Posted on December 8, 2015
by Akhil Barar, SVP of Global Sales at Organica Water
There are a lot of polluted rivers across the world from Mississippi (US) to Yellow River (China) to Citarum (Indonesia) but it may come as surprise to some that The GANGA, is The Most Polluted River of the World!
I could not find a single source of information that did not feature Ganga in top 3 of the “most polluted rivers” list.
- http://kosmo.hubpages.com/hub/What-Are-the-10-Most-Polluted-Rivers-in-the-World
- http://listdose.com/top-10-polluted-rivers-world/
- http://listaka.com/top-12-most-polluted-rivers-in-the-world/
The big question is WHY is this river, considered by many to be holy, is in this state?
While the government has various river cleanliness missions in place for the last 30 years, including the latest National Mission for Clean Ganga, the pollution has grown manifold. The National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGBRA) was launched in 2009 with the renewed vision of cleaning river Ganga using a basin wide approach.
Considering that the measures taken till now are inadequate and a national effort is required to mobilize resources for improving the condition of the river Ganga, the Indian Government announced the setting up of an Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission called “Namami Gange” and an initial sum of Rs. 2,037 crore has been allocated in the Union Budget 2014-15 (http://www.cleangangafund.com/).
The Ganga River Basin Management Plan 2015 (GRBMP), prepared by Indian Institute of Technology Consortium (IITC), suggests that nearly Rs.600,000-700,000 crore ($ 100 billion) is required to address the problem caused by the material dumped into the river.
The National Green Tribunal, which was asked to act against industrial units polluting Ganga by the Supreme Court, unveiled its stage-wise plan to restore the river to its pristine glory.
All this is great, but I believe it is important to question why has it not worked as intended in the past and why will it work this time? Let’s look at some of the “common” issues which I have been able to identify since returning to India in September 2013.
Time – From the time a new project requirement is identified to lay a sewer network or a treatment facility, it can easily take 2 years for the job to get tendered by which time the budgets are already obsolete. When contractors actually bid for the job, they are forced to compromise the quality of the plant to meet the budget.
Unforeseen Expenses – The budget that is prepared is to build infrastructure, not to line the pockets of bureaucrats and politicians. However, it is common knowledge that nothing gets built in this country without “servicing” the government. This further forces the contractor to cut corners by compromising the technology/design/quality.
Monitoring – Monitoring of treatment facilities by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is ad-hoc, low tech and more often than not an eye-wash. If we do not get power we complain, we see bad roads we complain, however we never complain that the sewage in our city is not getting treated properly! Such is not nature of this field. So, unless there is competent, impartial and insulated from influence Watchdog to ensure that the infrastructure built to treat wastewater is functioning properly, it will remain a lost cause.
Icompetence – Managing solid waste and wastewater is not rocket science but it does requires some amount of skill, experience and expertise. A sanctioned project is usually left to the District Executing Agency to deliver, which almost never has the required skill sets to review the technical aspect of the Proposals submitted by bidders or to oversee execution of the project. Outsourcing this to reputed engineering consultants who are aware of latest technology/designs internationally is a simple solution which more often than not is not deemed necessary!
I am sure each one of you will be able to add at least one more issue to the few listed above. However, these are not the real problems the way I see it. These are the symptoms which can be used to explain why it’s not working.
The Real Reason is the Lack of Will!!
When our back is against the wall or there is Political Will behind, we usually get it done. Prime examples are the New Delhi International Airport and the Delhi Metro. The question is who or where will the WILL come from to clean this very important source of life in the heart of India not just during the current term of our Prime Minister, but for the next Two Decades?
I strongly believe that this mega project requires a Professional Leader to take this on this Project for the next 10+ years. This person and his team has to be empowered by the Supreme Court, backed by the President’s office, not influenced by change in governments and given the authority to bull doze the red tape and deliver a result.
Earlier this year, I attended a conference organized by yet another important sounding body – National Mission Clean Ganga (NMCG), at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. Our Honorable Minister Shri Uma Bharti also made an appearance in the middle of a no-nonsense session lead by senior officers in the ministry. A lot of ideas, plans and schemes were discussed 1 year after our current Prime Minister took charge of the country.
After attending the conference, I felt a glimmer of hope that there might finally be team in place that has the will to finally do something about this great river!
For those of you interested in knowing more about the importance and current state of The Ganges, some useful information and relevant links are given below.
India’s largest and most vital freshwater resource, the Ganges, provides water to over 400 million people from its origin high in India’s Himalayas to its terminus in a Bangladeshi port in the Bay of Bengal. The Ganga is the second largest river in terms of water flow, producing the world’s largest delta, the Ganges Delta, in the Bay of Bengal. Providing fresh water to some 40 percent of the Indian population (1.1 billion) is just one role the Ganges plays in Indian life. The river’s flow irrigates crops and plays host to the largest religious gathering in the world.
Yet, despite its indispensable role in sustaining Indian life, the Ganga is the recipient of some of the worst abuse on the planet. Close to a billion gallons of raw sewage gushes into the Ganges each day, much more than the existing sewage treatment facilities can handle, turning the river into little more than a slow-flowing sewer, according to a World Bank report. Though untreated human waste is the single largest contributor of pollution to the Ganges, industrial waste from leather, paper, sugar, and brass factories along the river banks contributes to some 20 percent of the toxic flow of the Ganges. And though the government banned the practice of dumping the dead into the Ganges over a decade ago, thousands still slip under the cloak of darkness to set their loved ones afloat. The bodies are then left to bloat and decompose into the river bed, only exacerbating the pollution problem. Pollution spikes during pilgrimages have also come under recent scrutiny. A study conducted during the latest edition of Kumbh Mela found that Biochemical Oxygen Demand Levels – used to measure organic pollution in water – had risen three points, from 4.4 mg/liter to 7.4mg/liter, after the first day of bathing in the Ganges. According to the BBC, safe levels should not exceed 2 mg/liter.
