Lucknow, May 4 -- The Gomti, a perennial river often considered sacred, is stinking due to untreated sewage, industrial and human waste that make its water unfit for even aquatic life in Lucknow, the data available with experts and the authorities indicate.

The factors of concern include water hyacinth visible on the surface, dissolved faecal coliform, which indicates sewage contamination, and methane bubbles, a potent greenhouse gas. The presence of all these worrying signs suggests pollution is snuffing the life out of animals right down to the riverbed.

The faecal coliform in the river at Kudiaghat in the state capital was 40,000MPN (Most Probable Number)/100ml while the maximum permissible limit is 2500, according to the data availa...