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Canadian firm to help clean river
A Canadian company and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help to clean up drains that empty into the Ganges in the Bihar capital of Patna.
“Enviroway, a Canadian company in collaboration with ADB, will clean the drains, the main source of pollution in the river Ganges in Patna,” Urban Development Minister Ashwani Choubey told IANS.
“The state government was in constant touch with them after they showed keen interest to launch measures to help clean the river and keep it pollution-free,” he said.
The river is highly polluted despite being held sacred by Hindus. About 30 large drains in Patna discharge about 190 million litres of untreated sewage and garbage into the Ganges every day.
More than 400 million people live along the Ganges River. An estimated 60,000 persons ritually bathe daily in the river, which is considered holy by Indians. The Ganges is filled with chemical wastes, sewage and even the remains of human and animal corpses which carry major health risks by either direct bathing in the water.
According to an estimate of the environmental science department of AN College, Patna, during the river’s 2,510-km-long journey from Gaumukh to the Bay of Bengal, nearly a billion litres of untreated sewage gets disposed of into the river.
In Patna, the Ganges has shifted its natural course as a result of pollution.
Saskatoon-based Enviroway will introduce biochemical treatment methods to clean the drains that will be cost effective and eco-friendly.
Latest research has pointed out that the level of pollution in the holy river has reached an alarming proportion and the Ganges water is unfit not only for drinking and bathing but also for agricultural purposes.
Recently, a joint team of army and air force officers has completed its journey from Allahabad to Patna on the water route. Members of the team said they were shocked at the filthy condition of the riverbanks, the garbage dumping and the flow of untreated sewage water into the Ganges.
“We came across dozens of half-burnt bodies and corpses floating in the river. We also came across animal carcasses and heaps of polythene bags,” a team member said.
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