Kumbh’s unholy dip in polluted Ganga

The pollution level in the sacred river Ganga has increase since Kumbh started in Allahabad on January 14 and the water is no more fit for bathing purposes, according to the latest evaluation by the Central Pollution Control Board. Chetan Chauhan reports.

Updated on: Feb 8, 2013, 01:15:49 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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Spiritual dip in holy Ganga at Kumbh is not clean.

The pollution level in the sacred river has increase since Kumbh started in Allahabad on January 14 and the water is no more fit for bathing purposes, according to the latest evaluation by the Central Pollution Control Board.

The level of the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels — used to measure of the level of organic pollution in the water — had increased to 7.4 milligram per litre at the main bathing place, known as Sangam, since the Kumbh started.

A day before the Kumbh, the pollution level was 4.4 milligram per litre slightly more than the national standard for bathing quality of water of 3 milligram per litre.

“Higher the BOD level worse it is for one’s skin,” said a CPCB expert. High exposure to dirty water can result in skin rashness and allergies. “One may not notice the side-effects immediately.”

The official reason for the sudden rise of contaminants in the river was sudden increase in flow of human waste because of increased bathing during Kumbh.

Around 10 million people have already visited the Khumb and the UP government has employed around 10,000 sweepers to keep the city clean. “Still most of the dirt is going into the river,” the CPCB official said.

Off the record officials admit that their drive to check sewage from industries in Ganga upstream of Allahabad has not worked as dirty sewage was still flowing into the river.

“We fear that untreated sewage especially from industries in Kanpur was still being discharged into the river illegally,” he said.

But, the dirt in the river is not a deterrent for people to take a dip at Allahabad. Hindus believe that the Ganga water has ability to clean and purify itself, a claim not scientifically proven.

And, this belief has driven millions to the world biggest Hindu congregation and another 15 million are expected to visit in the 55-day long festival to end on March 10.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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