Abstract:
Ganga is the life line of Indo-Gangetic Plains. It's water is known for purity and spirituality and can be stored for long periods without getting stale or polluted. Ganga water is used in various religious rituals from birth of a child to demise, besides serving as a source of water for industry, agriculture and livelihood. The legends say Ganga water is known as Holy water and connects life of humans, forming a spiritual bridge leading to divine salvation in India. Naturally, what Volga is for Russians, Thames for Brits and Murray-Darling for Americans, Ganga is much more for Indians. The tremendous self-purification capacity of Ganga water is unique and has remained a mystery and a puzzle for environmental scientists. This paper discusses the role of algae and planktons together with other factors working in unison as X-factor in Ganga Eco- system bringing about such self-purification of water.
Biography:
Dr. Ashok Chandra Shukla headed the Biopollution Study Centre at Christ Church College, Chhatrapati Sahu Ji Maharaj University in Kanpur, India. Shukla is a former Member and Chartered Biologist of the Institute of Biology in London. He is Senior Visiting Fellow of University of New England, Armidale Australia, at the Program in Arms Control, Disarmament and International Security at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He has evaluated project reports of NCOEB conference, AICHAE Women Conference, AIAPC conferences, India, report of GAP Government of India between Kannauj - Shuklaganj and various project evaluation reports. He Chaired Session of Environmental Politics, Wetland Millennium, Quebec, Canada. Shukla brings with him a vast experience of active engagement with NGOs and Civil Society. Shukla has collaborated and networked with several NGOs including Eco-Friends India as its founder President on issues of Ganga Water Pollution and its public health implications. He was Executive Conference Secretary of another NGO, Midas Touch, Delhi in India. He has traveled widely in connection with participating, chairing sessions, and acting as discussant at international conferences. He was on the ISA delegation at the UN Prep Com Meet wherein he deliberated between GO and NGO delegations to prepare agenda for the meet. Shukla has completed a major project, the Ganga Action Plan, for the Ministry of Environment and Forests of the Government of India, and he was associated with a Ford Foundation-funded project of the Regional Center for Strategic Studies in Colombo, Sri Lanka, working on the India chapter of Environment and Security in South Asia. Shukla is credited with over 250 research publications and several original and edited books. His book Water Security of India: Hope, Despair and Challenges of Human Development is on the shelf, and Security Community in the Persian Gulf and South Asia, under publication. He is currently also involved writing a book entitled A Journey of a River: Ganges. Shukla Specializes in applied phycology, environment and environmental policy-planning.
