Case study on: Ganga water pollution

Submitted by:
Shradddha Samant
MMS Marketing
Div.C
Roll no. 133

A Case Study On: The
Ganga
river
water
pollution.
The pollution of environment is the ‘gift’ of the industrial revolution. In the
following case study we would study how the sacred river of Ganga has
been polluted along the years and what is its present situation.

A Case Study On: The Ganga river water pollution.

2014

Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………….. 2

The Ganges………………………………………………………………………. 3

Exploitation of the river………………………………………………………….. 6

Previous work…………………………………………………………………….

7

Present Situation…………………………………………………………………

8

Cleaning efforts…………………………………………………………………

11

Conclusions and Lessons learnt……………………………………………….. 13

Recommendations……………………………………………………………….

13

References………………………………………………………………………..

14

1

Name: Shraddha Samant, Div.C, Roll no. 133.


2014

Introduction
Most ancient civilizations grew along the banks of rivers. Even today, millions of
people all over the world live on the banks of rivers and depend on them for their
survival. All of us have seen a river - large or small, either flowing through our town,
or somewhere else. Rivers are nothing more than surface water flowing down from a
higher altitude to a lower altitude due to the pull of gravity. One river might have its
source in a glacier, another in a spring or a lake. Rivers carry dissolved minerals,
organic compounds, small grains of sand, gravel, and other material as they flow
downstream.
Rivers begin as small streams, which grow wider as smaller streams and rivers join
them along their course across the land. Eventually they flow into seas or oceans.
Unfortunately most of the world's major rivers are heavily polluted. The pollution of
environment is the ‘gift’ of the industrial revolution. Prior to this the agrarian cultures
created significant environmental deterioration in the form of soil erosion- through
deforestation and overgrazing. The environmental degradation is a by product of
modern civilization.
There has been a steady deterioration in the quality of water of Indian rivers over
several decades. India’s fourteen major, 55 minor and several hundred small rivers
receive millions of litres of sewage, industrial and agricultural wastes. Most of these
rivers have been rendered to the level of sewage flowing drains. There are serious
water quality problems in the cities, towns and villages using these waters. Water
borne diseases are rampant, fisheries are on decline, and even cattle are not spared
from the onslaught of pollution.
According to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) five rivers in Asia serving over 870
million people are among the most threatened in the world, as dams, water
extraction and climate change all take their toll. The Ganges, Indus, Yangtze,
Salween-Nu and Mekong-Lancang rivers make up half of the WWF’s “top ten” most
threatened river basins.
India has a large number of rivers that are lifelines for the millions living along their
banks. These rivers can be categorized into four groups:
1. Rivers that flow down from the Himalayas and are supplied by melting snow
and glaciers. This is why these are perennial, that is, they never dry up during
the year.
2. The Deccan Plateau Rivers, which depend on rainfall for their water.
3. The coastal rivers, especially those on the west coast, which are short and do
not retain water throughout the year.
4. The rivers in the inland drainage basin of west Rajasthan, which depend on
the rains. These rivers normally drain towards silt lakes or flow into the sand.

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2014

The Ganges
The river Ganga occupies a unique position in the cultural ethos of India. Legend
says that the river has descended from Heaven on earth as a result of the long and
arduous prayers of King Bhagirathi for the salvation of his deceased ancestors. From
times immemorial, the Ganga has been India's river of faith, devotion and worship.
Millions of Hindus accept its water as sacred. Even today, people carry treasured
Ganga water all over India and abroad because it is "holy" water and known for its
"curative" properties.
However, the river is not just a legend, it is also a life-support system for the people
of India. It is important because:
• The densely populated Ganga basin is inhabited by 37 per cent of India's
population.
• The entire Ganga basin system effectively drains eight states of India.
• About 47 per cent of the total irrigated area in India is located in the Ganga basin
alone.
• It has been a major source of navigation and communication since ancient times.
• The Indo-Gangetic plain has witnessed the blossoming of India's great creative
talent.
The Ganga river
The Ganga rises on the southern slopes of the Himalayan ranges (Figure 2) from the
Gangotri glacier at 4,000 m above mean sea level. It flows swiftly for 250 km in the
mountains, descending steeply to an elevation of 288 m above mean sea level. In
the Himalayan region the Bhagirathi is joined by the tributaries Alaknanda and
Mandakini to form the Ganga. After entering the plains at Hardiwar, it winds its way
to the Bay of Bengal, covering 2,500 km through the provinces of Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar and West Bengal (Figure 1). In the plains it is joined by Ramganga, Yamuna,
Sai, Gomti, Ghaghara, Sone, Gandak, Kosi and Damodar along with many other
smaller rivers.

