The Ganges river is one of the most polluted rivers in the world due to waste from the large population living along its banks, as well as untreated industrial and agricultural runoff. Various initiatives have been launched by the Indian government to clean the river, including the Ganga Action Plan in the 1980s and a $4 billion campaign beginning in 2010, but pollution remains a major problem. The pollution has negatively impacted marine life in the river and has caused health issues for humans who use the water.

1. Done by
Sreeja Mohan

2. Water Pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies (e.g.
lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and groundwater). This form of
environmental degradation occurs when pollutants are directly
or indirectly discharged into water bodies without adequate
treatment to remove harmful compounds. Water pollution
affects the entire biosphere – plants and organisms living in
these bodies of water. In almost all cases the effect is damaging
not only to individual species and population, but also to the
natural biological communities.

3. Causes Of Water Pollution
The specific contaminants leading to pollution in water include a wide spectrum
of chemicals, pathogens, and physical changes such as elevated temperature
and discoloration. While many of the chemicals and substances that are
regulated may be naturally occurring (calcium, sodium, iron, manganese, etc.)
the concentration is often the key in determining what is a natural component of
water and what is a contaminant. High concentrations of naturally occurring
substances can have negative impacts on aquatic flora and fauna. Oxygen-
depleting substances may be natural materials such as plant matter (e.g.
leaves and grass) as well as man-made chemicals. Other natural and
anthropogenic substances may cause turbidity (cloudiness) which blocks light
and disrupts plant growth, and clogs the gills of some fish species. Many of the
chemical substances are toxic. Pathogens can produce waterborne diseases in
either human or animal hosts. Alteration of water's physical chemistry includes
acidity (change in pH), electrical conductivity, temperature, and eutrophication.
Eutrophication is an increase in the concentration of chemical nutrients in an
ecosystem to an extent that increases in the primary productivity of the
ecosystem. Depending on the degree of eutrophication, subsequent negative
environmental effects such as anoxia (oxygen depletion) and severe reductions
in water quality may occur, affecting fish and other animal populations.

5. Ganga
The Ganges is the largest river in India with an extraordinary
religious importance for Hindus. Situated along its banks are
some of the world's oldest inhabited cities like Varanasi and
Patna. It provides water to about 40% of India's population
across 11 states, serving an estimated population of 500 million
people or more, which is larger than any other river in the
world. Today, it is considered to be the sixth most polluted river
in the world. A number of initiatives have been undertaken to
clean the river but failed to deliver desired results.

6. Causes of Ganga getting polluted

7. Human waste
The Ganges river basin is one of the most fertile and densely
populated regions in the world and covers an area of
1,080,000 km2 (400,000 square miles). The river flows through
29 cities with population over 100,000; 23 cities with
population between 50,000 and 100,000, and about 48 towns.
A large proportion of the waste in the Ganges is from this
population through domestic usage like bathing, laundry and
public defecation.

8. Industrial waste
Countless tanneries' chemical plants, textile mills, distilleries,
slaughterhouses, and hospitals contribute to the pollution of
the Ganges by dumping untreated waste into it. Industrial
effluents are about 12% of the total volume of effluent reaching
the Ganges. Although a relatively low proportion, they are a
cause for major concern because they are often toxic and non-
biodegradable.

9. Impact on

10. Marine life
The results of mercury analysis in various specimens collected
along the basin indicated that some fish muscles tended to
accumulate high levels of mercury. Of it, approximately 50–
84% was organic mercury. A strong positive correlation
between mercury levels in muscle with food habit and fish
length was found. The Ganges River dolphin is one of few
species of fresh water dolphins in the world. Listed as an
endangered species, their population is believed to be less than
2000. Hydroelectric and irrigation dams along the Ganges that
prevents the dolphins from traveling up and down river is the
main reason for their reducing population.

11. Wildlife
Some of the dams being constructed along the Ganges basin
will submerge substantial areas of nearby forest. For example,
the Kotli-Bhel dam at Devprayag will submerge 1200 hectares
of forest, wiping out the river otters and the Mahaseer fish that
are found here. Wildlife biologists in India have been warning
that the wild animals will find it difficult to cope with the
changed situation.

12. Human beings
An analysis of the Ganges water in 2006 showed significant
associations between water-borne/enteric disease pop and the
use of the river for bathing, laundry, washing, eating, cleaning
utensils, and brushing teeth. Water in the Ganges has been
correlated to contracting dysentery, cholera, hepatitis, as well
as severe diarrhea which continues to be one of the leading
causes of death of children in India

13. Protests for cleaning Ganges
In early 2011, a Hindu seer named Swami Nigamanand
Saraswati fasted to death, protesting against illegal
mining happening in the district of Haridwar (in
Uttarakhand) resulting in pollution. Following his death
in June 2011, his Ashram leader Swami Shivananda
fasted for 11 days starting on 25 November 2011, taking
his movement forward. Finally, the Uttarkhand
government released an order to ban illegal mining all
over Haridwar district. According to administration
officials, quarrying in the Ganges would now be studied
by a special committee which would assess its
environmental impacts the river and its nearby areas.

14. Ganga Action Plan
The Ganga Action Plan or GAP was a program launched in January 1986
in order to reduce the pollution load on the river. But the efforts to
decrease the pollution level in the river were unsuccessful even after
spending Rs 9017 million. Therefore, this plan was withdrawn on 31 March
2000. The steering Committee of the National River Conservation
Authority reviewed the progress of the GAP and necessary correction on
the basis of lessons learned and experiences gained from the GAP; phase 2
schemes have been completed under this plan. A million litres of sewage is
targeted to be intercepted, diverted and treated. Phase-II of the program
was approved in stages from 1993 onwards, and included the following
tributaries of the Ganges: Yamuna, Gomti, Damodar and Mahananda. As
of 2011, it is currently under implementation. Scientists and religious
leaders have speculated on the causes of the river's apparent self-
purification effect, in which water-borne bacteria such as dysentery and
cholera are killed off thus preventing large-scale epidemics. Some studies
have reported that the river retains more oxygen than is typical for
comparable rivers; this could be a factor leading to fewer disease agents
being present in the water.

15. 2010 Government cleanup campaign
In 2010, it was announced that "the Indian government has
embarked on a $4 billion campaign to ensure that by 2020 no
untreated municipal sewage or industrial runoff enters the
1,560-mile river. "A World Bank spokesman described the plan
in 2011, saying Earlier efforts to clean the Ganga concentrated
on a few highly polluting towns and centers and addressed
'end-of-the-pipe' wastewater treatment there; Mission Clean
Ganga builds on lessons from the past, and will look at the
entire Gangetic basin while planning and prioritizing
investment instead of the earlier town-centric approach. Lobby
group Sankat Mochan Foundation (SMF) "is working with GO2
Water Inc., a Berkeley, California, wastewater-technology
company" to design an new Sewage treatment system for
Varanasi.