The Hindu : 'Ganga is the most polluted river'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 23, 2003

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National

'Ganga is the most polluted river'

By Gargi Parsai

New Delhi Nov. 22. Of the major rivers in India, Ganga, the most revered, has the longest stretch (1,760 km) that is polluted in terms of Bio Chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) load higher than 6 mg/litre. It is followed by Tapi (160 km), Narmada (120 km), Indus and Mahi (70 km) and Sabarmati (65 km).

The Central Pollution Control Board's 10 years of data shows that 14 per cent of the entire riverine length in the country (6,086 km) is severely polluted with BOD level of more than 6 mg a litre. Nineteen per cent of rivers are moderately polluted with BOD level between 3-6, while 67 per cent of rivers (30,242 km) are "relatively clean."

Maharashtra has the longest riverine length that is the most polluted in terms of Bio Chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) load in the river waters. It is followed by Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Gujarat who have more than 6 BOD levels.

About 1,35,000 polluting industries in India generate about 13,000 million litre a day of waste water of which only 60 per cent generated from large and medium industries is treated. Distilleries generate the largest amount of pollutant load followed by the textile industry, engineering and pulp and paper, says a study of the Central Pollution Control Board.

On the other hand, domestic sewage is the most important pollution source contributing pathogens, the main source of water borne diseases along with depletion of oxygen in water bodies. A large part of the domestic sewage is not even collected.

This results in stagnation of sewage within the city, which becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes and contaminate the groundwater, the only source of drinking water in many cities. Giving these details during a discussion on interlinking rivers, B. Sengupta of the Central Pollution Control Board said that in the domestic arena, 299 class I cities and 345 class II towns generate about 23,000 mld of wastewater, of which only 6,000 mld is treated.

The assessment of ground water shows that its quality is being degraded gradually in large urban centres/critically polluted areas. Although the Ministry of Water Resources is monitoring groundwater quality all over the country, the monitoring does not include main water quality issues. During the current financial year, the CPCB had included in its monitoring network a large number of groundwater stations, he said.

According to Mr. Sengupta, while for combating urban sources of river pollution there was a National River Action Plan, the pollution from industrial sources could only be checked "through consent." The CPCB had special drives for tackling 17 categories of industries and another for 24 Problem Areas Plan. There was arrangement for common effluent treatment plants for a cluster of Small Scale Industrial units.

He said the river Yamuna maintains a "reasonably good quality'' of length from Yamunotri in the Himalayas to Wazirabad in Delhi (about 375 km). However, the discharge of wastewater through 15 drains between Wazirabad barrage and Okhla barrage renders the river almost a "sewage drain'' with BOD values ranging from 14 to 28 mg/l and high coliform content without any dissolved oxygen.

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