Why is it Difficult to Clean up Ganges?

Ganga River or Ganges is one of the largest rivers in the world. It is considered the holiest river in India and is revered by Hindus as personification of the goddess Ganga. The drainage of Ganges with its productive lands serves as the lifeline of agrarian economies of India and Bangladesh as well as providing drinking water for over 400 million people. Despite its socio-religious, economic and environmental importance Ganges River is one of the most polluted rivers in the world posing threat to human health, riverine biodiversity and larger environment. The main causes of water pollution in the Ganges River are the increase in population density, various human activities such as bathing, washing clothes, animals, dumping of sewage and various harmful industrial effluents into water. The pollution in Ganga ha led to water borne illnesses, nitrate contamination in groundwater, contamination in food and water leading to malnourishment and stunted growth, loss of biodiversity.

Industrial and biological waste

The stretch of Ganga covers a length of 2525 kilometers across five states namely Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. And thus much of the river’s pollution load — from chemical effluents, sewage, dead bodies, and excreta — comes from these States. The contribution of industrial pollutants,( emanating from tanneries in Kanpur, distilleries, paper mills and sugar mills in the Kosi, Ramganga and Kali river catchments) volume-wise, is about 20%. But its toxic and non- biodegradable nature (chromium from tanneries) has a disproportionate impact. Then there is the municipal sewage which, at about a billion litres a day, generates 80% of the pollution load. This spans a wide range, from run-off in rural settlements to carcasses floated down the river.

Each day, 2.9 billion liters of waste water from sewage, domestic and industrial sources are dumped directly into Mother Ganga, of which over 80% is sewage discharge of 50 cities located along the river. In the Ganga basin, approximately 12,000 million litres per day (mld) of sewage is generated, for which there is now a treatment capacity of just 4,000 mld. Thus this huge infrastructure deficit in treatment of sewage which is leading to: clogged Ganges and High BOD (biological oxygen demand) consequently suffocating and choking reverine biodiversity and rendering the waters unfit for human and animal use. While a majority of the river’s stretch far exceeds permissible standards of Fecal coliform, there is a rising trend at an alarming rate of fecal coliform contamination all along the main stretch of the river. Coliform are rod- shaped bacteria normally found in the human and animal colon. Its excessive presence in drinking water causes waterborne illnesses, and poses a threat to public health.

What is the clean river criterion?

The ultimate objective, for the river to be clean, would be to ensure that the coliform bacteria level, biochemical oxygen demand, pH and dissolved salts remain within the standards prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board.

Challenges in cleaning Ganga River

According to a case study Chemical pollution around Patna and other major cities in the river Ganga is insignificant, but the bacteriological pollution is alarmingly. So the real problem is Municipal waste which is directly dumped into the river. The Government should focus on Sewage treatment plants more than other areas. Here in lie various challenges that government has to solve the problem of sewage treatment and Ganges pollution effectively.

Firstly there is 50% gap between waste water treatment capacity and ‘official estimated’ generation which has to be addressed by adding to the existing infrastructure if India wants to realise its Aspirational goals of both Swachh Bharat and Ganga rejuvenation.

Secondly, even the existing Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) are easily overwhelmed. According to CPCB’s 2013 report which had assessed 51 of the 64 STPs, 30% of the STPs were not operational, while in other STPs less than 60% of the installed capacity was being utilized. STPs also become overwhelmed during monsoon season, cannot treat toxic waste of heavy metals, are disabled by frequent electrical shortages, and are frequently defunct due to high operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. Thus it is evident that not only we need to add to the existing sewage treatment infrastructure but we also need to update and over haul the existing STPs to cope with the extra load of water during monsoons. The underutilized and non operational OTPs are also adding to the existing difficulties in cleaning of Ganges.

