- A REPORT SUBMITTED BY:-
- YOGESH KUMAR SAXENA, ADVOCATE High Court
- Appointed as Special Officer on Ganga pollution matter
- Chamber No.139, High Court campus, Allahabad
Civil Mics. Writ Petition No. 4003 of 2006
Cleanup efforts and the Dilemma- Ganga Pollution
Upstream pollution, downstream misery
Residents and local corporators in Kanpur were on warpath as the taps in many localities of this industrial town supplied black, brown, yellow stinking water. In Allahabad, the sadhu fraternity refused to take a holy dip on Mauni Amawasya enraged at government’s callousness to check pollution in Ganga whose water they said was no longer fit for religious ritual.
Two simultaneous agitations. Identical reason.
It is a story of how downstream towns suffer due to activities upstream. There are distilleries, paper, sugar mills and chemical units in Meerut, Rampur, Gajraula Industrial Estate, Moradabad, Bulandsahar and other towns of Western Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal which discharge their highly contaminated, multi-coloured waste into the Ram Ganga and Kali rivers, the tributaries of Ganga which meet it in the upstream of Kanpur. The industrial effluents generated by upstream towns aggravate Kanpur’s drinking water problem. In Kanpur, 350-odd leather-making units add to the pollution of the holy river. Resultantly, further down, Allahabad gets more toxic water.
A beeline of gastro enteritis patients at Kanpur hospitals and the growing ire of the saints at Allahabad made the authorities concerned take stock of the state of affairs. Taking strong note of the situation, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) took samples of the Ganga water at various locations. It was found that the oxygen level in Ram Ganga at Farrukhabad was 0.4 milligram per litre due to which shoals of fish were dying. The CPCB has pointed out that Ram Ganga and Kali are polluted owing to the untreated industrial waste discharged by paper factories, distilleries and other chemical units which have turned the river water black and yellow. Similarly, the Mayor of Kanpur alleges that most upstream districts have closed their treatment plants and so the impact can be seen in the city’s drinking water. Interestingly, the CPCB officials saw deep yellow water in Ram Ganga river in Haldwani district of Uttranchal. However, instead of taking any action against the erring units, the Uttaranchal authorities have washed their hands off the problem.
The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government has directed the district magistrates of Farrukhabad, Meerut and Moradabad to initiate action against the sugar mills and distilleries. Already, the cash-starved Kanpur Jal Sansthan (Water Works) is spending Rs 50,000 extra everyday in purification of highly polluted raw water from Ganga. Acting General Manager and Secretary of Jal Sansthan RS Tiwari said that unless the pollutants are tapped from being released in the mainstream, the Sansthan will face a financial crunch and may be forced to stop water purification process. Sources say that the Jal Sansthan has been, of late, using alum and liquid chlorine at the rate of 80 to 90 kgs in place of 20 to 30 kgs per hour. Jal Sansthan authorities opine that the effluents released in the upstream would impact the raw water source of Kanpur for many days. Even if the pollutants released upstream are tapped today, it would take at least five days before Kanpur’s tryst with contaminated water ends.
Meanwhile the protesting sants at Allahabad have noted that they would take more stringent steps to restore the glory of Ganga. Saints like Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath, Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati and Swami Nischalanand of Puri have said that if the situation is not salvaged, their agitation would mount. The Shankaracharya of Puri warned that a time would come when the people of this country would not even like to spit on the politicians and factory owners who have ganged up to pollute the holy river. Some sadhus have started fast-unto-death to press their demand of a pollution-free Ganga. A few threatened self-immolation and created human chains along the riverside. They scored a partial victory when acting on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Mahant of Kabir Ashram Guruvachan Das, the Allahabad High Court directed the UP government to stop pollution of Ganga caused by the leather manufacturers in Kanpur and release water from the Narora barrage. However, Executive Secretary of Eco Friends Rakesh Jaiswal says that the present crisis of Ganga pollution is a direct fallout of the release of a cocktail of industrial effluents by units upstream of Kanpur. But, it seems, Ganga pollution has become synonymous with tannery waste. And hence the saints’ anger targeting the leather-making units and the subsequent Allahabad High Court order. He added that instead of taking action against the real culprits, the authorities are still groping in the dark.
