The Ganga River, crucial for 40% of India's population, faces severe pollution from untreated sewage and industrial waste, becoming the fifth-most polluted river globally. Despite various government initiatives, including the Namami Gange project launched in 2014, pollution levels remain critical, raising health concerns due to water-borne diseases. The document discusses the causes of pollution and explores remedial measures while highlighting the legislative framework aimed at protecting the river's health.

1. Pollution of River Ganga – A Case Study
EVS J Component
By – Rohan Vidwans
16BLB1009

2. INTRODUCTION -
Pollution of the Ganga , the largest river in India, poses significant threats to human health and the
larger environment. Severely polluted with human waste and industrial contaminants, the river
provides water to about 40% of India's population across 11 states, serving an estimated population of
500 million people, which is more than any other river in the world.
Today, the Ganges is considered to be the fifth-most polluted river in the world. Raghubir Singh, an
Indian photographer, has noted that no one in India spoke of the Ganges as being polluted until the late
1970s. However, pollution has been an old and continuous process in the river by the time people were
finally acknowledging its pollution. Stretches of over 600 km (370 mi) were essentially
ecologically dead zones.
A number of initiatives have been undertaken to clean the river, but failed to deliver desired
results. After getting elected, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi affirmed to work on cleaning the
river and controlling pollution. Subsequently, the Namami Gange project was announced by the
government in the June 2014 budget.[11] An estimated Rs 2,958 Crores (US$460 million) have been
spent until July 2016 in various efforts to clean up the river

3. OBJECTIVES -
• Identify Environmental and Human factors leading to the pollution of the river ganga.
• Analyse the steps taken by the Government of India to curb the pollution of the river since 1986 to 2021
through its various initiatives, policies and plans.
• Rules and Regulations Formulated to prevent pollution in River Ganga.

4. METHODOLOGY -
• The Methodology adopted is “Analytical and Descriptive”.
• The data is gathered from primary sources like journals and secondary data that includes articles, research
papers, websites, news articles, Committee reports etc.
Identifying existing problem at hand and the environmental impact of it Consolidating data and
information collected from primary and secondary Sources  Identify and analyse reports etc related to the
subject matter  Provide Conclusive idea and recommendation for the issue .

5. CAUSES OF POLLUTION OF THE RIVER GANGA -
• A tremendous amount of sewage that is majorly untreated is disposed of in the river on a day-to-day basis.
• Large numbers of textile industries, slaughterhouses, hospitals, distilleries, and chemical plants dispose of their
untreated waste into the river.
• Cutting off the natural flow of the river, dams are responsible for the pollution of Ganga as well.
• The tremendous amount of fertilizers that are used continuously gets flown into the Ganga along with the
rainwater causing hazards to the aquatic organisms.
• Being a river that is worshipped by people belonging to a larger religious group, every year, countless people
dispose of the ashes of their dead ones into the river

6. EFFECTS AND IMPACT OF THE CAUSES OF POLLUTION IN THE RIVER GANGA -
Today, over 29 cities, 70 towns, and thousands of villages extend along the Ganga banks. Nearly all of their
sewage -over 1.3 billion liters per day - goes directly into the river, along with thousands of animal carcasses,
mainly cattle. Another 260 million liters of industrial waste are added to this by hundreds of factories along the
rivers banks. Municipal sewage constitutes 80 per cent by volume of the total waste dumped into the Ganga, and
industries contribute about 15 percent.
The majority of the Ganga pollution is organic waste, sewage, trash, food, and human and animal remains. Over
the past century, city populations along the Ganga have grown at a tremendous rate, while waste-control
infrastructure has remained relatively unchanged. Recent water samples collected in Varanasi revealed faecal coli
form counts of about 50,000 bacteria per 100 milliliters of water, 10,000% higher than the government standard for
safe river bathing.
The result of this pollution is an array of water-borne diseases including cholera, hepatitis, typhoid and amoebic
dysentery. An estimated 80% of all health problems and one-third of deaths in India are attributable to water-borne
diseases. The pollutants include oils, greases, plastics, plasticizers, metallic wastes, suspended solids, phenols,
toxins, acids, salts, dyes, cyanides, pesticides etc.
Many of these pollutants are not easily susceptible to degradation and thus cause serious pollution problems.
Contamination of ground water and fish-kill episodes are the major effects of the toxic discharges from industries.
Discharge of untreated sewage and industrial effluents leads to number of conspicuous effects on the river
environment.
The impact involves gross changes in water quality viz reduction in dissolved oxygen and reduction in light
penetration that tends to loss in self purification capability of river water. Farakka Barrage has also resulted in
occupational displacement of the fisher people in both upstream and downstream. For a long time fisher people in
Bihar have been protesting against the barrage as this has hindered the natural migration of valuable fishes from
the sea, especially Hilsa, a delicacy.

