'Maha Kumbh water fit for bathing': Centre tells Parliament citing new CPCB report

NEW DELHI: The BJP-led central government on Monday asserted that the Maha Kumbh water was fit for bathing citing the new Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report. This came after the UP CM Yogi Adityanath had rejected the previous CPCB report that had termed Kumbh waters unfit for bathing citing high levels of faecal bacteria.

Responding to a query from Samajwadi Party MP Anand Bhadauria and Congress MP K Sudhakaran, Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav cited the CPCB report, stating that the median levels of pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and faecal coliform (FC) at all monitored sites were within the permissible bathing limits.

The government said that it allocated Rs 7,421 crore to the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) for river cleaning across 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25 (until March 9).

The river pollution issue gained momentum recently after the opposition leaders criticised the UP government over the previous report by the pollution control board which had said in its report that the river water quality in Prayagraj during Kumbh "was not conforming to the primary water quality for bathing with respect to faecal coliform at all the monitored locations on various occasions."

This report was dismissed by the Yogi government, which had called it an effort to "defame the Maha Kumbh."

However, in its new report, CPCB said that the water quality during Maha Kumbh was "fit for bathing" citing "variability in data".

Also read: Maha Kumbh water fit for bathing, says new CPCB report, cites 'variability in data'

The report explained that an expert committee examined data variability and determined that the findings reflect only a snapshot of water quality at a specific time and location. It emphasized that water quality can vary significantly due to factors like upstream human activities, flow rate, sampling depth, collection time, river currents, and mixing patterns, among other influences.
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