A presentation on Ganga pollution Varanasi

1. Paper 5
Field Work and Ethnography

2. Introduction
Group-D
Group Name- The Scintillas
Topic- Pollution in Ghats and in River Ganga.
Group Members-Kashika,Preeti,Rashi,Ranjit and Shubham.
Ghats Assigned-Digpatya Ghat,Chousatti Ghat,Rana Mahal Ghat,Munshi Ghat,Ahilya
Bai Ghat,Dashaswamedh Ghat and Rajendra Prasad Ghat.

3. Reasons & Statistics of pollution in river Ganges
1. Human waste-About 2.9 billion liters or more of human sewage is discharged in to river Ganga daily
although the existing treatment plants have capacity to treat 1.1 billion leaving a huge deficit .
2. Industrial waste-Industrial effluents are about 12% of total effluents reaching Ganga. Although its in
low proportion, but it is main reason for concern because they are often toxic.
3. Religious Events- During festive season70 million people take bath to clean their sins and throw
waste like flowers, food and ashes due to ritualistic reasons.
4. Dams-Built in 1854 during British rule. Govt . of India has planned 300 more dams despite of
environmental concerns .
5. A 2006 measurement of pollution in the Ganges sabrina revealed that river water monitoring over
the previous 12 years had demonstrated fecal coliform counts up to 100,000,000 MPN (most
probable number) per 100 ml and biological oxygen demand levels averaging over 40 mg/l in the
most polluted part of the river in Varanasi. The overall rate of water-borne/enteric disease incidence,
including acute gastrointestinal disease, cholera, dysentery, hepatitis-A, and typhoid, was estimated
to be about 66%.
6. According to Uttaranchal Environment Protection And Pollution Control Board the coliform bacterial
level in Ganga is 5500, a level to high to be safe for agriculture use Let alone drinking and bathing.
7. According to National Cancer Registry Program under the Indian Council Of Medical Research 2012,
Those living on the banks in UP, Bihar and Bengal are cancer prone. The Gallbladder cancer cases
along the river is the 2nd highest in the world.

4. Examples of Questionnaire asked from 60 people to get an idea about reasons of pollution on
the Ghats and river Ganga
Name= Bandil & Camey
Tourist from Canada.
Age=25 & 19 years
Ques1. What do you think is the main reason for pollution in river ganga among the following:
Sewage
Flowers and Cremation stuffs
Washing of clothes
Industrial pollutants
Bathing
Ques2. Do you think due to blockage by dams pollutants remain in river Ganga ?
Ans. Yes
Ques3. Do you think the buildings which are built on ghats by breaking the old architecture are the reason for pollution?
Ans. May be
Ques4. The eatables which are taken by the tourist during boating are thrown by the people in river Ganga and do you think the boats should
have a dustbin ?
Ans. Yes, There should be a dustbin
Ques5. Do you think the plans made by government for safeguarding Ganga are being implemented or it’s a case of corruption in this too?
Ans. No idea Quite difficult for me to tell.
Ques6. Do you think the increasing tourism is bringing some positive changes?
Ans. No
Ques7. Are the tourist (foreigner) are also responsible for polluting river Ganga?
Ans. May be , we have seen some people doing so.
Ques8. Do you think the things which we do for our religious purpose creates pollution?
Ans. Yes
Ques9. Do you think the treatment plants on ghats are working properly?
Ans. No idea.
Ques10. Do you think the water of river ganga is fit for drinking does it result in any disease ?
Ans. No. water is not safe for drinking
Ques11. How could we improve the situation of our holy river Ganga ?
Ans. According to me by educating people .

