Govt: Ganga water unfit for bathing at Allahabad, Varanasi
As per the Centre's affidavit, in 1985, an estimated 1,340 million litres per day of sewage was discharged into the river from 25 townships located along the river in UP, Bihar and West Bengal.
NEW DELHI: The water quality of Ganga river at Allahabad and Varanasi, two holy places where millions take a dip, is most unfit for bathing purposes, the Centre informed the Supreme Court.
Water becomes unfit for bathing if the biochemical oxygen demand (BoD) level exceeds 3 mg per litre. In fact, in the entire stretch of the river from origin point Gaumukh till it meets the sea, Allahabad is the most polluted point and most unfit for bathing with BoD level at 6.4 mg/litre.
No wonder solicitor general Ranjit Kumar, who was informing a bench of Justices T S Thakur and R Banumathi about the Centre's mega plan to clean Ganga, found it difficult to take a bath at Allahabad. He said the water appeared so polluted and dirty that he did not enter it at Sangam.
If the BoD level at Allahabad was 6.4, it was 3.4 at Varanasi, 4.5 at Kanpur and 3.9 at Kannauj, making the Ganga unfit for bathing, what to talk about drinking.
This is mainly because of untreated sewage from townships entering the river daily. As per the Centre's affidavit, in 1985, an estimated 1,340 million litres per day of sewage was discharged into the river from 25 townships located along the river in UP, Bihar and West Bengal. By 1993, the volume of sewage entering the river had increased to 2,538 million litres, or an increase of 90%.
The SG said the government was committed to rid the river of pollution and would not flinch from closing down polluting industries if they didn't meet the effluent discharge and ambient air norms.
Water becomes unfit for bathing if the biochemical oxygen demand (BoD) level exceeds 3 mg per litre. In fact, in the entire stretch of the river from origin point Gaumukh till it meets the sea, Allahabad is the most polluted point and most unfit for bathing with BoD level at 6.4 mg/litre.
No wonder solicitor general Ranjit Kumar, who was informing a bench of Justices T S Thakur and R Banumathi about the Centre's mega plan to clean Ganga, found it difficult to take a bath at Allahabad. He said the water appeared so polluted and dirty that he did not enter it at Sangam.
If the BoD level at Allahabad was 6.4, it was 3.4 at Varanasi, 4.5 at Kanpur and 3.9 at Kannauj, making the Ganga unfit for bathing, what to talk about drinking.
This is mainly because of untreated sewage from townships entering the river daily. As per the Centre's affidavit, in 1985, an estimated 1,340 million litres per day of sewage was discharged into the river from 25 townships located along the river in UP, Bihar and West Bengal. By 1993, the volume of sewage entering the river had increased to 2,538 million litres, or an increase of 90%.
The SG said the government was committed to rid the river of pollution and would not flinch from closing down polluting industries if they didn't meet the effluent discharge and ambient air norms.
