Corpses did not add to Ganga pollution: Centre

Do corpses increase pollution level in Ganga? 

Context: The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) informed that the Floating bodies are not the reason for pollution in Ganga. 

About the study: 

• The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has received a complaint from a citizen. He alleged that the disposal of bodies in and around the river would not only pollute the river but also seriously affect all those persons who are dependent on the river. 
• The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had asked the Centre and the Bihar and the Uttar Pradesh State governments to furnish a report regarding this.  
• The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) solicit a report from the Centre, the State Pollution Control Boards of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and the Central Water Commission  

Study results: 

• Data for April-June suggested that the water quality in terms of pH, DO (dissolved oxygen), BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) conformed with the bathing water quality criteria except “marginal deviations at few locations” 
• Thus, they concluded that the incidents of floating bodies do not attribute to the pollution in Ganga.  
• But the ground level study of NMCG and CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR), Lucknow is yet to provide their results.  

About National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG): 

• It is a body of Ministry of Jal Shakti.  
• It is the nodal agency tasked with coordinating the over ₹20,000 crore initiative to clean the Ganga. 

Source: The Hindu