5. Now lets have a look at a Questionnaire asked by medium of a video

7. Inference made from above questionnaire asked from 60 people
by medium of pie chart
1. Main cause of pollution according to people
A. Sewage = 35 out of 60 people think so
35/60*100= 58.33%
B. Flowers and cremation stuffs= 5 out of 60 people think so
5/60*100=8.33%
C. Washing of clothes=6 out of 60 people think so
6/60*100=10%
D. Industrial Pollutants= 10out of 60 people think so
10/60*100=16.66%
E. Bathing= 4 out of 60 people think so
4/60*100= 6.67%

8. 58%
8%
10%
17%
7%
Main causes of pollution according to people
Sewage
Flowers and Cremation stuffs
Washing clothes
Industrial pollutants
Bathing

9. 2. Is blockage by dam a reason for pollution
A. Yes = 60 out of 60 people think so.
60/60*100= 100%
B. No= 0 out of 60 people think so.
C. Maybe=0 out of 60 people think so.
100%
0%0%
Is blockage by dam a reason for pollution?
Yes
No
Maybe

10. 3.Making of new buildings by breaking old architecture is a
reason for pollution?
A. Yes =40 out of 60 people think so.
40/60*100=66.67%
B. No =10 out of 60 people think so
10/60*100=16.67%
C. Maybe=10 out of 60 people think so.
10/60*100=16.66%
67%
17%
16%
Is new building made by breaking old achitecture a reason?
Yes
No
Maybe

11. 4. The eatables taken during boating are thrown in river Ganga
?
A. Yes= 50 out of 60 people think so.
50/60*100= 83.33%
B. No = 10 out of 60 people think so.
10/60*100=16.67%
C. Maybe=0 out of 60 think so.
83%
17%
0%
The eatables taken by people during boating are thrown in
river Ganga?
Yes
No
Maybe

12. 5.Are government plans for cleaning Ganga are working ?
A. Yes=10 out of 60 people think so.
10/60*100=16.67%
B. No=36 out 6of 60 people think so
36/60*100=60%
C. May be=4 out of 60 people think so.
4/60*100=6.66%
D. No idea=10 out of 60 people think so
10/60*100=16.67%
17%
60%
6% 17%
Are government plans for cleaning Ganga working?
Yes
No
Maybe
No idea

13. 6. Is increasing tourism ( foreigner) bringing some positive changes
in reference to Ganga and Ghats ?
A. Yes =40 out of 60 people think so.
40/60*100=66.67%
B. No= 20 out of 60 people think so.
20/60*100=33.33%
67%
33%
Is increasing tourism (foreiger) bringing some positive changes
in reference to Ganga and Ghats?
Yes
No

14. 7. Are religious important things in our culture creating
pollution ?
A. Yes= 25 out of 60 people think so.
25/60*100=41.66%
B. No=30 out of 60 people think so
30/60*100=50%
C. Maybe=5 out of 60 people think so.
5/60*100=8.34%
42%
50%
8%
Are religious important things in our culture creating pollution?
Yes
No
Maybe

15. 8. Are the treatment plants working on ghats ?
A. Yes=37 out of 60 people think so.
37/60*100=61.67%
B. No=18 out of 60 people think so.
18/60*100=30.67%
C. No idea=5 out of 60 people think so
5/60*100=7.66%
62%
31%
7%
Are the treatment plants on ghats working ?
Yes
No
Maybe

16. 9. Is the water of river Ganga good for drinking?
A. Yes = 9 out of 60 people think so.
9/60*100=15%
B. No=51 out of 60 people think so.
51/60*100=85%
15%
85%
Is water of river ganga fit for drinking?
Yes
No

17. Some positive and negative points related to pollution on Ghats
and in Ganga shown by the medium of some Pictures
1. Positive Points
A. At the ghats people get peace of mind and they perform
their art and skill efficiently as the two guys below doing so.

18. B. There are various Ngo’s for safeguarding river Ganga which are
trying save our holy river Ganga from being more polluted.

19. C. There are some quotes painted on the wall of ghats to make
people aware and stop them from doing wrong deeds.

20. D. There are various treatment plants built on ghats to stop the
sewage water to flow directly into river Ganga and save it from
being polluted. The treatment plant at Rajendra Prasad Ghat
has 4 pumps 2 of them are of 125 Hp and other 2 are of 75 Hp
,of which 125 Hp pump carries 15000 liter per minute and
75Hp pump carries 8800 liter per minute.

21. E. There are some urinals, dustbins and sauchalaya built on and
outside the ghats to stop people from making the ghats dirty
and stop them from polluting.

