WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR GANGA RIVER BASIN COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN AND GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

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1 WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR GANGA RIVER BASIN COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN AND GOVERNMENT OF INDIA BRIJESH SIKKA Additional Director, Ministry of Environment and Forests, National River Conservation Directorate, Paryavaran Bhawan, CGO Complex, Lodi Road, New Delhi , India HIROTAKA SATO Tokyo Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd., Fuji Building, 7-4 Kasumigaseki, 3-Chome, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo , Japan KUNIO ISHIKAWA CTI Engineering International Co., Ltd., 23 rd Chuo Building, 4-2 Nihombashi, Kodemmacho, Chuo-Ku, Tokyo , Japan ALOK KUMAR Tokyo Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd., Fuji Building, 7-4 Kasumigaseki, 3-Chome, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo , Japan Ganga Basin, the largest river basin of Republic of India, is supporting nearly 40 percent of the country s population. River Ganga and its tributaries, besides being a source of water supply and irrigation, are also regarded as sacred rivers and extensively used for bathing by millions of people. The mounting pollution of river Ganga and its tributaries due to increased human and industrial activities has adversely affected the human health and biodiversity of the eco-system. To control further pollution and improve the river water quality, the Government of India is implementing the Ganga Action Plan (GAP). The first phase of GAP, which was launched in 1985 has been completed, while the second phase is presently under implementation. Under the programme, schemes pertaining to interception and diversion of sewage, sewage and effluent treatment plants, low cost sanitation, solid waste management, crematoria, afforestation and river front development are being implemented. The Government of Japan is collaborating with Government of India on this important programme by providing assistance through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for taking up a Development Study relating to Water Quality Management Plan for Ganga River Basin. The Study focuses on formulation of the water quality Master Plan (M/P) for the four large and important towns of Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi (which are situated in the highly polluted middle stretch of river Ganga) and Lucknow (which is situated on river Gomti, a major tributary of Ganga). The Study is being carried out by the JICA Study Team in close cooperation with the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD), Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India; Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB); Uttar Pradesh (UP) State 1

2 Government; UP Pollution Control Board; UP Water Board (UP Jal Nigam) and various local bodies/municipal organizations in the four towns. Local NGOs and beneficiaries in the four towns are also being actively involved in Study to make the programme more sustainable. INTRODUCTION Ganga River Basin River Ganga originates from Gangotri in the Himalayas and traverses a distance of approximately 2500km before discharging into the Bay of Bengal (Figure 1). Ganga and its tributaries are regarded as sacred rivers and used extensively for bathing by the people apart from serving as the source of water supply and irrigation. 2 Figure 1. Ganga River Basin showing river Ganga and its tributaries The catchment area of Ganga Basin is about 840,000km 2 (25% of the country s landmass) and nearly 400 million people live in the basin (Table 1). The river basin is characterized by diversified cultural and religious activities along riverbanks and is populated by people with significant variation in socio-economic conditions. Due to population pressure (Table 1) as well as increased human and industrial activities, Ganga and its major tributaries have become significantly polluted during the past couple of decades.

