Sabarmati an 'effluent' river

It is something that many in the city already knew. But now a report of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) has clearly shown that the quality of water in Sabarmati is worse than the norms set up for treated effluent water and is miles away from the water quality norms that a river should ideally have.

The report of the water quality of Sabarmati, taken from various sites across the river (from the point where it enters Ahmedabad in to 120 km downstream where it exits) also raises serious questions about the quality of sewage treatment that the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation is carrying out.

It should be noted that the first initial stretch of the river is now a dry bed and hence no sample was collected from there. The report also shows that the effluents being dumped into the river by the industries in the city also does not meet the treated effluent norms thus pointing out to the blatant violation by such units.

"Sabarmati is a dead river. It has no fresh water and the much famed and touted Riverfront where everyone gets to see a full river is nothing but a pool of polluted water," said Rohit Prajapati of Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti.

Prajapati said ideally the dissolved oxygen level in a river should at least be more than 5 mg/I. "But the river has been so damaged that in most places the dissolved oxygen level was so low that it could not be measured in the first place. Only in the stretch of the river near Railway Bridge was it found to 4.66mg/I which is also below the minimum required level," said Prajapati.

The report also found that in many places where the treated sewage was being dumped in the river, even those crossed the set limits. For example the stretch of the river near the Danilimda Sewage Treatment Plant had COD and BOD of 337 and 139 mg/I against the set limit of 250 and 30 per mg/I respectively. If one were to consider the norms set for the rivers, this should actually be zero and less than 3 mg/I respectively.

Interestingly, the data shows that on the downstream, there is no river but what passes for a river is just pollutants being dumped by the industries and STPs.

Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra when contacted said that the civic body is aware of the situation. "The NGT has also directed us and we are working towards this. In fact, a 60 MLD STP has already been commissioned and another 25 MLD is also in the pipeline," said Nehra. As to why the situation deteriorated, he said it was because the sewage being handled by the STPs was more than the actual capacity of the STP. Nehra said the capacity will soon be increased within six to eight months.

Ugly Truth 

• The report reveals that the first initial stretch of the river is now a dry bed. 
• The report also shows that the effluents being dumped into the river by the industries in the city also does not meet the treated effluent norms. 
• The data shows that on the downstream, there is no river but what passes for a river is just pollutants