Ganga Survey Phase 2 Results
In early November 2020, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) announced the result of the second phase of its survey of the entire main stem of the Ganga river, i.e., the main river without its tributaries. It declared that some 49 per cent of the Ganga had high biodiversity. Biodiversity sightings of animals, such as the Gangetic dolphin and otters, have been increasing and this indicates a fall in the river’s pollution levels. This is said to be the first study ever done on the entire river and on all its biodiversity.
The Ganga and its tributaries cover some 861,404 square km, which is about 26 per cent of the geographical area of India, and traverse 11 states. The main stem courses through Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
Earlier, it was stated that Ganga had areas of no biodiversity. However, the survey found that the river has some biodiversity or the other throughout its course. Ten per cent of the high biodiversity areas fall alongside national parks and sanctuaries like the Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary (Uttar Pradesh), Rajaji National Park (Uttarakhand), and Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary (Bihar). The high biodiversity stretches have been divided into six zones: Devprayag to Rishikesh (61 km long), Makdumpur to Narora (147 km long), Bhitaura to Ghazipur (454 km long), Chhapra to Kahalgaon (296 km long), Sahibganj to Rajmahal (34 km long), and Baharampur to Barackpore (246 km long).
The survey conducted on behalf of the National Mission for Clean Ganga is a flagship project undertaken by the Ministry of Jal Shakti. The first phase of the survey was carried out between 2017 and 2019. The second part of the survey involves collating data and information over months on increased sightings of animals to ascertain how much the river habitat has improved and how this has affected them.
Tracking Biodiversity To track biodiversity, the study focused on major aquatic and semi-aquatic species like the gharials, otters, Gangetic dolphins, turtles, and some species of water birds. It found that many species that used to be found in the main stem and had disappeared, were perhaps travelling back from tributaries to the main stem, indicating improving water quality. For example, nesting colonies of the Indian skimmer were found and the presence of a species of water snake, Seibold’s, which has not been recorded as seen for 80 years. New distribution of the puffer fish is mentioned.
The distribution and density of notable aquatic species like the Gangetic dolphin, the gharial and the mugger had reduced much owing to loss of suitable habitat conditions. Dam building, barrages, bank alteration, agriculture, and sand mining have affected the river’s morphology and the species presence. It is estimated that there were 10,000 Gangetic dolphins in the early 19th century, but the number reduced to 3,526 by early 2000, disappearing in places like Haridwar and in much of the Yamuna, and becoming extinct in smaller tributaries.
The UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) states that, in general, the reduction in freshwater species diversity is much more than losses in marine and terrestrial species diversity. Around 20 per cent of all known freshwater fish, 44 per cent of water birds and 42 per cent of amphibian species are threatened by extinction. Interestingly, the highest loss of freshwater biodiversity is in the Indian subcontinent, with particular reference to the plains of the Ganga. This is the reason why the government took up the project of biodiversity conservation in the Gangetic region.
Ganga Utsav
The Ganga Utsav celebrations began on November 2, 2020 to mark the 12th anniversary of declaring the Ganga as a national river. The three-day utsav was organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga and the Ministry of Jal Shakti. The aim was to promote stakeholder engagement and ensure public participation in ensuring a pollution-free Ganga.
The celebrations involved organising storytelling, folklores, dialogues with eminent personalities, displaying traditional art forms, dance and music performance by renowned artists, and exhibitions. Swachhata Abhiyans, plantation drives, drawing and painting competitions, and quizzes were organised across the country. The Ganga Task Force conducted aforestation drives with NCC cadets. At Varanasi, a Ganga Cleanliness Campaign and Ganga Shapath was organised along with a ‘Walk for Ganga’.
Threat of Waste Fishing Gear
The endangered Gangetic dolphin and species of threatened freshwater turtle and otter are ‘most at risk’ from being caught in abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear adrift in the transboundary Ganga river system, according to a study released by the ‘Sea to Source Ganges’ river expedition in December 2020.
Launched by the National Geographic in partnership with the Wildlife Institute of India, the University of Dhaka and WildTeam, the expedition is aimed to understand how plastic waste travels and to develop inclusive solutions to address the threat of plastic in the river. It carried out a biodiversity threat assessment of Ganga’s wildlife species most at risk from being entangled in waste fishing gear in nine sampling sites along the river: from the Bangladesh coast in the Bay of Bengal to upstream in the Himalayas in Rishikesh, India. Those animals found to be most prone to entanglement from fishing gear included the Ganges river dolphin, black-spotted turtle, three-striped roofed turtle, northern river terrapin, and the smooth-coated otter.
Indo-Gangetic Plain: Global Hotspot of Atmospheric Ammonia
The Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) is the global hotspot of atmospheric ammonia (NH3) due to intense agricultural activities and fertiliser production in the region, according to a study measuring the dynamics of atmospheric ammonia over India. The study confirms a long-held apprehension of global environmentalists about the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This was reported in December 2020.
The study on the seasonal and inter-annual variability of NH3 emitted by the agricultural sector over India, said to be the first of its kind, was done jointly by IIT-Kharagpur and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, and European researchers. Titled ‘Record High Levels of Atmospheric Ammonia over India: Spatial and Temporal Analyses’, the study has pointed to a positive correlation of NH3 with total fertiliser consumption and temperature, since high temperature favours volatilisation and is negatively correlated with total precipitation as wet deposition helps remove atmospheric ammonia. There is, thus, a direct correlation between atmospheric ammonia emissions and fire counts.
Researchers used Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) satellite measurements for the period 2008–2016 to conclude that observed NH3 is growing rapidly at a rate of 0.08 per cent annually during the summer-monsoon (kharif crop period) season from June to August. However, there is a decreasing trend in annual atmospheric NH3 over India in accordance with the national missions and action plans. But it involves insignificant decreasing trends of about 0.8 per cent per year in all India; about 0.4 per cent per year in IGP, and 1.0 per cent per year in the rest of India.
In India, there has been lack of detailed information about atmospheric ammonia, which is a significant contributor to atmospheric pollution and deterioration of air quality.
The study has emphasised wider adoption of precision farming along with seasonal restrictions on the use of fertilisers. The amount of fertiliser application in cropping seasons in arable lands needs to be restricted in place of conventional blanket recommendation practices. The need for better fertilisation practices has been stressed as well as viable strategies to curb emissions, in order to alleviate the adverse health effects and negative impact on the ecosystem.
The data from the research, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, shows some regional hotspots in southeast and northwest India, apart from Indo-Gangetic Plain. There are positive trends in atmospheric NH3 over the agricultural areas of the United States, China, and Europe as well, amounting to some 1.8 – 2.61 per cent every year.
Atmospheric ammonia (NH3) is an alkaline gas and a prominent constituent of the nitrogen cycle that adversely affects ecosystems at higher concentrations. It is a pollutant which influences all three spheres, such as haze formation in the atmosphere, soil acidification in the lithosphere, and eutrophication in water bodies. It reacts with sulphur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) to form aerosols, which eventually affect climate and human health. Agriculture contributes significantly to the emission of gaseous ammonia that contributes to forming of secondary aerosols that play a key role in the deterioration of air quality over the whole of India. It is produced from agricultural activities including the use of nitrogenous fertilisers, manure management, soil and water management practices, and animal husbandry. Agro-fertilisers having high levels of ammonia have been designated as hazardous for human health.