There are layers of reasons for the current state of river pollution in Uttar Pradesh. There many angles to it – ecological, social, economic, political, infrastructural, even local. Some general reasons are summarised below:
- Kannauj, Kanpur Allahabad to Varanasi is a densely populated stretch. Allahabad is the most populated city of Uttar Pradesh ( 2011 census). As the river traverses along this stretch, there is over-extraction of water for agricultural domestic and industrial uses far exceeds any fresh injection of water into it. The river loses its assimilative and self-cleaning capacity. All that returns to it is waste, and the river has little ecological flow.
- Growing volume of untreated sewage finds its way into the river.
- There is a glaring gap between installed sewage capacity and sewage generation. Sewage generation was 123% higher than estimated wastewater (CSE 2013).
- Inadequate and dilapidated conveyance network: Large parts of cities like Kanpur, Allahabad, and Varanasi are unsewered.Installed drains are dilapidated; thus, wastewater is not entirely intercepted and conveyed into the sewage treatment plants. Millions of litres of untreated sewage go directly into the river.
- The local municipal bodies in all states along the Ganga are in the abysmal financial state. The state of affairs is stark in UP. Municipal authorities don’t have enough funds to run STP’s let alone refurbish them. Apart from financial constraints, the functioning of these bodies is fraught with apathy, corruption, complacence. There is hardly any concept of governance.30% of the STP’s don’t even work (CPCB 2013)
- Weak enforcement against polluting industries
Among the states situated in the Ganga basin, Uttar Pradesh ranks the highest in terms of industrial water consumption as well as industrial wastewater generation. Industrial effluents account for around 25% of the total wastewater but are significant because of their highly toxic and non -biodegradable nature. Besides, the industries are usually concentrated in clusters which significantly increases the pollution load in these stretches.70% of the industrial wastewater comes from sugar, pulp and paper, chemical industries and distillers. Pulp and paper industry is concentrated in Western UP districts – Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and Bulandhshahr. There is an agglomeration of some 350 tanneries in the outskirts of Kanpur which contribute about 8% to the industrial wastewater. River stretches along the industrial clusters are highly toxic because of high pollution load and compromised assimilative capacity of the river. There are ? Grossly polluting industries along the banks of Ganga in various cities of UP. Most are found to be non-compliant.Slaughterhouses and abattoirs in Saharanpur and Ghaziabad.