Case Study: Ganga Pollution and Ganga Action Plan

POLLUTION OF THE GANGA:-

Awareness about the problems caused by unthinkingly exploiting our resources has been a fairly recent phenomenon in our society. And once this awareness rises, some action is usually taken. 

The Ganga Action Plan:- This multi-crore project came about in 1985 because the quality of the water in the Ganga was very poor. Coliform is a group of bacteria, found in human intestines, whose presence in water indicates contamination by disease-causing microorganisms.

As you can see, there are some measurable factors which are used to quantify pollution or the quality of the water that we use for various activities. Some of the pollutants are harmful even when present in very small quantities and we require sophisticated equipment to measure them.

The pH of water is something that can easily be checked using universal indicator.

THE FIVE R’s:-

Refuse: This means to say No to things people offer you that you don’t need. Refuse to buy products that can harm you and the environment, say No to single-use plastic carry bags. Reduce: This means that you use less. You save electricity by switching off unnecessary lights and fans. You save water by repairing leaky taps. Do not waste food.

Reuse: This is actually even better than recycling because the process of recycling uses some energy. In the ‘reuse’ strategy, you simply use things again and again. Instead of throwing away used envelopes, you can reverse it and use it again. The plastic bottles in which you buy various food-items like jam or pickle can be used for storing things in the kitchen.

Reduce: This means that you use less. You save electricity by switching off unnecessary lights and fans. You save water by repairing leaky taps. Do not waste food.

Repurpose: This means when a product can no more be used for the original purpose, think carefully and use it for some other useful purpose. For example, cracked crockery, or cups with broken handles can be used to grow small plants and as feeding vessels for birds.

Recycle: This means that you collect plastic, paper, glass and metal items and recycle these materials to make required things instead of synthesising or extracting fresh plastic, paper, glass or metal. In order to recycle, we first need to segregate our wastes so that the material that can be recycled is not dumped along with other wastes.