Ganga River Pollution In India Environmental Sciences Essay

Ganga River Pollution In India Environmental Sciences EssayAll of us reach seen a river large or miniscule, either executeing by tauts of our town, or somewhere else. Rivers ar nonhing more than surface pissing flowing down from a higher(prenominal)er altitude to a freeze off altitude due to the pull of gravity. One river might have its seeded player in a glacier, some other in a spring or a lake. Rivers carry dissolved minerals, organic compounds, small grains of sand, gravel, and other temporal as they flow downstream. Rivers begin as small streams, which grow wider as smaller streams and rivers join them on their course across the visit. Eventually they flow into seas or oceans. Unfortunately most of the worlds major(ip)(ip) rivers are heavily polluted.The contamination of environment is the gift of the industrial revolution. Prior to this the agrarian cultures created significant environmental deterioration in the form of bemire erosion- through deforestation and oergrazing. The environmental degradation is a by product of modern civilization.There has been a steady deterioration in the property of pee supply of Indian rivers all over several decades. Indias quaternteen major, 55 minor and several hundred small rivers receive jillions of litres of sewer, industrial and agricultural groundlesss. Most of these rivers have been rendered to the take of sewerage flowing fails. There are serious piss quality problems in the cities, towns and villages using these urines. Water borne diseases are rampant, fisheries are on decline, and even oxen are not spared from the onslaught of contamination.According to World Wide depot for Nature (WWF) five rivers in Asia serving over 870 one thousand million raft are among the most threa hug druged in the world, as dams, pissing blood line and climate change all take their toll.The gang up, Indus, Yangtze, Salween-Nu and Mekong-Lancang rivers make up one-half of the WWFs top ten most thr eatened river basins.India has a large event of rivers that are lifelines for the millions living on their banks. These rivers can be categorized into four groups1.Rivers that flow down from the Himalayas and are supplied by melting snow and glaciers. This is wherefore these are perennial, that is, they never dry up during the year.2. The Deccan Plateau Rivers, which see on rainfall for their water.3. The coastal rivers, especially those on the west coast, which are pathetic and do not retain water through tabu the year.4. The rivers in the inland drainage basin of west Rajasthan, which depend on the rains. These rivers commonly drain towards silt lakes or flow into the sand.River Ganga (gang) of India has been held in high esteem since measure immemorial and Hindus from all over the world cherish the idea of a holy dip in the river under the faith that by doing so they will get rid of their sins of life. More than 400 million hatful live along the Ganges River. An estimated 2,000,000 persons ritually bathe daily in the river. Historically also, Ganga is the most important river of the country and beyond doubt is nearly connected with the history of civilization as can be spy from the location of the ancient cities of Hardwar, Prayag, Kashi and Patli throwra at its bank. To millions of people it is sustainer of life through multitude of canal system and irrigation of the wasting load. Hundreds of the villages and even the big cities depend for their drinking water on this river. It is believed, a fact which has also been observed, that the water of Ganga never decays even for months and years when water of other rivers and agencies begins to develop bacteria and fungi within a couple of days. This self purification characteristic of Ganga is the key to the holiness and sanctity of its water. The combination of bacteriophages and large populations of people washup in the river have apparently produced a self-purification effect, in which water-borne bacteria much(prenominal) as dysentery and cholera are killed off, preventing large-scale epidemics. The river also has an unusual talent to retain dissolved type O.With growing civilization and population all over how long Ganga will retain its self purification characteristics only conviction can judge. SOURCESThe Gangotri Glacier, a vast expanse of ice five miles by fifteen, at the foothills of the Himalayas (14000 ft) in brotherhood Uttar Pradesh is the source of Bhagirathi, which joins with Alaknanda (origins undecomposedby) to form Ganga at the rough canyon-carved town of Devprayag. Interestingly, the sources of Indus and the Brahmaputra are also geographically fairly close the actor goes through Himachal Pradesh