Varanasi is synonymous with the River Ganga. Pilgrims, tourists and locals bathe in its waters. They flock to the ghats , some of which double as cremation grounds. A closer look, however, reveals a different reality: A debilitating water pollution crisis.

In 2014, the Narendra Modi government introduced Namami Gange or National Mission for Clean Ganga, a ₹20,000-crore flagship programme to clean up the river. The government announced in Parliament last week that another ₹28,000 crore had been sanctioned, to be distributed among 298 projects under the Namami Gange programme.

Pollution levels have increased since 2014, according to Varanasi-based non-profit Sankat Mochan Foundation. There has been a rise in the presence of coliform bacteria and biochemical oxygen particles in the river. A part of the problem lies in the use of the ghats as a cremation site. It is estimated that 32,000 bodies are cremated each year at the Manikarnika and Harishchandra ghats . Some 300 million litres of untreated domestic sewage are dumped into the river each day, it says.

BD Tripathi, the head of Banaras Hindu University’s Ganga Research Centre, explained that the reduced flow in the river weakens its ability to dilute pollution. Even with pollutant inflow remaining constant, the pollution index remains high with a reduced flow.

The 2,525-km long river which flows through many parts of India is a dumping site for waste from 750 industrial units in the Varanasi region. Tanneries remain a prime source of pollution. The most visible symptoms of this pollution are water-borne diseases and skin infections. Hospitals report an escalation in diarrhoea cases and skin and eye allergies during summer and monsoon.

It remains to be seen how the newly constituted government will remedy the situation and restore the waters of the river that supports a quarter of the country’s population.

Paromita Chatterjee is a Delhi-based freelance photographer

 

Side effects: Water-borne diseases are common in the villages near Varanasi, as industrial units dump untreated waste in the river

Full throttle: Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said during question hour in Parliament last week that 98 projects under the Namami Gange programme had been made operational

Systemic flaw: One of the objectives of the Namami Gange programme was to restore its free flow (aviral Ganga). Critics of the project say that most of the funds are being used to clean the river basin without any attempt to reverse the reduced flow

Dead river calling: As many as 150 sewerage projects have been taken up with a sanctioned cost of ₹23,000 crore. The projects include the creation of new sewage treatment capacity, relocation of older plants and laying a new sewerage network

Checked flow: Dams and irrigation projects are principally responsible for the river’s reduced flow

Beyond repair: Groundwater gets mixed with the river’s polluted water and is believed to cause skin allergies and other diseases

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Lifeline: A quarter of India’s 1.3 billion population depends on the River Ganga for its livelihood. Efforts to clean the river began as early as 1986 with the government’s Ganga Action Plan I