The major Polluting industries on the Ganges River are the leather industries
The major polluting industries on the Ganges River are the leather industries, especially near Kanpur, which use large amounts of chromium and other chemicals, and much of it finds its way into the meager flow of the Ganga. Unfortunately, this is a boom time for leather processing in India, which many view as a form of eco-environmental dumping on the third world, and with the lax and lubricable implementation systems of the Uttar Pradesh government, it does not seem likely that this will go down. The world bank report 1992, which focussed on the environmental issues, mentions the dissolved-oxygen and riverborne decomposing material at two points on the Ganga.However, industry is not the only source of pollution. Sheer volume of waste — estimated at nearly 1 billion litres per day - of mostly untreated raw sewage — is a significant factor. Also, inadequate cremation procedures contributes to a large number of partially burnt or unburnt corpses floating down the Ganga, in addition to livestock corpses.
The Ganga Action Plan has been set up under the Indian Government bureaucracy, and is attempting to build a number of waste treatment facilities, under Dutch and British support, and to collaborate with a number of voluntary organizations. Surprisingly, the Hindu political parties in India are not very active in the efforts to clean up the Ganga, and it is not very high in the general religious agenda.
The Holi Ganges River
The Ganges River (Ganga in Indian languages; Ganges is the Latin form) (Devanagari is the major river in northern India and Bangladesh. The river has a long history of reverence in India and is often called the 'holy Ganga'. It originates as the Bhagirathi from the Gangotri Glacier in the Uttaranchal Himalayas and joins the Alaknanda near Deoprayag to form the Ganga. Then on, the Ganga flows across the large plains of North India (called the Gangetic Plains) and empties into the Bay of Bengal after dividing up into many distributaries. One of them is the Hoogli River near Kolkata, another major distributary being the Padma River that enters Bangladesh and merges with Jamuna River, a branch of the Brahmaputra River.
Ganges river delta, Bangladesh and India
The total length of the river is about 2,510 km (1,557 mi). One of the densest human population belts on earth is built around the Ganga.
The region encompassing the delta near the Bay of Bengal coast is known as The Sundarbans (Beautiful Forests) — a region of thick mangrove forests, and one of the major habitats of the Royal Bengal tiger.
The Ganges Basin is incredibly fertile and, at present, about one in every 12 people in the world (8.5%) live in its catchment area. However, due to this incredible concentration of population, pollution and destruction of habitats is increasing at an alarming rate in the region.
The Yamuna River — a major river in its own right, and nearly as sacred — is a tributary of the Ganga, and their confluence is near what is the site of the traditional holy Hindu city of Prayag, now known as Allahabad.
Two species of dolphin can be found in the Ganges, the Ganges River Dolphin and the Irrawaddy Dolphin. The Ganges is also notable in that it contains a rare species of freshwater shark, Glyphis gangeticus about which little is known.
The Ganga in Hinduism
"Descent of the Ganga", Relief at Mahabalipuram
The Ganga is personified in Hinduism as a goddess: Maa Ganga (Mother Ganga). Hindu legend makes her the foster-mother of Karttikeya, who was actually a son of Shiva and Parvati
Several places sacred to Hindus lie along the banks of the river Ganga, including Haridwar and Varanasi. It is believed that taking a dip in the river will wash away one's sins, and that having one's ashes disposed of in the Ganga after death may improve one's next life or even allow Moksha to be attained sooner. Devout Hindus make pilgrimages to bathe in the Ganga and to meditate on its banks.
According to mythological legend, Brahma collected the sweat of Vishnu's feet and created Ganga. Being touched by two members of the Trimurti, Ganga became very holy .
