When people refused to take a dip in the polluted Ganga on Kumbh Mela in Allahabad a few years ago, did anyone guess that the same could happen here and people would dread to take a holy dip in the Adi Ganga on the occasion of Mahalaya, environment activists said on Sunday morning.
Adi Ganga, also known as the Tolly’s nullah was once the life-line of Kolkata now has been transformed into a mere sewer which has been slaughtered with the changing politico-economic interests of the state.
Adi Ganga traverses through Rajpur, Sonarpur, Baruipur towards the Bay of Bengal. While the stretch within the city is extremely polluted, parts of the river in the southern fringe have been encroached, reducing the nullah into small water bodies.
Along the entire stretch, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board tests could not trace any dissolved oxygen, which is necessary for survival of aquatic life.
For propagation of aquatic life, at least 4mg/l of dissolved oxygen is required.
Save the channel urgently
Green activists and locals residing nearby wanted the highly polluted stretch to be included in the list of highly polluted river stretches. The list currently has 17 river stretches under NGT, but Adi Ganga is not mentioned.
“It’s a shame that the ancient channel of the national river is highly polluted. I will not be surprised if people one day refuse to take a holy dip in Adi Ganga on Mahalaya like what happened a few years back in Allahabad,” said Naba Dutta, secretary of environment platform Sabuj Mancha.
Local councillor, Prabir Mukherjee, who participated in the ‘Rejuvenate Adi Ganga’ move said at Sadar ghat, close to Keoratala burning ghat, that collective indifference is killing the nullah. “We are freely dumping plastic, thermocol and what not. We need to work together to save Adi Ganga,” said Mukherjee.
“We want to take forward the movement initiated by Rebati Ranjan Bhattacharya. The river stretch has become as dirty as a drain. During our teens, we swam here. Now, it is unthinkable,” said Asimananda Roy, who lives close by.
“We carried out a detailed GPS-based study and found that Adi Ganga’s three-km stretch in Kolkata’s southern fringe has been encroached hugely after the ’70s and it has largely turned into settlements as well as small water bodies,” said a researcher from non-profit NGO, called EnGIO.
The charter of demand by various organizations:
· Restore Adi Ganga’s flow in the city's southern part like it has been done in several rivers throughout the world.
· Action must be taken to ensure that the drains do not pollute the stretch further
· Remove illegal encroachments as per judicial order, or at least ensure people living here do not pollute the stretch
· Stop dumping plastic and other solid wastes.
· Desilt as required
· Beautify the river flow, not only the banks