EVS FINAL

HISTORY

HISTORY

Rivers are guides to civilizations and in being so have reverent appeal in almost all religious scriptures of India. With the advent of industrialization, natural resources are depleted at more than ever increasing rates, with rivers bearing the brunt of every outlet there is; from factory waste to sewage and even agricultural run-offs.

SITUATION OF RIVERS

Some of the major polluted rivers in India are Ganga, Yamuna, Damodar, Gomti, Tapti, Hooghly, Oshiwara, Sabarmati, Musi etc. But the most polluted are the holy rivers of Ganges and Yamuna.

SITUATION OF RIVERS

Pollution levels

Still pollution level in rivers of India has not shown any sign of improvement. Around 302 polluted stretches on 275 rivers have been reported recently (See ‘Extent of contamination’,). The top five states showing maximum number of polluted stretches are Maharashtra, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal. Estimated polluted riverine length is 12,363 km, which is almost five times the length of Ganga main stem.

Pollution levels

Ganga – Yamuna: Journey From Sacred to Polluted

Ganga – Yamuna: Journey From Sacred to Polluted

Ganges has been known as the blessed river for Hindus, with many rituals associated to it from times immemorial. Ever since human habitation destroyed its pure banks, the holiness of this river has lost sheen. Plethora of biodiversity, such as the famous Gangetic Dolphin, in this river is being destroyed by unnecessary disposal of wastes, both solid and sewage, as well as by transportation routes carved through it. Thus, this beauty emerging from the Gangotri glacier in the Himalayas has been left to rot. Sale of plastic materials around the ritual areas, bathing, washing clothes, cleaning animals are malpractices that has put Ganga in the throes of death. Same can be said for Yamuna, that finds its origin from the Yamnotri glacier. Experts are of the opinion that more than 3000 million litres of untreated sewage is being dumped into the Ganges and by the time it reaches Varanasi, the river turns into a sever placing it the 6th most polluted river in the world. Talking about Yamuna, the river is coined as being severely polluted after passing Wazirabad and Okhla barrage, where discharge of 15 drains pours into it.

Sewerage Treatment Infrastructure

63 sewerage management projects are under implementation in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. 12 new sewerage management projects were launched in these states. Work is under construction for creating sewerage capacity of 1187.33 (MLD).

Sewerage Treatment Infrastructure

Industrial Effluent Monitoring

Real-time Effluent Monitoring Stations (EMS) have been installed in 572 out of 760 Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs). Closure notice have been issued to 135 GPIs so far and others have been given deadlines for compliance to stipulated norms and for installations of online EMS.

Afforestation and River-Front development

Forestry interventions for Ganga through Wildlife Institute of India, Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute and Centre for Environment Education have been initiated. Forestry interventions for Ganga have been executed as per the detailed project report prepared by Forest Research Institute, Dehradun for a period of 5 years (2016-2021) at project cost of ₹ 2300 Crores. Work has commenced in 7 districts of Uttarakahnd for medicinal plants.

28 River-Front development projects and 33 entry level projects for construction, modernization and renovation of 182 Ghats and 118 crematoria have been initiated.

Afforestation and River-Front development

River-Surface cleaning and Ganga Gram

River-Surface cleaning and Ganga Gram

River Surface cleaning for collection of floating solid waste from the surface of ghats and rivers are pushed into service at 11 locations.

Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS) identified 1674 Gram Panchayats situated on the bank of River Ganga in 5 states (Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal). Consortium of 7 IITs has been engaged in the preparation of Ganga River basin Plan and 65 villages have been adopted by 13 IITs to develop as model villages. ₹ 578 Crores has been released to Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS) for construction of toilets in 1674 Gram Panchayats of 5 Ganga basin states. Out of the targeted 15, 27,105 units, MoDWS has completed construction of 8, 53,397 toilets. UNDP has been engaged as the executing agency for rural sanitation program and to develop Jharkhand as a model state at an estimated cost of ₹ 127 Crore.

Biodiversity and Public Awareness

Biodiversity and Public Awareness

Several Bio-Diversity conservation projects like Biodiversity Conservation and Ganga Rejuvenation, Fish and Fishery Conservation in Ganga River, Ganges River Dolphin Conservation Education Programme have been initiated. 5 Bio-Diversity centres at Dehradun, Narora, Allahabad, Varanasi and Barrackpore have been developed for restoration of identified priority species.

Various awareness activities through rallies, campaigns, exhibitions, shram daan, cleanliness drives, competitions, plantation drives and development and distribution of resource materials were organized. For wider publicity, the mass media such as TV/Radio, print media advertisements, and featured articles were published. “Gange Theme Song” was released widely and played on digital media to enhance the visibility of the programme. NMCG ensured presence at social media platforms too.