and fans give away through Punjab and Sind (Pakistan) into the Arabian Sea. The latter courses for most of its wonderful distance under various names through Tibet/China, never farthermost from the Nepal or Indian borders, and wherefore takes a sharp turn near the northeastern tip of India, gathers momentum through Assam before joining the major stream of the Ganga near Dacca in Bangladesh to be grow the mighty Padma, river of exuberate and sorrow for much of Bangladesh. From Devprayag to the Bay of Bengal and the vastSunderbans delta, the Ganga flows some 1550 miles, passing (and full-grown life to) some of the most populous cities of India, including Kanpur (2 million), Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, and Calcutta (14 million).The largest tributary to the Ganga is the Ghaghara, which meets it before Patna, in Bihar, bearing much of the Himalayan glacier melt from Northern Nepal. The Gandak, which comes from near Katmandu, is another big Himalayan tributary. Other important rivers that merge with the Ganga are the Son, which originates in the hills of Madhya Pradesh, the Gomti which flows past Lucknow.Previous WorkA number of investigations have been carried surface on the physiochemical and biological characters of the Ganga. Lakshm inarayana (1965) published a series of papers report the results of stu interrupts carried out at Varanasi during the period between March, 1957 and March, 1958. it was observed by him that the set of the most of the parameters decreased during rainy duration while no tag variation was observed during winters and summers.In the same year Chakraborty et.al. (1965) from Kanpur reported the water quality of Ganga at J.K. Rayons water intake point and at Golaghat and Bhairoghat pumping stations situated at the upstream of the river. It was cogitate that the water quality gradually deteriorated as it passes from Bhairoghat pumping station to the J.K. Rayon water intake point in summers because in this spread out the river received waste waters from number of sewage drains.A year later Saxena et.al. (1966) made a systematic hatful of the chemical quantity of Ganga at Kanpur. According to the get a line, the biological oxygen demand, i.e. B.O.D. change from 5.3ppm (minimum) in win ter to 16.0ppm ( maximal) in summer. The chloride ranged between 9.2 and 12.7 ppm and the river was found to be basic in nature except in rainy season. He think that the tanneries significantly increased the pollution load of river as they discharge commodious amounts of effluents containing organic wastes and atrocious metals. It was further reported that forty five tanneries, ten textile mills and several other industrial units complete 37.15 million gallon per day of waste water generating BOD load of most 61630 Kg/day.Subsequently Agarwal et.al. (1976) analyze the bacteriological population of the river water and concluded that addition of untreated waste and sewage was responsible for the mien of infective organisms posing threat to the residents of the Varanasi city.Hydrobiological features of the river Ganga was studied by Pahwa and Mehrotra (1966). The authors studied a stretch of 1090 kms. of river Ganga extending from Kanpur in west to Rajmahal, in Jharkhand land, in the east. They reported that the turbidness was maximum (1100-2170 ppm) in monsoon and minimum ( less than100 ppm) during January to June. The pH of the river water ranged between 7.45 (minimum) during June to overbearing and 8.30 (maximum) during January to whitethorn. The dissolved oxygen, i.e. D.O. count ranged from 5.0 to 10.5 ppm with maximum value during January and February. While the minimum values were recorded in monsoon.Bhargava (1982) in a survey of total length of the river Ganga found that quality index was far above the prescribed ensnare at Kanpur. He further found that the Ganga water was having unusually straightaway regenerating capacity by bringing down B.O.D. owing to the presence of large amount of well adopted micro-organisms. According to the research Ganga is mystifying in polymers excreted by various species of bacteria. These polymers being excellent coagulants remove turbidness by coagulation, setting the suspended particles at the sewage discharge point.At the 1981 session of Indian Science Congress at Varanasi, scientists expressed push at the growing pollution in the river Ganga in presence of the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi who inaugurated the session. At her instance, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, the then member, Planning Commission asked the commutation mature for Preventation and Control of Water Pollution, New Delhi to conduct studies on the extract of the river