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The biggest challenge for the country nowadays is RIVER GANGA. The holy river has been struggling against the pollution caused to it and it seems as she ‘s dying. Every year there are some or the other festivals where river Ganga is worshipped. With the origination from the Himalayas , the river Ganga drains into the Sunderban’s delta in Bay Of Bengal. Having the length of 96km in Uttarakhand ,the river emerges from Devprayag and exists in Haridwar.
Millions of pilgrimage take a holy dip in Ganga with a belief that all their sins would be washed off. But did anyone wonder who will wash Ganga ’s dirt. Humans are neglecting the fact that it is they , who are spoiling the beauty and purity of the river !! Dumping of the city garbage, human excreta , agricultural waste , industrial waste, community bathing, social and religious practices ,etc has made the river a filthy one. According to the reports, in 2017 the level of BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) was extremely high. BOD is the amount of oxygen needed by the biological organisms to break down non- essential organic matter which is present in the river. More the BOD , more will be the oxygen depletion. On the other hand, when DO (Dissolved Oxygen) is high , the water is less polluted. Hence, when the pollution increases it is used to reduce it.
G.D. Aggarwal , a prominent environmentalist was once professor at IIT Roorkee. He sacrificed hiss profession to save Ganga. He was on fast for 112 days and died on 11 October ,2018. His motive was to prevent the Ganga from turning into black from blue. He had demanded that the government ensured the uninterrupted flow of Ganga. If there are more people like him then our holy river can be saved from getting black. The water of the river is now unsafe for irrigation purposes and also for domestic purposes. Ronald Barrett once said :
” POLLUTION IN GANGA IS LIKE OIL IN WATER .”
The pollution can be seen during the KUMBH MELA when millions of devotees come to perform religious practices in the river along with holy dip in the Ganga. Most of the water is drained out to irrigation canals in Haridwar thereby reducing the pollution absorbing capacity of the water. This river pollution has given birth to the complaints about stomach trouble , kidney damage , typhoid , polio and other serious skin diseases. This is a matter of serious concern since the human lives are posing danger for themselves and others too.
People need to understand the pain of the Ganga. They should not just throw anything in the river, they should turn up to save the river from dying and industries and factories must come up with solutions as to where to let go the waste . The government is trying it’s best to save our holy river but it is our responsibility too ,to protect it. When Ganga can give us more than we want , then can we just not take an initiative to save it from the activities done by the humans?
Just think……
Penned By-
RADHIKA DHASMANA
Great write up. Congrats !
Fully share this concern, indeed a lot needs to be done to save sacred Ganga which is turning into a nullah. Government is putting in lot of efforts, but unless all of us help by doing our bit, it won’t help. Leave alone the
Industries who dump their waste into GangaI, We the people are equally responsible for the pathetic condition of the holy Ganga. On top of it, our religious beliefs that all waste Pooja material has to be disposed off in a river and then immersion of Ganesha/Durga idols into it. One can keep on writing, but crux of the matter is we all including Government, people, Industries need to be serious and responsible about upkeep of all our rivers, lakes and water bodies. The biggest challenge of our times is going to be shortage of potable water.