Ganga world's second most polluted river, Modi's Varanasi tops microplastics pollution

Will the new report by well-known elite NGO Toxics Link create a ripple in the powerful corridors of Delhi? Titled “Quantitative analysis of microplastics along River Ganga”, forwarded to Counterview, doesn’t just say that Ganga is the second most polluted river in the world, next only to Yangtze (China). It goes ahead to do a comparison of microplastics pollution in three cities shows Varanasi – the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi – is more polluted compared to Kanpur and Haridwar.

Referring to a study in “Nature Communications”, the The Toxics link report says, “The study estimated that between 1.15 and 2.41 million tonnes of plastic waste currently enters the ocean every year from rivers. Globally 74% of marine pollution is contributed by the top 20 polluting rivers, mostly Asian rivers. The Ganga is the 2nd most polluted river....”
The report adds, “According to the study, the Ganga is the second largest contributing catchment with an annual discharge of 0.12 million tonnes of plastic. It has also observed that the river’s midpoint input estimates peak in August (wet season) with 44,500 tonnes while the river discharges <150 tonnes per month between December and March (dry season).”

The report says, the 2,525 km long Ganges contributes “315 tonnes of plastic waste per day, the equivalent of 79 elephants”, regretting – indeed without referring to Modi’s big talk that “It's my destiny to serve Maa Ganga” – that “despite campaigns for cleanliness, the country has not been able to control the massive proliferation of plastics along the Ganga.”
Coming to microplastics, the report says, spot samples in the three cities “indicated higher microplastic levels in the samples collected from Kanpur and Varanasi in comparison to Haridwar”, underlining, “Among the three cities, Varanasi showed the maximum load of microplastics in the Ganga waters as compared to the other two cities.”
Pointing out that this may be due to “cumulative downstream pollution as well as industry and human activities”, the report says, “Assi Ghat in Varanasi had the maximum abundance of microplastics, which may be due to the drainage of sewage and industrial effluents directly into the Ganga.”

The report underlines, “The concern of microplastic pollution in the Ganga is critical as the water from the river is used for drinking and irrigation purposes quite extensively. An increased abundance of microplastics in a river increases the potential harm that it can cause to organisms and humans. After ingestion, microplastics cause toxicity through several pathways and mechanisms.”
Pointing out that the “polymeric compounds and additives such as copper ions used in the production of plastics are toxic”, the report adds, “More importantly, microplastics absorb various toxins in waters (including harmful chemicals) that are first absorbed onto microplastics, and subsequently may desorb inside a host organism.”
At each of the three cities, Toxics Link experts collected a set of five surface water samples with a focus on sampling areas which were heavily polluted with any wastewater treatment plant along the river.

Especially referring to Varanasi, the report says, “The number of microplastics detected in surface water of river Ganga in Varanasi was (2.42±0.405 MPs/m3 )... Assi Ghat showed the maximum abundance of microplastics as it is the most popular ghat in Varanasi and is one of the very few ghats that is linked with the city through a wide street.”

“Additionally”, the report says, “One sewage outlet was observed draining the wastewater and sewage directly into the Ganga which may affect the microplastics concentration and abundance in and around the sampling site. The second most polluted ghat was Kedareshwer ghat followed by Dasaswamedha and Sheetala ghat.”
As for Kanpur, the number of microplastics detected in the surface water samples of river Ganga was 2.16±0.500 Mps/m3, “slightly low concentration of microplastics was found in this region as compared to Varanasi”, the report says, adding, “Haridwar resulted in the lowest number of MPs/m3 (1.30±0.518) as compared to Varanasi and Kanpur.”

Comments

Shyam Benegal's Mathan a propaganda film that supported 'system'? No way

A few days ago, I watched Manthan, a Shyam Benegal movie released in 1976. If I remember correctly, the first time I saw this movie was with Safdar Hashmi, one of the rare young theater icons who was brutally murdered in January 1989. Back then, having completed an M.A. in English Literature from Delhi University in 1975, we would often move around together.

