pollution of river Ganges and presents solutions to dealing with the issue

pollution of river Ganges and presents solutions to dealing with the issue

The river Ganges (also Ganga) serves an estimated population of 500 million people which makes the leading water provider in the word. Additionally, the river serves around 40% of the population of India across 40 different states. However, its pollution has been posing significant health threats to the human population as well as the environment (Dwivedi et al,. 328). The Ganges has been ranked as the second most polluted river in the world after the Citarum River in Indonesia in 2017. The pollution of the river has been a continuous event and remained unacknowledged until after 1970 when by then stretches of around 600 kilometers were ecologically dead (Chaudhary and Walker, 203). The importance of water for the sustenance of life on this planet is self-evident. This means that it is imperative to preserve these resources and stop the pollution of our water sources. This paper investigates the pollution of river Ganges and presents solutions to dealing with the issue.

Issue background

The river Ganges is the most important water resource in India and is also viewed as sacred. Due to the amount of water it provides, it has been critical to the development and growth of civilization in India and accounts for around 25% of India’s water resources. Geographically, it is the thirtieth longest river on earth and covers an area of 861404km2. the Ganga basin is one of the most heavily populated regions in the world with a density of around 520 persons per square kilometer (Dipak, 207). The area sustains more than 300 million people from Bangladesh, Nepal, and India. The basin has a rich cultural and religious heritage and drains an area about 1060,000 km2. The importance of the river to the most populous country can be illustrated by the fact that it passes through 29 class I cities, 23-second class cities, and around 50 towns all of which have contributed to its pollution (Dipak, 208).

Pollution of Rivers Problem Analysis

In developing countries, river pollution has become a serious and emerging problem. As a result of rapid industrialization, a lot of effluent gets disposed of finding its way to natural water bodies. Sewage and industrial effluent constitute one of the primary sources of environmental toxicity. This pollution endangers biota and poses health problems to society. The major pollutants that find their way to rivers include biodegradable and recalcitrant compounds, suspended solids, toxic metals, microbial pathogens, and other parasitic things.

On the River Ganges, the critical pollutants are heavy metals as they form complex compounds that are harmful to marine life and people in general. These form serious pollution problems as they cannot be degraded by natural decomposition processes and end up in the soil and sediment for release into water bodies. It is surprising to note that the belief that the waters of the Ganga river are holy does not stop the pollution of the river (Kumar, 9).. The towns that are served by the river all contribute to its pollution. 80% of the entire pollution load arises from domestic sources from settlements along the river course and the industries served by the river (Choudhary and Walker, 209).

Other pollution aspects of the river rise from the rampant deforestation of the water catchment areas which leads to erosion of the topsoil that raises the river bed through increased silt deposits. This leads to flooding during the rainy season and stagnant flow of water during the dry season. According to Chaudhary and Walker, almost 75% of the pollution arises from untreated sewage wastewater from the rapidly growing towns in the river basin. The river flows through 29 large cities that have over 1 million inhabitants which dump their sewage effluent wastewater into the river. Untreated sewage water from this region leads to poor quality water resulting from biological oxygen demand, electrical conductivity, and prevalence of high microbial counts.

Applied Solutions

There have been many attempts to dealing with the problem of pollution of the river. Many governmental and non-governmental organizations have participated in various ventures to cleanse the river without much success. The Government of India (GOI) in 2011 agreed with the World Bank to address the problem of pollution. Japan International Cooperation Agency has also been partnering with the ministry of water to address the pollution problems on Ganga (Rai, 3). The collaboration was between the Germany International Cooperation to use their strategies employed in cleaning the Rhine and Danube rivers (World, Bank Report). The international community is amenable to providing both technical and financial support as they realize that the pollution of the Ganges poses wider problems to the society that is not only confined to the Indian people.

Proposed Solution

There have been many plans and programs that have been implemented by the GOI since 1989 with limited success. As a result, it is important to rethink and reassess the existing programs and the reasons behind their failure. The key challenge has been the lack of transparency and accountability. Many organizations that have provided financial aid, are not shown how their investments have been used due to the rampant corruption in the country. What the government should realize is that to contain pollution, there must be collaborative efforts between the affected community, the government, and international organizations. To this end, I would propose a three-pronged approach to dealing with the pollution problem.

The first aspect of the pollution solution is to develop a proper urban settlement and development framework mainly dealing with urban water policy. There should be stringent enforcement of water treatment processes to ensure that untreated wastewater does not find its way to the river. Every settlement area must have a well-developed sewerage treatment plan and waste disposal mechanism. As a result, the amount of waste finding its way to the river will reduce drastically. In the same manner, there should be a policy to deal with industrial waste. Many of the industries in the area require upgrades to innovative technologies that have been developed for tanneries to combat pollution. According to a report from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in 2002, using chrome management technology for tanneries is quite effective in reducing pollution.

The second aspect of the solution will involve involving the community in regular cleaning exercises along the river bed to remove some of the observable solid pollutants such as polythene bags and plastic items. If this was done in every sector of the river regularly, the amount of debris on the river would reduce dramatically make it easier to control pollution. However, this would require raising the awareness of the community about the need for controlling pollution and the impact of pollution on their health. Once the community is aware of the need for conservation, they would then operate as a watchdog for the government improving conservation efforts.

The final aspect of solving the pollution problem on the River Ganges will require continued collaboration with international organizations due to the need for financial aid as well as new techniques and strategies that will be borrowed from these organizations. Many organizations have collaborated with the Government of India and would be willing to continue such collaboration id the GOI was transparent and accountable.

Conclusion

The Ganges River is very important for the livelihood of people living along the river and in the Ganges basin in general. The pollution of the river has put in peril close to 500 million people who depend on the water for their survival. As a result of the need to address this menace, the GOI has collaborated with many organizations in the past in an attempt to find a lasting solution. However, these efforts have been ineffective mainly because of the lack of a proper plan as well as a lack of accountability. My proposed solution to the problem requires the pollution problem to be addressed from a multi-sectorial approach that uses the community, the government, and other international organizations. The community should be taught about the need for conservation to include them in the fight to save the Ganges. Additionally, the government should put in place a robust urban development framework that enforces water sanitation, conservation, and treatment. Such a framework would ensure that the industries in the region do not lead to pollution and that the urban development in these areas is planned. Finally, collaboration with international organizations would provide the needed finances and technology to develop a successful strategy.