A Central Pollution Control Board report filed in the National Green Tribunal reveals that at several ghats in Prayagraj, where crores of devotees are attending the Mahakumbh, the water is unfit for bathing. In some locations, faecal coliform levels – indicating human and animal waste – were 13 times the permissible limit.
The CPCB report, which shared water quality readings from January 12 to 15, found alarming levels of faecal coliform in the Ganga and Yamuna. On January 13, Deeha Ghat in the Ganga recorded 33,000 MPN/100 ml, while on January 14, the Yamuna’s Old Naini Bridge showed the same level. The CPCB’s safe limit for bathing is 2,500 MPN/100 ml.
If a tweet put by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is anything to go by, as many as 3.5 crore devotees took a dip in Prayagraj’s ghats on January 14 on the occasion of Amrit Snan.
आस्था, समता और एकता के महासमागम 'महाकुम्भ-2025, प्रयागराज' में पावन 'मकर संक्रांति' के शुभ अवसर पर पवित्र संगम में आस्था की पवित्र डुबकी लगाने वाले सभी पूज्य संतगणों, कल्पवासियों व श्रद्धालुओं का हार्दिक अभिनंदन!
— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) January 14, 2025
प्रथम अमृत स्नान पर्व पर आज 3.50 करोड़ से अधिक पूज्य संतों/श्र… pic.twitter.com/awRyDY5OkH
In a letter to the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, which is part of the pollution watchdog’s report, the CPCB said: “With respect to Faecal Coliform, water quality of river Ganga and Yamuna is not conforming with the bathing criteria (FC 2500 MPN/100ml) at all the monitored locations on various occasions.”
The anti-pollution regulator further said that the water quality at all locations did not comply with the permissible levels of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), another indicator to check if the water is fit for bathing or not.
The CPCB report also linked the rise in faecal coliform levels to the influx of devotees. “Huge number of people taking bath at Prayagraj during Maha Kumbh Mela in river including auspicious bathing days which eventually leads to increase in faecal concentration,” it stated.
The CPCB report showed water quality readings only up to January 15. However, CPCB’s website, which has tracked pollutants until February 4, shows faecal coliform levels at the Sangam reaching 49,000 MPN/100 ml – nearly 20 times the safe limit.
Water quality assessed at seven spots
In a directive issued on December 12, the NGT had ordered the UPPCB and CPCB to monitor water quality in Prayagraj at frequent intervals amid the Mahakumbh festival. The tribunal was hearing a petition filed by Saurabh Tiwari, who alleged that at least 50 drains were dumping polluted water into the Ganga and Yamuna along an 8-km stretch and that 10 sewage treatment plants weren’t functioning properly.
Following the NGT directive, CPCB assessed water quality at seven locations of which five are on the banks of Ganga and two on Yamuna. The chosen spots for quality check on the Ganga were: Shringverpur Ghat, Lord Curzon Bridge, Nagvasuki Mandir, Sangam and Deeha Ghat. Samples from Yamuna were collected from Old Naini Bridge and before confluence.
‘Drastic’ difference in readings
However, some experts have pointed out the stark difference in the values of the readings recorded just a day apart.
Take for instance, the faecal coliform reading at ShringverDur Ghat was recorded at just 1.8 MPN/100 ml (minimum detectable limit) on January 12. However, it shot up to 23,000 MPN/100 ml on January 13, the inaugural day of the Kumbh.
Similarly, the faecal coliform concentration at Sangam was 1.8 MPN/100 ml on January 13, but it reached 11,000 MPN/100ml – over four times the permissible limit – on January 14.
“If intense localised treatment measures were in place at Sangam, it shows how temporary such efforts are, given that water quality shifts drastically with mass bathing on January 14,” said Avli Verma, a researcher at Manthan Adhyayan Kendra.
Environmentalist Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers, and People questioned why the state and union governments were encouraging more devotees to come to Prayagraj for a holy dip, in light of the CPCB’s claim that the large number of people at the Maha Kumbh led to higher faecal concentration.
“The UP CM, Prime Minister and other ministers are inviting people to join the Kumbh. They should have ensured that people are bathing in rivers whose waters are within the safe limit,” he said.
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