3 3 Table 1. River System Wise Population and Population Density River System Population (million) Total Area (km 2 ) Population Density (person/km 2 ) Main Towns Upper Ganga , Hardwar, Rishikesh Middle Ganga , Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi Lower Ganga , Patna, Kolkata Upper Yamuna , Delhi, Agra Lower Yamuna , Jaipur, Indore, Bhopal Gomti , Lucknow Total , National River Conservation Plan As a first step towards cleaning polluted rivers, the Government of India in 1985 launched the GAP Phase I covering 25 major towns having population above 100,000. GAP Phase I was extended in 1993 to cover the major tributaries of river Ganga, namely Yamuna and Gomti. Subsequently, the river conservation activities were extended to other rivers of the country and the programme was renamed as National River Conservation Plan (NRCP). Presently, river pollution abatement works under NRCP are being implemented in 158 towns along polluted stretches of 31 major rivers (including rivers Ganga and Gomti) in 18 States at a cost of around US$ 1 billion. NRCD, a wing of the Ministry of Environment & Forests is providing assistance to various State Governments for implementing the NRCP. The primary focus of NRCP is on interception and diversion of municipal sewage flowing into the river and its treatment for safe disposal either into a natural water body or its application on land for irrigation. The other components of the programme are provision of low cost sanitation units to prevent open defecation in unsewered areas, installation of crematoria to control pollution from dumping of unburnt/half-burnt bodies into the river, river front/bathing ghat development at places of mass congregation on the river banks and afforestation. Industrial pollution is being controlled through regulation of environmental laws. The water quality of the rivers is being monitored at selected stations to gauge the impact of these schemes. In addition, institutional development of various local and state level agencies and public awareness/participation is being encouraged in order to make the program sustainable and successful. While formulating various schemes, emphasis is also being laid on resource recovery from the sewage treatment plants, viz. generation of power through biogas produced, use of treated effluent for irrigation & pisciculture, and use of digested sludge as a fertilizer. The CPCB has classified the various rivers in the country into five categories (Class A to Class E) based on their designated best use, with Class A being the best. Under the NRCP, the objective is to attain the desired class of water quality for the various rivers. For river Ganga, the objective is to attain Class B (outdoor bathing) level of water quality (ph , DO>5mg/l, BOD<3mg/l, Faecal Coliform 500 MPN/100ml-desirable and 2500 MPN/100ml maximum allowable).

4 Under GAP Phase I, only about 35 % of the present pollution load of river Ganga could be tackled. Under the second phase of GAP, which is presently being implemented by the Government as a part of NRCP, only a portion of the balance pollution load is proposed to be tackled due to financial constraints. As a result, the impact of the initiatives taken by the Government to improve the water quality has not been realized to the desired extent. Thus, there was a need for formulation of a detailed and cost effective Master Plan to ensure attainment of objectives of GAP by optimum utilization of the available resources. OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY In response to a request from Government of India and considering the importance of the project, the Government of Japan agreed to provide assistance through the JICA for taking up a Development Study on Water Quality Management Plan for Ganga River Basin. This study is aimed towards preparation of the master plan for pollution abatement of river Ganga with the following objectives: (i) to formulate the Master Plan (M/P) for water quality management for Ganga River focusing primarily on liquid waste in the four major towns of Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi and Lucknow, and (ii) to conduct the Feasibility Study (F/S) for the priority projects in these four towns. The pollution level of river Ganga and its tributaries is comparatively higher in the middle stretch because of low river flow due to abstraction of river water in upper reaches for irrigation resulting in lower dilution effect and higher pollutant contribution from towns located in this densely populated zone. Therefore, the four large and rapidly expanding towns (having population growth rate of 2-3% per annum) in the middle part of Ganga Basin, i.e., Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad and Lucknow, which are major sources of pollution to the river, have been selected for this Study. Of the selected towns, Lucknow is the capital of Uttar Pradesh State with a population of around 2.4million. The city is located along the bank of the river Gomti, one of the major tributaries of Ganga. The town of Kanpur, situated on the bank of Ganga, is the biggest city of Uttar Pradesh having a population of 2.9million and is an important center of commercial and industrial activities. Allahabad, with a population of 1.2million, is one of the sacred cities of Hinduism. It is located at the confluence of two of India s holiest rivers, the Ganga and the Yamuna called Sangam, which is the venue of many sacred fairs and rituals, and attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims throughout the year. This number swells to millions during the Kumbh Mela and the Ardh Kumbh Mela that are celebrated alternatively once every six years for a duration of about one and a half months. Varanasi, having a population of 1.3million and also situated on the bank of river Ganga, is one of the oldest towns in the world and the ultimate pilgrimage for Hindus. The river is a part and parcel of everyday life in the town and thousands of people bathe daily in the river along the famous seven kilometers stretch of ancient ghats of the town. 4