Ganga. In collaboration with the State Pollution Control Boards of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal and the centre for break down of Man and Environment Kolkata (Calcutta), studies were conducted on the Sources of pollution including all benignant activities, land use pattern and water quality of the river at selected sites during 1981-82 and report entitle Basin, sub-basin inventory of water pollution in the Ganga basin part-II was published in 1984. according to this report sewage of 27 class I cities and towns and effluents from 137 major industries were the chief(prenominal) source of pollution of the river. In addition cremation of dead human bodies and dumping of carcasses aggrevated the pollution of the river.It was Chandra (1981) who conducted studies on the pollution status of river Ganga at Allahabad, pointed out that industries manufacturing nitrogenous fertilizers have significant role in polluting the river water.Study carried out in 1986-87 on physico-chemical properties of river Ganga water at Buxar (Unnao) clearly revealed that extent of pollution varied in different seasons. Usually all the 23 parameters studied showed high values in summer and lower during monsoons except turbidity which was high in rainy season. Values of BOD, COD, DO and H2S were recorded high than the tolerance limits.Study on water quality of river Ganga at Kalakankar (Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh) revealed that even at such a remote and undisturbed plaza same Kalakankar the river water was not safe for drinking and bathing. It was also m ention that the river showed an alkaline trend throughout the course of battleground.According to the research through with(p) by Mehrotra (1990), the various sources responsible for pollution of the river in Varanasi city are domestic sewage effluents of the industries, burning of dead bodies at the ghats, use of detergents, insecticides and pesticides use in agriculture. Study revealed the presence of toxic metals like mercury ( 65 to 520ppb), Lead( less than 10 to 800 ppm), chromium (less than 10 to 200 ppm) and nickel (less than 10 to 130 ppm) in the sediments of Ganga river at Varanasi city.Upstream from Varanasi, one of the major journey sites along the river, the water is comparatively pure, having a lowBiochemical oxygen demandand fecal coliform count. Studies conducted in 1983 on water samples taken from the sort out bank of the Ganga at Patna confirm thatescheria coli(E.Coli.), fecal streptococci and vibrio cholerae organisms die two to three measure faster in the Gan ga than in water taken from the rivers Son and Gandak and from dug wells and tube wells in the same area.The chemical pollution of the river Ganga in Patna city in Bihar state has been found somewhat fright beside the drive drain, especially in the regions like Rajapur, Mandiri and Krishnaghat.According to the report published in a book by Mr. U.K. Sinha (1986), the concentration of iron is higher in sediments put in from 10 metres along the bank at Mandiri region. The concentration of all the toxic metals i.e copper, zinc, nickel and conscientious objector are higher in all the sediments collected from near the beleaguer drain and diminishes towards mid-region of the river. The concentration of zinc is highest in the sediments collected from near the Mandiri storm drain, Antaghat storm drain and Krishnaghat storm drain.The concentration of copper is highest in the sediments collected from near the Krishnaghat storm drain suggesting the presence copper due to machine work bein g done in Thatheri Bazar and hospital wastes also, state report.Present situationFor some time now, this romantic view of the Ganges has collided with Indias grim realities. During the past three decades, the countrys explosive growth (at nearly 1.2 gazillion people, Indias population is second only to Chinas), industrialization and rapid urbanization have put unyielding pressure on the hallowed stream.Ganga, the most sacred of rivers for Hindus, has become polluted for some years now. But a new-made break down by Uttarakhand Environment Conservation and Pollution Control Board says that the level of pollution in the holy river has reached alarming proportions.Things have come to such a pass that the Ganga water is at present not fit just for drinking and bathing but has become unuseable even for agricultural purposes.As per the UECPCB study, while the level of coliform present in water should be below 50 for drinking purposes, less than five hundred for bathing and below 5000 for agricultural use-the present level of coliform in Ganga at Haridwar has reached 5500.Based on the level of coliform, dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen, the