The Most Holy Pollution Kate Samuel - PowerPoint Presentation

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The Most Holy Pollution

Kate Samuel

Slide2

Slide3

Facts/Statistics

River passes through: Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal

& flows into Bay of Bengal

Length

2,507 Km

Basin size

1,016,124 Km

2

Population

roughly 200 million people

Population density

average 401 people/ Km

2

Key economic activity

Agriculture

Threats

Water extraction, 14 proposed large dams, climate change, pollution

Slide4

Ganges Facts

Begins: in the Himalayas' Gangotri Glacier

World's 3rd

largest river by

discharge

(volume

 rate of water flow that is transported through a given cross-sectional

area)

The Ganges

delta: largest in worldhttp://www.factsninfo.com/2013/06/interesting-facts-information-abouthttp://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Earth_from_Space_Ganges_dazzling_delta-ganges-holy-river-of-india.html

Slide5

Facts- could it be holy?

Studies have shown that the Ganges River is capable of decomposing organic waste faster than any other rivers in the world - 25 times fasterSomething in the Ganges Rivers' water prevents

mosquitos

from breeding

A test in the late 1800s found that the Cholera bacterium could not survive in the Ganges River for more than three hours

http://www.softschools.com/facts/rivers/ganges_river_facts/2128/

Slide6

Religious Importance

Mother GangaCame to Earth from Heavens from a lock of Shiva’s hair (story next page)Water purifies all that enters

https://www.google.co.in/search?q=praying+in+ganges&biw=1366&bih=638&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNxKWvxJTQAhUHuo8KHX_SAFMQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=FpXSMpWrn5TPmM%3A

https://www.google.co.in/search?q=praying+in+ganges&biw=1366&bih=638&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNxKWvxJTQAhUHuo8KHX_SAFMQ_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=mother+ganga&imgrc=fvWks9k-4O3ilM%3A

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Shiva & Goddess Ganga

 There was a powerful king in India named

Sagar

who decided

to conduct 

Ashwamedha

Yagya

, a horse sacrifice, to declare his supremacy over the gods. The king of Heaven,

Indra grew jealous of King Sagar and decided to steal the ritual horse. Indra successfully abducted the horse and tied him in the ashram of Sage Kapil, who was silently meditating for many years. King Sagar ordered his 60,000 sons to search and find his sacrificial horse. After a long search they found the horse tied at the ashram and began assaulting the great sage thinking he was the culprit who stole the horse. The sage awoke from his trance and in his anger started to destroy all the sons of king Sagar who were accosting him. Anshuman, the grandson of King Sagar, pleaded for forgiveness. The sage told him that he could save his life by bringing the sacred river Ganga down from the heavens to purify the souls of him and his ancestors and help them to attain nirvana.

King Dilip, son of Anshuman pleaded with Lord Brahma to help them bring the Ganga to earth. He failed to appease Brahma so he passed the task to his son,

Bhagiratha

.

Bhagiratha

was able to please Brahma, who ordered

Ganga

to descent to Earth. The furious

Ganga

felt this as an insult and decided to destroy Earth with her force while descending from heaven.

Bhagiratha

was warned by Brahma that earth will not be able to hold

Ganga

while descending from heaven, so he must seek the help of

Lord Shiva, the only one who can withstand the power of

Ganga

.

Bhagiratha

pleaded with Lord Shiva to help him and Shiva agreed to receive

Ganga

in his matted locks.

Ganga

was arrogant and tried to drown Shiva by pushing him to the core of the earth, but the mighty Shiva easily held her in his locks.  

Source: http://www.lotussculpture.com/blog/shiva-hind-goddess-ganga/

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Ecology of the Ganges

River Dolphin

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/cetaceans/about/river_dolphins/ganges_river_dolphin/

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Ecology

Ganges SharkRiver Hooghly in West Bengal, as well as the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra, Mahanadi in the states of Bihar, Assam and Orissa

Endangered

Only 6species

of river sharks found in the

world

 

Glyphis

gangeticus is endemic to Indiahttp://www.wwfindia.org/about_wwf/priority_species/lesser_known_species/ganges_shark/

Slide10

Ecology

Crocodiles Indian gharial, Indian gavial,

long-snouted crocodile

Indus

, Ganges, Brahmaputra

&

Mahanadi river systems

O

ver

140 fish species90 amphibian species5 areas supporting birds found nowhere else in the world.http://indiantravel-wildlife.blogspot.in/2008/08/indian-crocodiles-crocodiles-in-india.htmlhttp://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/about_freshwater/freshwater_problems/river_decline/10_rivers_risk/ganges/