7. REVIEW OF LITERATURE -
• Ganga Pollution Case – A Case Study ( Abhinav Anand) -Water Pollution has become a global crisis. The
perennial threat of the water crisis is exacerbating because of uncontrolled and unbalanced development of the
allied sectors such as industries and agriculture. According to the reports of NITI Aayog, 21 major Indian cities,
including Delhi will completely run out of groundwater. This article deals with reasons behind the pollution of
the river Ganga and it examines the effective measures taken by the government. It also suggests changes to
expedite the cleaning process of the river.
• Water Pollution Control - A Guide to the Use of Water Quality Management Principles Edited by Richard
Helmer and Ivanildo Hespanhol Published on behalf of the United Nations Environment Programme, the Water
Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council and the World Health Organization by E. & F. Spon © 1997
WHO/UNEP ISBN 0 419 22910 8 Case Study I* - The Ganga, India
• River Water Pollution - A New Threat to India: A Case Study of River Ganga (Major General (Retd.) Ajay
Kumar Chaturvedi, AVSM, VSM )
• Ganga and its Pollutants – A Case Study (WWF)

8. REVIEW OF LITERATURE -
• Potential Impacts of Climate and Land Use Change on the Water Quality of Ganga River around the Industrialized Kanpur Region (Sneha
Santy, Pradeep Mujumdar & Govindasamy Bala) –
The heavily industrialized Kanpur region is the most polluted stretch of the Ganga river because of excessive pollutant discharge from the
industries. Agricultural runoff along with climate change further adds to the pollution risk in this industrialized stretch of Ganga. In this paper,
we analyze the potential impacts of climate change and land use change on the water quality in this stretch under hypothetical scenarios using
the water quality model, QUAL2K. Water quality indicators of Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Biochemical Oxygen Demand, ammonia, nitrate, total
nitrogen, organic-, inorganic- and total phosphorous and faecal coliform are assessed for eight climate change and six land use land cover
scenarios. Eutrophic conditions are observed in this stretch of the river for all scenarios, implying severe impacts on aquatic life. DO is
identified as the most sensitive indicator to the climate change scenarios considered, while nutrients and faecal coliform are more sensitive to
the land use scenarios. Increase in agricultural land area leads to larger nutrient concentration while increase in built-up area causes an increase
in faecal coliform concentration
• .Pollution of the Ganga due to Human Intervention – A case Study (Taran Preet Singh and Diksha Gupta)
• Pollution of River Ganga, Case Study By Navnit – Legal Opinion observed Via Case litigated in various courts across the Country
Pollution of the Ganges (or Ganga), the largest river in India, poses significant threats to human health and the larger environment. Severely
polluted with human waste and industrial contaminants, the river provides water to about 40% of India's population across 11 states, serving an
estimated population of 500 million people which is more than any other river in the world.
Today, the Ganges is considered to be the sixth-most polluted river in the world. Raghubir Singh, an Indian photographer, has noted that no one
in India spoke of the Ganges as polluted until the late 1970s. However, pollution has been an old and continuous process in the river as by the
time people were finally speaking of the Ganges as polluted, stretches of over six hundred kilometers were essentially ecologically dead zones.

