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GANGA AT KANPUR
A natural sewer, a garbage depot, a morgue and more..
The river in Kanpur is presently being treated as a natural sewer, garbage depot and morgue. The Ganga in Kanpur is always strewn with human corpses and animal carcasses, trash such as non-biodegradable polybags, worship materials e.g., floral offerings, clay idols, account books and so on.
People can be seen in hordes defecating along the river. Cattle wallowing, washing of clothes, use of soaps and detergents are common sights at various bathing ghats and elsewhere too. All these non-point sources of pollution definitely add to the pollution of the river, besides posing very offensive and repulsive sights to the Ganga users as well as common viewers.
The situation has worsened to such an extent that the river not only has earned the reputation of being "dead" with almost no aquatic life, it has also caused severe health problems to the entire population of Kanpur.
The population of fishes and turtles has declined dramatically and even those that survive are not fit for human consumption as they carry toxic elements. The people no longer take boat rides in the river due to the repulsive odor and sight thus affecting the livelihood of the traditional boatmen.
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Why is the most sacred Ganga, most polluted at Kanpur?
There are a number of reasons as to why the Kanpur stretch of the river Ganga happens to be the most polluted. The same are enumerated below.
Ganga lacks water and flow at Kanpur
Extent of the pollution in the river, largely, depends on the discharge and flow of the river at a particular station. For instance, if there is adequate discharge in the river, the pollution levels get reduced. However, a major quantity of the water of river Ganga is diverted at Hardwar through Upper Ganga Canal system and whatever flow is regenerated between Hardwar and Aligarh is again diverted through Lower Ganga Canal system at Narora. No major tributary joins river Ganga between Narora and Allahabad with Kanpur situated in between. Therefore Kanpur stretch is especially vulnerable because of inadequate discharge and flow.
Kanpur is the most populated/polluted town in Uttar Pradesh
Kanpur is the most populated town along the river Ganga in UP. Officially, the population of the town is enumerated to be 3 million (2001 Census) with unofficial estimates putting it over 4 million. In terms of population, Kanpur is the 9th largest town of India and the 2nd largest in North India, the largest being Delhi. 60% of the water needs of the town are met through the river. In the past, demands on the river water have increased disproportionately with the steady growth of population and burgeoning agricultural and industrial activities. It is important to note that Kanpur generates approximately 400 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage that is discharged through dozens of drains either into river Ganga or river Pandu. River Pandu meets river Ganga in the downstream of Kanpur.
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Kanpur-An Industrial Town
Kanpur has roughly 5500 industries with 75 medium and large industries such as those of fertilizers, detergents, chemicals and paint factories. Out of these, the 350 odd leather industries localized in one area called Jajmau along the river Ganga are in the main responsible for river pollution. These highly polluting leather industries pose a major threat to the water quality, ecology of the river and health of the people in the downstream villages.
Towns on both sides of the river
On the North bank is Shuklaganj (District Unnao) and on the South bank is Kanpur. So Ganga is being polluted from both sides. At present, no pollution control efforts are being made on the Shuklaganj side of the river.
Shifting of the river course
Ganga started shifting its course towards North from 1945 and it changed its course permanently in the 1960s, deserting the Kanpur side completely. With the shifting of the river the main raw water source for the city too moved away. At present, the mainstream of the river is at a distance of 8 Km from the water intake point.
Kanpur also had a series of beautiful bathing ghats and temples that are now completely deserted and in complete disuse. Though efforts are on to restore the pre-shift river course through construction of a barrage in the upstream of Kanpur, the same are much delayed and progress is too slow. The barrage was to be completed by 2000; revised official estimates are now for 2004. Thus, instead of Ganga, a huge sewer, looking like a tributary, flows along approximately 80% of Kanpur bank with filth being added on the way.
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