Pollution Body's New Report Finds Maha Kumbh's Water Fit For Bathing. But There's A Catch

Despite initial concerns, the CPCB's new report indicates that the water in the Ganga and Yamuna rivers during the Maha Kumbh was fit for bathing.

A new report by CPCB submitted to NGT says the water quality during Maha Kumbh was fit for bathing.

Source : PTI

The Central Pollution Control Board has released new data on the water quality during the recently concluded Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, deeming the water fit for bathing. 

The new report submitted to the National Green Tribunal stated that the statistical analysis was necessitated because of "variability of data" in the samples collected from the same locations across different dates and on different locations on the same day, because of which these did not reflect the "overall river water quality throughout the river stretch", reported PTI. 

As per the report, dated February 28, and uploaded on the tribunal's website on March 7, CPCB conducted water monitoring twice a week from January 12 onwards. The samples were also collected on auspicious bathing days, at five locations on the Ganga river and two locations on the Yamuna river.

"There is significant variability in the values on various parameters, viz pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and faecal coliform count (FC) for the samples taken from the same location on different dates. The values of the afore-mentioned parameters also vary at different locations for the samples collected on the same day," the report said.

The DO is the amount of oxygen in water, BOD measures the amount of oxygen needed to break down organic matter in water and FC is a marker of sewage contamination. 

The report further said that the issue of "variability in data" was examined by an expert committee which said that "the data represents a snapshot of water quality at a specific location and time and may vary significantly depending upon factors such as upstream anthropogenic activities (human actions), rate of flow, depth of sampling, time of sampling, river current and mixing of currents, sampling location and such other multiple factors".

"As a result, these values reflect water quality parameters at the exact time and place from where these water samples were collected, and may not fully represent the overall characteristics of the river, therefore, not necessarily reflecting the overall river water quality throughout the river stretch," it said.

Earlier Report By CPCB 

The new report comes after the board had earlier informed the tribunal through a report on February 17 that the water quality at various locations in Prayagraj during the Maha Kumbh were not fit for bathing with respect to the level of faecal coliform.

"The river water quality was not conforming to the primary water quality for bathing with respect to faecal coliform at all the monitored locations on various occasions.

"A large number of people bathe in the river at Prayagraj during the Maha Kumbh Mela, including on auspicious bathing days, which eventually leads to an increase in faecal concentration," the report had said.