The third problem in cleaning of Ganges is lack of sewerage systems and contaminated water stores and toilets. Nationwide, some 70% of those living in rural areas have no access to toilets, potentially leading to diseases that can turn epidemic. Cities along the Ganges including the most populates ones like Allahabad, Kanpur and Varanasi are not connected to any sewerage conveyance system. Also to add to the problem, over 80% of these cities do not have functional drainage systems

Lastly, Fragmented management of Ganges in India is the major reason why cleaning of Ganges is a herculean. There are multiple dimensions in this fragmented management let’s review them one by one in brief. In India basins are mostly inter-state and Water is a State subject – Centre only to manage in case of inter-state disputes. Activities in the upstream of a basin affects the downstream – cannot be managed by administrative boundaries. Instead of following river-basin management, most efforts by Government to manage river were town-centric and implemented by individual States. And on top of that not only there are multiple rights holders – States, Sectors, Individuals and Communities. But the Management of water itself is done by multiple institutions– CWC, CPCB, CGWB, NDWA, etc for efficient management coordination is required between all stakeholders/departments/institutions. Management will not be holistic if basin approach is not taken. Most efforts have failed because of this fragmented management.

What is the government doing?-adopting the basin approach

Ganga Basin – comprises of 11 states and Mainstream flows through 5 states. As evident from the discussion above, Pollution in Bihar cannot be managed until upstream states are managed. Hence efforts between States cannot be disjointed – a basin level planning is required. Ganga Action Plan (GAP) I & II successfully created 961 MLD treatment capacity but with limited visible change. Learning from GAP – A holistic river basin approach required to manage the river Ganga. Thus, the government has set up Namami Gange Project under Separate Ministry for Ganga Rejuvenation. In this project all 11 Basin states covered and Conservation measures are being implemented for all tributaries of Ganga. The duration of the project is 5 Years 2015-16 to 2019-20 Costing about (2015-16 to 2019-20) ₹20,000 crores . Includes ongoing projects and new initiatives there has been four-fold increase over the expenditure in the past 30 years with the primary focus being pollution abatement. The goal of government is to Move from ‘River Cleaning’ to ‘River Rejuvenation’.

The main activities undertaken under Namami Gange include sewage and effluent management including creation of new and rehabilitation of existing STPs, complete sanitation coverage of Gram Panchayats, development of model cremation/dhobi ghats, development of decision support system in GIS platform for efficient planning and monitoring and creation of an IT based monitoring centre with capabilities of real time alerts and prediction. For long term protection and rejuvenation, a provision has been made for 100% funding for the entire life time cost of the treatment of assets created including O&M cost for 10 years. Due importance has also been accorded to bio diversity, conservation, maintenance of flow in the river and afforestation along river side with medicinal and native plant species along with conservation of aquatic species.
The government has also set up an empowered authority called the National Mission for Clean Ganga.

Can the government meet its targets?

Now comes, the most vital question of all: Can the government meet it ambitious targets? Ganga River is backbone of not only Indian culture but Indian economy and ecology. Thus over last few decades its pollution and conservation has been a national issue and a heated debate much discussion on prime time debates, newspapers and tabloids. But it’s a long term task which requires consistent and continuous efforts by successive governments at center and collaboration of all the stakeholders.

A lot will depend on how soon the sewage Treatment plants are commissioned. On average, they will take about a year-and-a-half to work at their optimal capacity. The tanneries, a major polluter [chromium] , will have to install new systems to ensure that no discharge leaches into the river. Given that several employ techniques that have not been tried on a large scale in Indian rivers, it is unclear how soon they will deliver results. Moreover, a clean river also implies that it maintains minimum levels — called ecological flows — across all stretches of the river. This requires management on a larger scale, including controlling the several dams along the river that bring with them their own challenges. The recent policy change by government form fragmented approach to holist approach and from ‘River Cleaning’ to ‘River Rejuvenation’is a welcomed step in the right direction. If implemented properly by authorities recent policies and programmes will definitely help India to undo its past mistakes and conserve Ganges basin pollution. One can only hope that we do not repeat ourselves.

We provide quality UPSC Coaching in Chandigarh. For all your queries regarding the class structure, material and mentorship for our programmes concerned with PCS Coaching in Chandigarh, HCS Coaching in Chandigarh and similar civil services coaching in Chandigarh region and beyond, you can contact us directly at o2iasacademy to avail professional quality IAS Coaching in Chandigarh. O2iasacademy wishes you all the best for your preparation