BLACK - BROWN COLOR OF GANGA WATER

In connection with the “Black color of Ganga water at Allahabad and its ever growing contamination” reported by several electronic and print media, I have visited river Ganga at Varanasi to assess the quality of water, today on 22nd Dec. 2010. During my visit I found more or less similar condition at Varanasi too. I was really shocked to see the black-brownish colour of the Ganga which is a serious matter as the change in colour is not just because of the organic matter going into the river with the sewage discharge. Scientifically the organic matters of sewage get decayed after some time and did not travel long distances, only coloured effluents had the potential to travel a long distance.If the Ganga water in Varanasi and Allahabad is turning brownish or black, it means there is high concentration of coloured effluents in the upper stream of the river. It should be properly examined and appropriate remedial steps should be taken immediately by both state governments i.e. Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

In my opinion, besides some of the identified major industries there are thousands of small scale and cottage industries located in and around the cities. Unfortunately there list has not been prepared by the State Pollution Control Boards till date. Information about the total number of industries working, quantity and quality of Sewage & Industrial Effluents discharged to main and branch sewer lines, point and non-point sources of pollutants, area based quality & quantity of solid wastes disposal, ecologically sound higher dilution discharge sites, hospital wastes, radioactive materials, toxic chemicals released from various sources, solid wastes of non-degradable building materials, pesticides & insecticides, number of dead body disposal, pollutants released from cremation grounds, temple wastes, quantity of plastics and possibilities to establish economic community treatment plants are still not known. Since the Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh are members of the NGRBA and Chairman(s) of the State Ganga River Conservation Authorities, I requested the Chief Ministers to issue necessary directives to the officials concerned to collect the required information and prepare a suitable management plan for its further consideration and I would also raise this matter before the Prime Minister in the next meeting of NGRBA.