The Ganga river carries the highest silt load of any river in the world and the
deposition of this material in the delta region results in the largest river delta in the
world (400 km from north to south and 320 km from east to west). The rich mangrove
forests of the Gangetic delta contain very rare and valuable species of plants and
animals and are unparalleled among many forest ecosystems.

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2014

Figure 1: Location map of India
showing the Ganga River

Figure 2: Map of India showing the route of the Ganga river

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2014

The Holy Ganga.
River Ganga (Ganges) of India has
been held in high esteem since time
immemorial and Hindus from all over
the world cherish the idea of a holy dip
in the river under the faith that by doing
so they will get rid of their sins of life.
More than 400 million people live along
the Ganges River. An estimated
2,000,000 persons ritually bathe daily in
the river.
Historically also, Ganga is the most
important river of the country and
beyond doubt is closely connected with
the history of civilization as can be
noticed from the location of the ancient
cities of Hardwar, Prayag, Kashi and Patliputra at its bank. To millions of people it is
sustainer of life through multitude of canal system and irrigation of the wasting load.
Hundreds of the villages and even the big cities depend for their drinking water on
this river. It is believed, a fact which has also been observed, that the water of
Ganga never decays even for months and years when water of other rivers and
agencies begins to develop bacteria and fungi within a couple of days. This selfpurification characteristic of Ganga is the key to the holiness and sanctity of its
water. The combination of bacteriophages and large populations of people bathing in
the river have apparently produced a self-purification effect, in which water-borne
bacteria such as dysentery and cholera are killed off, preventing large-scale
epidemics. The river also has an unusual ability to retain dissolved oxygen.
However, the purity of the water depends on the velocity and the dilution capacity of
the river. A large part of the flow of the Ganga is abstracted for irrigation just as it
enters the plains at Hardiwar. From there it flows as a trickle for a few hundred
kilometres until Allahabad, from where it is recharged by its tributaries. The Ganga
receives over 60 per cent of its discharge from its tributaries. The contribution of
most of the tributaries to the pollution load is small, except from the Gomti, Damador
and Yamuna rivers, for which separate action programmes have already started
under Phase II of "The National Rivers Conservation Plan".

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2014

Exploitation of the river
In the recent past, due to rapid progress in communications and commerce, there has been
a swift increase in the urban areas along the river Ganga, As a result the river is no longer
only a source of water but is also a channel, receiving and transporting urban wastes away
from the towns. Today, one third of the country's urban population lives in the towns of the
Ganga basin. Out of the 2,300 towns in the country, 692 are located in this basin, and of
these, 100 are located along the river bank itself.
The belief the Ganga river is "holy" has not, however, prevented over-use, abuse and
pollution of the river. All the towns along its length contribute to the pollution load. It has
been assessed that more than 80 per cent of the total pollution load (in terms of organic
pollution expressed as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)) arises from domestic sources,
i.e. from the settlements along the river course. Due to over-abstraction of water for irrigation
in the upper regions of the river, the dry weather flow has been reduced to a trickle.
Rampant deforestation in the last few decades, resulting in topsoil erosion in the catchment
area, has increased silt deposits which, in turn, raise the river bed and lead to devastating
floods in the rainy season and stagnant flow in the dry season. Along the main river course
there are 25 towns with a population of more than 100,000 and about another 23 towns with
populations above 50,000. In addition there are 50 smaller towns with populations above
20,000. There are also about 100 identified major industries located directly on the river, of
which 68 are considered as grossly polluting. Fifty-five of these industrial units have
complied with the regulations and installed effluent treatment plants (ETPs) and legal
proceedings are in progress for the remaining units. The natural assimilative capacity of the
river is severely stressed.
The principal sources of pollution of the Ganga river can be characterised as follows:









