Protecting Ganga – What has been the success?

It is hard to imagine Indian culture without the river Ganges or Ganga Mata. Our ancient civilisation flourished along the Indus and the Ganga rivers. Regarded as the national river of the country, the Ganga has been playing an important role in the country’s socio-economical development. However, the national river is now stuck with several problems. The Himalayan glaciers are melting. Besides, the depth of the river bed is decreasing due to the rising pollution level. As a result, the threat of untimely and unprecedented flood looms large over the Ganga basin. On the other hand, because of the fast melting of Himalayan glaciers, the river faces the danger of extinction. In many places, the river is running almost dry or as a seasonal river. With the rising threat to our national river, there is a dire need to save the Ganga.

The deplorable condition of the Ganga is attributed to several factors, including pollution, global warming and other man-made activities. Presently, more than 29 cities, 70 towns and thousands of villages extend along the banks of Ganga. Almost all of the sewage, which is approximately around 1.3 billion litres per day, goes to the river directly. Industrial pollutants are another major source of pollution. According to a report, over 146 industries are located along the river Ganga. Most of these industries discharge their toxic effluents into the river. Some recent water samples collected at Varanasi revealed fecal-coliform counts of about 50,000 bacteria per 100 milliliters of water. Various diseases such as cholera, hepatitis, typhoid and amoebic dysentery are the result of this pollution.

Another major threat to the river Ganga is the rampant illegal mining around the river. Mining, coupled with rising deforestation, has intensified the problem of soil erosion. This poses a serious challenge to the river, causing worries about a flood-like situation. Several initiatives have been taken to protect the Ganga but all these have hardly made any difference. However, the importance of government actions and policies to save Ganga cannot be ignored. Simultaneously, our activities need to be checked too. Without people’s participation and their conscious efforts, all measures to protect the national river will go in vain.