Srinagar, Dev Prayag towns add to problem

Sandeep Rawat

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, October 25

It’s not just ghats of Haridwar or Varanasi where one can see filth, garbage, polythene bags, domestic waste and leftovers polluting the Ganga, but even the Alaknanda riverbank in the upper region of Srinagar in Pauri Garhwal presents a similar scene. Heaps of garbage are being dumped by local people, pilgrims and tourists as well as Srinagar Municipal Committee sanitation workers at the banks of the Alaknanda.

The amount of garbage being dumped at the banks of the Alaknanda has increased manifold due to mushrooming of several residential colonies, hotels and guesthouses at Srinagar town. A considerable amount of liquid and solid waste from the town is being littered along the Alaknanda banks.

Ironically, the Srinagar Municipal Committee has constructed a garbage dumping yard and a sewage treatment plant (STP) near the riverbank. The garbage dumped here everyday slowly makes its way into the river.

Notably, post-flash floods of 2013, the threat of waterborne diseases always loomed large and for which a large scale cleanliness drive was carried out. RK Rohela, the then Jal Sansthan Executive Engineer at Pauri, says besides filtering the river water, bleaching powder and chlorine were used to clean it as human bodies and animal carcasses in a large number were found floating in the Alaknanda.

Also, the river water gets contaminated due to heavy silt during the monsoon every year, for which we do regular filtering, desilting and chlorination of potable water to be supplied to consumers. 

The Alaknanda meets the Bhagirathi at Dev Prayag and henceforth the two rivers are called Ganga.

A large number of resorts, hotels, guesthouses, eateries and shops have come up at Dev Prayag and their garbage, filth and sewage flow directly into the two rivers. The lack of proper sewage treatment plants at Srinagar, Kirtinagar and Dev Prayag is adding to pollution in the two rivers.

GVK Power project has compounded woes

The 330 MW Alaknanda Hydropower project of GVK Power is also adding to pollution in the river, as the company dumps silt on the riverbanks barely a few hundred metres from Srinagar town. Human bodies and animal carcasses could sometimes be seen stuck at the barrage near the powerhouse.

Local MLA Ganesh Godiyal says the barrage is not being cleaned regularly and he has written a letter to the GVK Power management in this regard. Also, there is lack of sufficient water in the Alaknanda onward the hydropower project area. The power company is releasing minimal water with an aim to generate maximum power and profit and thus hurting the sanctity of the Alaknanda and the sentiments associated with her.

Social activist Sumit Yash Kalyan says since the hydropower project has been constructed on the Alaknanda, the river has lost its natural flow and quantity of water. Ever since the power project has started operating, there has been severe water scarcity in Srinagar and nearby villages, suburban towns and even Pauri town, 29 km from Srinagar.

A GVK Power spokesperson says as the Alaknanda Hydropower project is a run-of-the river project, the flow of the river after the powerhouse is somewhat reduced. However, he adds that in the near future, they will ensure substantial water availability in the further course of the Alaknanda.

Quarrying on riverbed

Local people are opposing large-scale illegal quarrying on the Alaknanda riverbed at Srinagar, as they relate the activity with the 2013 flash floods. Anti-quarrying activist Bhopal Singh Chaudhari, who is regularly holding protests against quarrying on the Alaknanda riverbed, says due to large scale illegal quarrying, danger to the lives of the people living in nearby areas has increased.

Virendra Bhandari, former students’ union president of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar, says the Union government and other agencies are holding cleanliness drives and implementing pollution control measures for the Ganga in Haridwar, Rishikesh, Kanpur, Allahabad, and Varanasi. A similar emphasis on cleanliness is also needed at Dev Prayag, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Karanprayag, Nandprayag and Vishnuprayag.

Funds for sewage treatment

Former Dev Prayag legislator Diwakar Bhatt says as Dev Prayag has been included in the Kumbh Mela notified zone, the state government should immediately sanction funds from the Ardh Kumbh budget for a sewage treatment plant, tapping of nullahs and biodigester toilets in the constituency.