Water Quality Challenges in Ganga River Basin, India

Abstract

Ganga is considered to be the most important and holiest river all over the world, having its own economic, environmental, and cultural value in India. During the past few decades, fast-developing industrialization and urbanization have led to an alarming threat to groundwater and surface water quality. With a highly non-uniform pattern of precipitation in the Ganga basin, it is facing extreme water shortage in several sections. Due to the extensive use of groundwater in the river basin, the water table has decreased at an alarming rate, which has resulted in the reduction of flows in the majority of the streams across this river basin. Increasing prosperity and quickly developing urbanization has resulted in increased generation of wastewater. River Ganga and its tributaries are receiving a considerable quantity of treated and untreated sewage generated from industrial operations and municipal discharges. Hence, serious water quality issues are posed in the river basin due to the combined effect of increased waste loads and decreased water flows. The physicochemical parameters such as Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and Dissolved Oxygen (DO) in the river water were explored at various sampling sites using data from Central Water Commission (CWC) for years 2010–2013. The water quality data is also supplemented with new pollution levels reported in the literature. The analysis of available data in research reveals that the Ganga River water quality remains declined because of the presence of industrial waste, domestic waste, heavy metals, sewage, animal, and human skeletons. The presence of abundant lethal chemicals such as Cr, Zn, Cu, Pb, Fe, Ni, and Cd also show the unhygienic state of the water quality of river Ganga. Water quality analysis of Ganga water revealed the presence of various microbial species such as Faecal Coliform and Total Coliform. The efforts from the Government to clean river Ganga are worth appreciation. However, to ensure the success of such programs, an accurate inventory of streams and drains joining river Ganga along with the pollution potential of each of these still need to be done. Also, the use of eco-friendly technologies needs to be promoted wherever feasible in the Ganga basin.