Kaliyug Ki Ganga: Paapiyon ke paap dhona nahin asan....

[Jagannath Chatterjee]

Crores go waste as Ganga remains dirty

HT Correspondent Kanpur, March 22

THE GOVERNMENT has spent crores of rupees  on the Ganga clean-up drive but the river has become more polluted today than it used to be a decade ago.

In fact, the money spent on the river has gone astray and the efforts to keep the Ganga pollution-free have come to naught as it absorbs 260 mld sewage daily.

Besides, the residential colonies  and the slums situated near the river, the tanneries are polluting the river. The plants to treat the chromium-infested water of tanneries are also not functioning properly because of poor maintenance. Moreover, despite the best efforts, the authorities could not prevent the direct release of  water from 20 sewers into the river.

According to a report prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board, out of the total contaminated water being released into the Ganga, three-fourth is  sewage water. Apart from this, one-fourth of the water discharged by the tanneries and other industries is highly contaminated. The report further said that the maximum discharge of industrial water, directly into the Ganga, takes place in the Kanpur City, and  Kolkata stands next. 

After the publication of this report, the project ‘Ganga Action Plan’ was prepared but till date, it could not be fully implemented. Even today, the  water from various sewage lines is directly going into the Ganga. Water from drains at Police Line and District Jail is being directly discharged into Ganga. 

The   ‘septic tanks’ of the Kayhora and Parampurwa drains is overflowing.  The sewage lines of Jageshwar, Ranighat, Parmat and Mayor Mill drains are choked.  The ‘tapping’ of Sisamau drain is proposed under the phase II of  the Ganga Action plan.

The officials associated with the Ganga Action Plan admit that treatment plants set up for treating the contaminated water of tanneries is not working properly. A senior official of the Ganga Action Plan, on condition of anonymity, said that the tanneries are discharging contaminated water into the river.

He also said that the efforts to stop the release of polluted water from the residential area situated near the river into the Ganga was yet to be made.

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"Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." -  Aurobindo.

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