Biological Pollution

River Ichamati is venerated as a living entity and its fertile flood plains have been catering to the expanding human-mediated demands apart from harbouring an enormous assemblage of aquatic flora and fauna.

On June 8, Yale University's Center for Environmental Law and Policy and Columbia University's Center for International Earth Science Information Network released a report of the Environmental Performance Index 2022. India ranked lowest among the 180 countries considered, lagging behind Myanmar at 179, Vietnam (178), Bangladesh (177) and Pakistan (176).

Unprecedented expansion and anthropic activities amongst other reasons lead to choking of urban rivers with municipal and industrial sewage. Around 63% of the total 62 million litres/ day generated sewage is dumped in Indian urban rivers without treatment, as per a Central Pollution Control Board report submitted to National Green Tribunal, India.

The news of fish deaths in freshwater bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds is not new to India.

Where is water on earth located?

Water on earth exists in two forms, freshwater and salt water. Less than 3 percent of the water found on earth is freshwater, and the remaining 97 percent is salt water found in the oceans.

Rivers, lakes, ponds and streams – natural freshwater ecosystems are a precious resource because of the rich biodiversity they support and the valuable ecosystem services they provide.

While freshwater ecosystems in India are known to harbour rich biodiversity, their health is being increasingly challenged in recent years. And the East Kolkata Wetlands, one of the important Ramsar sites in India, and the largest wastewater fed aquaculture systems in the world that provide fish and support paddy and vegetable cultivation, are no exception.

Fifty million people in fifteen cities in India have no access to safe, affordable drinking water: UNICEF report

Rivers are revered and considered holy since times immemorial in India and mass bathing in some rivers is an age-old ritual. A holy dip and a holy sip of the river waters are considered to be a highly purifying. But is the dip really cleansing at all when almost all the rivers in India are known to be highly polluted?

UN’s recognition of safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right recently hit a decade and this makes us ponder even more about the situation in the Sundarbans after the Amphan cyclone. The destruction caused by Amphan in the Sundarbans poses a massive threat to the very right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation of the people living there.