India Visit 2009

When we first came to Benares in 1992, Col and I were both heartbroken when we came face to
face with the pollution load of domestic sewage going into River Ganga. This morning we went
out with Gopalji on the water sampling trip downstream along the 7km stretch of religious bathing
ghats. The Swatcha Ganga Research Lab has been monitoring river health since 1992. As the
population of Benares increases, so does the pollution load going into the river. The worst
moment was to see the pipes dumping thousands of litres of raw sewage right in the main
religious bathing ghat – RP Ghat (see photos).

At this moment I was reminded of what it was like on the Northern Beaches for Sydney during
the 1980’s. Raw sewage flowed straight onto the beaches and they were putrid. A massive
community campaign resulted in the building of a deep ocean outfall – with the promise that this
was the first step.

The impact of the deep ocean outfall was immediate. One day we were swimming in sewage.
The next day the water was crystal sparkling clean. It changed overnight. It was remarkable. So
I tell our friends at SMF this story to remind us all that once the sewage interceptor and AIWPS
sewage treatment system is constructed, we can expect the same overnight miracle. Ganga will
flow blue and sparkling again. We need to remind ourselves of that when we feel that we are
drowning in sh-t.

I am also reminded that the promised “this is the first” has not eventuated and 20 years later the
deep ocean outfall remains. How is it that a rich city like Sydney can settle for this? Out of sight
is out of mind.

More on the AIWPS to come.

Sueji 16 March 2009