New Delhi: Various locations in Prayagraj during the ongoing Mahakumbh were not conforming to the primary water quality for bathing with respect to the level of faecal coliform which is becoming a rising cause of concern.
Faecal coliform, a marker of sewage contamination, has a permissible limit of 2,500 units per 100 ml, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The National Green Tribunal was informed of the same on Monday, through a report by the CPCB.
According to the US-based water research programme, KnowYourH2O, high levels of faecal coliform are associated with several health risks, including typhoid, gastroenteritis and dysentery. “Untreated faecal material adds excess organic material to the water which decays, depleting the water of oxygen,” says the research programme.
In the latest data recorded on faecal coliform from February 4, the CPCB reported its levels at 11,000 MPN/100ml in the Ganga before Shastri Bridge and 7,900 MPN/100ml at Sangam. In the Yamuna, before its confluence with the Ganga at Sangam, it was 4,900 MPN/100ml near Old Naini Bridge.
What happens if there is high faecal level in Maha Kumbh’s Sangam water?
Though the bacteria itself is not a cause of illness, it shows the presence of pathogenic organisms of faecal origin like bacteria, viruses, or protozoa, in water samples.
“The level of sanitisation and preparedness required is not up to the mark, and the bacteria from our stool are entering the water. Therefore, it is not safe for consumption or even for bathing. This is what the report has indicated,” said senior consultant in the department of internal medicine at New Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Dr Atul Kakar.
“Whenever there is infected water, it can lead to various waterborne diseases, including skin diseases, and ailments like loose motions, diarrhoea, vomiting, typhoid, and cholera,” Dr Atul Kakar was quoted by PTI.
Faecal bacteria in drinking water, effect on farmers
According to a paper in the WHO, contamination of water with faecal coliform bacteria in drinking-water has been implicated in the spread of important infectious and parasitic diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis, giardiasis, guinea worm and schistosomiasis.
Citing a study from UP’s Varanasi in the 1990s, a report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) stated that a “lack of sewage treatment and bacteriological standards have been linked to adverse health impacts on farmers who use the contaminated water. Farmworkers using untreated sewage showed “a high prevalence of diarrhoeal disease, a haematic infection and skin diseases.”
According to KnowYourH2O, bathing in waters with high levels of faecal coliform bacteria “increases the chance of developing illness (fever, nausea, or stomach cramps) from pathogens entering the body through the mouth, nose, ears, or cuts in the skin.”
Bathing or swimming in water with high faecal above 2,500 MPN/100ml causes typhoid fever, hepatitis, gastroenteritis, dysentery, and ear infections.
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