DEHRADUN: Water of river Ganga has been found fit enough for drinking purposes after decades, revealed recent research by Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.
“Since the lockdown, anthropological activities in the vicinity of river have dropped to zero.
This has enabled the river to breathe,” said RK Kathait, regional officer of Uttrakhand Environment Pollution Control Board.
Due to lockdown, 22 drains which disposed of sewage into the river, have been sealed too, hence making the water cleaner.
The institution was assigned by IIT-Kanpur with the task to test the water of the river from Devprayag in Uttarkashi district to Har ki Pairi in Haridwar by the National Mission for Clean Ganga.
Absar Ahmed Khan, head of the department of environmental engineering said, “Tests conducted by our scientists and experts revealed that water of the river Ganga from Devprayag to Har ki Pairi falls under ‘A’ category defined by Central Pollution Control Board. This means that water is fit for drinking.”
The results indicated that there is no bacteria in terms of MPN/100ml which identifies the quantity of bacteria commonly referred to as faecal coliform, which is an indicator for contamination.
Also, biochemical oxygen level fell below 3mg/Litres which is an indicator of good quality water, while a high BOD indicates polluted water.
The results, after testing the waters of the river on 28 parameters of Bureau of Indian Standards declared it fit for drinking.
However, chlorination is advised before the water of the river to be used for drinking.