5 5 APPROACH OF THE STUDY The basic approach of this Study consists of the following steps: (i) collection of available data relating to basin characteristics, river flow, sewage generation, population, etc., for the Ganga Basin as a whole and for the four selected towns (ii) inventorization of the data collected using GIS for efficient database management (iii) river water quality modeling and simulation for various scenarios (iv) formulation of M/P for sewerage and non-sewerage components for the four towns (v) preparation of F/S for the priority projects in these four towns RIVER WATER POLLUTION STUDY Inventory preparation using GIS/Database management The Ganga River Basin is divided into 38 sub-basins for the purpose of modeling river systems and estimating water quality. Large amount of information and data of the river basin, including the four towns, was collected and linked with the maps generated. The prepared inventory includes data on sub-basin boundary, population, livestock, land use, meteorological data, water quality for locations monitored by CPCB and SPCBs, wastewater generation, present treatment capacity available, industrial pollution, etc. The information/data and maps have been stocked in a user-friendly GIS data management system developed by the JICA Study Team. Users can easily access the database, query the data, report the queried results and also view the presentation of the data on maps. Calculated and simulated results such as the estimated pollution load, estimated future water quality could also be queried and viewed on the maps. For the purpose of M/P and F/S preparation, the existing condition in the four towns has been reviewed and investigated and relevant data and maps/drawings have also been collected for the components relating to sewerage and drainage system, ghats, community toilets, laundry/dhobi-ghat activities, crematoria, etc. Wastewater quality estimation on basin scale There are 101 Class I cities (those with population more than 100,000) and 122 Class II towns (those with population more than 50,000 and less than 100,000) in the Ganga Basin. In this basin where nearly 50% of the Class I cities and Class II towns are located on the riverbanks, the mode of discharge of municipal wastewater is mainly into the river systems. The recent survey of Class I and Class II cities indicated that about 8,250 MLD of wastewater is generated in the Ganga Basin, out of which treatment facilities are available only for 3,500 MLD of wastewater. Pollution of water bodies is mostly from point sources such as discharge of untreated domestic sewage from the fast growing urban cities/towns located along the banks, industrial effluents etc. and from non-point sources comprising runoff from open defecation, agricultural fields, cattle wallowing, disposal of dead bodies, etc. Using the

6 prepared inventory, pollution load runoff from different sources has been computed basin wide. It is observed that out of the total pollution load runoff reaching the river, 95% is from point sources, including 79% load from municipal sewage and 16% load from industries (Figure 2). The remaining 5% is contributed by nonpoint sources such as agricultural and forestry runoff, livestock, rural households, etc. The runoff of non-point pollution load is very small during the dry season and does not substantially affect the river water quality. However, in the wet season, the proportion of pollution load from different sources changes significantly and nonpoint sources also contribute a high ratio of pollutants to the river. 6 Non-point (households in rural areas) 2.1% Point (industry) 16.0% Non-point (livestock) 0.5% Non-point (agricultural runoff) 3.2% Point (municipal sewage from urban areas) 78.2% Figure 2. Pollutant loads from various sources in Ganga basin Pollution contribution from in-river activities such as cattle wallowing, washing of clothes, throwing of half-burnt/unburnt bodies and flowers, into the river is very minor but rather difficult to estimate. However, it is necessary to control pollution from these activities in order to maintain the aesthetics and hygienic condition of the river, especially along the bathing stretches. River water quality The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in coordination with the State Pollution Control Board monitors the river water quality at 101 monitoring stations in the entire basin, including 34 stations along river Ganga. Figure 3 shows the summer average BOD levels along the entire stretch of the river. While the river water quality in the upstream stretch is good due to high river flow and low pollution load, the condition worsens in the middle stretch (Kanpur to Varanasi) due to low river flow and large quantity of untreated sewage being discharged from the towns located along the river. In the downstream stretch the river water quality is not so bad despite significant pollution load due to higher flow available in the river as a result of large tributaries like Sone, Ghaghra, Burhi Gandak, etc. joining the Ganga [1]. Similarly, the BOD levels downstream of Lucknow range from 2.5 to 6.4 mg/l due to low river flow and discharge of untreated sewage from Lucknow into the river Gomti. Based on the detailed simulation of water quality carried out for various scenarios along the river stretch of Kanpur, Allahabad and Varanasi, it has been observed that even if the complete sewage from these three towns is treated, the water quality in river Ganga

