Ganga in Bihar - Faith versus Filth

摘要

Bihar is blessed with very rich river system. Ganga and its tributary like Ghagra, Punpun, Gandak, Koshi etc cover major agriculture area of Bihar. River Ganga is considered as the holiest river of India and it is believed that its water remain odourless for long time period. Scientist also supports this phenomenon and it is stated that due to presence of bacteriophages in the Ganga water, it remains normal and healthy for years. However in recent times the scenario has completely changed due to heavy industrial growth and sewage water disposal in the Ganga. The river water has been polluted with heavy metals contamination and microbial contamination. In present study the Ganga water samples were collected from 33 sites through stretch of river Ganga from Chausa where the Ganga enters into Bihar to Bhagalpur where Ganga leaves Bihar. Collected water samples were analysed through Most Probable Number (MPN) method. Maximum total coliform was 35,000 CFU/100 ml, while Faecal coliform was 26,000 CFU/100 ml. Minimum total Coliform was 3,800 CFU/100 ml, while Faecal coliform was 1,700 CFU/100 ml. Average Total coliform contamination was 22,009 CFU/100 ml, while Faecal coliform was 13,778 CFU/100 ml. It was also observed that excessive presence of coliform makes Ganga water more alkaline as well as dissolved oxygen (DO) was less than 8 mg/L in coliform contaminated water. The study confirms that not only industrial waste but also faecal coliform contributes for almost 50% contamination in the the Ganga water.