Solving factors of Ganga Pollution

 Present hurdles in cleaning program of Ganga
1..‘Unreasonable’ directions by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) questioning the operating capacity of sewage treatment plants in Uttar Pradesh. This has led to delay in clearances of STPs by State governments to execute projects.
2.> Lack of coordination between the Centre and state governments
 According to Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Forests the mission has failed due to

•  Undue investment on technical aspects like creating sewage treatment plants to prevent the pollution in river Ganga without involving people living  on the banks of the river.
•  Ignoring of the social aspects of pollution in the rivers.
•  Encroachment of the catchment areas and diversion for construction and developmental activities.

Major factors of Ganga pollution and steps to solve them

(a) Treating Urban Sewage

• Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal together generate over 7,300 million litres of sewage per day that flows directly or indirectly into the river.
• Creating sewage treatment plants (STPs) is one major task to be completed to solve the problem of sewage.
• The government has now decided to rope incorporates to do this work in all the 118 urban centres along the river.

(b) Rural Sewage

• About 1,650 gram panchayats lie directly on the banks of the Ganga About half the population in these villages defecates in the open.
• The government plans to use biological means to deal with this waste. It wants to experiment with Seechwal model (inculcated the practice of segregation of solid and liquid waste, treatment of waste water through oxidation ponds, use of treated water for irrigation, and composting of solid waste with a sense of community participation and ownership of the river.)

(c) Industrial Effluents

• There are 764 polluting industries on the banks of the Ganga, mostly in Uttar Pradesh. These include tanneries, paper and pulp industries, sugar mills, dyeing factories, distilleries, and cement plants. Effluents from all these flow untreated into the river.
• Industries must install Common effluent treatment plants (CETPs), install new technologies, and ensure zero liquid discharge into the river.

(d) Surface Cleaning

• Solid waste, clothes, polythene, and all kinds of religious offerings are dumped into the river, and float on its surface.
• Machines called trash skimmers have been ordered from abroad to clean the river surface.

(e) Burning the Dead

• Cremation along rivers and immersion of remains is a unique reason for pollution in Indian rivers, and especially the Ganga. Burning of wood leads to air pollution as well.
• Need to build gas or electric crematoriums, especially in religious centres like Varanasi and Allahabad.

By: Arpit Gupta