Biswas, a senior oncologist, said Ganga water is now laced with toxic industrial discharge such as arsenic, choride, fluoride and other heavy metals.
Dipankar Chakarabarty, director, Jadavpur University School of Environmental Studies, concurs. "We've been extremely careless. Indiscriminate release of industrial effluents is to blame for this."
"The arsenic that's gets into the river doesn't flow down. Iron and oxygen present in the water form ferroso ferric oxide, which in turn bonds with arsenic.
This noxious mix settles on the riverbed. Lead and cadmium are equally heavy and naturally sink in the river. This killer then leeches back into the groundwater, making it poisonous," Chakrabarty explains.
Surface water, Chakrabarty explains, is treated before use. But that's clearly not the case with groundwater and it's mostly consumed raw, often straight from source. The impact is devastating.
"The consequences of using or drinking this poison can manifest earliest in two years and latest in 20. But by then, it's way too late."
Those who've been bathing in this poison river are equally at danger, says Biswas. The need of the hour is to strictly implement laws regulating discharge of industrial waste into the river.
