The Hindu : National : “Pollution level in Ganga reaches septic levels”

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“Pollution level in Ganga reaches septic levels”

Lucknow: Despite hundreds of crores of rupees being spent to clean the Ganga, the lifeline of north India, pollution levels in the river have reached septic levels at certain points with dissolved oxygen dropping to alarmingly low levels. “In Varanasi alone, the seven km stretch from upstream Assi Ghat to Varuna Sangam, pollution has reached septic levels and we have data to prove this point,” Hydraulic expert and Professor Vir Bhadra Misra said.

Prof Misra said that the samples tested by the laboratories set up under the ‘Clean Ganga Campaign’ of the Sankat Mochan foundation, of which he is the head, show that the river is dirty in the upstream Assi Ghat area and by the time it reaches Varuna Sangam, it attains septic levels. “We had set up these labs along the river ever since it was claimed by the authorities that the water in the river has been cleaned following the Ganga Action Plan,” the former Civil Engineering Department head at the Banaras Hindu University said.

Prof Misra, who was recently honoured by the Council of Science and Technology with Vigyan Ratna award, said he had formulated a plan for the Varanasi Nagar Nigam way back in 1995 to clean the river using low cost gravitational force method to stop inflow of domestic sewage into the river. Sewage inflow is one of the main causes for pollution. .- PTI

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