Kumbh Mela Spikes Pollution in Ganga to a Startling Level

Bangalore: Ganga, the holiest river which represents religious spirit of millions of people in India is also one of the most polluted rivers in the world and it comes with no surprise that the Kumbh Mela is adding to the preexisting taint of the river.

The Kumba Mela is the largest Hindu religious festival that brings together the biggest crowd to the banks of the river Ganga and is reported to add to the dreadful levels of pollution, as warned by the environmentalists, reported Dean Nelson for Telegraph.

The government has been asked by the social activists to take action to protect the devotees who immerse themselves at the confluence or Sangam of the Ganges and the Yamuna River from the chemical pollution and human sewage in these rives.

The government is taking measures to reduce the human and industrial waste from leather factories that are discharged into the river, however the effect of over 80 million worshippers bathing in the river and roosting on the river banks has drastically raised the organic pollution to dangerous levels, during the festival.

The Uttar Pradesh state pollution control board carried out tests and found that the levels of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), which checks organic pollution, were over seven milligrams per litre, which is double the maximum acceptable level just after the first day of the Kumbh Mela. An estimated 10 million devotees bathed in the Ganga on the first day.

The 55 days festival will end next month and by that time up to 100 million people are expected to have bathed in the river.

Also Read: River Ganga, a Source of Cancer in India