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Domestic and industrial wastes. It has been estimated that about 1.4 × 106 m3 d-1 of
domestic wastewater and 0.26 × 106 m3 d-1 of industrial sewage are going into the
river.
Solid garbage thrown directly into the river.
Non-point sources of pollution from agricultural run-off containing residues of
harmful pesticides and fertilisers.
Animal carcasses and half-burned and unburned human corpses thrown into the
river.
Defecation on the banks by the low-income people.
Mass bathing and ritualistic practices



2014

Previous studies
A number of investigations have been carried out on the physiochemical and
biological characters of the Ganga.
Lakshminarayana (1965) published a series of papers reporting the results of studies
carried out at Varanasi during the period between March, 1957 and March, 1958. it
was observed by him that the values of the most of the parameters decreased during
rainy season while no marked variation was observed during winters and summers.

A year later Saxena et.al. (1966) made a systematic survey of the chemical quantity
of Ganga at Kanpur. According to the study, the biological oxygen demand, i.e.
B.O.D. varied from 5.3ppm (minimum) in winter to 16.0ppm (maximum) in summer.
The chloride ranged between 9.2 and 12.7 ppm and the river was found to be
alkaline in nature except in rainy season. He concluded that the tanneries
significantly increased the pollution load of river as they discharge huge amounts of
effluents containing organic wastes and heavy metals. It was further reported that
forty five tanneries, ten textile mills and several other industrial units discharged
37.15 million gallon per day of waste water generating BOD load of approximately
61630 Kg/day.
At the 1981 session of Indian Science Congress at Varanasi, scientists expressed
concern at the growing pollution in the river Ganga in presence of the then Prime
Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi who inaugurated the session. At her instance, Dr. M.S.
Swaminathan, the then member, Planning Commission asked the Central Board for
Preventation and Control of Water Pollution, New Delhi to conduct studies on the
state of the river Ganga.
In collaboration with the State Pollution Control Boards of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and
Bengal and the centre for study of Man and Environment Kolkata (Calcutta), studies
were conducted on the ‘Sources’ of pollution including all human activities, land use
pattern and water quality of the river at selected sites during 1981-82 and report
entitled “Basin, sub-basin inventory of water pollution in the Ganga basin part-II” was
published in 1984. According to this report sewage of 27 class I cities and towns and
effluents from 137 major industries were the main source of pollution of the river. In
addition cremation of ad human bodies and dumping of carcasses aggrevated the
pollution of the river.
It was Chandra (1981) who conducted studies on the pollution status of river Ganga
at Allahabad, pointed out that industries manufacturing nitrogenous fertilizers have
significant role in polluting the river water.

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2014

According to the report published in a book by Mr. U.K. Sinha (1986), the
concentration of iron is higher in sediments collected from 10 metres along the bank
at Mandiri region. The concentration of all the toxic metals i.e copper, zinc, nickel
and cobalt are higher in all the sediments collected from near the storm drain and
diminishes towards mid-region of the river. The concentration of zinc is highest in the
sediments collected from near the Mandiri storm drain, Antaghat storm drain and
Krishnaghat storm drain. The concentration of copper is highest in the sediments
collected from near the Krishnaghat storm drain suggesting the presence copper due
to utensil work being done in Thatheri Bazar and hospital wastes also, said report.
The chemical pollution of the river Ganga in Patna city in Bihar state has been found
somewhat alarming beside the storm drain, especially in the regions like Rajapur,
Mandiri and Krishnaghat.

