Waste from 40,000 km of drains and subsidiaries choking river Ganga

LUCKNOW: More than 40,00km long drains and subsidiaries stretched over 5,000km carrying industrial and urban waste of dangerous level while directly falling into the 1,300km long stretch of the Ganga are choking the holy river and stalling all efforts to rejuvenate it.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Namami Ganga' project, aimed at reviving the river, would remain a non-starter if the root causes of rising pollution are not addressed and innovative methods not deployed, states a report (in possession of TOI) prepared first time by the UP's irrigation department.

Among the rivers merging into the Ganga, Ram Ganga, Kali Nadi Poorva, Kali Nadi Pashchim, Hindon, Gomti, Sai and Yamuna have a very high level of biological oxygen demand (the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by biological organisms in a water body to break down organic material).

UP irrigation minister Shivpal Yadav presented the report to Union minister for water resources Uma Bharati recently. The report will aid both the Centre and state to redraw their macro as well as micro strategy for rejuvenation of the Ganga, said a source in the state irrigation department.

Principal secretary irrigation Deepak Singhal told TOI that the report has been in principle accepted by the Central government. The report states that unless the root causes of the pollution in the Ganga are not addressed, mere beautification of the riverfront in Varanasi will not help, he added. "You cant treat the lung cancer by going to a dentist," Singhal said.

Singhal said the Centre has agreed with irrigation department's action plan which includes trapping drains by developing master drains, using treated water and fertiliser produced from it for agriculture purposes and a separate plan for every river falling into the Ganga.

BOD centric approach may not be useful, Singhal said, adding that pollution index creation and augmentation of water and change in irrigation methods for farm purposes is the thrust of the report.