Kumbh Mela Was A Success But Prayagraj Is Facing An Epidemic After Trash From Ganga Remains Untreated

In February this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hailed the efforts of the sanitation staff in keeping the 2019 Prayagraj Kumbh Mela clean and had claimed that he had never seen a more cleaner Ganga previously.

The recently concluded Kumbh Mela was touted as the cleanest in history, with the government taking steps including installation of over 1.2 lakh eco-friendly toilets and deployed 1,500 volunteers to monitor cleanliness.

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Despite the best attempts by the government, the host city, Prayagraj has been left in a poor state after the 53-day long grand event concluded last month.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has said the situation in the area was alarming and it needed to be dealt with on an urgent basis to avoid the spread of epidemics.

According to a report filed by a committee headed by Justice Arun Tandon, 60,000 metric tonnes (mt) of solid waste had been collected at Baswar Solid Waste Treatment Plant which was lying untreated. Of this, 18,000 mt was generated in Kumbh, but the plant was not operational since September 2018.

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The NGT has directed the UP chief secretary to take urgent steps to dispose of the solid waste that has accumulated in Prayagraj post-Kumbh Mela and fix accountability of officers in this regard.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said accountability must be fixed at the ground level and personal supervision by senior-level officers ensured.

The tribunal said that on perusal of photographs, it was found that there was an urgent need for restoration work for the treatment of sewage water, remediation work for drains and solid waste processing.

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The direction came after examining the report of Justice Tandon which said that a large number of toilets have been constructed at various camps on the ‘Ariel’ side very close to the river.

Sewage received at the Rajapur STP (Sewage Treatment Plant) was in excess of the installed capacity. Only 50 percent of Rajapur drain was being treated through Geo tube and the remaining 50 percent was being permitted to enter river Ganga without treatment. At Jodhwal Nala Rasoolabad, the capacity of bioremediation technology was 6 million litres per day.