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MONITORING GANGA
Eco Friends has undertaken to monitor the state of the river Ganga with a special focus on alarming levels of pollution therein. Aquatic life such as reported fish kills and poaching of turtles in the river are also being monitored. By way of monitoring we are also identifying and highlighting the shortcomings of Ganga Action Plan in order that appropriate correctives can be applied by the concerned agencies.
Eco Friends – Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
Quarterly Water and Sludge Quality Monitoring Programme
Eco Friends has launched a Quarterly Water and Sludge Quality Monitoring Programme (See Report) in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. The core objective is to have a reliable and continuous civil society monitoring of the state of pollution in the river so that the people at large know trends of pollution in the river. This has been necessitated on account of widespread concerns about increasing pollution of Ganga, reports of toxic contamination of ground
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water meant for drinking purposes, food crops and adverse public health impact of the post treated mix of city sewage and tannery effluents being supplied to the villages in the Jajmau region of Kanpur for purposes of irrigation.
The results of the analysis are being widely disseminated to all concerned peoples’ representatives, governmental and non-governmental agencies, international agencies and all others who are concerned with issues of Ganga pollution. With its Quarterly Monitoring Programme, Eco Friends would be able to bring out a comparative picture of the state of pollution of Ganga.
Monitoring of Ganga Action Plan (GAP) Phase I and Progress of GAP II
The Eco Friends Team is leading the civil society monitoring of the Ganga Action Plan. In order to undertake such a huge task, Eco Friends is in the process of organising the Ganga communities as effective Ganga Watchdogs or Ganga Vahini. Ganga Vahinis are being developed as proactive river keepers. Identity cards are being distributed to members joining Ganga Vahini. In the first phase, expansion of the existing Ganga Vahinis has been started in the twenty villages in and around Jajmau.
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the second phase starting mid October 2002, contact building with all the Ganga based communities has begun at Kanpur. Eco Friends is identifying Ganga Praharis(Ganga Guards) all along the Ganga as a river watchdog body which can stop people from littering the river. Here too, identity cards are being issued to the Ganga Praharis in order to empower them to do their tasks.
The Police Department at Kanpur has also been approached to help in empowering the Ganga Praharis. This has been necessitated because the Ganga Praharis need an authoritative backup for their pollution prevention activities. There exist standing directions of the Honourable High Court at Allahabad to enable the Police Department to set up a River Police Force with powers to prevent people from polluting the river as also to protect the water intake point
In the years to come, with the help of both Ganga Vahinis and Ganga Praharis, Eco Friends would facilitate a continuous process of monitoring of the river by river based communities themselves.
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