Bacterial contamination along Varanasi's Ghats

 Namami Gange is 100% centrally funded programme. The intention is to “ramp up progress” of the Ganga clean-up mission. Mission has been announced as an Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission in the Union Budget of 2014-15 with the aim of Ganga Rejuvenation i.e., restoration of the wholesomeness of the holy river.

According to the government, a major change in implementation from earlier efforts will lie in the focus on involving people living on the river’s banks. States and grassroots institutions such as Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj institutions will be involved by implementing agency National Mission for Clean Ganga and its state counterparts, State Programme Management Groups.

Recent developments and situations in Ganga project:

• Along Varanasi’s ghats, lab tests have found bacterial contamination is now higher than the levels recorded back in 2014 when the new government launched its most ambitious Namami Gange initiative to clean up the river.
• The Ganga Rejuvenation Ministry has reported a 58 per cent increase in contamination from faecal coliform bacteria in the city’s waterway.
• More than 2,500 coliform microorganisms in 100 millilitres are considered unsafe for bathing.
• But Ganga samples collected from Varanasi’s Malviya Bridge showed bacterial contamination almost 20 times higher than the official standards.
• Dead aquatic life is another eyesore along the banks of the ancient city. That may be because the Ganga is losing its oxygen there.
• A tangible evidence of this trend emerged in the ministry’s reply that admitted that dissolved oxygen at the Assi Ghat has dropped from 8.6 milligram per litre in 2014 to 7.5 milligram in 2017, on the edge of the recommended 5mg/l limit.

Reasons for increase in the bacterial contamination:

• Pollution threat to Ganga is due to various reasons stated by different departments like:
• Although governments are claiming that open free defecation on the banks of ganga, but the reality check says otherwise.
• Rapidly increasing population, rising standards of living and exponential growth of industrialization and urbanization have exposed water resources, in general, and rivers, in particular, to various forms of degradation, and the mighty Ganga is no exception.
• As per an official estimate, approximately 12,000 million litres per day (mld) sewage is generated in the Ganga basin; however, the treatment capacity is of only around 4,000 mld and approximately 3000 mld of sewage is discharged into the main stem of the river Ganga from the Class I & II towns located along the banks.
• The industrial pockets in the catchments of Ramganga and Kali rivers and in Kanpur city are significant sources of industrial pollution, mostly tanning and leather industries.
• The major contributors are tanneries in Kanpur, distilleries, paper mills and sugar mills in the Kosi, Ramganga and Kali river catchments.
• Still human carcasses as well as other dead bodies are being disposed and the half burnt bodies are being releasing into the river.

Namami Gange Programme has eight pillars viz., sewage treatment infrastructure, river-surface cleaning, afforestation, industrial effluent monitoring, river-front development, bio-diversity, public awareness and Ganga Gram. Besides, to deploy best available knowledge and resources across the world for Ganga rejuvenation, India signed Memorandums of Understanding with countries like Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, Israel, etc. and also the multilateral agencies as the World Bank Group.

By: SONAM SHEORAN