ganga calling final

GANGA CALLING-SAVE GANGA: A CONCEPTUAL AND
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH
by
Ankita Mallick
2
nd
SEM, MBA ( Batch 2014-16)
The Oxford College of Engineering,
10th Milestone, Bommanahalli, Hosur Road, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560068

GANGA CALLING-SAVE GANGA
ABSTRACT
India is endowed with rich water resources approximately 45000 km
long riverine system. It has 12 major basins, 46 medium river basins
and 14 minor and river basins. Ganga river basin is the largest of
these, extending over 2525 kms over the states of Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar,
Jharkhad, and Chhattisgarh. As a result of increasing anthropogenic activities in the Gangetic
plain, Ganga water quality has deteriorated over years and the efforts to clean up Ganga have
been unsuccessful. Ganga Action Plan (GAP), in two phases was instituted by the government of
India. Phase 1 was launched in 1985 and completed in 2000. Phase 2 started in 2009. The main
aim of GAP was to reduce organic load on the river through interception, diversion and
treatment of waste water reaching the river. The objectives of the study are to examine the issues
and problems of pollution load in Ganga and find out measures to emphasize on reducing
pollution and to clean the river and to restore water quality. Secondly to analyze the health
issues, aesthetic quality and the levels of contamination towards improvements in fisheries,
aquatic flora and fauna etc. To improve the environmental conditions along the river by suitably
reducing all the polluting influences at source. The methodology of the study is conceptual in
nature and information has been collected from the official websites of Government of India
associated specially with Ganga river. The study emphasizes on the causes and effect of
pollution, SWOT analysis of the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) and also the reasons for past failure
and current challenges. The major finding of this study indicate that the water of the Ganga
river was found to contain high level of toxins, secondly the river dolphin inhabits the Ganges
are at the verge of extinction. Most of the people living in the Ganga river basin have no sanitary
facilities. Harmful pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture run-offs pollute the water. Mercury
has also been found in the Ganga.
Key words: River Ganga, Pollution load Water quality management, Water pollution, Ganga
Action Plan.
1. INTRODUCTION
The Ganga is India's most important and iconic river. It flows down from its glacial
source in the high Himalayas to course through five states in the northern plains before draining
into the swirling waters of the Bay of Bengal through the Sunderbans delta, the largest mangrove

system in the world. Along its 2,500 km journey, the river enriches huge swathes of agricultural
land and sustains a long procession of towns and cities.
The sprawling Ganga basin, an area of 860,000 sq. km spread across 11 states, is the
world’s most populous river basin. It is home to more than 600 million Indians, close to half the
country’s population; and over 40 percent of the country’s GDP is generated in this region. The
basin provides more than one-third of India’s surface water, 90 percent of which is used for
irrigation. Paradoxically, this fertile region is also home to some of the poorest sections of
India’s population, with more than 200 million people living below the national poverty line.
Source: mapsofindia.com
As India's holiest river, the Ganga has a cultural and spiritual significance that far
transcends the basin’s boundaries. It is worshipped as a living goddess and, since time
immemorial, people from across the country have flocked to the many historic temple towns the
lie along the river’s banks to pray and bathe in its flowing waters.
2

The river is not just a legend; it is also a life support system for the people of India
because: the densely populated Ganga basin is inhabited by 37 per cent of India's population; the
entire Ganga basin system effectively drains to eight states of India; about 47 per cent of the total
irrigated area in India is located in the Ganga basin; it has been a major source of navigation and
communication since ancient times and the Indo-Gangetic plain has witnessed the blossoming of
India's great creative talent.
2. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The journey of the river starts at Gangothri and ends with the river joining the Bay of
Bengal. In her journey comprising of 2525 kms (1560 miles).sewage unburnt, human
bodies(Varanasi, Patna) waste from chemical plants, textile mills, paper mills, fertilizers
plant(from Uttrakhand to West Bengal) have deteriorated the quality of the river water and made
it unfit for consumption and has endangered aquatic life. The impact of pollution has increased
over the years, therefore to revive and restore the sanctity and to purify the water of the sacred
river “Ganga” the present government has initiated a “Namami Gange”. This initiation from the
government calls for analysing the pollution causing factors, their impact and better management
of the scheme to ensure its success.
3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
 To examine the issues and problems of pollution load in Ganga.
 To find out measures to emphasize on reducing pollution and to clean the river and to
restore water quality.
 To analyse the health issues, aesthetic quality and the levels of contamination towards
improvements in fisheries, aquatic flora and fauna etc.
 To improve the environmental conditions along the river by suitably reducing all the
polluting influences at source.
4. METHODOLOGY
The study is conceptual in nature, it consisted of collecting information from the official
website of Ministry of Environment and Forests built specifically for Ganga action plan. The
analysis of the information consists of the following sections: Section A – causes and effect of
3

