Pollution of the Ganges

The ongoing pollution of the Ganges, the largest river in India, poses a significant threat to both human health and the environment.^[1] The river supplies water to approximately 40% of India's population across 11 states^[2] and serves an estimated 500 million people—more than any other river in the world.^[3][4]

The pollution of the Ganges River, India’s largest river and a vital water source for an estimated 500 million people, poses a significant threat to both human health and the environment. This severe pollution stems from a confluence of factors, primarily the disposal of untreated human sewage and animal waste from numerous cities and towns along its banks, with a large proportion of sewage remaining untreated before discharge. Industrial waste, though accounting for a smaller volume, is a major concern due to its often toxic and non-biodegradable nature, dumped untreated into the river by various industries.

Agricultural runoff, carrying fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, also contributes substantially by increasing nutrient load, causing eutrophication and oxygen depletion, and introducing toxic pollutants harmful to aquatic life. Traditional religious practices, such as ritual bathing, leaving offerings, and the deposition of cremated or half-burnt bodies, further add to the pollution load. Compounding these issues, dams and pumping stations constructed for irrigation and drinking water significantly reduce the river’s flow, especially in dry seasons, diminishing its natural capacity to dilute and absorb pollutants. Climate change is also noted as contributing to reduced water flows and worsening the impact of pollution. The consequences are profound: severe human health risks from waterborne diseases and the accumulation of toxic heavy metals in food sources like fish and vegetables, ecological degradation, including rapid decline and local extinction of native fish species and threats to endangered species like the Ganges river dolphin and softshell turtle, and a disproportionate burden on vulnerable communities dependent on the river for livelihoods and essential activities. Despite numerous initiatives, including the Ganga Action Plan and the ongoing Namami Gange Programme, significant success in cleaning the river has been limited, highlighting the complexity of the challenge and the need for integrated, comprehensive solutions involving infrastructure, sustainable practices, and improved monitoring. The Ganges is a subject of environmental justice.

Several initiatives have been undertaken to clean the river, but they have failed to produce significant results.^[5] After being elected, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to work on cleaning the river and controlling pollution.^[6] Subsequently, in the June 2014 budget, the government announced the Namami Gange project.^[7] By 2016, an estimated ₹30 billion (US$460 million) had been spent on various efforts to clean up the river, with little success.^[8]

The proposed solutions include demolishing upstream dams to allow more water to flow into the river during the dry season, constructing new upstream dams or coastal reservoirs to provide dilution water during the dry season, and investing in substantial new infrastructure to treat sewage and industrial waste throughout the Ganges' catchment area.

Some suggested remedies, such as a coastal reservoir, would be very expensive and would involve significant pumping costs to dilute the pollution in the Ganges.