Surendra Singh Choudhary aka Bittu Tabahi cleaned the Ajnar River in Madhya Pradesh for eight months, often with his bare hands, removing tonnes of garbage.
‘We’ve already taken action against the polluting units, which are releasing untreated wastewater into streams and nalas,’ said a regional officer for MPCB.
At Banganga Tank, devotees immerse flowers and food items in the water during Pitru Paksha, reducing the oxygen levels of the water body and harming the tank’s aquatic life.
The river was once considered sacred, its water used to perform rituals at the many temples situated along its banks. But the average person would not be able to recognise it today.
80% of wastewater is untreated globally, leading to 485,000 annual deaths and $260 billion in economic losses. Every $1 invested in wastewater infrastructure offers an estimated economic gain of $4.3.
Bigger grants cannot guarantee local autonomy unless states also improve how they share resources and responsibilities with Panchayats and municipalities.
For the first time in three months, crude from Gabon, Congo and Libya has also arrived, as Indian refiners turn to alternative suppliers amid uncertainty over Gulf shipments.
Multiple headwinds make the turbulence Modi is battling as he steps into his 26th year in public office. This has brought the 3-point Modi proposition under the greatest pressure since 2014.
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