write a short note on river pollution
Answers
Rivers are among the most important sources of freshwater on our planet and this is one of the most important reasons why we have to address river pollution issue very seriously. Even now, there are many places in the world suffering from the water shortage issue, and in years to come things will be much more difficult because human population is set for massive growth in the next couple of decades.
Polluted rivers have extremely harmful effect on river ecosystems mostly because water pollution causes significant drop in oxygen levels, and many animals are not able to tolerate low levels of oxygen in rivers.
Polluted river can also become a source of disease and animals that drink this water can even pass this disease to people after people eat an infected animal. There have been several cases in Africa where people caught different waterborne diseases by drinking untreated polluted water directly from the river.
River pollution has become particularly serious issue in fast developing countries such as China and India. Ganges and Yangtze, for instance, are amongst world's most polluted rivers.
The easiest sign to spot water pollution is seeing dead fish floating on the river or noticing that the water has strange color or it smells bad.
Cleaning up dirty rivers requires lot of efforts and of course large funds, particularly in cases where large river water bodies are being polluted. As in many other cases it is wiser to prevent river pollution than cleaning it afterwards. Therefore make sure to do your part and don't be one of those people who deliberately throw rubbish into the river.
Water is the most important element in the biosphere, as it sustains all forms of life on the earth. The purity and quality of water is of basic concern to mankind, since it is directly related to human beings. According to a study, about seventy per cent of the available Tiver water in India is polluted due to the growing domestic, municipal, industrial and agricultural demands. This has adversely affected the quality of water.
Indian rivers, particularly those coming from the Himalayas, have enough water in their upper courses. When these rivers enter the plain areas, the irrigation canals take away a major part of the clean water. This reduces the volume of water in downstreams. A very large amount of untreated sewage and industrial waste is emptied into the rivers. As the quantity of fresh water is limited in the rivers, the self-cleaning capacity of the river water is adversely affected, as they are not able to dilute the pollutants.
The Ganga river is now one of the most polluted rivers in India. It has the natural capacity to dilute and assimilate the pollution loads. Due to less volume of water, about 600 km long stretch is highly polluted out of the total length (2525 km) from Gangotri to Ganga Sagar. This is due to the dumping of city garbage, industrial effluents, human and animal excreta, community bathing and faulty social and religious practices.
The pollution of river water is the root cause of many deadly diseases, such as cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea, jaundice, tuberculosis, etc. It also affects the quality and quantity of agricultural produce and aquatic life. There is a need for public cooperation to make the people conscious about health, hygiene and the causes and effects of water pollution. The governments at the central and state levels have launched many programmes and action plans to clean the rivers, such as the Ganga and Yamuna Action Plans.
