Water of River Ganga forms phage, kills faecal coliform: BHU professor after Pollution Board raises concern in ongoing Mahakumbh

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], February 22 (ANI): The Head of the Department of Neurology at Banaras Hindu University, Professor Vijay Nath Mishra, rejected the Pollution Board's claim that a concerning level of faecal coliform was found in the Mahakumbh water. He said that the Ganga river water forms phages that kill the bacteria.
Faecal coliform is an indicator of sewage contamination.
Vijay Nath Mishra stated that the number of faecal coliforms being reported is correct. Where there is a gathering of flesh, the number of faecal coliforms increases.
"This phage is capable of killing any amount of pollution. The special thing is that the more the amount of faecal coliforms increases in the water of Ganga, the water of Ganga forms the phage to kill it at twice the speed. The water of Ganga is probably called Amrit because it has the unique property of forming bacteriophage," Vijay Nath Mishra said.
He said that therefore, saying that pollution has increased in Ganga water and the number of faecal qualifiers has increased is sheer injustice to Ganga water. "Ganga water has the ability to make phages. Due to this, Ganga water always remains Amrit. Once you touch Ganga water, those phages stick to your hand which keep on killing bacteria or viruses," he said.
He said that the talk of an increasing number of faecal qualifiers in Ganga water may be true due to the presence of sewage.
BHU professor Vijay Nath Mishra claimed that if anyone touches Ganga water once, crores of bacterial phages stick to the hands, and those bacteria keep killing the faecal coliform.
"Wherever there is a mass bath, faecal coliform increases. We are doing phage density testing. Any bacteria in river Ganga forms phage against the bacteria which kills the bacteria. When you touch Ganga water, then, the bacteriophage sticks to the hand, which remains there throughout life. Ganga river is the only river in the world which has quality to create bacteriophage. This is the reason that all the people who have bathed in Kumbh have not got any kind of infection," he added.
With the ongoing Mahakumbh attracting millions of devotees, the Prayagraj Mela Authority has ramped up sanitation efforts, deploying advanced waste management systems and real-time monitoring technologies, according to the Uttar Pradesh government.
According to the cleanliness chief (special executive officer) Akanksha Rana, "The people who bathe here have the belief that after bathing, they leave their clothes on the ghat itself and go wearing new clothes. Along with this, large-scale bhandaras, food zones, and heavy foot traffic generate a significant amount of garbage, making its daily disposal a major challenge."
She further added, "It is worth mentioning that to complete this work, a sanitation plan was made at the same time when the fair started, in which some points were kept given the scenario of solid waste management. First of all, 120 tippers and compactors were purchased. 25 thousand dustbins were also purchased through which dustbins were placed at every 50 metres. Liner bags are installed in it which are changed three times every day. Garbage is sent to the transfer station through tippers and trolleys. In the transfer station, all this garbage is filled in the compactor and processed in the waste processing plant run by the Municipal Corporation."
According to the data, more than 14,000 metric tonnes of waste have been collected and sent to the Baswar Treatment Plant so far. In comparison, only nine metric tonnes were processed in 2019. This year, solid waste generation during the Mahakumbh is estimated to exceed 20,000 metric tonnes, said the statement. (ANI)