India, June 23 -- Regulations of industrial, municipal inflow in Ganga, at the centre of pollution mitigation policies, have dissociated rivers from riverine communities

The quality of water in rivers Ganga and Yamuna did not improve despite four decades of pollution-mitigation measures. But they did within 10 days of the nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

For years, the regulations of industrial and municipal inflow in the river have been at the centre of policies and programmes for pollution mitigation. On ground, however, these projects have mostly dissociated rivers from the riverine communities: An integral part of the river ecosystem since time immemorial.

While we...