Congratulations to Shri Narendra Modi ji for holding the chair of Hon'ble Prime Minister of India and creating separate ministerial arrangement to solve the problem of mother Ganga. However, before execution of any new program on Ganga following may be important to keep in the mind.
Continuous decrease in the flow of water during past a few years has induced fragmentation of the National River Ganga and it has imposed a serious problem to the nation and threatened the lives of 450 million people
Decrease in the velocity and quantity of Ganga water has adversely affected its dilution factor rather self purifying capacity. Hence, without any further addition in the quantity of pollutants, the intensity of Ganga water pollution has been increased
Decrease in the flow of Ganga water is the probable reason by which all efforts made by the government during past a few decades to control the pollution of river Ganga has not been visualized
Mother Ganga is suffering with the “triple R” problem i.e. Reduced ecological flow, Reduced water carrying capacity and Reduced quality i.e. Pollution of water
The problem of mother Ganga is a multi-ecosystem problem. Henceforth, only holistic approach can save the Ganga.
Aforsaid problems may be solved as:
Ganga has been declared as the National river in 2008; however, till date it is under the control of 5 states i.e. Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Each state has its own regulations for the consumption and management of the river water. Henceforth, central government is not able to implement required projects for the conservation.
1. A new regulation act is required to put the Ganga under the control of Central government.
2. Present technologies used for the generation of hydropower in Uttarakhand is distructive at the ecosystem level and non eco-friendly.
Uttarakhand is under low pressure zone having high wind velocity. Henceforth,Wind power mills may be an option for the power generation.
3. Construction of big dams on main head streams of the Ganga is reducing the flow of Ganga water and changing its natural quality. Henceforth, a number of small dams may be constructed on the side streams and used for hydropower generation. Construction of small dams on side streams shall be eco-friendly.
4. Extraction and diversion of huge quantity of Ganga water should be minimized with the instructions to the consumers to become self sustainable. So that, in future complete ban be created on the huge extraction of water
5. Encroachment of the Ganga land on its both sides has reduced the water carrying capacity of river Ganga henceforth, encroachment of land on both the bank side be banned immediately.
6. Existing sewage treatment plants are not appropriate henceforth, all should be renovated as per requirement.
7. Imported technologies for the pollution control or wastewater treatment must be tested under Indian condition.
8. Consumers of the Ganga water be associated with different projects of the Ganga.
9. Appropriate policy be framed for the establishment of treatment plants, extraction of Ganga water and discharge of wastewater.
10. Rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharging technologies be adopted immediately in different zones of the Ganga basin.
11. In order to implement the projects effectively an efficient monitoring committee consisting experts from different fields be constituted for regular trimonthly monitoring.
12. Gomukh to Bay of Bengal (2525 Km) Ganga consists of three different ecosystems with specific characters. Henceforth, detailed investigations on different eco-system components may provide better tool to conserve the Ganga.
