Ganges
The Ganges, or Ganga (Hindustani), is a trans-boundary river of the Indian
subcontinent which flows through the nations of India and Bangladesh. The
2,525 km (1,569 mi) river rises in the western Himalayas in the
Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic
Plain of North India. After entering West Bengal, it divides into two rivers:
the Hooghly and the Padma River. The Hooghly, or Adi Ganga, flows through
several districts of West Bengal and into the Bay of Bengal near Sagar Island.
The other, the Padma, also flows into and through Bangladesh, and joins
the Meghna river which ultimately empties into the Bay of Bengal.
The Ganges is one of the major rivers of the
Indian subcontinent, flowing east through
the Gangetic Plain of northern India into
Bangladesh.
The 2,510 km (1,560 mi) river rises in the
western Himalayas in the Uttarakhand state
of India, and drains into the Sunderbans
delta in the Bay of Bengal
During the early Vedic Ages, the Indus and
the Saraswati River were the chief rivers,
not the Ganges.
Possibly the first Westerner to mention the name of
Ganges was Megasthenese.
The story of the Ganges, from her source to the sea,
from old times to new, is the story of India`s
civilization and culture, of the rise and fall of
empires,of great and proud cities, of adventures of
man.
Before the late 12th century the Bhagirathi-Hooghly
distributary was the main channel of the Ganges and
the Padma was only a minor spill-channel. The main
flow of the river reached the sea not via the modern
Hooghly River but rather by the Adi Ganga. Between
the 12th and 16th centuries the Bhagirathi-Hooghly
and Padma channels were more or less equally
significant. After the 16th century the Padma grew to
become the main channel of the Ganges
In hindu tradition:
•It has long been considered a holy river by Hindus and
worshiped as the goddess Ganga in Hinduism.
*For Hindus in India, the Ganges is not just a river but a
mother, a goddess, a tradition, a culture and much more
Ganga River is also said to be the river of supreme Lord
Rama and also called "Ram Ganga" as there is a belief Lord
Rama promised while Ganges emerged from his feet
that, when He will appear on earth as Lord Rama will
reside on the banks of Ganga and her tributaries. Lord
Ram then appeared in Ayodhya which is on the banks of
Saryu Ganga River, when he went to Janakpuri he crossed
River Ganga in Haridwar.
*Some Hindus also believe life is incomplete without
taking a bath in Ganges at least once in their lives. Many
Hindu families keep a vial of water from the Ganges
in their house.
In our history:
* It has also been important historically: many
former provincial or imperial capitals (such as
Patliputra, Kannauj, Kara, Allahabad,
Murshidabad,and Calcutta)
have been located on its banks.
* The story of the Ganges, from her source to the
sea, from old times to new, is the story of India`s
civilization and culture, of the rise and fall of
empires, of great and proud cities, of adventures of
man.
IN today's world and economic significance:
* The Ganges Basin drains 1,000,000-square-kilometre
(390,000 sq mi) and supports one of the world`s highest
densities of humans.
* The water used for agriculture in the Gangetic plains
comes from the Ganges. Chief crops cultivated in the
region include wheat, lentils, rice, potatoes, sugarcane
and oil seeds. Jute, legumes, mustard, sesame, and
chillies are also grown along the banks of the river.
*Almost half of the population of India lives on one-third
of the landscape within 500 km of the Himalayan range
along the Gangetic plains and depends on the River
Ganges.
*The Ganges also contributes to the fishing industry.
During summers, numerous adventure activities, including
river rafting is done in the suitable stretches of the river.
*Many stretches of the river are used as navigation system
for transporting goods and people.
* The alaknanda river meets the dhauliganga river at
vishnuprayag, the nandakini river at nandprayag, the pindar
river at karnaprayag, and the mandakini river at rudraprayag
And finally the bhagirathi river at devprayag, to form the
mainstream, the ganges.
* The bhagirathi is the source stream; it rises at the foot of
gangotri glacier, at gaumukh, at an elevation of 3,892 m (12,769
ft). The headwaters of the alaknanda are formed By snowmelt
from such peaks as nanda devi, trisul, and kamet.
*The major cities along the River Ganges are Haridwar,
Moradabad, Rampur, Allahabad, Kanpur, Patna, Varanasi and
Raj Shahi. The Ganges Delta is at the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh.