9. Remedial or Control Measures for Pollution in River Ganga -
• Ganga Mahasabha –
Ganga Mahasabha is an Indian organization dedicated to the Ganges, founded by Madan Mohan Malaviya in
1905. After a long struggle, British India agreed on 5 November 1914 that the uninterrupted flow of the Ganges is
the rudimentary right of Hindu believers. The day is known as a 'Aviral Ganga Samjhauta Divas' (Uninterrupted
Ganga flow agreement day) in the history of India and the agreement came into existence on 19 December 1916
which is known as Agreement of 1916. The sanctity of the agreement is not preserved by the state and central
governments of India after independence though it is legally valid. More and more river water is diverted for
irrigation use converting the river into a polluted sewer.
• Ganges Action Plan –
The Ganges Action Plan (GAP) was launched by Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, on June 1986
with covering 25 Class I towns (6 in Uttar Pradesh, 4 in Bihar and 15 in West Bengal); Rs 862.59 crore were
spent. Its main objective was to improve the water quality by the interception, diversion, and treatment of
domestic sewage and to prevent toxic and industrial chemical wastes from identified polluting units from entering
the river. The other objectives of the GAP are as follows-

10. Remedial or Control Measures for Pollution in River Ganga -
1. Control of non-point from human defecation, cattle wallowing, and the disposal of human remains in the river.
2. Research and development to conserve the biotic diversity of the river to augment its productivity.
3. Development of sewage treatment technology such as Up-flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) and
sewage treatment through afforestation.
4. Rehabilitation of soft-shelled turtles for pollution abatement.
5. Resource recovery options such as methane production for energy generation and use of aquaculture for
revenue generation.
6. To act as a trendsetter for taking up similar action plans in other grossly polluted stretches in other rivers.
7. The ultimate objective of the GAP is to have an approach of integrated river basin management considering
the various dynamic interactions between abiotic and biotic eco-system.
• National River Ganga Basin Authority (NRGBA)-
NRGBA was established by the Central Government of India, on 20 February 2009 under Section 3 of the
Environment Protection Act, 1986. It declared the Ganges as the "National River" of India. The chair includes
the Prime Minister of India and chief ministers of states through which the Ganges flows. In 2011, the World
Bank approved $1 billion in funding for the National Ganges River Basin Authority.

11. Remedial or Control Measures for Pollution in River Ganga -
• Namami Gange Programme –
In the budget tabled in Parliament on 10 July 2014, the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced an
integrated Ganges development project titled 'Namami Gange' (meaning 'Obeisance to the Ganges river') and
allocated ₹2,037 crore for this purpose. The objectives were effective abatement of pollution, conservation, and
rejuvenation of the Ganges. Under the project, 8 states are covered. Ministry of Drinking Water Supply and
Sanitation proposes to make 1,674 gram panchayats by the Ganges open defecation-free by 2022, at a cost of Rs
1,700 cr (central share). An estimated Rs 2,958 Crores (US$460 million) have been spent till July 2016 in various
efforts in cleaning up of the river.
As a part of the program, government of India ordered the shut down of 48 industrial units around the Ganges.
The program has a budget outlay of Rs. 20,000 crore for the next five years. This is a significant five-fold
increase over the expenditure in the past 30 years (Government of India incurred an overall expenditure of
approximately Rs. 4000 crore on this task since 1985). The center will now take over 100% funding of various
activities/ projects under this program. Taking a leaf from the unsatisfactory results of the earlier Ganges Action
Plans, the center now plans to provide for operation and maintenance of the assets for a minimum 10-year period,
and adopt a PPP/SPV approach for pollution hotspots.

12. Remedial or Control Measures for Pollution in River Ganga -
• The main pillars of Namami Gange Programme are:
1. Sewerage Treatment Infrastructure
2. River-Front Development
3. River-Surface Cleaning
4. Bio-Diversity
5. Afforestation
6. Public Awareness
7. Industrial Effluent Monitoring
8. Ganga Gram
• Clean Ganga Fund -
The Union Cabinet gave its approval for setting up of Clean Ganga Fund in September 2014 with the aim of using the collection for
various activities under the Namami Gange programme for cleaning the Ganges.
• Utilization of funds
• Cleaning up of the Ganges
• Setting up of waste treatment plants
• Conservation of biotic diversity of the river
• Development of public amenities
• Activities such as Ghat redevelopment and Research and Development and innovative projects.

