A recent study monitoring water quality of river Ganga in Hardwar shows that it does not meet the standards for outdoor bathing set by the Central Pollution Control Board. This is primarily due to the continuing discharge of untreated wastewater and effluents from various drains directly into the river. The outfall from the sewage treatment plant (STP) at Jagjeetpur alone releases about 129 million litres daily (MLD) into the Ganga with a fecal coliform concentration of about 34 million/100ml!
Scientists from People’s Science Institute (PSI) took samples from 10 drains falling into river Ganga at different locations in Hardwar on January 2nd and 3rd, 2010 along with samples of the river water at 3 locations. The fecal coliform count of the wastewater discharged by the 10 drains ranges from 2.35 million/100ml to 40.6 million/100ml. The worst situation is the sewer drain at Jwalapur, Balmiki Nagar which releases an estimated 15 MLD containing 40.6 million fecal coliforms per 100ml. River Ganga samples taken at Saptrishi, Har-Ki-Pauri and Jagjeetpur showed fecal coliforms counts of 1000, 1500 and 7.5 million per 100 ml. These are well above the prescribed CPCB standard of 500 MPN/100ml and they pose a health hazard to millions of devotees who are likely to bathe in the river during the Kumbh Mela.
Map showing polluted nalas joining river Ganga
“The present results do not show any significant improvement in the wastewater draining into the Ganga, or the treated effluents emerging from the STP at Jagjeetpur, compared to the results we obtained in July 2009,” says Dr. Anil Gautam, Head, Environmental Quality Monitoring Group at PSI. “We had circulated our results of July 2009 to all the state legislators and ministers. We received acknowledgements from only two of them, Shri Matbar Singh Kandari and Smt. Amrita Rawat, both of whom forwarded our letters to the Chief Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal. It is evident that no one in the government paid any serious attention to our warning that the river Ganga was polluted in Hardwar and that steps be taken to ensure its purity before the Kumbh Mela,” he added.
For any further information contact:
Dr. Ramesh Tripathi - 09411365508
Dr. Anil Gautam - 09412176896
Sewer drain outfall into River Ganga of Har ki Pauri at Lok Nath Ghat
Fecal Coliform count and Daily discharge of sewer drains joining the River Ganga in Hardwar
Site Code | Location | FC (million/100 ml) | Daily discharge (MLD |
| ||
July, 2009 | January ,2010 | July, 2009 | January ,2010 | |||
S-1 | Sewer outfall into the Ganga d/s of Har-ki-pauri at LokNath Ghat | 31.29 | 28.3 | 2.4 | 6.9 | |
S-2 | Laltarao bridge Nala outfall d/s Gujrala Bhawan | 41.09 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 0.86 | |
S-4 | Kassaban Nala, Jwalapur outfall | 29.98 | 30.4 | 17 | 20.3 | |
S-5 | Sewer drain at Jwalapur, Balmiki Nagar | 34.68 | 40.6 | 12.4 | 14.68 | |
S-6 | BHEL Nala at Jwalapur | 35.69 | 28.1 | 13.8 | 18.14 | |
S-7 | Ranipur drain d/s Sanskrit Bhawan ,Ranipur mod | 51.79 | 23.1 | 5.1 | 4.8 | |
S-8 | Jagjeetpur Nala(Kankhal Nala) near Matri Sadan | 11.79 | 8.5 | NM | 2.1 | |
S-9 | Jagjeetpur STP outlet | 30.89 | 33.89 | 18 (as per STP capacity) | 129 | |
Site code | Location | FC (million/100 ml) | Daily discharge (MLD | |||
S-10* | Nala near Rishikul | 2.35 | 0.86 | |||
S-11* | Awas Vikas Nala near at Khanna Nagar | 3.56 | 6.04 | |||
Abbreviations:, FC-Fecal Coliform, MLD- million liter per day, *- these drains are measured only in Jan 2010, NM- not measured
Sewer Drain at Jwalapur, Balmiki Nagar
Fecal Coliform count of River Ganga at three locations in Hardwar (Jan 2-3, 2010)
Site Code | Location | FC (no. /100 ml) |
R-1 | At Saptrishi | 1000 |
R-2 | Har ki Pauri | 1500 |
R-3 | Jagjeetpur | 7500000 |
Standard for outdoor bathing (organised) (As per CPCB) | 500 MPN/100 ml | |
Abbreviations: FC-Fecal Coliform, CPCB: Central Pollution Control Board
For Immediate Release
January 16, 2010 Dehra Doon
Ganga Pollution Unabated in Hardwar
A recent study monitoring water quality of river Ganga in Hardwar shows that it does not meet the standards for outdoor bathing set by the Central Pollution Control Board. This is primarily due to the continuing discharge of untreated wastewater and effluents from various drains directly into the river. The outfall from the sewage treatment plant (STP) at Jagjeetpur alone releases about 129 million litres daily (MLD) into the Ganga with a fecal coliform concentration of about 34 million/100ml!
Scientists from People’s Science Institute (PSI) took samples from 10 drains falling into river Ganga at different locations in Hardwar on January 2nd and 3rd, 2010 along with samples of the river water at 3 locations. The fecal coliform count of the wastewater discharged by the 10 drains ranges from 2.35 million/100ml to 40.6 million/100ml. The worst situation is the sewer drain at Jwalapur, Balmiki Nagar which releases an estimated 15 MLD containing 40.6 million fecal coliforms per 100ml. River Ganga samples taken at Saptrishi, Har-Ki-Pauri and Jagjeetpur showed fecal coliforms counts of 1000, 1500 and 7.5 million per 100 ml. These are well above the prescribed CPCB standard of 500 MPN/100ml and they pose a health hazard to millions of devotees who are likely to bathe in the river during the Kumbh Mela.
“The present results do not show any significant improvement in the wastewater draining into the Ganga, or the treated effluents emerging from the STP at Jagjeetpur, compared to the results we obtained in July 2009,” says Dr. Anil Gautam, Head, Environmental Quality Monitoring Group at PSI. “We had circulated our results of July 2009 to all the state legislators and ministers. We received acknowledgements from only two of them, Shri Matbar Singh Kandari and Smt. Amrita Rawat, both of whom forwarded our letters to the Chief Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal. It is evident that no one in the government paid any serious attention to our warning that the river Ganga was polluted in Hardwar and that steps be taken to ensure its purity before the Kumbh Mela,” he added.
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For any further information contact: Dr. Ramesh Tripathi - 09411365508
Dr. Anil Gautam - 09412176896
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