DEHRADUN: A dip in the Ganga may wash away your sins but the river’s water is also likely to make you sick. The Central Pollution Control Board’s reply to an RTI query put up by TOI has said that the water of the river along Haridwar is not even fit for bathing.
The CPCB has said that water in Haridwar district fails almost all parameters of safety. According to official sources, nearly 50,000-1 lakh devotees bathe at the over 20 ghats of Haridwar every day.
Tests were done at 11 locations in Uttarakhand, from Gangotri to Haridwar, a distance of 294km along the river. The RTI filed sought details of water quality and locations from which samples are collected.
RM Bhardwaj, senior scientist of the CPCB, stated that four main indicators of river water quality were taken into account when examining the 296 km stretch. These included temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and coliform (bacteria). Clinical tests of water samples showed high levels of BOD, coliform and other toxic materials around Haridwar district.
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