River Pollution Gyanesh Sinha Fms

Integrated River Management Systems

Presentation for: Ignite Round, Ashwamedha, Ahvan 09, IIM Indore

Presentation by:

Gyanesh Sinha, FMS Delhi

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

1 The state of River Pollution in India

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….  89 million litres of sewage is daily disposed into Ganga from the 12 municipal towns that fall along its route till Haridwar Ganga

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

Yamuna

Failure of river action plans

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

Need to look beyond the ineffective conventional policies and strategies. Need for alternate, innovative and integrated approaches to be implemented

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2 River pollution management in India- An overview

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” Classification of Rivers  A : Drinking water source without conventional treating but after disinfection  B: Outdoor bathing (Organized)  C: Drinking water source with conventional treating followed by disinfection

Summary status on polluting industries Units Closed 36%

Not performing Satisfactori ly 25%

 D: Propagation of Wildlife and Fisheries  E: Irrigation, Industrial cooling and controlled waste disposal Performing Satisfactori ly 39%

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

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3 An analytical evaluation of the problem

Analysis of available options to tackle river pollution problem shows tha public private partnerships and community programs are the feasible strategies Evaluation of different options

Government Initiatives

Impact

PPP Community Programs 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

Ease of implementation

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4 The 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`` Integrated community based river management

Technological innovation

Solution

Awareness

Implementation

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5 The solution- Creating Awareness

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 Creating Awareness 1 Identifying pollution hot spots 2 Community drives to investigate causes

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Awareness sessions delineating impact of the pollution

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Public private participation to design community specific solutions

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Constant feedback and Iterations in the recommendations

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6 The solution- Technological innovation

Adopting technology is a key consideration for fighting debilitating environmental changes. This solution also works on the back bone of technology.. Technological Innovation 1

Creation of social media channels for specific communities

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Developing integrated Water harvesting solutions to lessen the burden on Rivers

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Installation of RFID based early warning systems for threat response

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Public private participation to design community specific solutions

5 Adoption of advanced sewage treatment plants for residential and commercial spaces

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7 The solution- Implementation

Implementation will be of critical importance in the solution. The focus will be on creating responsibility ownerships with communities Implementation 1 Creation of community and Student forums for river restoration 2 Segmentation of river banks on the basis of sewage disposal to create ownership 3 Creation of a separate canal, to facilitate religious activities 4 Creation of data center for seamless exchange of weather and environmental information

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8 Benefits and Challenges

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. Key benefits

Key challenges

 Increased community participation will ensure long term solution building

 Involving communities as the river water quality is a public good

 Public private partnerships will ensure participation from industries and will help them mitigate the adverse effects of water pollution norms

 Involving factories and industry owners  Funds to carry on the technological upgrading, for datacenters and for running daily operations

 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

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Thank You

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