Water quality of Ganga has improved: Study

The water quality of the Ganga has improved after a mass cleanliness and awareness drive was conducted by Shantikunj, a Haridwar-based spiritual organisation. While the temperature level has dipped from 19 degrees Celsius to 18.1 degrees, the turbidity level plunged from a whopping 130 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU) to 90 NTU, according to a study conducted by researchers of Haridwar-based Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya and Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya.

At the same time, while transparency level of the river water increased by almost 1.5 times from 18 to 30cm, the chloride level too decreased significantly from 26 to 16 mg/l; the total dissolved solids came down to 102 from as high as 210 mg/l.

The cleanliness and mass awareness programme was conducted by Shantikunj on October 2 as part of its nationwide 'Nirmal Ganga Abhiyan', which is presently in its second phase, a spokesperson said.

The study covered one of the most popular and crowded ghats of the largest river basin in the world and included physio-chemical parameters like temperature, pH, turbidity, transparency, dissolved oxygen levels, bio-chemical oxygen demand and chlorides. The five-phase campaign has a nationwide reach and is primarily based on public involvement. The cleanliness drive not only focussed on cleaning the river water but also making visitors and localities aware of the hazards of making the river water dirty.

"Temperature affects the metabolic rate in the aquatic environment. It was great to see a reasonable change in the same... Similarly, the better the transparency, the more is the penetration of sunlight in water which is good for aquatic plants. The transparency was maximum on October 14, which was the last day of the campaign. We are happy with the results and look forward to the same with more enthusiasm," said Sushill Bhadula, professor of Environmental Science at Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya.

The study was carried out by Bhadula, along with B D Joshi from the Department of Zoology and Environmental Science at Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya.