Rivers have been used as a source of water, for obtaining food, for transport, as a defensive measure, as a source of hydropower

to drive machinery, for bathing, and as a means of disposing of waste. Rivers have been used for navigation for thousands of years. The earliest evidence of navigation is found in the Indus Valley Civilization, which existed in north-western Pakistan around 3300 BC. Riverine navigation provides a cheap means of transport, and is still used extensively on most major rivers of the world like the Amazon, the Ganges, the Nile, the Mississippi, and the Indus. Since river boats are often not regulated, they contribute a large amount to global greenhouse gas emissions, and to local cancer due to inhaling of particulates emitted by the transports. In some heavily forested regions such as Scandinavia and Canada, lumberjacks use the river to float felled trees downstream to lumber camps for further processing, saving much effort and cost by transporting the huge heavy logs by natural means. Rivers have been a source of food since pre-history. River can provide a rich source of fish and other edible aquatic life, and are a major source of fresh water, which can be used for drinking and irrigation. It is therefore no surprise to find most of the major cities of the world situated on the banks of rivers. Rivers help to determine the urban form of cities and neighbourhoods and their corridors often present opportunities for urban renewal through the development of foreshore ways such as River walks. Rivers also provide an easy means of disposing of waste-water and in much of the less developed world, other wastes. Fast flowing rivers and waterfalls are widely used as sources of energy, via watermills and hydroelectric plants. Evidence of watermills shows them in use for many hundreds of years such as in Orkney at Dounby click mill. In the 1890s the first machines to generate power from river water were established at places such as Crag side in Northumberland. The coarse sediments, gravel and sand, generated and moved by rivers are extensively used in construction. In parts of the world this can generate extensive new lake habitats as gravel pits re-fill with water.

Most of the Indian rivers and their tributaries viz., Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari, Krishna, Sone, Cauvery Damodar and Brahmaputra are reported to be grossly polluted due to discharge of untreated sewage disposal and industrial effluents directly into the rivers. These wastes usually contain a wide variety of organic and inorganic pollutants including solvents, oils, grease, plastics, plasticizers, phenols, heavy metals, pesticides and suspended solids. The indiscriminate dumping and release of wastes containing the above mentioned hazardous substances into rivers might lead to environmental disturbance which could be considered as a potential source of stress to biotic community. As for example, River Ganges alone receives sewage of 29 class I cities situated on its banks and the industrial effluents of about 300 small, medium, and big industrial units throughout its whole course of approximately 2525 kms. Identically Yamuna is another major river, has also been threatened with pollution in Delhi and Ghaziabad area. Approximately 5,15,000 kilolitres of sewage waste water is reported to be discharged in the river Yamuna daily. In addition, there arc about 1,500 medium and small industrial units which also contribute huge amounts of untreated or partially treated effluent to the river Yamuna every day. Similarly many other rivers were surveyed during past two decades with respect to their pollutional status. In addition to domestic and industrial discharge into the rivers, there were continued surface run off of agricultural areas, mines and even from cremation on the river banks. According to a report, over 32 thousand dead bodies were cremated at the major burning Ghats per year in Varanasi alone in the year 1984.

The pollutants include oils, greases, plastics, plasticizers, metallic wastes, suspended solids, toxins, acids, salts, dyes, pesticides etc. Many of these pollutants are not easily susceptible to degradation and thus cause serious pollution problems. Contamination of ground water and fish-kill episodes are the major effects of the toxic discharges from industries. Discharge of untreated sewage and industrial effluents leads to number of conspicuous effects on the river environment. The impact involves gross changes in water quality viz. reduction in dissolved oxygen and reduction in light penetration thats tends loss in self purification capability of river w ater. Environmental implications of the discharge of sewage and industrial effluents S.N. Factor Principal environmental effect Potential ecological consequences Remedial action 1. High biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) caused by bacterial breakdown of organic matter Reduction in dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration Elimination of sensitive species, increase in some tolerant species; change in the community structure Pre-treatment of effluent, ensure adequate dilution Partial biodegradation of proteins and other nitrogenous material Elevated ammonia concentration; increased nitrite and nitrate levels Elimination of intolerant species, reduction in sensitive species Improved treatment to ensure complete nitrification; nutrient stripping possible but expensive Release of suspended solid matter Increased turbidity and reduction of light penetration Reduced photosynthesis of submerge plants; abrasion of gills or interference with normal feeding behavior Deposition of organic sludges in slower water Release of methane and hydrogen as sulphide matter decomposes anoxically, Modification of substratum by blanket of sludge Elimination of normal benthic community loss of interstitial species; increase in the species able to exploit increased food source

