New Delhi, Dec 9 : The Congress on Monday flagged the issue of severe pollution in the Ganga River in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand ahead of the Maha Kumbh scheduled early next year.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, party leader and Media Coordinator Abhay Dubey disclosed how the casual and callous attitude of the BJP governments in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand had polluted the sacred waters of the Ganga River.

He asked the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister whether he can guarantee that the sanctity of the holy water of Ganga will be restored before Maha Kumbh.

Abhay Dubey said that though PM Modi had stated that he had been called by Maa Ganga, but even in his constituency Varanasi, gutter water is being poured into the holy river. He asked whether the PM would seek an apology from the country and take the immediate steps required to maintain the purity of Ganga.

He said that as per the UP government's compliance report submitted to NGT, in the Prayagraj Municipal Corporation, there are sewage treatment plants only for 340 MLD (Million Litres per Day) out of 468.2 MLD of sewage. This means that about 128 MLD of untreated sewage water is being directly discharged into the Ganga River. He said this is a grave sin, especially because the Kumbh Mela is going to be held in Prayagraj.

Quoting the official reports that sample surveys of the Ganga River had revealed that it contained huge quantities of human and animal faecal matter, Dubey disclosed that samples of Ganga water were collected from 41 locations in Uttar Pradesh. In 16 places, it was found that there were more than 500 MPN Fecal Coliform bacteria per 100 ml of water, while at 17 places there were more than 2500 MPN per 100 ml.

Dubey expressed shock that the holy water that people consume and will consume in the upcoming Kumbh with great faith contains faecal matter and held the Uttar Pradesh government responsible for it.

He revealed that the faecal matter was found even in the Ganga water collected from Gangotri, the source of river Ganga.

Holding the BJP governments at the Centre and party-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand responsible for polluting the holy Ganga, Dubey asked whether the Uttar Pradesh CM will give an assurance to the devotees that Ganga water will be made suitable for drinking and bathing before the Kumbh.

The Congress leader said, the reason for this much pollution was the inefficiency of the governments as they had not enforced the pollution control norms nor had they followed the NGT guidelines. He said, that most of the sewage treatment plants in both states were non-functional or not up to the mark.

/IANS