Lok Sabha Question No. 2532 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-22
Subject: Research on Quality of Ganga River Water
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: P.R. Natarajan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI,

## DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2532

ANSWERED ON 22.12.2022

## RESEARCH ON QUALITY OF GANGA RIVER WATER

## 2532 SHRI NATARAJAN P.R

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:-

(a) whether any request has been received by the Government from National Mission for Clean Ganga to conduct research on the use of Ganga river water as a cure to the Covid-19 virus in the recent past; (b) if so, the details thereof and the decision taken in this regard; and

(c) whether any report has been received on the water quality of Ganga river during Covid-19 period and if so, the action taken by the Government to improve water quality of Ganga river?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL)

(a) & (b) No Sir.  Government has not received any request from National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)  to  conduct  research  on  the  use  of  Ganga  river  water  as  a  cure  to  the  Covid-19  virus. However, NMCG had sent two proposals viz., "Ganga Sediments could immunize against COVID19" and "Treatment of COVID-19 by Ganga Jal" on 28.4.2020 to Indian Council of Medical Research for examination at their end.

(c) Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has informed that based on water quality monitoring of river Ganga being carried out during Covid-19 period and studies conducted by them, State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and other agencies to assess the impact of lockdown on the water quality of river  Ganga  and  its  tributaries,  it  has  been  observed  that  no  definite  trend  exists  in  different  water quality parameters observed for various stretches of river Ganga and its tributaries. However, varying degrees of improvement in a few water quality parameters have been observed as per CPCB and SPCB reports which may be attributed to various factors such as increased availability of fresh water due to rainfall  in  the  river  catchment,  no  industrial  effluent  discharge  and  reduced  human  activity  such  as restriction  on  bathing,  ritual  disposal,  restricted  tourism,  solid  waste,  mass  washing  of  clothes  etc during the lockdown period.

During lockdown, it was ensured that all the sewage treatment plants (STPs) continue to function without any interruption. Guidelines were issued to follow all safety precautions while continuing the operation  of  STPs.  The  various  interventions  for  abatement  of  pollutions  of  rivers  have  been continued. Some of them are given below:

- i. Financial assistance is being provided to States for setting up of sewage infrastructure and other pollution  abatement  activities  under  NamamiGange  and  National  River  Conservation  Plan (NRCP) of Ministry of Jal Shakti as well as AMRUT & Smart Cities Mission of Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs.
- ii. State Government have formulated river action plans to restore water quality of polluted river stretches for intercepting, diverting and treatment of municipal wastewater from urban centres.
- iii. Regulation  of  Industrial  Pollution  is  implemented  through  various  provisions  of  Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 under Consent mechanism by the respective State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) and Pollution Control Committees (PCC).
- iv. Online Continuous Effluent Monitoring Systems (OCEMS) are installed by 17- categories of industries and Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) being established on industrial units in the country through the directives issued by CPCB for getting real time information on the effluent quality and non-complying units were identified and actions were taken against these units.

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