Ganga River Dolphin!!
The Dead Sea is called that because there is no marine life in it. Not even bacteria. Why? Because of excessive salt in the sea which happened because of evaporation and no continuous source of water. That is nature for you. What is our responsibility towards our natural treasures? Do we have greater responsibility towards our holy rivers? The answer to that is important but not relevant to this post.
River Ganga or Ganga Ma as the "shraddhalu" would refer to her is the lifeline for the most fertile plains of our country. The river sustains life in the country. That is why we call her "Ma". Then why does she get treated with such disdain?
It is natural for cities and economic centers to crop up along the rivers. That has been happening since time immemorial. It makes perfect sense. A never ending source of water and a mode of transportation! You take it to next level and you have larger cities with more demand on the river. You have industries which need water and create extremely toxic waste. From the cruelly greedy industrialist point of view, a river is both a source of water and a way to get rid of waste. That is what is happening along the holy river. Tanneries are the biggest source of toxic waste. They heavily use of chromium which is an extremely toxic metal. In Chemistry labs, that waste is disposed off like you would radioactive material. You do not touch it, or smell it, or spill it. On the other hand, the tanneries are just throwing it in the river. What do you think it is doing to the marine life? The water of the Holy River has extremely high mercury content which is another toxic metal. And it not just drinking and bathing in the river we are talking about. Even agriculture is going to be become impossible.
The author of the attached article says: As per the UECPCB (Uttarakhand Environment Conservation and Pollution Control Board) study, while the level of coliform present in water should be below 50 for drinking purposes, less than 500 for bathing and below 5,000 for agricultural use -- the present level of coliform in Ganga at Haridwar has reached 5,500. In Varanasi, India's most sacred city, the coliform bacterial count is at least 3,000 times higher than the standard established as safe by the World Health Organisation. Coliform are rod-shaped bacteria that are normally found in the colons of humans and animals and become a serious contaminant when found in the food or water supply.
Imagine that! That level of pollution exists in Haridwar which is almost at the beginning of the river. What do you think the level of Coliform is near Kanpur, Allahabad and Varanasi? Come to think of it, it may even be lower because the chemicals from the tanneries may have killed the harmful bacteria!! It would be funny if we were not talking about many millions of lives depending on this helpless river.
As it turns out that money is not the reason behind the lack of action. The author says: In spite of several announcements and promises by different governments, the Ganga still remains polluted. The World Bank has stepped forward with an offer of $1 billion (about Rs 4,500 crore) to help save the Ganga. Funds are sufficient but it is lack of political will and bureaucratic apathy that stands in the way.
So there we have it. Netas and babus again standing in the way of something positive. But that is no revelation to any of us. The CM of the state of UP is too busy with parks and statues and honoring dalits leaders. She has no time for the downtrodden in the state who have elected her let alone the Holy River. The central government is too busy trying to save their skin and keep the seat warm for the Prince. Aam Aadmi is too wrapped up in trying to keep his brood fed. Does anyone have any time for our natural treasures especially the ones who sustain us? I guess Bholenath will have to unleash Ganga Ma from his "jataa" so she can flow down freely and cleanse her self. It is painfully obvious that we can't do it.
The Ganga is still waiting for its purification
The time to clean up the Ganga is now and the livehood and future of millions of people depend on it, says geologist Dr Nitish Priyadarshi.
There has been a steady deterioration in the quality of water of Indian rivers over several decades. India's 14 major, 55 minor and several hundred small rivers receive millions of litres of sewage, industrial and agricultural wastes. Most of these rivers have been rendered to the level of sewage flowing drains. There are serious water quality problems in the cities, towns and villages using these waters. Water borne diseases are rampant, fisheries are on decline, and even cattle are not spared from the onslaught of pollution.
The article can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/column/the-ganga-is-still-waiting-for-its-purification/20110105.htm
The picture is from: http://www.animalpicturesarchive.com/view.php?tid=3&did=22049
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