Get Instant Loan up to ₹10 Lakh!
Maha Kumbh water was safe to bathe? CPCB’s new report takes U-turn, cites ’variability in data’
A CPCB report now claims the water quality in Ganga and Yamuna during the Maha Kumbh was fit for bathing, contradicting an earlier report showing high faecal coliform levels.
Maha Kumbh 2025: A new report by the Central Pollution Control Board submitted to the National Green Tribunal has claimed that as per statistical analysis, the water quality in Sangam during the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj was “fit for bathing”. The statement comes in complete contradiction with the previous report submitted in February.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report said the statistical analysis was necessitated because of "variability of data" in the samples collected from the same locations across different dates and on different locations on the same day, because of which these did not reflect the "overall river water quality throughout the river stretch".
CPCB Data Taken U-Turn Within a month?
On 17 February, in compliance with the December order, the CPCB submitted a report which showed that faecal coliform and biochemical oxygen demand levels did not meet the bathing criteria of Sangam water in Prayagraj, during monitoring carried out in the second week of January.
The quality of water at the confluence of river Ganga and Yamuna at Prayagraj, at the ongoing Maha Kumbh, is failing to meet the primary standards for bathing. The water has high levels of faecal coliform, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday (February 17).
A CPCB report dated February 3 mentioned that faecal coliform levels at all monitored locations were above the permissible limit of 2,500 units per 100 ml, indicating significant sewage contamination.
However, a report dated February 28 and uploaded on the NGT's website on March 7 said the CPCB had conducted water monitoring twice a week from January 12 onwards, including on auspicious bathing days during Maha Kumbh, at five locations on Ganga river and two locations on Yamuna river.
"There is a significant variability in the values on various parameters, viz pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and fecal coliform count (FC) for the samples taken from the same location on different dates. The values of the afore-mentioned parameters also vary at different locations for the samples collected on the same day," the report said.
The DO or the amount of oxygen in water, BOD, which measures the amount of oxygen needed to break down organic matter in water, and FC, a marker of sewage contamination, are key indicators of water quality.
What did Latest CPCB Report Say on Maha Kumbh Water?
The report said that an expert committee examined the issue of "variability in data" and said that "the data represents a snapshot of water quality at a specific location and time and may vary significantly depending upon factors such as upstream anthropogenic activities (human actions), rate of flow, depth of sampling, time of sampling, river current and mixing of currents, sampling location and such other multiple factors".
"As a result, these values reflect water quality parameters at the exact time and place from where these water samples were collected, and may not fully represent the overall characteristics of the river, therefore, not necessarily reflecting the overall river water quality throughout the river stretch," it said.
The report also said that because of the variability, a statistical analysis of Ganga and Yamuna water quality data of various monitoring locations for the key parameters was undertaken from January 12 to February 22 at 10 locations of "mass bathing" and that 20 rounds of monitoring were done.
"It is submitted that as per the above-mentioned statistical analysis, the median value (central tendency of the data) of pH, DO, BOD and FC for the monitored stretches is within the respective criteria/permissible limits," the report noted.
According to the report, the median value for FC was 1,400 as compared to the permissible limit of 2,500 units per 100 ml, while the DO was 8.7 vis-a-vis the stipulated norm of being greater than 5 milligram per litre, and the BOD was 2.56 against the stipulated limit of less than or equal to 3 mg per litre.
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
Business NewsNewsIndiaMaha Kumbh water was safe to bathe? CPCB’s new report takes U-turn, cites ’variability in data’
First Published:9 Mar 2025, 04:51 PM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High