Prayer on the bank of Ganga at Haridwar
Hindus have long believed that the water of Ganga has a special purity. Studies conducted in 1983 on water samples taken from the right bank of the Ganga at Patna confirm that escheria coliform (E.Coli.), fecal streptococci and vibrio cholerae organisms die two to three times faster in Ganga than in water taken from the rivers Son and Gandak and from dug wells and tube wells in the same area. However, despite the natural resilience of the Ganga, the alarmingly high volume of pollution poses an ever increasing threat to the health and life of the river.
Early morning on the Ganges
Several years later, a king named Sagara magically acquired sixty thousand sons. One day, King Sagara performed a ritual of worship for the good of the kingdom. One of the integral parts of the ritual was a horse, which was stolen by the jealous Indra. Sagara sent all his sons all over the earth to search for the horse. They found it in the nether-world (or Underworld) next to a penitent sage Kapila. Believing that the sage had stolen the horse, they hurled insults at him and caused his penance to be disturbed. The sage opened his eyes for the first time in several years, and looked at the sons of Sagara. With this glance, all sixty thousand were burnt to death. The souls of the sons of Sagara wandered as ghosts since their final rites had not been performed. When Bhagiratha, one of the descendants of Sagara, son of Dilip, learnt of this fate, he vowed to bring Ganga down to Earth so that her waters could cleanse their souls and release them to heaven.
The largest religious gathering on Earth. Around 70 million Hindus from around the world participated in Kumbh Mela at one of the Hindu Holy city Prayaga (also known as Allahabad) on the banks of river Ganga.
Bhagiratha prayed to Brahma that Ganga come down to Earth. Brahma agreed, and he ordered Ganga to go down to the Earth and then on to the nether regions so that the souls of Bhagiratha's ancestors would be able to go to heaven. The vain Ganga felt that this was insulting and decided to sweep the whole earth away as she fell from the heavens. Alarmed, Bhagiratha prayed to Shiva that he break up Ganga's descent.
Ganga arrogantly fell on Shiva's head. But Shiva calmly trapped her in his hair and let her out in small streams. The touch of Shiva further sanctified Ganga. As Ganga travelled to the nether-worlds, she created a different stream to remain on Earth to help purify unfortunate souls there.
Because of Bhagiratha's efforts Ganga descended on to earth and hence the river is also known as Bhagirathi, and the term "Bhagirath prayatna" is used to describe valiant efforts or difficult achievements.
Another name that Ganga is known by is Jahnavi. Story has it that once Ganga came down to earth, on her way to Bhagiratha, her rushing waters created turbulence and destroyed the fields and the sadhana of a sage called Jahnu. He was angered by this and drank up all of Ganga's waters. Upon this, the Gods prayed to Jahnu to release Ganga so that she could proceed on her mission. Pleased with their prayers, Jahnu released Ganga (her waters) from his ears. Hence the name "Jahnavi" (daughter of Jahnu) for Ganga.
It is sometime believed that the river will finally dry up at the end of Kali Yug (the era of darkness, the current era) just as with the vedic Saraswati river, and this era will end. Next in (cyclic) order will be the SatYug or the era of Truth.
Iconography of Ganga the Goddess
In the cannons of Indian art, Ganga is visualized as voluptuous and beautiful, carrying an overflowing pot in her hand. The vessel conveys the idea of abundant life and fertility, which nourishes and sustains the universe.
The second distinguishing aspect of Ganga's iconography is her animal mount, which is often shown serving as a pedestal for her. This is the makara, a hybrid creature having the body of a crocodile and the tail of a fish. The makara in Hindu thought corresponds to the star sign of Capricorn in western astrology.
The makara is also the vehicle of the Vedic god of waters, Varuna, thus establishing firmly Goddess Ganga's Vedic roots.
Recent Pollution
The Ganges collects large amounts of human pollutants as it flows through highly populous areas. These populous areas, and other people down stream, are then exposed to these potentially hazardous accumulations. While proposals have been made for remediating this condition so far no great progress has been achieved. The Ganga remains an economically important waterway and polluting it remains economically advantageous Clean Ganga Campaign directors