Beyond the Sattvik plate: Prof Anil Gupta's take on food, ethics, and sustainability

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a rather lengthy comment (I don't want to call it a rejoinder) on my blog post about the Sattvik Food Festival, held near the Sola Temple in Ahmedabad late last year. It came from no less a person than Anil Gupta, Professor Emeritus at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), under whose guidance this annual event was held.

No to free thought? How Gujarat's private universities are cowing down their students

"Don't protest"—that's the message private universities across Gujarat seem to be conveying to their students. A senior professor told me that students at the university where he teaches are required to sign an undertaking promising not to engage in protests. "They simply sign the undertaking and hand it over to the university authorities," he said.

'Potentially lethal, carcinogenic': Global NGO questions India refusing to ban white asbestos

Associated with the Fight Inequality Alliance, a global movement that began in 2016 to "counter the concentration of power and wealth among a small elite", claiming to have members in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, the Philippines, and Denmark, the advocacy group Confront Power appears all set to intensify its campaign against India as "the world’s largest asbestos importer".

In lieu of tribute to Pritish Nandy, said to be instrumental in collapse of Reliance-controlled daily

It is widely reported that Pritish Nandy , journalist, author, animal activist, and politician, has passed away. While it is customary to pay tributes to a departing soul—and I, too, have joined those who have posted heartfelt condolences on social media—I cannot forget the way he treated me when he was editor of the Reliance-controlled Business and Political Observer (BPO), for which I had been working informally in Moscow.

Sattvik Food Festival: Shouldn't one question notion of purity, cultural exclusion in food choices?

Recently, I visited the Sattvik Food Festival, an annual event in Ahmedabad organized by Anil Gupta, professor emeritus at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A). I have known Prof. Gupta since 1993, when I sought an appointment to meet him a few months after joining The Times of India in Ahmedabad—one reason why I have always been interested in the activities he is involved in.

Challenging patriarchy? Adopting maternal and marital surnames: Resistance continues

Anandiben Patel The other day, I was talking with a group of family friends. The discussion revolved around someone very close to me who had not changed her official name in documents, including her Aadhaar and passport, after her marriage. However, on social media and within her husband's family, she had adopted her husband's surname as a suffix to her own. I mentioned that there is a growing trend—though not yet widespread—where women prefer to retain their maiden names or add their maiden surnames alongside their husband's surname. Another emerging trend is where men choose to add their mother's name, or even their wife's name, to their own. This revelation surprised my family friends.

Would Gujarat Governor, govt 'open up' their premises for NGOs? Activists apprehensive

Soon after I uploaded my blog about the Gujarat Governor possibly softening his stance on NGOs—evidenced by allowing a fisherfolk association to address the media at a venue controlled by the Raj Bhawan about India’s alleged failure to repatriate fishermen from Pakistani prisons—one of the media conference organizers called me. He expressed concern that my blog might harm their efforts to secure permission to hold meetings on state premises.

To be or not to be Sattvik: Different communities' differing notions of purity and fasting

This is a continuation of my last blog on Sattvik food. When talking about Sattvik, there is a tendency to overlook what it may mean to different sections of people around the world. First, let me redefine Sattvik: it means having a "serene, balanced, and harmonious mind or attitude." Derived from the Sanskrit word sattva, it variously means "pure, essence, nature, vital, energy, clean, conscious, strong, courage, true, honest, and wise." How do people achieve this so-called purity? Among Gujarati Hindus, especially those from the so-called upper castes who are vegetarians, one common way is fasting. On fasting days, such as agiyarash —the 11th day of the lunar cycle in the Vedic calendar—my close relatives fast but consume milk, fruit juices, mangoes, grapes, bananas, almonds, pistachios, and potato-based foods, including fried items. Another significant fasting period is adhik maas. During this time, many of my relatives "fast" by eating only a single me...

Search This Blog