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Press Release : 20-Jan-2005
River Ganga more polluted today than before the Ganga Action Plan
“The Ganga is a symbol of our spirituality, our tradition, our tolerance and our synthesis. But it is the most polluted river with sewage and pollution from cities and industries thrown into it. From now we should put a stop to all this. We are launching this plan- not for Public Works Department (PWD), but for the people of India
Late PM Sh Rajiv Gandhi at the launch of GAP in 1986
The objectives of the GAP were broad: to abate pollution and improve water quality, to conserve biodiversity and develop an integrated river basin management approach, to conduct comprehensive research to further these objectives, and to gain experience for implementing similar river clean up programs in other polluted rivers of India.
While the goals of GAP were admirable, it has largely failed to meet up to its expectations. As of today GAP  has totally come to a standstill and almost all the assets are either lying dysfunctional or were never executed due to lack of funds or mismanagement. The pumping stations and treatment plants do treat some waste, but are often non-functional, and when power is out in Kanpur (on an average up to 8 hours a day, sometimes 14 hours a day), the sewage is directly bypassed into the Ganga. In addition, the 36 MLD UASB plant has been rendered non-functional, largely due to the fact that the order that tanneries remove the chromium from their waste stream before discharging into the sewer system was not enforced, and the presence of the toxic heavy metals in the effluent rendered the use of biological treatment methods ineffective.
It is clear that GAP has done little to improve the status of the Ganga, instead the situation has worsened to the extent that peoples’ health and livelihood are being impacted adversely due to polluted Ganges’ water.
Various governmental efforts in terms of time and resources seem to be wasted. Supreme Court of India intervened way back in 1985 and Allahabad High Court in 1997 to make Ganga pollution free but to no avail. All the efforts made by the higher and highest judiciary have failed to bring about any visible change in the river water quality. The court orders have been and / are being violated by the people, the government and the polluting industries defiantly.
Some drastic measures need to be taken urgently by the top-level government authorities if Ganga Action Plan is to be kept alive. Huge resources, tremendous will power and efforts are required to make GAP functional and Ganga pollution free.
 Eco Friends has been struggling hard for the last one decade to make Ganga pollution free. We’ve approached governments at various levels and judiciary, protested from time to time, launched advocacy campaigns, and fished out bodies and trash from the river in the past. But at present we also feel helpless.
Eco Friends has been monitoring Ganga and GAP on a regular basis and sending its reports to various constitutional authorities. On November 10, 2004 two Dutch interns on behalf of Eco Friends sent letters to President, PM, Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha), CJI, Minister of Environment and Forests, Smt Sonia Gandhi, Sh. Rahul Gandhi and others. In response to the letter, on Nov 29 Mr L K Advani wrote to PM and Minister of Environment and Forests to intervene and save the Ganga. Our PM Dr Manmohan Singh and Minister of Environment and Forests Mr A Raja wrote back to Sh Advani on Dec 2 assuring him that appropriate action would be taken. Mr Rahul Gandhi also responded to our letter and informed that the letter had been sent to concerned authorities for appropriate action. The Governor of UP has also assured to look into the matter.
A high-level enquiry has been set up for taking corrective measures by the Minister of Environment and Forests.
We’ll keep our fingers crossed till the high-level enquiry bears some fruit. We’re deeply concerned with the shocking state of the river and sleepy Ganga Action Plan. We want and demand serious efforts from the government so that Ganga could be made pollution free.
Rakesh K Jaiswal
(Executive Secretary)
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