Maha Kumbh 2025: Ganga water was fit for bathing, govt tells Parliament

The central government informed Parliament that the water at Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj was fit for bathing during the recently concluded Maha Kumbh, citing a new report from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Business Standard reported. 

The government also revealed that it had allocated a total of ₹7,421 crore to the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) for river cleaning efforts across three financial years—2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25 (until March 9).

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav stated that CPCB’s report found key water quality indicators—pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and faecal coliform (FC)—to be within permissible limits for bathing. An earlier CPCB report, dated February 3, had informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that water at several locations in Prayagraj did not meet primary bathing water quality standards due to high faecal coliform levels.

Union Carbide waste: Third and final disposal trial ends

The third and final incineration trial of hazardous waste from Union Carbide Bhopal factory ended Wednesday at ReSustainability’s waste disposal facility at Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh, reported the Indian Express citing Pollution Control Board. A total of 30 tonnes of the 337 metric tonnes of hazardous waste transported from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal to Pithampur in early January was incinerated starting February 28, the newspaper reported. The emissions of pollutants and gases monitored for all trials were within prescribed limits as per MPPCB’s continuous monitoring.

On December 3, the court had directed the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department to clean up Union Carbide factory site and take all remedial steps for removal and safe disposal of the waste from the area concerned.

Yamuna River ‘virtually non-existent’ in Delhi, says parliamentary panel report

The Yamuna River is “virtually non-existent” in Delhi and even if the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) treats all its sewage it would still stay polluted due to the lack of freshwater flow downstream of Wazirabad, Indian Express reported citing parliamentary standing committee findings. The panel’s report ‘Review of Upper Yamuna River Cleaning Project Up to Delhi and River Bed Management in Delhi’ was tabled in Parliament. 

The panel noted that the river was “virtually non-existent” in Delhi due to insufficient dissolved oxygen levels “which indicate whether the river is alive or not”. For years the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, and centre have focused on capacity of sewage treatment plants (STPs) and common effluent treatment plants but the key concern of maintaining an adequate environmental flow remains unaddressed, the committee’s findings revealed.

The panel observed that “there is almost nil environmental flow available at downstream of Wazirabad Barrage during 9 out of 12 months in a year…”.

The National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) had recommended increasing the e-flow to 23 cumecs in the lean season, but the Haryana government had refused citing the 1994 inter-state water-sharing agreement which is to be reviewed after 2025. The panel found that 23 out of 33 locations on Yamuna River (six in Haryana and Delhi each, and 11 in Uttar Pradesh) are not suitable for bathing. The panel recommended controlled dredging to resolve the issue of the presence of heavy metals like lead, copper, zinc, nickel, cadmium and chromium in the Yamuna riverbed. The panel noted there was lack of data on the unauthorised industries operating in Delhi as well as the pollution caused by open pyres (only one electric/CNG crematorium exists near Yamuna’s banks).

Delhi continues to be most polluted capital; 13 out of 20 most polluted cities found in India

The World Air Quality Report 2024 by Swiss air quality technology firm IQAir revealed that 13 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are located in India, with Byrnihat in Meghalaya claiming the top spot, DTE reported. The report added that Delhi continues to hold the title of the most polluted capital city globally. India has been ranked as the fifth most polluted country in 2024, a slight improvement from its third-place position in 2023. India experienced a 7% reduction in PM2.5 concentrations in 2024, with levels averaging 50.6 micrograms per cubic metre, down from 54.4 micrograms per cubic metre in 2023. 

Delhi’s air quality remained alarmingly poor, with an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 91.6 micrograms per cubic metre, barely lower than the 92.7 micrograms per cubic metre recorded in 2023, the report said. The 13 Indian cities featured in the global top 20 most polluted list include Byrnihat, Delhi, Mullanpur (Punjab), Faridabad, Loni, New Delhi, Gurugram, Ganganagar, Greater Noida, Bhiwadi, Muzaffarnagar, Hanumangarh, and Noida.

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