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Causes of Pollution

Industrial factories, Kanpur (2nd largest industrial town)Tanneries

Illegal developments

Burning sites, Human bodies thrown into

Ganga

Animal carcasses thrown (especially cow)

Dams, silt making Ganges shallow

Ritualistic bathes

Candles, flowers, etc. offered to Goddess

Ganga & placed in water

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Slide13

CAUTION- Photos are coming

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Open-Air Cremations or “Burnings”

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For more photos, refer to:

http://www.planetcustodian.com/2015/10/19/8134/over-50-scary-images-depicting-filth-of-varanasi-and-river-ganges-that-went-viral-in-china.html

Slide17

Consequences

Ganges contains 15% of its original water. 85% is polluted with sewage, carcasses, trash, and industrial waste (Gupta & Sharma, 2014)

Classified as D on scale of

:

A

: safe for drinking, 

B

: safe for bathing, 

C

: safe for agriculture, and D: excessive pollution (Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board)

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Estimated 200

million liters a day of untreated sewage enter the river

http://www.planetcustodian.com/2015/10/19/8134/over-50-scary-images-depicting-filth-of-varanasi-and-river-ganges-that-went-viral-in-china.html

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What it

is Normal Amount

Amount in Ganges

Biochemical

Oxygen Demand

3 mg/L For outdoor bathing

14 mg/L

Chemical Oxygen Demand

6.1 to 34.2 mg/L

67 mg/LFaecal Coliform 500 per 100ml1,000,000 per 100ml

Fecal coliform:-most common microbiological contaminants of natural

waters

-

live

in the digestive tracks of warm-blooded animals, including humans, and are excreted in the feces.

-Some are

not harmful

& part

of the normal digestive

system

-Some

are pathogenic to

humans & cause

disease such as gastroenteritis, ear infections, typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis A, and cholera

.

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/natural_resources/water/publications/fecal_coliform.html

Biochemical oxygen

demand

: amount

of dissolved oxygen needed to break down organic material in water

.

Chemical Oxygen Demand

: measure of the capacity of water to consume oxygen during

the 

decomposition

 of organic matter and the oxidation of inorganic

chemicals

http://camblab.info/wp/index.php/272/

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Quote

Doctor Vishwambhar Nath Mishra of the

Sankat

Mochan

Foundation says that the

Ganga

has a

faecal

coliform count of more than 1.5 million per 100ml of water. Safe bathing water should not contain more than 500 faecal coliform per 100ml. He says, “Bathing in the Ganges is only for the strong-hearted or those with blind faith” (Dhillon, 2014).

Slide21

Projects to save Ganga

The Ganga Action Plan was a government project implemented in June of

1986

by Prime Minister Rajiv

Gandhi (6

th

).

Goal: clean

the river and eliminate sewage pollution which would subsequently improve water

quality, community health, local fisheries, aquatic flora and fauna, and contamination levelsThe GAP failed and was nick-named the Ganga In-Action Plan.

Slide22

Committee to save Ganges: 2009

The National Ganga River Basin Authority was formed in 2009 by Former (13th) Prime Minister

Manmohan

Singh.

The

committee plans, finances, and monitors conservation of the Ganges River, giving most importance to the river basin

.

Originally created

through the Environmental Protection Act of 1986

; now part of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation. The Authority declared the Ganges as the national river.

Slide23

2011

The National Mission for Clean Ganga is a registered society formed in August of 2011 by the National

Ganga

River Basin Authority.

Focus: wastewater

management, solid waste management, industrial pollution and river front development.

The

National Mission for Clean

Ganga

is supported by States Level Program Management Groups including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal, which are states where the river flows.

Slide24

2014

India’s Clean Ganga Project was put into effect in 2014 initiated by the Jhatkaa and the

Sankat

Mochan

Foundations

.

India’s 14

th prime minister, Narendra Modi, who took office May of 2014  has pledged to clean the river by 2019. Sewage treatment plants are to be constructed along the Ganges and the supreme court has shut down 48 industrial sites along the river whose run-off causes pollution. Additionally, stretches along the river have been coined “eco-sensitive” (Ray, 2016).

Slide25

2015

The Namami Gange Program, part of the National Mission for Clean Gange, was approved in May of 2015.

The

Namami

Gange

Program is initiated by the National Mission for Clean

Ganga

and the States Level Program Management Groups.

Focuses on sewage and wastewater treatment.

Slide26

Me

“

Bathing in the Ganges is only for the strong-hearted or those with blind faith

”

Me: “And tourists”

Slide27

Q&A

Which is more important: religious traditions such as offerings to the gods and cremation along the banks or a clean, sanitary river that does not cause water-borne disease to locals who depend on it as a lifeline?

Is there

a solution that accommodates both religion and protection of the

environment?

Any Ideas?