How they fared

Over half the towns in Bihar and West Bengal where the Ganga flows were given the C grade, which means they require overall improvement.

This graph shows the percentage of towns rated A, B and C among different States.

How they Fared

Population matters

Only three towns with a population of more than a lakh each were graded A. Most of the towns which received the A grade had a low population.

Population matters

River dumps and Low fund utilisation

River dumps and Low fund utilization

It is common for nullahs to drain into the Ganga across towns in all the States. In Bihar, the towns had dumpsites along the river as well.

The below visualisation shows the percentage of towns in each State that had nullahs draining into them; had solid waste floating on the surface; and had dumpsites along the ghats (fig. on right)

An analysis of funds allocated for the Ganga-cleaning mission shows that in 2017-18, only half the budgeted amount was released/spent.

The below data was given as a written answer during the Rajya Sabha Question Hour (fig. on left)

Projects completed?

Of the total 310 projects sanctioned for cleaning the Ganga, 116 or 37 per cent have been completed as of January while work is underway in the remaining ones, according to the Jal Shakti ministry data.

A bulk of the projects sanctioned, 152, pertain to putting in place sewage infrastructure, like sewage treatment plants (STPs) — one of the most crucial components to keep the river clean.Of these 152 STPs, only 46 have been completed as of January, the data said.

Once completed, the 152 STPs will have a capacity to treat 4,874 million litres a day (MLD) of sewage. These projects are coming up in eight states — Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Haryana Delhi and Himachal Pradesh — through which the 2,525-km river flows.Currently, the 97 towns located on the main stem of the river generate 2,953 MLD of sewage, and the available treatment capacity is only 1,794 MLD.

There are a total of 155 large drains which discharge sewage directly into the river.

Higher Namami Gange ad spend

While the progress of various river cleaning infrastructure being put in place might be behind the mark, the Jal Shakti ministry bumped up its ad spending for the programme over the last two fiscals.

According to the latest data, the NMCG spent a total of Rs 57.89 crore between 2014-15 and 20 February 2020 on advertisements published in print and electronic media.

During this period, the maximum spending was in the last fiscal when NMCG’s expenditure on advertisements was Rs 33.22 crore. The 2018-19 fiscal was the last year of the Modi government’s first term in office, before its re-election in May 2019.

Until 20 February in the ongoing 2019-20 fiscal, the NMCG spent Rs 9.53 crore on advertisements.

Higher Namami Gange ad spend

Quality of river still poor

The results of all these projects to clean Ganga and its tributaries were not satisfactory according to the experts and in September 2017, the Prime Minister handed over the gigantic task of cleaning Ganga to the Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari. Soon after Gadkari was entrusted with the Ministry, two STPs—one in Haridwar and another in Varanasi—were approved in a public private partnership (PPP) mode at a combined cost of Rs 325 crore. These were the first two agreements with private sector companies to build STPs under an innovative PPP called hybrid-annuity payment model that the government formulated with the help of the International Finance Corporation. Few more constructions of STPs in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal were announced under hybrid annuity.

Quality of river still poor

An Overview of The World

An Overview of The World

India is yet far behind from the rest of the world in terms of sustainable development. It is because pollution affects every corner of this country where human population is more than the area’s carrying capacity. Although, the frequency of clean-up might differ but the overview as seen from a bird’s eye perspective shows much lackadaisical attitude among the general public regarding protection and cleaning of polluted rivers. Some efforts have been taken by authorities in European countries to clean rivers like Thames, which was disoriented since industrialization ate up most of it.

As far as pollution in the next larger water bodies is concerned, a lot has to be done to prevent and reclaim it in the long run. Oceans are the survival forces of our planet just like rivers and to inculcate a perspective to preserve their authenticity and ability to procreate should be our motto. That includes overall preservation and concern for each water resource, be it ground or surface, fresh or saline.

Hits and misses

Prior to the 2014 elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had famously claimed the river Ganga as his mother and said that he had come to Varanasi (constituency from where he got elected to parliament) due to her call. Soon after coming into power, the rechristening of the water resources ministry to the ministry of water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation and the launch of the Namami Gange programme in June 2014 were among the first few decisions of the Modi government.

Subsequently, in the last six years, the authorities have spent billions of rupees into developing STPs, intercepting drains, tried to bring together states from where Ganga passes before falling into the Bay of Bengal, planned a waterway on the river and a massive afforestation drive, stop people from dumping garbage into the river, development of riverfront and ghats, biodiversity conservation, bioremediation and construction of toilets across gram panchayat near Ganga river etc.

According to the NMCG’s data, a total of 314 projects worth Rs 28,794.27 crore (Rs 287.94 billion) have been sanctioned so far and of that 124 have been completed. It also states that an expenditure of Rs 8,888.19 crore (Rs. 88.88 billion) has been incurred so far (May 31, 2020).

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