7 7 cannot be maintained at the desired level. Therefore, to attain the river water quality up to desired level in river stretch along these three towns, pollution control measures would also need to be planned for the other towns located upstream of the three towns. River pollution abatement works in a majority of these towns are already being undertaken under GAP Phase II. However, efforts would also need to be made to address the issue of providing minimum river flow in the Kanpur-Varanasi stretch to ensure dilution. 10 Kanpur 90% Value 75% Value Average BOD (mg/l) 5 Rishikesh Allahabad Varanasi Bathing Standard Calcutta Patna Distance from River Head (km) Figure 3. Summer average values of BOD concentration along the stretch of River Ganga ( ) MASTER PLAN AND FEASIBILITY STUDY PREPARATION IN 4 TOWNS The results of water pollution study indicate that the major source of river pollution is the discharge of untreated municipal sewage from large towns located on the river banks. In the four towns covered under the Study, only about 30% of the sewage generated in these towns is being treated at present, with the remaining 70% flowing untreated into the river. Frequent interruption in power supply (despite diesel generators being installed) leads to disruption in pumping and treatment of sewage making the problem worse. In addition, problems in the sewerage collection system such as choking of sewers due to solid waste, inadequate sewer cleaning, broken sewers resulting in bypassing of flow, inadequate carrying capacity of sewers, etc. result in sewage finding its way into the river through storm water/surface drains. To arrest the discharge of untreated sewage to the river, intermediate/long term plans, including immediate measures are now being prepared. The immediate measures would include provision of interceptor sewers and pumping stations to tap storm water drains flowing into the river, increasing the capacity of sewage treatment plants (STPs) and ensuring continuous supply of electricity. The intermediate/long term approach would include development of the internal sewerage system in the town, re-connection of secondary sewers to trunk sewers, provision of new trunk sewers and sewerage facilities for developed and developing areas, prevention of solid waste dumping into sewers,

8 periodical sewer cleaning and providing appropriate on-site treatment for non-sewered communities. The immediate measures will be integrated with the long-term plan. Various alternatives of the sewerage system comprising zoning options, treatment options, location of facilities, etc. are being evaluated and compared to select the most appropriate alternative for a particular town. Factors such as reliability, compatibility, feasibility and impact on downstream users are also considered while comparing the various options. The treatment technology for each location is being chosen based on the life cycle cost comparison (including capital, land and capitalized O&M costs) of the various feasible options and availability of land. Treatment technologies such as waste stabilization ponds (WSP), aerated lagoon (AL), up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) with adequate post treatment, activated sludge (AS) and fluidized aerobic bioreactor (FAB), etc. with various disinfection options are being considered. For sustainable and proper operation and maintenance of the facilities to be installed under the project it is intended to prepare the plan for institutional development & capacity building and financial strengthening of the local municipal bodies. In addition, other measures to improve the sanitary conditions in unsewered areas and along the bathing ghats as well as to reduce the river pollution, are being prepared. These comprise of river front/bathing ghat development, low cost sanitation units, programme to shift dhobis who wash clothes in the river to inland area, environmental/hygiene education plan through public participation/awareness program, etc. A plan will also be prepared for monitoring of river water quality, performance of STPs and impact of the pollution abatement measures as well as appropriate enforcement of regulations to control industrial pollution. The Study period is from March 2003 to March, 2005.The target year of the M/P is 2030 and a phased implementation plan will be worked out. F/S of the priority projects identified in M/P will be undertaken after finalization of M/P. The projects prepared under the Study would be subsequently posed to various donor agencies for funding. The work being done under the Study will go a long way in improving the health and water quality in the river basin stretches. Also, the approach adopted in this Study could be replicated in other river basins. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors would like to extend their gratitude to JICA and Government of Japan for providing all financial and technical assistance in this Study. The authors also express their appreciation for all assistance provided by Government of India, Government of UP and its agencies during the Study. REFERENCES [1] JICA, The study on water quality management plan for Ganga River in the Republic of India, Progress Report, (July 2003). [2] NRCD, Ministry of Environment and Forests, MIS report of programmes under NRCP, (January 2004). 8