Pollutants rising in Ganga: Study

DESPITE THE first phase of the Ganga Action Plan being completed a decade ago and the second phase under way to check growing pollution in the river, experts have detected rise in fecal coliform count and BOD level (two parameters to measure water quality) in the water.

DESPITE THE first phase of the Ganga Action Plan being completed a decade ago and the second phase under way to check growing pollution in the river, experts have detected rise in fecal coliform count and BOD level (two parameters to measure water quality) in the water.

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This was revealed by the Sankat Mochan Foundation in a recently concluded seminar on Ganga in Varanasi. In this seminar, Union Minister of State for Labour Chandra Shekhar Sahu, nine MPs and other prominent dignitaries had expressed concern over the growing pollution in the Ganga.

The Sankat Mochan Foundation, which has been working on the problem of Ganga pollution for the past several years, presented a paper on Ganga Action Plan-1 and the present state of the Ganga, recently.

The paper said that after completion of GAP-1, it was found that the plan had proved insufficient to fulfill its objectives of pollution abatement to improve the river water quality.

“ In terms of two important parameters—BOD and fecal coliform bacteria— the BOD ranges between 3-8 mg/l and fecal coliform count between 2000-100000 (20 thousands to 1 lakh) per 100 ml in Ganga near Assi ghat”, the paper says.s.

It added that downstream near the confluence of the Varuna, where the cumulative effect of pollution was realised, the BOD level was between 20-50 mg/l and fecal coliform count was between 1000000-2000000 (10 to 20 lakh) per 100 ml.

“The BOD level should be less than 3.0 mg/l and fecal coliform count should be less than 500 per ml for safe bathing in any water,” it says.