Present Situation
For some time now, this romantic view of the Ganges has collided with India's grim
realities. During the past three decades, the country's explosive growth (at nearly 1.2
billion people, India's population is second only to China's), industrialization and
rapid urbanization have put unyielding pressure on the sacred stream.
Ganga, the most sacred of rivers for Hindus, has become polluted for some years
now. But a recent study by Uttarakhand Environment Conservation and Pollution
Control Board says that the level of pollution in the holy river has reached alarming
proportions.
Things have come to such a pass that the Ganga water is at present not fit just for
drinking and bathing but has become unusable even for agricultural purposes.
As per the UECPCB study, while the level of coliform present in water should be
below 50 for drinking purposes, less than 500 for bathing and below 5000 for
agricultural use— the present level of coliform in Ganga at Haridwar has reached
5500. Based on the level of coliform, dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen, the
study put the water in A, B, C and D categories. While A category is considered fit for
drinking, B for bathing, C for agriculture and D is for excessive pollution level.
Since the Ganga waters at Haridwar have more than 5000 coliform and even the
level of dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen doesn't conform the prescribed
standards, it has been put in the D category.
According to the study, the main cause of high level of coliform in Ganga is due to
disposal of human faeces, urine and sewage directly into the river from its starting
point in Gaumukh till it reaches Haridwar via Rishikesh.

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2014

Nearly 89 million litres of sewage is daily disposed into Ganga from the 12 municipal
towns that fall along its route till Haridwar. The amount of sewage disposed into the
river increases during the Char Dham Yatra season when nearly 15 lakh pilgrims
visit the state between May and October each year.
Apart from sewage disposal of half-burnt human
bodies at Haridwar and hazardous medical
waste from the base hospital at Srinagar due to
absence of an incinerator are also adding to
pollution levels in the Ganga.
The result has been the gradual killing of one of
India's most treasured resources. One stretch of
the Yamuna River, the Ganges' main tributary,
has been devoid of all aquatic creatures for at
least a decade.
In Varanasi, India's most sacred city, the coliform bacterial count is at least 3,000
times higher than the standard established as safe by the United Nations world
Health Organization. Coliform are rod-shaped bacteria that are normally found in the
colons of humans and animals and become a serious contaminant when found in the
food or water supply.
A study by Environmental Biology Laboratory, Department pf Zoology, Patna
University, showed the presence of mercury in the Ganga river in Varanasi city.
According to the study, annual mean concentration of mercury in the river water was
0.00023 ppm. The concentration ranged from NT (not traceable) to 0.00191 ppm.
Study done by Indian Toxicological Research Centre (ITRC), Lucknow during 19861992 showed maximum annual concentration of mercury in the Ganga river water at
Rishikesh, Allahabad district and Dakshineswar as 0.081, 0.043 and 0.012 ppb
respectively.
Ganga river at Varanasi was found well within the maximum permissible standard of
0.001 ppm prescribed for drinking water by the World Health Organization.
The mercury studied in the Ganga river could be traced in biotic as well as abiotic
components of the river at the study site. The Hindu devotees take bath in the river
where mercury was detected in 28%, 44%,75%, 96%, 42% and 89% of the river
water, sediment, benthic fauna, fish, soil and vegetation samples respectively.
Though mercury contamination of the river water has not reached an alarming
extent, its presence in the river system is worrisome. In the study annual mean
concentration of the metal in the sediments was 0.067 ppm. Sediments constitute a
major pool of mercury in fresh water.

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2014

As Ganga enters the Varanasi city, Hinduism’s sacred river contains 60,000 faecal
coliform bacteria per 100 millilitres, 120 times
more than is considered safe for bathing.
Four miles downstream, with inputs from 24
gushing sewers and 60,000 pilgrim-bathers, the
concentration is 3,000 times over the safety limit.
In places, the Ganges becomes black and septic.
Corpses, of semi-cremated adults or enshrouded
babies, drift slowly by.

The tannery industry mushrooming in North India has converted the Ganga River
into a dumping ground. The tanning industry discharges different types of waste into
the environment, primarily in the form of liquid effluents containing organic matters,
chromium, sulphide ammonium and other salts. As per an estimate, about 80-90% of
the tanneries use chromium as a tanning agent. Of this, the hides take up only 5070%, while the rest is discharged as effluent. Pollution becomes acute when
tanneries are concentrated in clusters in small area like Kanpur. Consequently, the
Leather-tanning sector is included in the Red category of industries due to the
potential adverse environmental impact caused by tannery wastes.
Highly polluted sediments are adversely affecting the ecological functioning of rivers
due to heavy metal mobilization from urban areas into biosphere. Distribution of
heavy metals in sediments of the river Ganga and its tributaries have been carried
out by several workers. Monitoring of Ganga River from Rishikesh to Varanasi
indicated that Kannauj to Kanpur and Varanasi are the most polluted stretches of the
river Ganga . Analysis of upstream and down stream water and sediment revealed a
10-fold increase in chromium level.

