Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Mar 14: The government informed on Monday that the dissolved oxygen content of the Ganga, which is used to gauge the health of the water body, was determined to be within acceptable ranges of the bathing requirement.
According to the CPCB’s categorization of contaminated lengths, none of the Ganga spans are in priority categories I to IV, and just two stretches are in category V, with Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) ranging between 3 and 6 mg/l.
Category I is the most contaminated, with the highest concentration of BOD, whereas category V is the least polluted.
According to CPCB data for 2021, the observed water quality of River Ganga shows that dissolved oxygen (DO) is within acceptable levels of notified primary bathing water quality requirements and is sufficient to support the river’s ecology for virtually its entire length.
“The comparison of median data of water quality parameters viz., DO, BOD and Faecal coliforms (FC) of year 2014 and 2021 shows that DO (Median) has improved at 31 locations? BOD at 46 locations and FC at 23 locations, respectively,” he said in a written response.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is conducting water quality assessments of the River Ganga at 97 locations in five states through the appropriate State Pollution Control Boards as part of the Namami Gange Programme (SPCBs). A total of 364 projects worth a total of Rs. 30,853 crore have been sanctioned under the programme, with 183 of them finished and functioning.
“Out of these 364 projects, 160 projects belonging to sewerage infrastructure projects have been taken up for creation and rehabilitation of 5024 Million Litres per Day(MLD) of Sewage Treatment Plant capacity and laying of 5,227 km of sewerage network, out of which 76 projects have been completed resulting in creation and rehabilitation of 1,079 MLD of STP capacity and laying of 3,860 km sewerage network. Rest of the projects are at various stages of implementation,” he said.
