With India under a national lockdown following the outbreak of coronavirus in the country, the holy river Ganga gets cleaner.Goodnews is that the waters of Ganga have become fit for ‘achaman’, which means ritual sip, after a long time. When the NGOs and government organisations have failed to establish in 34 years since the launch of the Ganga Action Plan in 1986, this could happened in just 21 days amid lockdown. Also the experts confirmed that the water quality has visibly improved by about 40 to 50 per cent.
According to BD Joshi, an environmental scientist, The quality of the water has improved because there is a “500 percent” decrease in industrial effluent and sewage from hotels and lodges.
State Pollution Control Board regional officer RK Kathait told the newspaper that there is a visible difference in the quality of the river water.
According to SS Pal, an officer in the PCB, the water in both Haridwar and Ganga is fit for drinking and bathing after disinfection.
The Central Pollution Control Board had last year observed that most of the Ganga River water in the Uttar Pradesh-West Bengal stretch is unfit for drinking and bathing.
