Despite the National Green Tribunal (NGT) having recommended a slew of measures, including a penalty to the tune of Rs 50,000 for dumping waste in the Haridwar-Unnao stretch of the river within 500 meters from the edge of the Ganga, there are nearly 20 waste water drains that are directly pouring into the river. With 55 MlDs of sewer water still directly draining into the river, the work of STP installation is still far from complete. The bench headed by Justice Swatantar Kumar had directed the authorities to ensure that no waste should be dumped in the river. The question is - if the waste water treatment projects are taking years to be completed who would be held accountable. The Ganga Anurakshan Ikai, Municipal Board and Jal Nigam are said to be cash strapped, something that is coming in the way of the release of the required funds. This is what is resulting in the polluting of Ganga. Observers ask NGT to answer whether penalties would be slapped on these bodies for the continuous pollution of the holy river.
The northern parts of the city, including loknath Ghat, Bhimgoda, Vishnu Ghat, Rishikul, Premnagar Ashram bridge, lalpul and Paondhoi, have the sewer waste drains pouring directly in Ganga. Notably, 90 MlDS sewer waste water is being generated daily in the city and the volume shoots up to 120 MlDs during the fairs and the fests. However, the current capacity of the sewage treatment plant installed in Jagjeetpur is 55 MlDs with rest going into Ganga untreated. Installation of STP under the Namami Gange project has long been pending.
Apart from the sewage water, water from dhobi ghats near Bhagirathi Bindu and Mittal Dham is adding to the level of the water pollution. Moreover, a large number of hotels and dharamshalas keeps using Ganga to clean their dirty linen. The environmentalists say that the district administration has failed to check the use of polythene and plastic in the city. A well-oiled machinery should be put into place to check the menace instead of some stray individuals being caught here and there flouting the rules and being slapped with penalties, one of them says.
Speaking to The Pioneer, former professor of IIT and advisor to the state government during the Ardh Kumbh Mela 2004, Devendra Swaroop Bhargava said, “Though the step taken by Justice Swatantra Kumar is a good one the problem lies in its execution on the ground. “As per a study, 50% of the waste water is drained directly in the rivers in almost all the cities. In Haridwar, things are grim with so many sewer drains directly pouring in Ganga. The question -should the government departments be held accountable for the sorry state of things and be slapped with fines-begs an answer,” he said. He further said that importing high technology model from Israel to clean water is no solution here. “Their stability studies and parameters of clean water are different from ours. The only solution is to build a retaining wall which separates the city waste water from Ganga, something which has been done in lucknow for Gomti river,” Bhargava added.