pollution; Section B – SWOT analysis of the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) and also the reasons for
past failure and current challenges; Section C – Present status and Section D – findings and
suggestions.
5. ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY
5.1. Section A
5.1.1 Causes of Pollution in Ganga
Three major issues that increased the pollution level in the river Ganga are Human waste;
industrial waste and religious reasons.
a. Human waste
The river flows through 29 cities where the population is ten lakh and above. A large proportion
of solid and liquid waste in Ganga river include domestic sewage (bathing, laundry and public
defecation), unburnt dead bodies thrown into Ganga river. Patna and Varanasi cities are more
responsible to water pollution in Ganga and 80 % sewage wastes are responsible to water
pollution of Ganga.
b. Industrial waste
Industries on the bank of the Ganga river from Uttrakhand to West Bengal include chemical
plants, textile mills, paper mills, fertilizer plants and hospitals waste. These industries are 20 %
responsible to the increase in water pollution as they dump solid and liquid waste into the Ganga
river there by deteriorating the quality of water, their chemical properties and river marine life.
c. Religious factor
Festivals are an integral part of our life. During festival people take bath in the Ganges to cleanse
themself. According to our scriptures to attain deliverance, the ashes of the departed soul are
immersed in the river. Khumbha Mela is a very big festival and lakhs of people assemble at
Allahabad, to take bath and purify themselves.
4

5.1.2. Effect of Pollution
The consequences’ of the pollution of the river lead to endangering the bio life, riverine life and
to the human population whose livelihood was dependent on the river.
a. Riverine life
The Ganga river pollution increased day by day and from this pollution marine life have been
going to lost in near future and this polluted water disturb the ecosystem of the river. And
irrigation and Hydroelectric dams give struggle to life in their life cycle.
b. Bio life
Some dams are constructed along the Ganges basin. Dams are collected a huge volume of water
and this is hazard for wild life which are moving in Ganga River. The KotliBhel dam at
Devprayag will submerge about 1200 hectors of forest. In India wildlife has been warning that
the wild animals will find it difficult to cope with the changed situation.
c. Human beings
An analysis of the Ganges water in 2006 showed significant associations between water-
borne/enteric disease occurrence and the use of the river for bathing, laundry, washing, eating,
cleaning utensils, and brushing teeth. Exposure factors such as washing clothes, bathing and lack
of sewerage, toilets at residence, children defecating outdoors, poor sanitation, low income and
low education levels also showed significant associations with enteric disease outcome. Water in
the Ganges has been correlated to contracting dysentery, cholera, hepatitis, as well as severe
diarrhoea which continue to be one of the leading causes of death of children in India.
5.2. Section B
SWOT of Ganga Action Plan (GAP)
The methodology adopted was to analyse the strengths, weaknesses, opportunity and threats with
reference to the GAP.
5