13. Rules and Regulations to be followed to prevent Pollution in River Ganga -
• Water Prevention and Control of Pollution Act, 1974:
The main objective of this Act is to provide for the prevention of water pollution and to take care and maintain the
water bodies. It also aims for promotion for restoration of water bodies. For better implementation of the Act, the
Central Pollution Control Board and the State Pollution Control Board have been established by the Central and
the State Government respectively. Under the Act, the board has the power to encourage and conduct research and
investigation with a view of promoting, the prevention of contamination of water in a significant manner and also
to advise the Central Government for the matters relating to environmental issues and for the prevention and
control of water pollution.
• The Water Prevention and Control of Pollution Cess Act, 2003:
Waste coming out from industries are one of the prime causes of the of water pollution. The waste from the
industries is being disposed of into the rivers which pollute the river at a large scale. According to Section 2 of
this Act, industries include any operation or process or sewage or disposal treatment or any industrial effluent.
Section 3 of this Act provides an exemption to industries from levying cess on those industries, which consume
water below the specified limit. Water gets polluted through the toxic or non-biodegradable substances when the
processing of these materials is being done in any industry, and such industries are required to pay cess under this
law.

14. Rules and Regulations to be followed to prevent Pollution in River Ganga -
• The Indian Penal Code:
The provisions have been laid down Under the Indian criminal law to punish the person who commits an
offence in contravention to the Code. Section 277 of the Code provides for the punishment to be given to the
person who commits an offence of fouling of a public reservoir or a public spring voluntarily shall be liable to
be punished with imprisonment of three months or with a fine of 500 Rupees or with both.
The explanation of this situation can be given through an illustration. A, a resident of Chandigarh, goes near a
reservoir and voluntarily puts a toxic substance with an intention to cause harm to the environment and in
consideration pollutes the water. The reservoir was fit for public use before, but after the Act of A, the
reservoir became unfit for the utilization of the public. Therefore, A was being held liable for the offence under
Section 277 of the IPC, and he was punished with imprisonment of up to three months and a fine of Rupees
500.
• The River Boards Act, 1956:
This act aimed to the establishment of rivers and the regulation of interstate water disputes. The Act gives the
power to the State Government to establish Boards by issuing a special notification. The object of this Act is to
resolve and regulate the inter-state water disputes. Article 262 of the Constitution of India gives the power to
the Union to establish and adjudicate the inter-state water disputes prevailing in the country. Through this Act,
awards and tribunals were being formulated to regulate the interstate dispute prevailing in a particular country

15. Rules and Regulations to be followed to prevent Pollution in River Ganga -
• Right to Clean Water:
The Indian Judiciary has initiated a positive step for the controlling of pollution of water. Under the Indian
Constitution, the judiciary has given a liberal interpretation to Article 21 of the Constitution of India and included
the right to clean water and environment under the ambit of Article 21, Article 48, Article 51(g) of the Constitution
of India. Various judicial decisions throughout the history of Fundamental Rights have paved a way to the broad
concept of Right to Life.

16. Conclusion -
River or water is the most important thing one needs for his livelihood and no life is possible without water and
underground waters and rivers are the main source of fresh water that can be used by plants and animals. We can
dee that at many places the underground water is very less or about to finish.
The population living there don't have enough water for their livelihood and for basic needs of their life. Hence,
they are moving towards river which is their only option and if the river water will also be polluted and poisonous
then there will be no choice left for the human beings as well as plants and animals. Also, many plants and animals
are dying daily because of that toxic and poisonous water.
The need of the hour is to look at the threat on river life more realistically, more comprehensively, and above all,
with an eye on future. A scenario build-up for the future will help the decision makers to arrive at a realistic
strategy to address the problem. A system of review and the will to do course corrections as and when needed will
help the country to save itself for the disaster looming large.
We need to understand the importance of water for us and for our future generation and that it is needed to be
conserved and cleaned. Only considering rivers as Holy will not help us in making it pollution free, but we also
need to treat it as a Holy or religious faith by not doing all those things that are making it polluted or poisonous.