study put the water in A, B, C and D categories. While A category is considered fit for drinking, B for bathing, C for agriculture and D is for high-spirited pollution level.Since the Ganga waters at Haridwar have more than 5000 coliform and even the level of dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen doesnt conform the prescribed standards, it has been put in the D category.According to the study, the main cause of high level of coliform in Ganga is due to disposal of human faeces, urine and sewage presently into the river from its starting point in Gaumukh till it reaches Haridwar via Rishikesh.Nearly 89 million litres of sewage is daily disposed into Ganga from the 12 municipal towns that fall along its route till Haridwar. The amount of sewage disposed into the river increases during the Char Dham Yatra season when nearly 15 lakh pilgrims visit the state between May and October each year.Apart from sewage disposal of half-burnt human bodies at Haridwar and dubious medical waste from the base hospital at Srinagar due to absence seizure of an incinerator are also adding to pollution levels in the Ganga.The result has been the gradual cleaning of one of Indias most treasured resources. One stretch of the Yamuna River, the Ganges main tributary, has been devoid of all aquatic creatures for at least a decade.In Varanasi, Indias most sacred city, the coliform bacterial count is at least 3,000 times higher than the standard established as safe by the get together Nations world Health Organization.Coliformare rod-shaped bacteria that are normally found in the colons of humans and animals and become a serious contaminant when found in the food or water supply.A study by Environmental Biology Laboratory, Department pf Zoology, Patna University, showed the presence of mercury in the Ganga river in Var anasi city. According to the study, annual mean concentration of mercury in the river water was 0.00023 ppm. The concentration ranged from NT (not traceable) to 0.00191 ppm.Study done by Indian toxicologic Research Centre (ITRC), Lucknow during 1986-1992 showed maximum annual concentration of mercury in the Ganga river water at Rishikesh, Allahabad district and Dakshineswar as 0.081, 0.043 and 0.012 ppb respectively.Ganga river at Varanasi was found well within the maximum permissible standard of 0.001 ppm prescribed for drinking water by the World Health Organization.The mercury studied in the Ganga river could be traced in biotic as well as abiotic components of the river at the study site. The Hindu devotees take bath in the river where mercury was detected in 28%, 44%,75%, 96%, 42% and 89% of the river water, sediment, benthic fauna, fish, soil and vegetation samples respectively.Though mercury contamination of the river water has not reached an alarming extent, its presence in the river system is worrisome. In the study annual mean concentration of the metal in the sediments was 0.067 ppm. Sediments constitute a major pool of mercury in fresh water.As Ganga enters the Varanasi city, Hinduisms sacred river contains 60,000 faecal coliform bacteria per 100 millilitres, 120 times more than is considered safe for bathing. Four miles downstream, with inputs from 24 gushing sewers and 60,000 pilgrim-bathers, the concentration is 3,000 times over the safety limit. In places, the Ganges becomes black and septic. Corpses, of semi-cremated adults or enshrouded babies, drift slowly by.The tannery industry mushrooming in North India has converted the Ganga River into a dumping ground. The tanning industry discharges different types of waste into the environment, primarily in the form of liquid effluents containing organic matters, chromium, sulphide ammonium and other salts. As per an estimate, about 80-90% of the tanneries use chromium as a tanning agent. Of this, t he hides take up only 50-70%, while the rest is discharged as effluent. Pollution becomes acute when tanneries are concentrated in clusters in small area like Kanpur. Consequently, the Leather-tanning sector is included in the red ink category of industries due to the potential adverse environmental impact caused by tannery wastes.Highly polluted sediments are adversely affecting the ecological mental process of rivers due to heavy metal mobilization from urban areas into biosphere. Distribution of heavy metals in sediments of the river Ganga and its tributaries have been carried out by several workers. Monitoring of Ganga River from Rishikesh to Varanasi indicated that Kannauj to Kanpur and Varanasi are the most polluted stretches of the river Ganga . Analysis of upstream and down stream water and sediment revealed a 10-fold increase in chromium level.