5.2.1 Strength: GAP Phase 1 and GAP Phase 2
There are 14 major river basins in India with natural waters that are being used for human and
developmental activities. These activities contribute significantly to the pollution loads of these
river basins. Of these river basins the Ganga sustains the largest population. The Central
Pollution Control Board (CPCB) undertook a comprehensive scientific survey in 1981-82 in
order to classify river waters according to their designated best uses. This report was the first
systematic document that formed the basis of the Ganga Action Plan (GAP). It detailed land-use
patterns, domestic and industrial pollution loads, fertiliser and pesticide use, hydrological aspects
and river classifications. This inventory of pollution was used by the Department of Environment
in 1984 when formulating a policy document. Realising the need for urgent intervention the
Central Ganga Authority (CGA) was set up in 1985 under the chairmanship of the Prime
Minister. The Ganga Project Directorate (GPD) was established in June 1985 as a national body
operating within the National Ministry of Environment and Forest. The GPD was intended to
serve as the secretariat to the CGA and also as the Apex Nodal Agency for implementation. It
was set up to co-ordinate the different ministries involved and to administer funds for this 100
per cent centrally-sponsored plan. The programme was perceived as a once-off investment
providing demonstrable effects on river water quality. The execution of the works and the
subsequent operation and management (O&M) were the responsibility of the state governments,
under the supervision of the GPD. The GPD was to remain in place until the GAP was
completed. The plan was formally launched on 14 June 1986. The main thrust was to intercept
and divert the wastes from urban settlements away from the river. Treatment and economical use
of waste, as a means of assisting resource recovery, were made an integral part of the plan. It was
realised that comprehensive co-ordinated research would have to be conducted on the following
aspects of Ganga:
1. The sources and nature of the pollution.
2. A more rational plan for the use of the resources of the Ganga for agriculture, animal
husbandry, fisheries, forests, etc.
3. The demographic, cultural and human settlements on the banks of the river.
4. The possible revival of the inland water transport facilities of the Ganga, together with
the tributaries and distributaries.
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One outcome of this initiative was a multi-disciplinary study of the river in which the 14
universities located in the basin participated in a well-co-ordinated, integrated research
programme. This was one of largest endeavours, involving several hundred scientists, ever
undertaken in the country and was funded under the GAP. The resultant report is a unique,
integrated profile of the river. The GAP was only the first step in river water quality
management. Its mandate was limited to quick and effective, but sustainable, interventions to
contain the damage. The studies carried out by the CPCB in 1981-82 revealed that pollution of
the Ganga was increasing but had not assumed serious proportions, except at certain main towns
on the river such as industrial Kanpur and Calcutta on the Hoogly, together with a few other
towns. These locations were identified and designated as the "hot-spots" where urgent
interventions were warranted. The causative factors responsible for these situations were targeted
for swift and effective control measures. This strategy was adopted for urgent implementation
during the first phase of the plan under which only 25 towns identified on the main river were to
be included.
In 2009, the Union government re-launched the Ganga Action Plan with a newly
constituted National Ganga River Basin Authority. Earlier that year, under the notification dated
20.2.2009, the government gave the river the status of a ‘National River’. The key difference
being the recognition of the entire river basin as the basis of planning and implementation,
precisely what civil society had been advocating for. After more than 25 years there was finally
recognition that it is not enough to plan for one city’s pollution, without considering the impact
on the downstream area. The objective was set to ensure that no untreated sewage or industrial
effluents be discharged in the river by 2020, something officials today accept they may renege
on.
The GAP (I&II) solely focussed on interception, diversion and treatment of sewage. In
2009, it was accepted too, at long last, that plans for river restoration must take into account the
need for adequate water in the river – a minimum, or even better an ecological flow keeping in
mind the specific requirements of biodiversity and other factors be it cultural or religious. But
what all this means for the river remains ambiguous; Ganga river restoration is very much at a
crossroads.
7

5.2.2 Weaknesses:
The already existing disadvantages of the system include the following:
• Domestic and industrial wastes. It has been estimated that about of domestic wastewater and
500 million of industrial sewage are going into the river.
• Solid garbage thrown directly into the river.
• Non-point sources of pollution from agricultural run-off containing residues of harmful
pesticides and fertilizers.
• Animal carcasses and half-burned and unburned human corpses thrown into the river.
• Defecation on the banks by the low-income people.
• Mass bathing and ritualistic practices.
5.2.3 Opportunity:
In spite of all the previous failures, a new ray of hope is the assistance from the World Bank in
rejuvenating the river.
5.2.3.1 World Bank Assistance
The World Bank is supporting the Government of India in its effort to rejuvenate the
Ganga River. The $1 billion National Ganga River Basin Project is helping the National Ganga
River Basin Authority (NGRBA) build institutional capacity for rejuvenating the river. It is also
financing key infrastructure investments in the five mainstream states - Uttarakhand, Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
The project has two key components: Component 1 ($200 million) supports institutional
development that includes the operationalization of institutions at the central and state level; a
communications and stakeholder engagement program; water quality monitoring; and technical
assistance for city service providers and environmental regulators. Component 2 comprises a
$800 million financing window for infrastructure investments in four sectors: wastewater
8

