ganga river water quality and its management in varanasi

2. INTRODUCTION
• River Ganga is the National River of India
• The river traverses a course of 2525 km before flowing
into Bay of Bengal
• More than 400 million people reside in Ganga basin
• As soon as the day begins, devout Hindus begin to give
their offerings of flowers or food, throwing grain or
garlands of marigolds or pink lotuses into the Ganga
• The Ganges was ranked among the five most polluted
rivers of the world in 2007, with fecal coliform levels in
the river near Varanasi more than one hundred times the
official Indian government limits.

3. Ghats near Varanasi

4. WATER QUALITY OF RIVER GANGA
Water quality can be characterize by mainly following
parameters:
Dissolve oxygen (DO)
Biological oxygen demand (BOD)
Chemical oxygen demand (COD)
Fecal coliform

5. PARAMETERS *PERMISSIBLE IN VARANASI
LIMIT
Dissolve oxygen (DO) 5 mg/l 6-7mg/l
Biological oxygen demand 3 mg/l 12-14mg/l
(BOD)
Chemical oxygen demand 250 mg/l >250 mg/l
(COD)
Fecal coliform 500-2500 MPN / 88000 MPN
100ml /100ml
*Guided by CPCB

6. SOURCES OF CONTAMINATION
POINT SOURCES
 Sewage
 Domestic waste
 Industrial effluent
 Polluted river (Varuna)
 Overflow and leakage of nalas

7. POINT SOURCES DISCHARGING
DIRECTLY INTO GANGA

8. Location Latitude Longitude
1. Gyan Prawah Drain 25° 16’ 05.1” 83° 01’ 03.8”
2. Samne Ghat Drain 25° 16’ 20.5” 83° 00’ 55.4”
3. Mahadev Ghat Drain 25° 16’ 29.8” 83° 00’ 50.0”
4. Aghoreshwar Ashram Ghat Drain 25° 16’ 33.4” 83° 00’ 48.6”
5. Ram Ghat Drain 25° 16’ 42.0” 83° 00’ 44.0”
6. Nagwa Drain (River Asi) 25° 17’ 00.5” 83° 00’ 34.9”
7. Drain at north of Ravidas Park 25° 17’ 04.7” 83° 00’ 32.4”
8. Ganga Mahal Ghat Drain 25° 17’ 22.4” 83° 00’ 24.9”
9. Niranjani Ghat Drain 25° 17’ 44.1” 83° 00’ 27.1”
10. Shiwala Ghat Drain 25° 17’ 46.8” 83° 00’ 27.1”
11. Dandi Ghat Drain 25° 17’ 50.1” 83° 00’ 28.0”
12. Harishchandra Ghat Drain 25° 17’ 53.4” 83° 00’ 27.7”
13. Vijayanagram Ghat Drain 25° 17’ 55.9” 83° 00’ 28.1”
14. Chauki Ghat Drain 25° 18’ 01.6” 83° 00’ 28.4”
15. Kshemeshwar Ghat Drain 25° 18’ 03.1” 83° 00’ 28.7”
16. Pandey Ghat Drain 25° 18’ 13.8” 83° 00’ 30.8”
17. Ahilyabai Ghat Drain 25° 18’ 20.3” 83° 00’ 37.4”
18. Rajendra Prasad Ghat Drain 25° 18’ 24.9” 83° 00’ 40.3”
19. Man Mandir Ghat Drain 25° 18’ 27.4” 83° 00’ 41.8”

9. 20. Meer Ghat Drain 25° 18’ 32.5” 83° 00’ 45.7”
21. Lalita Ghat Drain 25° 18’ 35.4” 83° 00’ 48.6”
22. Jalasen Ghat Drain 25° 18’ 37.3” 83° 00’ 50.4”
23. Manikarnika Ghat Drain 25° 18’ 37.4” 83° 00’ 50.4”
24. Sankatha Ghat Drain 25° 18’ 43.6” 83° 00’ 57.9”
25. Bhonsle Ghat Drain 25° 18’ 44.4” 83° 00’ 59.0”
26. Mehta Ghat Drain 25° 18’ 49.9” 83° 01’ 01.0”
27. Panch Ganga Ghat Drain 25° 18’ 51.4” 83° 01’ 03.5”
28. Brahma Ghat Drain 25° 18’ 56.7” 83° 01’ 08.7”
29. Lal Ghat Drain 25° 19’ 02.3” 83° 01’ 15.5”
30. Trilochan Ghat Drain 25° 19’ 08.2” 83° 01’ 25.2”
31. Gola Ghat (sewage pumping station) 25° 19’ 09.6” 83° 01’ 27.9”
32. Nandeshwar Ghat Drain 25° 19’ 11.4” 83° 01’ 30.7”
33. Teliyanala Ghat Drain 25° 19’ 15.2” 83° 01’ 38.4”
34. Bhaisasur Ghat Drain 25° 19’ 23.7” 83° 01’ 53.7”
35. Raj Ghat Drain I (Beside bridge) 25° 19’ 25.2” 83° 01’ 56.9”
36. Raj Ghat Drain II (Below bridge) 25° 19’ 26.0” 83° 01’ 59.7”
37. Basanta College outfall (Trunk Sewer) 25° 19’ 34.1” 83° 02’ 18.0”
38. Varuna-Ganga Confluence 25° 19’ 45.6” 83° 02’ 40.9”