22. F. There are various cleaners and workers being assigned duties
or they work on their own for cleaning and maintaining
cleanliness of the ghats.

23. 2.Negative Points
A. The water of river Ganga is not safe for drinking purpose it
causes disease like cancer, stone etc moreover its not even safe
for bathing.

24. B. Most of the old architecture are being demolished in order
to build new hotels etc which results in pollution , waste are
thrown in river Ganga and its also hurting the sentiments of
people.

25. C. People just throw the waste and let the sewer water flow
in river Ganga without knowing the future consequences of
it.

26. D. There are various dustbins kept on ghats to keep it clean but
it couldn’t be seen as it is hidden behind so many objects as
shown in the picture.

27. E. Most of us throw waste on the ghats and throw flowers and
other stuff in Ganga as a part of our rituals that also creates
pollution

28. F. Most of us take bath in river Ganga and use soap and
people wash clothes by detergent which creates soap
deposits which look like sand on the other side as shown in
the picture which results in deposition of waste in it.

29. G. All our religious priest and sadhu pretend to be devoted
towards religion but they spread their clothes for drying onthe
religiously important thing written on the ghats.

30. Some positive and negative incidents or views of people on Ganga
ghats effecting their life –
1. Positives
A. According to Basant kumar ( phool wala) its life saving due to
religious belief, he narrated a story on how he survived an electric
shock of 25 minutes on the ghat due to the grace of river Ganga on
him.
B. It’s a source of livelihood or employment for people such as
shops on ghats ,boating ,tourist guide.
C. According to some foreign tourist it’s a way of getting idea about
Indian culture.
D.According to some people it’s a source of bathing, washing
clothes moreover a source of sanitation.
E. According to some people Ganga ji is way to attract people
towards our religion.

31. 2.Negative
A. According to a shopkeeper being such an important place its
results in terrorist attacks due to lack of security. He himself was the
victim of the bomb blast on the ghats.
B. According to some boatman it resulted in unemployment because
of drying up of river Ganga and pollution in it the fishes are dying.
C. The water of river Ganga has resulted in many disease to us, I am
suffering from cancer because of drinking its water.
D. According to a local person the water is not fit for bathing as he
got rashes on the body and pimple too.
E. According some foreign tourist the negativity which they find on
ghats is beggars disturbing them, people cheating them and
misbehavior done by young guys.

32. Conclusion
1. We would like to conclude from the observations made by
the help of questionnaire as we get some important points
which we need to implement in order to clean river ganga and
ghats are as follows:-
2. We found that 58.33% people think that sewage is the main
reason for pollution so we should stop sewage to flow directly
into river or make a passage below the river take it to another
place or if we are not able to do so we could treat the sewage
before flowing in the river.

33. 3. The boatman should keep a dustbin in the boat so that that
the tourist doing boating should throw the waste materials of
food which they take in the dustbin rather than throwing in the
river.
4. The silt which gets deposited in the base of river ganga which
obstruct the flow of water should be cleaned.
5. We should keep more and more dustbins on ghats and employ
more and more cleaners so that we could keep the ghats clean.
6. We found that most of the plans made by government for
cleaning ganga and ghats are not being implemented properly
and it’s a complete case of corruption whole money is eaten up
by the parties involve.
7. We should promote more and more tourism as it is bringing
some positive changes in the condition of ghats and its making
the tourist aware about our religion and culture.

34. 8. The water of river ganga is not fit for drinking due to the
sewage and industrial waste directly flowing in the river without
treatment which is causing the death of various fishes and causing
disease like cancer, stone etc to people who are drinking the
water. So we should stop flowing of these waste in water and
build more and more treatment plants for treating the waste.
9. At last there are many Ngo’s working for cleaning river ganga
and many people like Veer Bhadra Mishra former civil
engineering head of IIT BHU working to save river Ganga, But it is
not possible by one person or some Ngo’s to make our holy river
Ganga free from pollution its possible only when we all people
who understand our responsibilities to take care and make river
Ganga clean as it was 30 to 40 years ago .

35. Thank You
Prof. Priyankar Upadhyay
&
Dr.Manoj Mishra
For providing this opportunity to learn and
interact.