Ganges Canal Ganges Canal was dug from Haridwar to Kanpur in later half of 19th century and a very wide network of small tributary canals were constructed from the main canal to act as source of irrigation in the fertile plains of Western Uttar Pradesh. University of Roorkee was established at Roorkee to train Civil Engineers who could oversee the construction of this canal. This canal is still supplying water to thousands of villages in western uttar pradesh and water of Ganga, flowing in this canal, is in true sense the life line of western Uttar Pradesh an area which played a central role in the Green revolution of India and water of Ganga played a vital role in this endeavor. NEW DELHI: The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has asked the Union Environment and Forests Ministry to furnish all details regarding delay in the implementation of the Ganga Action Plan (GAP). In its 26th report, on the `action taken by the Government on their observations relating to the Ganga Action Plan, the PAC has said that it was not convinced by the arguments put forth by the Ministry that the delay in GAP-1 was due to the lack of experience of the State agencies, delay in land acquisition, litigations and court cases, contractual disputes and diversion of funds. These reasons are not such that they could not have been anticipated and tackled promptly and timely, the report has said. As regards GAP-II, the Committee said that the Ministry had furnished the updated position regarding implementation of schemes in Bihar only. The Committee had expected the Ministry to furnish a comprehensive State-wise reply giving reasons for the overall delay in GAP-II with an objective analysis of the shortcomings of the implementing agencies. The Committee is also distressed to note that instead of furnishing plausible explanation for financial mismanagement, the Ministry has merely forwarded the State Governments reply which also seemed unconvincing as it did not address the issues of diversion of funds, incorrect reporting, parking of funds and unutilised funds. The panel has directed the Environment Ministry to take suitable remedial steps and fix responsibility in order to avoid recurrence of such incidents. The Parliamentary panel has also found no reason for the Ministrys reluctance in accepting that the pollution level in the Ganga is by far the biggest contributor in spreading water- borne diseases among those residing on its banks. It said that the Ministry had tried to divert the attention from the core issue of the need for efficient and coordinated working of different agencies related to the GAP. December 1992 Ganga Ecology Getting Better After 8-year Effort Treatment Plants and Turtles Lessen Pollution Five thousand years ago the Ganga was not the river of choice in India. The Saraswati was the river, plentifully extolled in the Vedas, whereas the Ganga is mentioned only once. But due to climatic and geological changes the Saraswati river gradually dried up to a stream, then disappeared. The Ganga assumed preeminent sacred stature and the lore of its waters purifying and healing powers waterfalled through Hindu history. The high country Ganga deep in the granite folds of the Himalayas still runs with its emerald color of purity and cleanliness. But down in the factory-laden and urbanized plains the Ganga runs brownish pea-green with silt and pollution: sewage, industrial waste and corpses. To tackle the pollution, experts are farming giant snapping turtles to eat corpses, building massive sewage treatment plants and sewage diversion systems, and getting tough with polluting businesses. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi brewed up the Ganges Action Plan in 1986, pouring US$ 140 million into one of the most demanding river-cleanup projects undertaken in the world. The goal is to make the rivers 1,568-mile length visually and chemically clean enough for fearless sacred bathing and other nonpolluting river activity. Standing on the shore of year 1993, many sewage treatment plants are operational, and the Ganga Directorate claims a significant reduction in the rivers bacterial count. By 1994 there are supposed to be 35 plants. It is an urgent endeavor. By the year 2028 Indias population is expected 10 have doubled, putting enormous pressure on the waterways. Taking a dip at the ghats edging the Ganga at Banares - Hinduisms most sacred and oldest city - Dr. Veer Bhadra Mishra jokes that he hasnt been chomped into by a snapping turtle yet, possibly mistaking his still alive legs for a cadaver. Mishra, a professor of hydrologic engineering at Banares Hindu University and a priest at one of Benares temples, performs his daily ablution in the Ganga dutifully, but not without squirming a bit at the rivers foulness. Two of his disciples wade into the water before him, attempting to clear away foam and debris. He doesnt drink the water. He loves the Ganga dearly, believes in its sanctity, but is also equally committed to its salvation from toxic Hades, Mishra - who received the UNEPs Global 500 award for environmental service - has started his own cleanup-the-cleanup campaign. He disputes the Ganga Directorates figures of the river projects first-phase purity, and is demanding a new system of pollution evaluation. Using his own water quality measurements along the 5-mile stretch of bathing ghats at Banares, Mishra gets figures of biochemical oxygen demand (a toxicity scale) that are twice that of the governments. He also urged the government to adopt a bacterial count measurement. Mishra notes that people bathing in the river add to its bacterial count. In an unwitting irony he says. People should take showers before they bathe in the Ganga for spiritual purification. North of Banares is another concern of Mishras: new housing developments. Despite policing of the Ganga shoreline through Banares, dumping of waste still gushes in huge quantities. Banares is a city of 1 million with 1 million pilgrims bustling in each year. Of 655 million gallons of waste water produced every day, only 436 million gallons are treated. But not all of Banares citizens or pilgrims are worried about pollution. C.L. Pandey, a priest at the Kashi Vishvanath Temple, says a dip in the Ganga gets rid of illness and infection. Even the breeze from the Ganga washes sins away. But Pandey does admit the river is dirty. And one last bit of newer technology - electric crematoriums - is helping to reduce the half-burnt corpse problem. They do a complete job of burning, cost 10% of the wood-fueled pyre and are becoming extremely popular despite fears they would be ignored. NINJA Turtles Are there Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles swashbuckling in the Ganga river or Banares sewers? Or did the Ganga pollution turn turtles into mutant ninjas? Anybody whos seen the movie and seen giant snapping turtles swimming around Banares is going to say, Cawabunga. In one of the most snappy and controversial efforts to rid the Ganga of partially cremated bodies (or whole bodies illegally dumped up stream, thousands of 3-foot long snapping turtles have been bred to devour the problem. Out of the original US$ 140 million allocated for Ganga cleanup. US$ 32 million alone have gone into turtle farms outside Banares. There are about 20,000 to 30,000 bodies cremated in Banares every year and thousands more float in from up river. Since 1990, 24,000 turtles have been released. The assistant manager of the farm says they are raised on a diet of dead fish from infancy, conditioning them to go for rotten flesh in the river, but not for living bodies. When people bring a body in a bag, the turtles charge up to the shore and sometimes drag the bag off. No bitings have been reported. But there are still corpses daily floating on by.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Apr 2014 07:14:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015