collection and treatment, control of industrial pollution, solid waste management, and riverfront
development.
5.2.3.2 Project Progress
Uttarakhand: The first investment in this state is a wastewater treatment and conveyance system
for the nagarpanchayat of Muni Ki Reti in the Greater Rishikesh area. Other large investments
are being prepared to halt the untreated discharge of wastewater into the river from Rishikesh
and Haridwar. Another initiative plans to transform the riverfront in the Greater
Rishikesh area to improve people’s access and interaction with the river in this key pilgrimage
town.
Uttar Pradesh: Project activities are focused on the cities of Kanpur and Allahabad and several
smaller towns such as Bithoor, Narora and Anupshahar that lie along the river’s most critically
polluted stretch; these investments are likely to reduce the river’s pollution load considerably. In
Allahabad, the project will help build two sewage treatment plants as well as sewerage networks
in four city districts, covering a population of nearly 1.3 million people.
Bihar: Patna just has about 20 km of sewers for some 3 million people. Project investments
worth $200 million will help cover the city fully with wastewater treatment and sewerage
systems. In addition, an on-going $40 million investment in river-front development will not
only build a new a 6-km promenade along the river but also help upgrade public infrastructure
such as toilets, bathing areas and other public amenities at 21 Ghats.
West Bengal: Investments are being prepared to manage wastewater in the towns of Halishaher,
Budge Budge and Barrackpore that fall within the Greater Kolkata Metropolitan Area. In Kolkata
city, the project will finance the clean-up and rehabilitation of Tolly’s Nullah, a severely polluted
urban canal that runs through the core of south Kolkata. It will also help city authorities plan and
develop an integrated river-front development for Kolkata and Howrah.
5.2.3.3. Industrial Pollution
The project is working to provide solutions to treat industrial wastewater for the pulp and paper
industry in Uttarakhand, and the leather tannery cluster in Jajmau, Kanpur.
9

Water Quality Monitoring: Over 100 state-of-the-arts, real-time water quality monitoring stations
will be installed along the river to provide reliable water quality data. These will be managed by
the Central Pollution Control Board and will strengthen the regulation and oversight of the
river’s pollution load by helping planners better understand the point-source versus non-point
source origins of pollution, as well as to assess the impact of treatment on the water’s quality.
5.2.4. Threats:
The studies revealed that:
 75 per cent of the pollution load was from untreated municipal sewage.

88 per cent of the municipal sewage was from the 25 Class I towns on the main river.

Only a few of these cities had sewage treatment facilities (these were very inadequate and were
often not functional).

All the industries accounted for only 25 per cent of the total pollution (in some areas, such as
Calcutta and Kanpur, the industrial waste was very toxic and hard to treat.

5.2.4.1 Ganga: Past failures
In the 1970’s the water quality of the much revered watercourse began to be visibly beset
by the increasing trend of untreated sewage and industrial effluent discharge. Efforts to reduce
pollution loads began in earnest in 1985when the Centre launched the Ganga Action Plan (GAP).
The Rs 462-crore initiative was aimed at improving the water quality to acceptable standards
(defined as suitable for bathing) by intercepting the sewage and treating it before discharge in to
the river. The programme selected 25 towns located along the river in the Uttar Pradesh, Bihar
and West Bengal, all riparian states.
At the time (in 1985), 1340 million litres’ per day (MLD) of sewage was discharged from
Class I towns (100,000 and above), not factoring the generation from scores of smaller towns in
the basin. The first phase of GAP was completed on March 31, 2000, and financed government
agencies in Uttar Pradesh to install sewage treatment plants with a capacity to treat 375 MLD,
whereas 122 and 371 MLD was established in Bihar and West Bengal respectively. The river
remediation plan aimed at installing infrastructure to treat 65% of sewage generated in Class-I
cities in the basin.
10

