river pollution gyanesh sinha fms

River pollution-Ignite-Ashwamedha-Ahvan 09-IIM Indore

Presentation for:

Ignite Round, Ashwamedha, Ahvan 09, IIM Indore

Presentation by:

Gyanesh Sinha, FMS Delhi

Integrated River Management Systems

2River pollution-Ignite-Ashwamedha-Ahvan 09-IIM Indore

India is undergoing severe river water pollution crisis, with all major rivers listed as world’s

most polluted rivers. The recent government initiatives have also failed to deliver….

1 The state of River Pollution in India

Ganga

Yamuna

Failure of

river action

plans

89 million litres of sewage is daily disposed into Ganga from the 12 municipal towns that

fall along its route till Haridwar

In Varanasi, India's most sacred city, the coliform bacterial count is at least 3,000 times

higher than the standard established as safe by the United Nations world Health

Organization

Ganges Action Plan (GAP). Launched in 1985, the ambitious project was meant to

clean up India's most important river. But after 12 years of work and $300 million in

funding, the GAP has achieved few of its objectives. A recent study found that the

amount of sewage flowing into the Ganges has doubled since 1985, while a government

audit found evidence of widespread corruption in siphoning off funds earmarked for the

project.

Almost 57% of the New Delhi’s waste is dumped into the river Yamuna

Yamuna has become one of the most polluted rivers in the world

Need to look beyond the ineffective conventional policies and strategies. Need for alternate, innovative and

integrated approaches to be implemented


The rivers in India have been classified on the basis of their pollution levels. With almost

25% of the polluting industries still continuing, all major rivers have become category “D”

2 River pollution management in India- An overview

A : Drinking water source without conventional

treating but after disinfection

B: Outdoor bathing (Organized)

C: Drinking water source with conventional

treating followed by disinfection

D: Propagation of Wildlife and Fisheries

E: Irrigation, Industrial cooling and controlled

waste disposal

Classification of Rivers Summary status on polluting industries

Not performing Satisfactori

ly 25%

Performing Satisfactori

ly39%

Units Closed

36%

Most rivers in India are so polluted that they

have been categorized as “D”. Even Ganga

and Yamuna are category “D” rivers

At least 25% of the polluting industries are still

unsatisfactorily controlling effluents leading to

a severe pollution problem


Analysis of available options to tackle river pollution problem shows tha public private

partnerships and community programs are the feasible strategies

3 An analytical evaluation of the problem

Evaluation of different options

Imp

act

Ease of implementation

Community

Programs

Government

Initiatives

PPP

Individual

initiatives

On the basis of Impact and ease of

implementation of strategies, it can

be seen that though government

initiatives can have the highest

impact , they are the most difficult

to implement. On the other hand

Individual initiatives are easiest to

implement but are low on impact.

This leads to basic strategies

which are PPP and community

programs which will form the basis

of the recommended solution


A three pronged solution is recommended based on the analysis of options. The solution

will involve creating awareness, adopting new technology and effective implementation``

4 The Solution

Integrated community based river management

Solution

Awareness Implementation

Technological

innovation


There are five basic steps in creating awareness in the area of river pollution and its impact.

These steps will be carried out with the help of community groups

5 The solution- Creating Awareness

Creating Awareness

Identifying pollution hot spots

Community drives to investigate causes

Awareness sessions delineating impact of the

pollution

Public private participation to design community

specific solutions

Constant feedback and Iterations in the

recommendations

1

2

3

4

5


Adopting technology is a key consideration for fighting debilitating environmental changes.

This solution also works on the back bone of technology..

6 The solution- Technological innovation

Technological Innovation

Creation of social media channels for specific

communities

Developing integrated Water harvesting solutions

to lessen the burden on Rivers

Installation of RFID based early warning systems

for threat response

Public private participation to design community

specific solutions

Adoption of advanced sewage treatment plants for

residential and commercial spaces

1

2

3

4

5


Implementation will be of critical importance in the solution. The focus will be on creating

responsibility ownerships with communities

7 The solution- Implementation

Implementation

Creation of community and Student forums for

river restoration

Segmentation of river banks on the basis of

sewage disposal to create ownership

Creation of a separate canal, to facilitate religious

activities

Creation of data center for seamless exchange of

weather and environmental information

1

2

3

4


Some key benefits of the solution is that it will have a long term impact by creating

sustainable model. However, eliciting participation from communities is the key challenge.

8 Benefits and Challenges

Increased community participation will ensure

long term solution building

Public private partnerships will ensure

participation from industries and will help them

mitigate the adverse effects of water pollution

norms

The integrated solution will help in knowledge

transfer across other regions with similar river

pollution crisis

Implementation of technologies such as RFIDs

will ensure preemptive measures in case of

abnormalities

Feedback and iterative recommendations will

ensure that the solution is contemporarized

Key benefits

Involving communities as the river water quality

is a public good

Involving factories and industry owners

Funds to carry on the technological

upgrading, for datacenters and for running daily

operations

Key challenges

River pollution-Ignite-Ashwamedha-Ahvan 09-IIM Indore

Thank You

river pollution gyanesh sinha fms

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