"Clean Ganges Mission," the new India plan to save their sacred river

New Delhi, December 20. - Concerned about the massive pollution suffered by the Ganges, the Government indicated or had to spend millions on a new game plan to purify the main sacred river of Hindus, which supports hundreds of millions of people .
"The situation is serious: there are areas with so much pollution that nothing can live in them. Pollution and excessive exploitation are the main problems of the river, "the expert told Efe Parikshit Gautam, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
This year the Government created the National Authority of the Ganges Basin (NGRBA), which decided at its first meeting in October, completely eliminate the discharge of untreated industrial wastewater into the river or by the year 2020.
But the task appears daunting: according to the Indian owner of the Environment, Jairam Ramesh, the Ganges every day receives 3,000 million liters in discharges, and two thirds of this spend to flow without any purification.
To address the alarming situation, the Government considers necessary investment of 3,200 million dollars over the next ten years in infrastructure facility in the "Clean Ganges Mission," to what already has support from the World Bank.
"(The river) is under pressure from expanding production, industries and urban development", said this month in New Delhi that organization's president, Robert Zoellick, having agreed an initial aid to the project of 1,000 million dollars.
"The Bank will begin its commitment to promote the exchange of relevant experiences. Hopefully this will help to improve the management of this large river basin that supports 400 million people in India alone, "he added.
After a plan dating from 1985 which, according to activists, ended in failure, the Government has now decided to divide the expense between central and regional, to be completed by cyclical reports on the status of the most polluted areas.
The Ganges basin fed by life to a third of the land that forms part of India and its passage through the continent not only testifies to the existence of ancient civilizations, but lends support to one in twelve people worldwide.
But it is also much more than a river Hindus consider it sacred and to go on pilgrimage every year millions of people, encouraged by the fact that its waters wash the sins only, but free of the cycle of rebirths.
When passing through the city of Varanasi, the Ganges contains 60,000 bacteria fecal coliforms per 100 milliliters, 120 times the safe limit for bathing, which does not deter pilgrims from entering its waters to purify themselves.
"The religious festivals are happening many years, there are many fairs. But this can be improved, for example taking hygiene measures for the river is not affected by poor sanitation, "said Gautam.
Apart from biological waste, numerous fur industries located on the banks dump waste chromium and other metals to river flow, which is under intense pressure from the massive construction of dams on its tributaries.
According to WWF, 95 percent of the Ganges water is diverted from its course before emptying, increasing the presence of sediments and causes death or migration of native species, such as the Gangetic dolphin.
"He is confined in some strips isolated from each other. We estimate that there are only about 2,000 dolphins in the gangético system and its population is in decline, "continued the expert, alert to the additional threat that may involve climate change.
The solution, he said, going to end industrial pollution and ensure a minimum level in the flow, which can only be achieved with the state plan "if the objectives and development are right", unlike what happened so far.

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