This is the Mahakumbh Mela. The Hindu pilgrimage, celebrated every six and twelve years (known as Ardh and Mahakumbh, respectively), is currently underway from January 13 to February 26, 2025. It is expected to host over 450 million pilgrims. This year, the event is being hailed as the first ‘Digital Mahakumbh’ due to its adoption of technology, as well as the first ‘Green Kumbh’, with sustainability and waste management at its core. But do these claims of effective waste management align with the reality on the ground?
A petition filed by former Indian Police Service Officer, Amitabh Thakur, in the National Green Tribunal has raised concerns about the quality of water in the river Ganga. The petition argued that the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) have failed to upload any information regarding this matter.
At the Mahakumbh this year, thousands of devotees will immerse themselves in the river daily, adding to the burden of river rejuvenation and conservation efforts.
Back on September 25, 2000, the Ministry of Environment and Forests issued a notification prescribing the maximum permissible limits for outdoor bathing.
In 2019, the Kumbh Mela attracted 130.2 million people (according to the CPCB report, Environmental Footprints of Mass Bathing on Water Quality of River Ganga during Kumbh Mela). The Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) at Kuresar Ghat, which measures the oxygen required to break down organic matter, ranged from 2.5 to 8.6 milligrams per litre—exceeding the permissible limit of 3 milligrams per litre. Meanwhile, at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna, fecal coliform levels ranged from less than 1.8 to 23,000 MPN (Most Probable Number), far surpassing the maximum permissible limit of 2,500 MPN per 100 ml.
Just two months prior to this year's Mahakumbh, in November 2024, the fecal coliform bacteria count at downstream Sangam was measured at 3,300 MPN/ml—above the permissible limit of 2,500 MPN per 100 litres.
The petition filed by the former IPS officer also stated that no data had been uploaded on the performance of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and geo-tubes, nor had other analytical reports of samples taken from outlets been made available. According to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), devotees should have been informed about the quality of water they were bathing in, but it was found that this had not been done.
In its December 2024 order, the NGT called for adequate availability of Ganga water that should be safe for drinking and bathing. However, the report revealed that the smaller streams of the Ganga had not been cleaned.
On January 14, 2025, the CPCB’s real-time water quality monitoring system measured the BOD level at the Prayagraj Sangam at 4 mg per ml, exceeding the normal limit of 3 mg per ml. A higher BOD indicates a higher concentration of organic matter in the water.
For this 45-day religious gathering, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) have contributed to sewage treatment efforts. A Hybrid Granular Sequencing Batch Reactor (hgSBR) has been set up at the Mahakumbh to treat human waste and grey water. According to BARC, this compact biological treatment method is effective in removing contaminants. In line with the government’s ‘zero tolerance approach’ to open defecation, 145,000 toilets have also been established.
The Mahakumbh Mela is a colossal event that demands exceptional management of logistics and infrastructure. However, the situation is dire, with dead fish frequently spotted floating in the Ganga and Yamuna. This raises the question: What happened to the Rs 40,000 crore spent on the Namami Ganga programme over the past decade? The question remains—can the river ecosystem withstand the impact of 40 million people living and bathing in it? While efforts have been made to mitigate the damage, the Ganga will likely suffer another significant blow to its ecosystem once the Kumbh Mela concludes.