganges has so many tributaries that the river basin covers Tibet, Nepal, India and Bangladesh. River and its tributaries are a vital water source for 400 million people. Quite a bit of India’s population can be found in the northern belt around the Ganges.
Data about pollutants in chart form by Central Pollution Control Board monitoring stations is provided. At many places where water quality is monitored, levels of human waste render Ganga unsafe for even bathing. Water from many sampling stations contained far in excess of 500 fecal coliform (from human waste) per 100 millilitres, the acceptable limit set by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). As per CPCB water for outdoor bathing should have a biochemical oxygen demand of 3mg/l or less. Almost half monitoring stations reported excessive levels of BOD (used to gauge organic pollution caused by toxic compounds like metals, pesticides and insecticides).
India’s antiquated sewage system is unable to handle the huge amounts of waste and 78% of sewage in India remains untreated. About 4.8 billion litres of sewage from 118 towns and cities flows into the Ganges every day. The functioning capacity to treat sewage is only one billion litres per day. So there is serious sewage management capacity and gap issue.
The river also suffers industrial pollution from units described by CPCB as Grossly Polluting Industries (GPI). There were 961 GPIs along the banks of Ganges in 2017-18 of which 209 are non-compliant with regulations regarding wastewater. Tanneries make up the largest number of grossly polluting industries. They dump low volume of water comparatively but high levels of toxic chemicals used in treatment of hides.
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“.. The race to save the river Ganges ..”
“.. India's holy Ganges begins as a crystal clear river high in the icy Himalayas but pollution and excessive usage transforms it into toxic sludge in places on its journey through burgeoning cities, industrial hubs and past millions of devotees. ..”
“.. In the foothills of the Himalayas, the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers converge in the small hill town of Devprayag. This is where the Ganges begins. By the banks of the river, Hindu priests offer prayers and bathe in the icy water. ..”
“.. Levels of fecal coliform indicate the amount of sewage in the water. .. in 2016, water from 41 of 45 sampling stations that collected coliform data contained in excess of 500 fecal coliform per 100 millilitres, the acceptable limit set by India's Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The average level measured at Howrah-Shibpur, West Bengal, has reached more than 300 times the Indian government's official limit. ..”
“.. India’s CPCB designates that water suitable for outdoor bathing should have a biochemical oxygen demand of 3mg/l or less. Among 56 sampling stations reporting data, 21 have excessive levels of BOD. ..”
“.. Over three-quarters of the sewage generated in the towns and cities of India’s crowded northern plains flows untreated into the Ganges, according to a National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) presentation seen by Reuters in 2017, which has not been made public. ..”
“.. State administrations have struggled to find land for new treatment plants, while complex tendering processes have put bidders off pitching for new clean-up projects, officials said. ..”
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This is from January 2019.
