80% of India’s surface water may be polluted, report by international body says
Published on by Barkha Warade, Director
The report, based on latest data from the ministry of urban development (2013), census 2011 and Central Pollution Control Board, estimates that 75-80% of water pollution by volume is from domestic sewerage, while untreated sewerage flowing into water bodies including rivers have almost doubled in recent years.
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3 Answers
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Pollution of rivers is a dynamic and complex system. Increasing population shall definately put pressure on the quality of nearby rivers. Yes, every thing is possible. We can give tertiary treatment to sewage and technically we can eliminate human pollution to rivers. But at what cost. Pollution of river has now become an emotional issue and emotions cloud reasoning. We must pause and think what is pollution. What pollution level is acceptable and achievable. What pollutants are more dangerous from Houses or from Industry. What shall be the cost involved for making our rivers clean. Is this cost acceptable when people are dying of hunger in many states of India. (Solely my personal views)
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It is very easy to criticize without collecting reliable data from reliable sources or by the speaker. But with such a huge population and discriminate government policies and defiant mood of the industries, the water quality in India is sure to deteriorate further.
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What is encouraging is the awareness that is being created by NGT in india. What is needed is to ensure functioning of the STPs, ETPs, CETPs on a long term basis. I have visited Okhla CETP in Delhi a few years ago and there were hardly any functioning instrumentation. Not even the basic pressure gauges. The turnkey contractor supplies the cheapest instruments which hardly function for even one year and then they are not calibrated periodically or such calibrations are an eyewash. Perhaps this is the state of affairs in many Government/Industry operated STPs, ETPs and CETPs.