The Ganga Basin, the largest river basin of the country, houses about 40 percent of population of India. During the course of its journey, municipal sewages from 29 Class-I cities (cities with population over 1,00,000), 23 Class II cities (cities with population between 50,000 and 1,00,000) and about 48 towns, effluents from industries and polluting wastes from several other non-point sources are discharged into the river Ganga resulting in its pollution. The NRCD records, as mentioned in audit report, put the estimates of total sewage generation in towns along river Ganga and its tributaries as 5044 MLD (Million Litres per Day). According to the Central Pollution Control Board Report of 2001, the total wastewater generation on the Ganga basin is about 6440 MLD. Many towns on the bank of the Ganga are highly industrialised. Most of the industries have inadequate effluent treatment facilities and dump their wastes directly into the river. A high concentration of tanneries in Kanpur has further aggravated the situation. Besides other chemical and textile industries, Kanpur has 151 tanneries located in a cluster at Jajmau along the southern bank of the Ganga with an estimated waste water discharge of 5.8 to 8.8 million litres per day. Out of 151 tanneries in Jajmau, 62 tanneries use exclusively the chrome tanning process, 50 tanneries use vegetable tanning processes, and 38 tanneries use both chrome and vegetable tanning. The Indian government under the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) has implemented several schemes for the abatement of pollution of the Ganga by tanneries

Projects worth Rs2,600 crore sanctioned to save Ganga, Government :Projects worth Rs2,600 crore have been sanctioned by the government to ensure that by 2020, no untreated sewage and industrial effluent flow into the Ganga river, siad Lok Sabha. The projects will be implemented and supervised by National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) which has been set up the government to ensure effective abatement of pollution and conservation of Ganga by adopting a holistic approach. In a written reply, Environment and Forest Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said, "The NGRBA has decided that under Mission Clean Ganga it will be ensured that by 2020 no untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluent flow into Ganga." Projects amounting to nearly Rs2600 crore have been sanctioned so far under the NGRBA for development of sewer networks, sewage treatment plant, electric crematoria, community toilets and development of river fronts in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. "A World Bank-assisted project to be implemented over a period of eight years at an estimated cost of Rs7000 crore has also been approved for conservation and restoration of water quality of the river Ganga," Natarajan said. Replying to a question on efforts to check pollution in Yamuna river, she said an expenditure of Rs711.05 crore has been incurred under the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) till date. "YAP-II was approved in 2003 at an estimated cost of Rs624 crore with major items of works such as rehabilitation of sewerage network and sewerage treatment plants," she said. Observing that Yamuna has not shown the desired improvement due to gap between generation and treatment of sewage as also the lack of availability of fresh water in the river during the lean period, she said the pollution in the river is also because of bathing ghats, open defecation and run off from catchment areas.

The Ganga action plan was, launched by Shri Rajeev Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India on 14 Jan. 1986 with the main objective of pollution abatement, to improve the water quality by Interception, Diversion and treatment of domestic sewage and present toxic and industrial chemical wastes from identified grossly polluting units entering in to the river. The other objectives of the Ganga Action Plan are as under. Control of non-point pollution from agricultural run off, human defecation, cattle wallowing and throwing of unburnt and half burnt bodies into the river. New technology of sewage treatment like Up-flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) and sewage treatment through afforestation has been successfully developed. Rehabilitation of soft-shelled turtles for pollution abatement of river have been demonstrated and found useful. Resource recovery options like production of methane for energy generation and use of aquaculture for revenue generation have been demonstrated. To act as trend setter for taking up similar action plans in other grossly polluted stretches in other rivers. The ultimate objective of the GAP is to have an approach of integrated river basin management considering the various dynamic inter-actions between abiotic and biotic eco-system. Under NRCP scheme the CPCB had conducted river basin studies and had identified 19 gross polluted stretches and 14 less polluted stretches along 19 rivers, which include 11 stretches situated along 7 rivers of M.P.

Daily Mail: When it comes to conservation of river Ganga, the government seems to be moving at snails pace. Even 10 months after issuing a notification to declare 135 km stretch of the river from its origin at Gaumukh as ecosensitive zone (ESZ), the ministry of environment and forests has failed to finalise it. The three month mandatory period for receiving comments and suggestions on the draft expired in October last year but the final version of the notification is yet to be published. The notification was issued in response to agitation by environmental and social groups in Uttarakhand. As part of the effort to restore ecology of the river from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi, work was stopped on three major hydroelectric dams coming up in this stretch. But now the notification has not only been stalled, demands for restarting the work on shelved dams have also resurfaced. The notification was aimed at maintenance of environmental flow and ecology of the river. The zone would cover 100 metres area on either banks and restrict or prohibit activities like drawing water for industrial activities, mining, stone quarrying and crushing, discharge of waste and industrial effluents into the river. BJP government in Uttarakhand opposed the notification saying it would hinder development activities, while green groups were unhappy because construction of hydropower plants upto 25 MW capacity was permitted in the proposed zone. Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan this week assured environmental groups that final version of the notification would be prepared keeping in mind suggestions made by them. However, she may find it tough to do so because the new Congress government headed by Vijay Bahuguna, much like the BJP governments of the past, is a votary of new power projects on the Ganga. Meanwhile, G.D. Agrawal former IIT professor now known as Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand has resumed his fast to press for his demand to scrap all hydropower projects in the hills. He had broken his fast last month on assurance that the National Ganga River Basin Authority headed by the Prime Minister would discuss his demands.

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