Published by Dr. Vidhya CHITTOOR VISWANATHAN, Impact Director at AquaSPE
What should be the indicators considered in the evaluation of the success of the Ganges clean up program in order to establish credibility of the utilization of public funds?
Indicators
Hi,
Lets not forget the biological indicators like fish and biota in the river as indicators for its restored health.
Meesha
Published by Meesha Tandon, ICLEI South Asia - Sr. Manager
Ganges water quality
Hi Vidhya
It never ceases to amaze me how respondents will talk around the subject without answering the question!
The UK Environment Agency has a sophisticated system for reporting on river quality which has six grades from A to F. They consider a range of parameters but the main one is the diversity of species which live in the river.
I prefer the system used in asset management which has five grades:
1=excellent: Very wide range of species; no pollution ever
2=good: wide range of species, only slight occasional pollution
3=adequate: typical pollution resistant species, occasional pollution
4=poor: only pollution tolerant species, regular pollution
5=awful: very little life at all, constantly polluted.
These grades can be subdivided if required.
Published by Peter Styles, Independent - Consultant (retired)
Vedic Sciences approach available in India
Since this National Dialogue is focussed on pooling resources of the nation from the Academicians, Technocrats, and Public and Environmentalists, I am submitting details of a new technology based on ancient Vedic Sciences developed in India by a scientist named Swami Valmiki Sreenivasa Ayyangarya from Karnataka.
I will briefly state its features as follows:
AA) R.O systems reduce TDS no doubt but very low TDS is harmful for human health as per WHO research. It is corrosive and leaches minerals from the human body, creating many health complications.Swami Valmiki's technology based on ancient Indian Rasa Shastras do not harm the human body but are beneficial. The water is purified and is pathogen free. Harmful TDS gets locked up and do not react with the human body. BB) R.O systems discharge in the reject stream a lot of dissolved solids. This is highly toxic and in large volume discharges can create serious ecological damage. CC) This technology can help clean up Yamuna, Ganga and all Peninsular river systems and water bodies.It will also be the most economical and efficient and hence is superior to all technologies currently in use.
DD) It can very efficiently treat the Municipal Solid Waste landfill such as the dump at Okhla, in New Delhi which is emitting foul odour, whose leachates also damage ground water due to toxicity.
EE) It can treat industrial effluents with highly toxic materials which cause ecological damage when discharged in rivers and land.This has been done on lab scale in small volumes.
Sewage discharged into rivers is a major pollutant. This technology can treat all sewage, sullage before discharge into river systems, water bodies or into oceans in the peninsular region of India. The treated sewage, sullage alternatively can be used to recharge ground water also. In volume terms measured on an annual basis, this is much greater than rain water which occurs in the few months of the monsoon. Hence water tables can be safely replenished by this treated grey water which is also pathogen free and free of any contaminants including heavy metals which are locked up by the process. GG) On a large scale, it has been tried successfully to arrest algal bloom in ponds. It also promotes aquatic life since I have seen fish and a kingfisher quite busy at a temple pond, holding about 500,000 litres of water.This is a bio indicator of safety of this technology.I also frank cup after cup of the temple pond water which tasted sweet and looked very clear in the paper cup. It however needed some de silting but the sludge at the bottom was inactive and hence pathogen free.
Hope that you find this information of interest.If used on a large scale in India this will greatly benefit the ecology leading to more efficient water resources management and help reduce mosquitoes also since the treated water does not allow their breeding or promote spread of endemic diseases and also helps aquatic life like fish to thrive, which I have personally experienced and seen having stayed with Swamiji for several nights.While I have tried to explain it in simple language, it has a complex science known to India in ancient times of BC vintage.It may take decades for western science to catch up.This is not a chauvinistic statement but as factual and scientific in its approach as any other opinion!
Published by Santhanam Ramasubramanyam, Self Employed - Consultant
Fish biomass and diversity is one of the most important indicators. Clean and healthy water will have many species of fish in large quantity. Since fish are at the top of the aquatic food chain, more fish indicates that all organisms lower down the food chain are thriving. This indicates that the water is clean and healthy. Using fish to judge the water quality of any lake, river or ocean is a simple solution.
Published by Bhaskar Mallimadugula, Kadambari Consultants Pvt Ltd - Director
I supposed that program prior it will start must have a clear objective as to what will be the end point/s? State all desired results in all factors from what it was and what it will be..Once meet or exceeded, its a way to say it successful .
Published by Edwin Ricarte, FMC Biopolymer - Process Engineer