German chemical used for treating Algal bloom in Ganga

Varanasi: A German chemical has been arranged with the help of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and a drive has been launched to clean the Ganga water from algae.

The drive aims to clean the algal bloom in the river water, especially at the Ghats, where people throng for bathing on auspicious occasions.

According to the District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma, "We had forwarded a request to the NMCG New Delhi on Saturday to find a solution against the algal bloom in river Ganga in Varanasi.

Taking a serious note of it, the NMCG sent a consignment of 15 litre of German chemical, which can be mixed in 1,000 litre of water for treatment of algae in several square kilometre area."

With the arrival of this chemical, he said, experimental treatment of algae was done at Assi and Dashaswamedh ghats on Sunday.

"After the confirmation of its effectiveness and also that it was harmless for aquatic lives, we decided to use it," he said.

The drive aims to ensure removing algae from river water at the prominent ghats by Ganga Dussehra which falls on June 20.

The algae first appeared in the river around 20 days ago, which made the river waters turn green.

It was initially examined by the officials of the pollution control board.

Later, the District Magistrate constituted a team of officials and asked them to submit their report on the origin of the algae.

This team submitted its report after conducting a survey from Varanasi to Mirzapur for three days. In the survey, it was found that the algae flowed into the Ganga with the STP's treated effluent through Basvariya drain and later grew further in the Ganga.

According to the investigation report, the 4-MLD capacity STP is based on conventional system.

It seems that the algal bloom originated from the STP at Vindhyachal. The flow of water is minimum and the temperature is also conducive for the growth of algae in the river.

Besides, the nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, urea and DAP coming from farming fields through drains significantly helped the algae to grow. The untreated waste waters from Mirzapur and Chunar also contribute to the algal bloom.

The report recommended the modernization of Vindhyachal STP and suggested proper maintenance of all the STPs.

The construction of a new STP in Mirzapur, and maintaining flow in the river was also recommended, Besides, a study on the impact of algae on aquatic life by the experts of Banaras Hindu University was also recommended in the report.