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High load of untreated sewage in Haridwar to Kanpur Ganga stretch: CPCB report

During a hearing last month on the Ganga pollution matter, filed by lawyer MC Mehta, the chairperson bench headed by justice Swantener Kumar had rapped the union environment ministry, water ministry, CPCB and Uttar Pradesh government for the poor results of Ganga cleaning.

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File photo of polluted Ganga
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Two years after the Modi government came to power, Ganga does not seem to be any cleaner. Sewage load of 823 million litres per day is still discharged without treatment into the holy river and its tributaries along the crucial 543kms stretch between Haridwar and Kanpur, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has said in its report to the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The CPCB's report comes in the wake of NGT's displeasure with authorities at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh for not delivering any results on cleaning of the national river till now.

During a hearing last month on the Ganga pollution matter, filed by lawyer MC Mehta, the chairperson bench headed by justice Swantener Kumar had rapped the union environment ministry, water ministry, CPCB and Uttar Pradesh government for the poor results of Ganga cleaning. It had slammed them for not taking a clear stand on the Ganga cleaning and granted them. "final opportunity" to submit their reports.

"The main question is how are you going to protect the river Ganga from Haridwar to Kanpur? What do you propose to do? Tell us you plans," the bench had said. Following the hearing, the bench called a meeting and directed the CPCB to submit a report on Haridwar to Kanpur stretch.

In its report, the CPCB has detailed the generation of industrial effluent and sewage generation in the Haridwar to Kanpur stretch. It has told NGT that Ganga's uninterrupted flow and putting a stop to sewage and industrial effluent is a must to improve the health of the river. It has also directed the State Pollution Control Board in Uttar Pradesh to not grant permission to operate in the catchment area of the river until industries have improved the system of reutilisation of effluents instead of discharging it into drains.

According to CPCB's report, there are 30 storm water drains carrying sewage, sullage and other wastes joining the Ganga at various locations in this particular stretch. This has resulted in the fecal coliform bacteria above the CPCB prescribed standards. At Jajmau, which is a tannery hub in Kanpur, the fecal coliform was ten times higher than the prescribed standards while it was twice the prescribed limits in Kannauj.

Meanwhile, the report indicated that tannery industries still remains the most polluting ones on the Haridwar to Kanpur stretch. Of the 764 total grossly polluting industries on this stretch, 415 are from the tannery sector, 67 each are from sugar, paper and pulp while 63 are from the textile sector. These industries are discharging a total of 212.42 million litres per day of effluents across Ganga, Ram Ganga and Kali East rivers. To improve the situation in the tannery industry cluster, the CPCB has said that the common effluent treatment plant has to be upgraded to meet pollution standards of Fixed Dissolved Solids and chromium. Eventually, they have to adopt a zero liquid discharge system.

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