Prime minister of India
said on April 17, 2012 that every day 2,900 million liters of sewage was
being discharged into the Ganga . Holy River Ganga is sacred to Hindus – only sacred in prayers. It is
we Hindus who are responsible for the present state of Ganga River
Ganga provides water to over 40% of India 's
population in 11 states.
The existing infrastructure has a capacity to treat only
1,100 million liters of sewage per day.
Most of the waste water comes from tanneries, distilleries,
paper mills and sugar mills along the banks of the Ganga . Human waste, plastics etc cannot be kept track of.
Prim Minister as usual has talked in detail about the
problems and solutions. This talk has been going on for several years with no
concrete result on the ground. If you like to read about the problems and
solutions you can read it here at the Hindustan Times.
The reason for sudden meeting
Former Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) professor and
environmentalist GD Agarwal, 80, sat on a fast-unto-death in January this year
to find a solution to the pollution in Ganga .
He called off his fast March 23 after a government assurance to call an NGRBA
meeting on April 17.
NGRBA is National Ganga River Basin Authority. A powerful
body if it performs to its capacity can do wonders.
Government had declared Ganga
the National River of India on November 4, 2008. So what it means - All
official formalities are completed to save Ganga !!!
Meetings, more meetings, committees, sub committees, official tours have been
completed. Lot of Chai (tea), biscuit, cashew nuts and bottled water has been
consumed in the name of Ganga . Perks,
travel allowance and salaries for many. Lot of
paper and energy wasted...did not forget corruption, but why mention it when it is a routine.
Source of River Ganga - the Gangotri Glacier, a vast
expanse of ice five miles by fifteen, at the foothills of the Himalayas (14000
ft) in Uttarakhand is the source of Bhagirathi River , which joins with Alaknanda
River , to form Ganga at
Devprayag. Global warming is shrinking the Gangotri Glacier.
Length of the River - From Devprayag to the Bay of
Bengal and the vast Sunderbans delta, the Ganga flows some 1550 miles, passing
through some of the most populous cities of India ,
including Kanpur , Allahabad , Varanasi , Patna ,
and Kolkata.
What Mother Ganga Will Do - If we do not change, then
all providing Mother Ganga will take the form of Mother Goddess Kali in near
future. There is a limit to which a Mother can tolerate her children. If she
can give life, she can also take it back.