There flows a business: Health worries over bottled Ganga jal sold by govt

Hindustan Times, Dehradun | Jul 31, 2016

Rishikesh post office has so far collected approximately 28,000 litres of Ganja Jal, This is enough to make 1.40 lakh bottles of 200 ml each. (HT Photo)

It’s a forenoon hour, and the small post office alongside the Ganga is bustling with activity. Ratan Rawat, the postmaster, is busy taking phone calls on the landline as well as his cell phone.

“Ho jayega sir, saari cans jald aa jayengi (Yes sir, will ensure that all the cans reach soon),” he speaks reassuringly to his senior at the other end. As the head of the staff totaling six, Rawat inspects the plastic cans filled with Ganga jal collected from the river bank, just across the road.

For a month now, this post office in this pilgrim city in Uttarakhand is sending the holy water to Delhi. At a facility in the national capital, it is filled in bottles of 200 and 500-ml capacity before they are distributed for retail sale to post offices across the country.

It was in May this year that Union communication and information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced making Ganga jal available at post offices and on e-commerce platforms. The idea of selling the holy water proved to be an instant hit after the scheme launched on July 10.

Also read :'Gangajal' sale by Dept of Post evokes good response in Maha

The Ganga jal is collected from two places in Uttarakhand: Rishikesh and, further up, Gangotri. “Initially, we used to pack and dispatch 25 cans of 20 litres each a day,” says Rawat. “These days, we collect 100 cans—or 2,000 liters per day. That is enough to make 10,000 bottles of 200ml each.”

A 200ml Ganga jal bottle collected from Rishikesh costs Rs 15, while the price is Rs 22 for 500 ml. The Gangotri water is collected from Gomukh—the origin of the 2,525km river. The purity quotient is up at the glacier area, and so are the costs. It’s Rs 25 for the 200ml bottle, Rs 35 for 500ml.

The post office at Gomukh, which is situated 13,200 feet above the sea level, is opened for only six summer months any year. July being a monsoon month, its roads face repeated blocks. “So, we have temporarily stopped collecting water from Gomukh” says GD Arya, superintendent (postal) for Tehri Garhwal zone.

At the Rishikesh post office, the staff members take turns to monitor the water-collection work and count the packed bottles. “At times, we feel a little overloaded,” shrugs Rawat. “But it is all about service to society.”

Also read :Corrigendum for distribution of Gangajal sourced at Gangotri through Post Offices

At the Ganga bank that overlooks the famed suspension bridge called Ram Jhula, young Ram Singh collects muddy Ganga jal in cans. Two fellow labourers join the 32-year-old local man.

“It’s an earning season for us,” says Singh. “We get Rs 1000 for 3 to 4 hours of work. Not bad.”

Rains in the upper stream have made the Ganga water particularly muddy. “Our job is to collect in the raw form,” adds Singh.

A Hindu pilgrim known as Kanwaria carrying holy water in New Delhi collected from river Ganges to be offered to local Shiva temple. (Burhaan Kinu / HT File Photo ) 

The business of Ganga jal

As one of the world’s longest .....................

IS THE GANGA CLEAN?

FOR THE RECORD, THE GANGA IS ONE OF INDIA’S MOST CONTAMINATED RIVERS. STUDIES ON THE QUALITY OF ITS WATER HAVE SUGGESTED THAT BEYOND RISHIKESH, GANGA JAL IS NOT POTABLE. “IT IS NOT FIT FOR EVEN ‘AACHAMAN’—A SIP TAKEN BEFORE WORSHIP,” SAYS ONE SURVEY.

Uttarakhand P.............................................

WATER BUSINESS....................

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