PCB report claims Hindon crawling back to health

GHAZIABAD: The district pollution board claimed the Hindon River has regained much of its health in the last five months, at least on the parameters of dissolved oxygen (DO) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). This has been revealed in a recent survey, conducted by the board at four different locations along the river's bank. As per the survey report, the average DO has been found to be between 1.37 mg/l and 3.4mg/l, up from 0.1mg/l during the last two years.
The pollution board chief attributed this change to measures taken by the board to clamp down on polluting units. "In the last few months, we have taken number of measures, such as sealing at least 26 polluting units along Hindon's bank in Ghazibad alone," said the PCB chief Parashnath.
Samples were taken from the river at least five times a month between January and May, from Khareda village, Mohan Nagar, Chirrashi village and Kuleshra village. "As early as in May, the sample from Khareda village were found with 3.4mg/l DO, which was quite encouraging," said Parashnath.
The survey report has thrown encouraging figures for BOD as well. The average BOD has come out as 34mg/l, down from 60mg/l during the last two years. Environmentalist Vikrant Tongad said, "The greater the BOD, the lesser will be the oxygen available in water. In a sense, higher BOD indicates ill health of a river."
Environmentalists have viewed this development with guarded optimism. "From 0.1mg/l to a maximum of 3.4mg/l in five months are encouraging figures for DO," said environmentalist Vikrant Tongad. "But even 3.4mg/l of DO is below the minimum requirement of over 4mg/l, which is needed to support aquatic life. More importantly, the challenge now is to maintain it," he added.
In a recent study, submitted to the environment ministry, the CPCB had identified Yamuna and Hindon as the most polluted among 13 rivers in UP. But if the recent PCB report is to be believed, a glimmer of hope can be seen.