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2014

Cleaning efforts
Ganga Action Plan (GAP)
The Ganga Action Plan or GAP was a program launched in April 1986 in order to
reduce the pollution load on the river. But the efforts to decrease the pollution level in
the river became more after spending Rs 901.71 Crore Therefore, this plan was
withdrawn on 31 March 2000. The steering Committee of the National River
Conservation Authority reviewed the progress of the GAP and necessary correction
on the basis of lessons learned and experiences gained from the GAP phase; 2
schemes have been completed under this plan. A million litres of sewage is targeted
to be intercepted, diverted and treated. Phase-II of the program was approved in
stages from 1993 onwards, and included the following tributaries of the Ganges:
Yamuna, Gomti, Damodar and Mahananda. As of 2011, it is currently under
implementation.
Scientists and religious leaders have speculated on the causes of the river's
apparent self-purification effect, in which water-borne bacteria such
as dysentery and cholera are killed off thus preventing large-scale epidemics. Some
studies have reported that the river
retains more oxygen than is typical
for comparable rivers; this could be
a factor leading to fewer disease
agents being present in the water.

National River Ganga Basin
Authority (NRGBA)
NRGBA was established by the
Central Government of India, on 20
February 2009 under Section 3(3) of the Environment Protection Act, 1986. It also
declared Ganges as the "National River" of India. The chair includes the Prime
Minister of India and Chief ministers of states through which the Ganges flows.

Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court has been working on the closure and relocation of many of the
industrial plants like tulsi along the Ganges and in 2010 the government declared the
stretch of river between Gaumukh and Uttarkashi an “eco-sensitive zone”.

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2014

Conclusions and Lessons learnt
Poor resource recovery due to poor resource generation because of the lower organic
content of Indian sewage. This may be due to less nutritious dietary habits, higher water
consumption, fewer sewer connections, higher grit loads, insufficient flows and stagnation
leading to bio-degradation of the volatile fractions in the pipes themselves. The assumed
BOD design load of the plants were, in some cases, considered much higher than the actual
BOD loading. This was due to a lack of practical experience within India and the fact that
western experiences were not entirely appropriate.
The river pollution plan being "action" orientated, avoids involvement in long-term town
planning, which continues to remain deficient with respect to environmental sanitation. This
is due to a lack of overview by any stakeholding agency and to the blinkered foresight by the
already beleaguered city authorities who remain perpetually short of funds for their daily
crisis-management.
The most important lesson learned was the need for control of pathogenic contamination in
treated effluent. This could not be tackled before because of a lack of safe and suitable
technology but is now being attempted through research and by developing a suitable
indigenous technology, which should not impart traces of any harmful residues in the treated
effluent detrimental to the aquatic life. This is an aspect difficult to control in surface waters
in tropical areas, but it is very important for the Ganga because the river water is used
directly by millions of devout individuals for drinking and bathing.

Recommendations
The Action Plans start as "cleanliness drives" and continue in the same noble spirit with the
same zeal and enthusiasm on other major rivers and freshwater bodies. Its effectiveness
could however be enhanced if these efforts could be integrated and well accepted within the
long-term objectives and master plans of the cities, which are constantly under preparation
without adequate attention to the disposal of wastes. More information on polluted
groundwater resources in the respective river basins will prove useful, because the existing
levels of depletion and contamination of groundwater resources, which are already
overexploited and fairly contaminated, will increase the dependency in the future on the
rivers, as the only economical source of drinking water. This aspect has not been seriously
considered in any long-term planning.

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2014

References:


http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/~amit/other/ganges.html



http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.



http://www.shvoong.com/exact-sciences/physics/1637757-holistic-studymercurypollution-ganga/



http://www.wordfocus.com/word-ganges.html



http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary

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