Other work included afforestation, sanitation, crematoria and river front beautification. It
had been envisaged that phase-I would be completed in 6 to 7 years. But by the time it was
brought to a close, a decade and a half after its inception, sewage generation increased
substantially, from 1340 MLD to more than 2000MLD. The programme was delayed
considerably due to problems on the land acquisition front, litigations filed in the courts, but
most of all due to poor planning and lack of experience in implementation. The infrastructure
installed failed to close the gap on the sewage generated in the basin. To make matters worse,
operations and maintenance of the commissioned plants was marred by lack of uninterrupted
electricity or dedicated power supply, resulting in reduced treatment efficacy, while petty
corruption in operation alizing backup power sources was widely reported. More importantly,
erroneous positioning of treatment plants mostly in the peripheries ensured that while most
operated well below capacity, some were overwhelmed with sewage flows where majority of
sewage received was bypassed untreated. The environment ministry defended the approach
saying that expenditure would be visible when the left out works in the 25 class I cities and the
works in other class II (50,000 to 100,000 population) and class III (20,000 to 50,000 population)
towns along the river Ganga would be completed. The next phase works were taken up in stages
between 1993 & 1996
a. Domestic waste
The major problem of pollution from domestic municipal sewage arising from the 25 selected
towns was handled directly by financing the creation of facilities for interception, diversion and
treatment of the wastewater, and also by preventing the other city wastes from entering the river.
Out of the sewage assessed to be generated, was intercepted by laying 370 km of trunk sewers
with 129 pumping stations as part of 88 sub-projects. The laying of sewers and the renovation of
old sewerage was restricted only to that required to trap the existing surface drains flowing into
the river. Facilities for solid waste collection using mechanized equipment and sanitary landfill,
low-cost toilet complexes (2,760 complexes), partly-subsidized individual pour flush toilets
(48,000), 28 electric crematoriums for human corpses, and 35 schemes of river front
development for safer ritualistic bathing, were also included. A total of 261 such projects were
carried out in the 25 towns. The programme also included 35 modern sewage treatment plants.
The activities of the various sub-projects can be summarized as follows: Approach to river water
11

quality improvement Number of schemes Interception and diversion of municipal wastewater 88
Sewage treatment plants 35 Low-cost sanitation complexes 43 Electric crematoriums 28 River
front facilities for bathing 35 Others (e.g. biological conservation of aquatic species, river quality
monitoring) 32 Total 261 A total of 248 of these schemes have already been commissioned and
those remaining are due to be completed by 1998. Industrial waste About 100 industries were
identified on the main river itself. Sixty-eight of these were considered grossly polluting and
were discharging of wastewater into the river. Under the Water (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act 1974 and Environment (Protection) Act 1986, 55 industrial units out of the total of
68 grossly polluting industrial units complied and installed effluent treatment plants. In addition,
two others have treatment plants under construction and currently one unit does not have a
treatment plant. Legal proceedings have been taken against the remaining 12 industrial units
which were closed down for non-compliance. Integrated improvements of urban environments
Apart from the above, the GAP also covered very wide and diverse activities, such as
conservation of aquatic species (Gangetic dolphin), protection of natural habitats (scavenger
turtles) and creating riverine sanctuaries (fisheries). It also included components for landscaping
river frontage (35 schemes), building stepped terraces on the sloped river banks for ritualistic
mass-bathing (128 locations), improving sanitation along the river frontage (2,760 complexes),
development of public facilities, improved approach roads and lighting on the river frontage.
5.2.4.2. Current challenges
. In this phase, GAP-II, the Yamuna, Gomati and Damodar, tributaries which directly
discharge in to the Ganga were taken up to reduce incoming pollution loads. To deal with
untreated sewage in the main stem of the river, 223 MLD capacity funded by GAP-II has been
commissioned, upping the total installed capacity to 1092 MLD. The total expenditure incurred
so far, on conservation of river Ganga is Rs 950 crore as reported by Ms. Jayanthi Natarajan,
Minister of Environment and Forests, in response to a parliament question in the upper house in
May 2013. It is important to note that this is inadequate to meet the quantum of sewage
generated back when the plan was conceived, in the mid 1980’s. The quantum of sewage
generated today is nearing 3000 MLD, almost three times the available infrastructure.
12

5.2.4.3. Implementation problems
The implementation of a project of this magnitude over the entire 2,500 km stretch of the river,
covering 25 towns and crossing three different provinces, could only be achieved by delegating
the actual implementation to the state government agencies which had the appropriate
capabilities. The state governments also undertook the responsibility of subsequently operating
and maintaining the assets being created under the programme. The overall inter-agency co-
ordination was done by the GPD through the state governments. The defined project objectives
were ensured by the GPD through appraisal of each project component submitted by the
implementing agency. The overall fiscal control was exercised by the GPD by close professional
monitoring of the physical progress through independent agencies.
6. FINDINGS
 The water of the river Ganga was found to contain high level of toxins. According to
water samples collected by the Department of Atomic Energy's National Centre for