*Joined by numerous rivers such as the Kosi, Son, Gandaki and
Ghaghra, the Ganges forms a formidable current in the stretch
between Allahabad and Malda in West Bengal. On its way
it passes the towns of Kanpur, Soron, Kannauj, Allahabad,
Varanasi, Patna, Ghazipur, Bhagalpur, Mirzapur, Ballia, Buxar,
Saidpur, and Chunar. At Bhagalpur, the river meanders past
the Rajmahal Hills, and begins to run south
Causes of pollution:
1)Industrial Waste – There are a large number of
industries on the bank of the Ganges in cities like Patna,
Kanpur, Varanasi and Allahabad. Numerous tanneries,
slaughterhouses,textile miles, hospitals, chemical plants
and distilleries dump untreated wastes into the river
resulting in polluting the river. Out of the total volume of
effluent reaching the river, twelve percent is contributed
by the industries.
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.
. A total of 146 industries are reported to be located along
the river Ganga between Rishikesh and Prayagraj. 144 of
these are in Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) and 2 in Uttrakhand. The
major polluting industries on the Ganga are the leather
industries, especially near Kanpur, which use large
amounts of Chromium and other toxic chemical waste,
and much of it finds its into the meager flow of the
Ganga.
2)Human Waste – The Ganges flows through 52
cities and 48 towns. The domestic water used by the
population in these cities and towns adds to the
pollution of the river.
3)Religious Traditions – More than 70 million
people bathe in the Ganges to during the festive
season.
Food, leaves, flowers, diyas and other wastes are
left in the Ganges that adds to its pollution.
According to Hindu tradition, if a deceased person is
cremated on the banks of the Ganges then that
would bring instant salvation.
This results in thousands of bodies being cremated
on the banks of the river every year, many of which
are only half-burnt, thus, adding to the pollution.
Diseases caused due to gange's pollution:
* Recent water samples collected in Varanasi revealed fecalcoliform 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.
Action taken to clean ganges
Over the years, several programmes have been launched and
steps taken to clean the river but these actions hardly had any
impact of the pollution levels.
On 14th January 1986, the then Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi,
launched The Ganges Action Plan (GAP). The primary objective of
GAP consists of improving the quality of water by
treatment and interception of domestic sewage.
This model was extended by the Government of India with
various modifications through National River Action Plan
(NRAP).
On 20th February 2009, the Central Government
established National River Ganga Basin Authority (NRGBA)
under Sec 3 of the Environment Protection Act 1986. The
Ganges was declared as the ‘National River of India,’ under
this. The World Bank approved $1 billion funds for the
NRGBA in 2011.
The Supreme Court has also been doing its bit by directing
the government and concerned authorities to take
appropriate action towards relocation and closure of
industries thatcause pollution by dumping waste. The
stretch between Gaumukhi and Uttarkashi was declared as
an Eco-sensitive zone by the government in 2010.
About Ganga Action Plan I
The Ganga rises in the Garhwal Himalaya from the Gangotri Glacier, some
4100 meters above the sea level under the name of Bhagirathi.The river
flows through the Himalayas till another two streams, the Mandakani and
the Alakhnanda join it at Devprayag.
It is below this confluence that the river is known as the Ganga proper. The
Ganga Basin which is the largest river basin of the country houses about
40% population of India. The river after traversing a distance of 2525 kms.
from its source, meets the Bay of Bengal at Ganga Sagar in West Bengal.
During the course of its journey from the hills to the sea, municipal sewage
from large urban centres, trade effluents from industries and polluting waste
from several other non-point sources are discharged into the river resulting
in its pollution.
Objectives of Ganga Action Plan I :
At the time of launching, the main objective of GAP was to
improve the water quality of Ganga to acceptable standards by
preventing the pollution load reaching the river.
However, as decided in a meeting of the Monitoring
Committee in June, 1987 under the Chairmanship of Prof. M. G.
K. Menon, then Member, Planning Commission, the objective of
GAP was recast as restoring the river water quality to the
'Bathing Class' standard which is as follows:
About Ganga Action Plan II
The program of river cleaning was extended to other major
rivers of the country under two separate schemes of GAP
Phase - II and the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP).