10. Nonpoint sources:
 Runoff from agricultural fields
 Solid waste
 Marigold flowers with pesticides
 Human and Cattle excreta and fecal matter
 Bathing and washing on ghats
 Cremation

11. SOLID WASTE DUMPING
1. Solid waste is
dumped at the bank of
the Ganga in Varanasi.
2. Many hazardous
chemicals flow into the
Ganga due to leaching.

12. POLLUTION PATH OF RIVER GANGES
30% of the water flow is from melted glaciers
Only about a third of the
Ill planned Dams sewage and industrial effluent
obstruct the natural being discharged into the river
flow and thus is currently treated Due to untreated
reducing the oxygen sewage discharge
content water of the Ganga id
not fit for bathing
Indiscriminate mining and
stone crushing denude the
river bed at Haridwar
Half burnt bodies and Excessive pollution is
huge ash are washed Endangering the
away in the river ecosystems of Ganges
River Dolphin

13. EFFECTS OF POLLUTION
• Health effect like enteric diseases, diarrhoea and many
water borne diseases
• Water level reduction due to siltation
• Threats to biodiversity
• Socio-economic problem to livelihood of people near
ghats
• Effect on tourism
• Groundwater contamination

14. MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR
WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
• Ganga Action Plan for conservation and pollution
abatement of river Ganga.
• Discharge standards have been notified for industries
under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
• Take appropriate action against defaulting industries under
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Water (Prevention
and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
• The Central Government has constituted the National
Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) in February, 2009
This information was given by the Minister of State for
Environment and Forests Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan in a
written reply in Rajya Sabha on August 30, 2011.

15. Sewage Treatment Plants (STP)
in Varanasi
• Sewage treatment plant of Diesel Locomotive Work
(DLW)
Capacity: 12mld.
• Dinapur sewage treatment plant
Capacity: 80mld.
• Bhagwanpur sewage treatment plant
Capacity: 8mld.

16. CURRENT SCENARIO OF RIVER
GANGA
B.O.D. in the religious bathing area remains
dangerously high evens after completion of the GAP-I
BOD and the fecal coliform levels are increasing
In working condition the STP is not treated very well
hence BOD increases
Fecal coliform level remains high as that entering the
STP

17. REMEDIES FOR MISMANAGEMENT
IN GANGA RIVER POLLUTION
• Appropriate technology and suitable alternatives for
waste water interception and treatment of sewage in
Varanasi
• By awaring people
• Reduce obstruction of water flow
• By mind setup and reduction in corruption
• By proper and forceful implementation of water act
and environmental act
• River water quality monitoring at regular intervals

18. CONCLUSIONS
•Due to excessive sewage discharge, indus-
trial and domestic waste at various places,
the quality and sacredness of Ganges has
degraded
•Aerobic microbial activity has reduced the
DO and increased the BOD
•Damming along the river at various places
has reduced its carrying capacity to dissolve
harmful things

19. Contd…
•Dolphin, the national aquatic organism
(Platanista gangetica gangetica) has become
endangered due to excessive pollution
•Indicating that the cultural, religious, social
and economical value of Ganga is in danger

20. References
Divedi,S. 1991. Assessment of water quality of river
Ganga at Varanasi. Ph.D. Thesis. Banaras Hindu
University, Varanasi.
River Ganga At Varanasi: The Polluted Purifier,
Priyadarshini Shukla And B.D. Tripathi Department Of
Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi (U.P.).
STATUS PAPER ON RIVER GANGA, national river
conservation directorate ministry of environment and
forest.

21. Thank
You….