Kolkata, Kanpur, Allahabad among top Ganga polluters: Government

NEW DELHI: Kolkata, Howrah, Kanpur and Allahabad are amongst the 118 towns that discharge maximum sewage into the River Ganga, Rajya Sabha was informed today.

The National Mission for Clean Ganga has received expression of interest from a number of foreign governments to support Ganga rejuvenation through knowledge and technology sharing and providing financial and technical assistance.

"The Government has identified 118 towns along the river Ganga which discharge sewage into the river," Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti said in a written reply.

She said that as per the estimated sewage generated in 2011, 534.21 MLD sewage was discharged in river Ganga in Kolkata while 426 MLD was discharged in Kanpur.

Similarly in Varanasi, 295 MLD of sewage was discharged while 232 MLD was discharged in Allahabad. In Muradabad in Uttar Pradesh, 2011 figures show that 117.20 MLD sewage was discharged while 252 MLD was discharged in Bihar's capital Patna. In Howrah, 116.32 MLD was discharged at the same time period.

"The Central Pollution Control Board is monitoring the water quality at 56 locations along the main stream of Ganga. In addition to the monitoring by CPCB, National Mission for Clean Ganga is getting water quality monitored through identified academic institutions," Bharti said.

She said the National Mission for Clean Ganga has received expression of interest from a number of foreign governments to support Ganga rejuvenation.

The countries include the UK, Germany, Australia, Canada, Singapore, the Netherlands and a host of others.

These countries intend to support Ganga rejuvenation through knowledge and technology sharing, providing financial and technical assistance for cleaning up of Ganga, capacity building, research and development, sharing experiences, expertise and best practices, the Minister said.