Yamuna and Gomati Action Plans were approved in April 1993
under Ganga Action Plan Phase - II.
Programs of other major rivers were subsequently approved in
1995 under NRCP.
After launching of NRCP in 1995, it was decided to merge
GAP II with NRCP. A notification of this effect was issued on
05.12.1996.
Objectives of Ganga Action Plan II :
The Ganga Action Plan besides aiming at improving the water
quality of river Ganga is to serve as a model to demostrate the
methodology for improving the water quality of other polluted
rivers.
Though the river water quality of Ganga has shown discernible
improvement, the full impact of the action plan would be visible
when the left out works in the 25 class I cities and the works
in other class II and class III towns along the river Ganga are
taken up.
The important tributaries of river Ganga like,Yamuna,Gomati
and Damodar which directly discharge into the river Ganga are
heavily polluted and are taken up for pollution abatement
Programmes.
Objectives of Ganga Action Plan II :
For this purpose, the second phase of Ganga Action Plan was
started in stages between 1993 & 1996. Both Central & State
Government Provided help and had equal Share that is 50:50 in
the working of Ganga Action Plan (Phase II).
After April 1997 Central Government took the full
responsibility of this project & sanctioned the total cost Under
Ganga Action Plan.Other river conservation plans for
Yamuna,Gomati and Damodar have also been accepted and the
goverment has sanctionedd Rs.2285.48 crore for the same. This
money will help in statrting 441 projects in 95 cities under the
plan. Implementation of the plan finally commenced w.e.f.
1.4.2001. The funding pattern was changed to 70:30 between
centre and state subsequently.
Towns Covered In Ganga Action Plan II
★ ‘Namami
Gange Programme’,
is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as ‘Flagship
Programme’ by the Union Government in June 2014 with budget
outlay of Rs.20,000 Crore to accomplish the twin objectives of
effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of
National River Ganga.
★ Its
implementation
has been divided into Entry-Level Activities (for immediate visible impact)
Medium-Term Activities (to be implemented within 5 years of time frame)
and Long-Term Activities (to be implemented within 10 years).
The key achievements under Namami Gange
programme are:1. Creating Sewerage Treatment Capacity:- 63 sewerage management
projects under implementation in the States of Uttarakhand,Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
12 new sewerage management Projects Launched in these states.
The key achievements under Namami Gange
programme are:Work is under construction for creating Sewerage capacity of 1187.33
(MLD).Hybrid Annuity PPP Model based two projects has been initiated for
Jagjeetpur, Haridwar and Ramanna,Varanasi.
2. Creating River-Front Development:-28 River-Front Development
projects and 33 Entry level Projects for construction, modernization and
renovation of 182 Ghats and 118 crematoria has been initiated.
3. River Surface Cleaning:-River Surface cleaning for collection of floating
solid waste from the surface of the Ghats and River and its disposal are afoot
and pushed into service at 11 locations.
4. Bio-Diversity Conservation:- Several Bio-Diversity conservation projects
are namely: Biodiversity Conservation and Ganga Rejuvenation, Fish and Fishery
Conservation in Ganga River, Ganges River Dolphin Conservation Education
Programme has been initiated. 5 Bio-Diversity center’s at Dehradun, Narora,
Allahabad,Varanasi and Barrackpore has been developed for restoration of
identified priority species.
The key achievements under Namami Gange
programme are:5.Afforestation:- Forestry interventions for Ganga through Wildlife
Institute of India; Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute and Centre for
Environment Education has been initiated.Forestry interventions for Ganga
has been executed as per the Detailed Project Report prepared by Forest
Research Institute, Dehradun for a period of 5 years (2016-2021) at project
cost of Rs.2300 Crores. Work has been commenced in 7 districts of
Uttarakahnd for medicinal plants.
6. Public Awareness:- A series of activities such as events, workshops,
seminars and conferences and numerous IEC activities were organized to
make a strong pitch for public outreach and community participation in the
programme.Various awareness activities through rallies, campaigns,
exhibitions, shram daan, cleanliness drives, competitions, plantation drives
and development and distribution of resource materials were organized and
for wider publicity the mass mediums such as TV/Radio, print media
advertisements, advertorials, featured articles and advertorials were
published. Gange Theme song was released widely and played on digital
media to enhance the visibility of the programme.