Compositional Characterization of Materials (NCCM), the river is contaminated with Chromium
6 metal. The sample of Ganga water collected during Kumbha Mela. contained 1 mg/ml, almost
50 times the permissible limit, of the toxic form of chromium i.e hexavalent chromium. Also,
people living along the river's course and taking bath in the holy water are more susceptible to
exposure to such high levels of chromium and develop cancer.
The River Dolphin inhabits the Ganges, Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu riversystems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. It is estimated that their total population is
around 2,000, and they are recognized as ‘highly endangered’ in Schedule I of the
Wildlife Protection Act (1972).
Most of the people living in the Ganga river basin have no sanitary facilities. They are forced to
use the Ganga as a toilet out of necessity, fouling her waters and potentially

spreading disease," as told by Swami Chidanand Saraswati, president of Parmarth Niketan
Ashram, Rishikesh, and founder of the GAP.
The Ganges is one of the most polluted rivers in India in which level of pollutants is more than3000 times more than the permissible limit defined by the WHO as ‘safe’. As per
studies carried out by the Uttarakhand Environment Conservation and Pollution Control
13

Board, the Ganges water near Haridwar has Coliform bacteria at 5,500 levels which are
100 times more than the permissible limit. Directly pouring human faeces, urine and
sewage into river is the major reason. Coliform bacteria are found in human colons but
become highly hazardous when found in water or food. Half-burned or unburned human
dead bodies as well as animal carcasses are thrown into the river.
 Harmful pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture run-offs pollute the water. The water of
this holy river has become unfit for drinking, bathing and not even safe for agriculture
purposes.
Mercury has also been found in the Ganga River water in the study conducted by the
Environmental Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Patna University. Though

mercury contamination has not reached to an alarming level but its presence is still a cause of
worry.
7. SUGGESTIONS
 Since the major problem for the failure of the GAP is in its implementation. A strong
recommendation is the compulsory implementation of ISO-14001-Environment

Management Certification. All the industries and the municipalities need to get the certification
so that they adhere to and contribute towards the successful implementation of GAP.
Restoring ecological flows at every point along the Ganga issue.

Preventing, curtailing all waste water, starting with sewage and industrial waste, from mixing
the river. This especially needs to be prevented along the heavily polluted Kanpur
and Varanasi stretches of Ganga.
Mass awareness campaigns and media based water eco-consciousness campaigns that get people
to not only stop pollution, but also to become an active part of the solution.

Implementing a detail legislation that prevents any source of pollution or threats to the health of
the national river.

To make a single platform for people to perform religious ceremonies and put a fishing net at
some distance around that platform to easily pull out the offerings thrown in the
water by the people.
To plant more trees around the river bank and also plant medicinal herbs

14

8. CONCLUSION
This study is dedicated to Ganga River which flows in Northern India and is the pride of our
naiton. More than 400 million people reside along the river Ganga in urban and rural habitations.
An estimated 2 million people, virtually, take bath in the river daily. Thus for the well beings of
the civilizations based on river banks the water quality has to be managed. The results suggest
that the outlet drains that discharge into the river; especially the industrial outlets need to treat
their waste water to the allowable limit before they discharge into the river.
So far, the Ganga River appears to have continued to be robust against a majority of these
failures of management. With apparently serious continued governmental discussion of inter
basin water diversions out of the Ganga the future of the GAP with concentrated efforts from the
local people and the politician may be its real testing period The water needs of an ever-
increasing regional population will compete with the regions ability to maintain its own water
quality and fisheries while the growing richer populations of Central and Southern India will be
clamouring for increased national water parity. Under the current methods of the GAP, treatment
costs for sewage are likely to increase in the future as effluent from STPs must be more heavily
treated in order to meet the same pollutant concentration standard in a river with less water. It is
likely that the provisions of the GAP must change to incorporate the impacts of inter basin water
transfers. If the plans for inter-basin water transfers go forward, the story of the next 20 years of
Ganga River water quality will be an interesting one to follow.
9. REFERENCES
1. http://www.moef.nic.in/sites/default/files/ngrba/index.html
2. http://www.moef.nic.in/sites/default/files/NRCD/index.html
3. http://www.worldbank.org
4. Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Public Accounts Committee (2004)
Ganga.
5. Rao, RJ (2001) “Biological Resources of the Ganga River, India” Hydrobiologia(458)
15

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