{"id":317,"date":"2019-11-21T05:35:44","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T20:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/niveditakhandekar.com\/?p=317"},"modified":"2020-10-15T01:10:04","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T16:10:04","slug":"womens-journey-for-identifying-plastic-waste-hotspots-along-the-ganga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niveditakhandekar.com\/?p=317","title":{"rendered":"Women’s journey for identifying plastic waste hotspots along the Ganga"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Seven cities and towns in India along the Ganga river have been identified by the NatGeo expedition as hotspots generating most plastic waste that goes into the Ganga and onward into the ocean<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ganga is one of the ten big rivers that dump most plastic waste into world oceans was known last year. But exactly which places in the basin generate this waste was not clear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a time when the Central government is making repeated\nclaims of a clean Ganga \u2013 and focusing mostly on functional and non-functional\nsewage treatment plants and cosmetic ghat cleaning \u2013 an all women team of\nexplorers has travelled from Gangotri till Sundarbans in Bangladesh to cover\nthe entire stretch of Ganga to first-hand know the plastic menace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team, led by National Geographic Explorer Heather\nKoldwey, has identified 10 hotspots \u2013 seven in India, three in Bangladesh \u2013\nwhich generate most plastic that goes into the Ganga. National Geographic, as a\npart of its multi-year global initiative \u2018Planet or Plastic?\u2019, has been working\nto better understand the impact and scope of plastic pollution in our\nwaterways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier on August 15, in his Independence Day address,\nPrime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed to eliminate single-use plastic in\nIndia, beginning on October 2, the Gandhi Jayanti day. Several states \u2013\nincluding those in the Gangetic basin \u2013 have banned single use plastic,\npolythene bags and embarked on a massive awareness drive. India generates about\n26,000 tonnes of plastic out of which 10,000 tonnes remain uncollected. Almost\n90 % of this waste is mismanaged and a staggering amount of this is dumped into\nrivers and then flows into the oceans, polluting the waters and harming the\nmarine ecosystem, studies have established.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This NatGeo\u2019s all-women expedition\u2019s first round of travel\nwas from \u2018sea to source\u2019 i.e. from Sunderbans in Bangladesh where the Ganga meets\nthe Bay of Bengal till Gangotri, near the Gaumukh glacier. As they conducted a\nrapid assessment of locations across the riverbank, they focused on spreading\nawareness as to how plastic is impacting people and planet and then, also\ndiscussing with multiple stakeholders, about providing solutions. The first\nround happened before monsoon and there would be another post-monsoon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially the team had all women only but at later stage,\nsome men got involved post the expedition stage. \u201cThat study that said Ganga\nwas one of the ten big rivers to dumps humongous amounts of plastic into the\nocean was our starting point. But there were huge scientific knowledge gaps\nthat needed empirical data. We needed scientific observations as to how and\nwhat roles do the rivers play in bringing plastic to the oceans,\u201d Koldwey told\nthis correspondent. The team has social scientists and community workers. \u201cWe\nwere looking at populations and waste management infrastructures and making\nestimates, which are really significant in ascertaining the levels of plastic\ngoing into the oceans.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even when Ganga is not the top-ranking river amongst the top ten to dump plastic into the oceans, Koldwey could not explain why they did not choose other rivers, including those in China. \u201cThere are patchy bits done \u2026 for instance, in Thailand they are looking at micro-plastics only in Mekong river. But this is going to be a comprehensive study. We are hoping to develop a methodology here and take it to other rivers.\u201d China has permission issues, she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Seven towns and cities in India:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The seven places identified in India are: Harsil and\nRishikesh (Uttarakhand); Sahibganj, Kannauj, Anupshahar, District Bulandshahar\nand Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) and Patna (Bihar). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the first kind of project on Ganga (among the top\n10 most polluting rivers) which has a comprehensive study looking at land,\nlooking at the river, looking at people, looking at wildlife, a\nfour-dimensional study. The broad outcomes that are expected: 1. Fill knowledge\ngap by collecting data. 2. Identify the key intervention points so that there\nis a solution and 3. Education and communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lack of understanding how plastic persists in the\nenvironment is the main hindrance and talking to the community about it would\nbe the focal point and then mobilising solutions around behaviour change, be it\nhow the communities manage their waste or how they reduce their plastic\nconsumption. \u201cChallenge is to make behaviour \u2018easy to change\u2019,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the one hand, she and her team met with the communities\nalong the Ganga banks, and on the other, she also met business community and\naddressed them at the World Economic Forum here earlier on October. Koldwey\nsaid she and her team are reaching out to businesses and engaging with them. It\nis important as it is easy putting a ban on usage, consumption of single-use\nplastic, but what about the industry that manufactures it? What about the\nproducers of these plastics?   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBig brands are slowly waking up to the problem. Also,\nthere are other businesses \u2026 the alternatives. This is not to say, it is\nenvironment versus business. It is actually saying, there is a new way of doing\nbusiness.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What gives confidence to Koldwey is her previous experience. Currently as Head of Marine and Freshwater Conservation, Koldewey\u2019s approach includes finding solutions through interdisciplinary research and conservation action at the interface between communities and environment. The project \u2018Net-Works\u2019, that won multiple awards, has developed a novel community-based supply chain for discarded fishing nets that are recycled into carpet tiles addressing issues of marine debris and poverty alleviation in coastal communities. It has removed more than 160 tonnes waste nets benefiting 62,000 people. Heather says she uses collaborative approaches to communicate and engage people in marine conservation. For instance, in the \u2018One Less\u2019 campaign aimed at building a more ocean-friendly society, she has been working to make London the first capital city to stop using single-use plastic bottles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image caption: Heather Koldewey and Jenna Jambeck, National Geographic Fellows and Scientific Co-Leads of the \u201cSea to Source: Ganges\u201d expedition in India (Photo Credit: Taylor Maddalene)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(This story first appeared in the November issue of Urban Update, a monthly magazine published from Delhi)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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