Kumbh Mela: Heed water quality alerts

It is the UP government’s duty to protect the teeming millions from health hazards.

It is no surprise that the quality of water at the Sangam in Prayagraj, where the ritual bathing during the Kumbh Mela takes place, has been found wanting in cleanliness. Water in the Ganga has always been found unfit for human consumption and programmes such as the Namami Gange have not been able to make much impact. A report of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has now brought the matter to fresh focus and it assumes significance in view of the ongoing Kumbh Mela. The NGT has observed that the river’s water quality did not conform to “the primary water quality (stipulated) for bathing with reference to faecal coliform.’’ It said the large number of people bathing at Prayagraj eventually led to an increase in faecal concentration. The NGT’s observations were based on a report from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). 

The NGT is the country’s environmental watchdog with judicial powers and its observations and orders are important. Unfortunately, its orders are being disregarded. The tribunal has said that the UP Pollution Control Board UPPCB has not filed a comprehensive report as directed by it. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has dismissed as ‘’baseless’’ all scientific data showing the water as unclean and dismissed the numbers as “false propaganda”. 

He cited UPPCB data which showed biochemical oxygen demand and faecal coliform presence within tolerable limits. But it transpired that UPPCB’s data pre-dated the Maha Kumbh, and the state body has told the tribunal that fresh samples would be collected for study. The NGT orders also mentioned the Yamuna. The tribunal’s orders were based on a petition about the pollution of both the Ganga and the Yamuna with specific reference to the Kumbh Mela.

The UP government has claimed that 50 crore people would take a dip in the Ganga during the Kumbh Mela. While the devout hope to attain spiritual health through their participation in the Kumbh Mela, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that no physical health hazard is posed to them. The faecal coliform level was found many times the tolerable limit, and the disclosure was made by a reliable scientific body of the government and subsequently endorsed by a judicial body. It is wrong to deny such facts and claim that bringing them into the public sphere is motivated action. The government has denied or tried to suppress anything negative about the Kumbh Mela. That will only mar the credit that should go to it for conducting such a mammoth programme involving the participation of millions of people over so many days.