The programme will be organised by the National Mission for the Clean Ganga (NMCG), the implementation wing of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) under the aegis of ministry of environment, forests and climate change. There will be four separate forums of consultation with various stakeholders to meet the challenge of Ganga rejuvenation including spiritual leaders, technocrats and academicians, NGOs and environmentalists as also public representatives and administrators. The views expressed by stakeholders participating in 'Ganga Manthan' will be helpful for the preparation of a road map for the preparation of a comprehensive plan to rejuvenate the Ganga.

From Varanasi people including Prof Vishwambhar Nath Mishra, president of Sankatmochan Foundation and mahanth of Sankat Mochan Temple, Prof BD Tripathi, noted environmental scientist at Banaras Hindu University and expert member of NGRBA, Prof SN Upadhyaya, former director of the Institute Technology, BHU are going to attend the meet. Besides, the representatives of some other organisations like Vikas Evam Shikshan Samiti will also take part in the programme.

"It is a good initiative to provide a platform to stakeholders for raising their opinion as well as concerns on the issue," Mishra, the SMF president, told TOI while leaving for Delhi. He said the SMF, the organisation working for the cause of the Ganga for over three decades, has always tried to convince that not a single drop of sewage should be allowed into Ganga. The sewage accounts for 95% pollution of Ganga particularly in big cities like Varanasi, Kanpur and Allahabad. The city needs an appropriate and foolproof collection system, which should preferably be gravity based, not power dependent.

"Ganga ji is more than a water body. She is divine, holy mother respected globally. People come at her bank to have 'dharshan (glimpse), sparsh (touch), dharmik snan (religious bathing) and aachman (sipping). Therefore, its water quality should be fit for direct sipping, and this can be possible only be ensuring that not a drop of sewage flows into Ganga," said the Mahanth.

According to him, the scientific analysis of the Ganga water quality results of 22 years, conducted at SMF clearly indicates that the water quality of the holy river along its religious bathing area has been continuously deteriorating in Varanasi. In Varanasi, at present about 350 MLD sewage is generated while the city has an infrastructure of treating only 103 MLD sewage, and the remaining sewage is discharged in the Ganga without treatment. The water quality is not safe even for bathing as the biological oxygen demand (BOD) should be less than 3mg/l and Fecal Coliform count should be less than 500/100ml. But, the fact is that the BOD ranges from 6.8 mg/l to 58 mg/l while the Fecal Coliform count ranges from 31,000 to 80 lakh/100ml.

Being an environmental scientist Prof Tripathi's main thrust is on 'Aviralata' (free flow) of Ganga as, according to him, the 'Nirmalata' (pollution free water) of the holy river solely depends on its free flow. "During past few decades the continuous decrease in the flow of Ganga water has fragmented the river and imposed serious threat to its ecosystem," he said.

He said that Ganga conservation programme should adopt a holistic ecological approach based on self-regulatory mechanism and regeneration abilities to maintain the ecosystem. According to him, municipal sewage and toxic industrial effluents should be treated in specific treatment plants before discharging into river. Suitability and economic viability of the new sewage treatment plants should be ensured before their establishment. Accurate quantity and quality of wastewater (sewage, industrial effluents and laboratory chemicals) generated at Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur, Hardwar should be assessed for long term environmental planning.