ch Institute (TERI) estimates air pollution will contribute to 2.5 million early deaths across the country this year. "A hidden crisis is on for which there is no immediate solution," warns TERI's director, R.K. Pachauri.
When the total cost of environmental degradation is taken into account, it more than offsets the positive economic growth of the past two decades, according to the Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute.
Few comply with rules
Despite India's stringent pollution control measures, outdated technologies, a lack of capital, and poor infrastructure contribute to the low levels of compliance with environmental legislation.
But according to Anil Agarwal, director of the Center for Science and the Environment, the lack of enforcement is not the only barrier to cleaning up India's environment. "What we are seeing today is a total failure of the entire governance system, aided and abetted by a complete lack of political vision," says Mr. Agarwal.
One of India's most dramatic failures on the environmental front has been the Ganges Action Plan (GAP). Launched in 1985, the ambitious project was meant to clean up India's most important river. But after 12 years of work and $300 million in funding, the GAP has achieved few of its objectives. A recent study found that the amount of sewage flowing into the Ganges has doubled since 1985, while a government audit found evidence of widespread corruption in siphoning off funds earmarked for the project.
"It's money flowing down the drain," says Varanasi-based Prof. B.N. Juyal, a social activist. "They used to call this the eternal city because it was never affected by flooding. Now because of the Ganges Action Plan it is being flooded with sewage."
GAP's chief adviser, R.P. Sharma, admits the river is undergoing "slow poisoning" but he blames the lack of political will on the part of state governments to fully implement the project for its many failures.
"The state governments give a low priority to the environment, and because they are always strapped for cash, the upkeep of civic amenities is always the first to go," says Dr. Sharma.
"What is needed is an integrated approach that generates awareness of the problems to the fullest extent by involving the public and locally elected representatives," says Sharma.
At the Dinapur Sewage Treatment Plant in Varanasi, however, where visitors are presented with bouquets of fragrant flowers grown on sludge from the plant, officials are upbeat about the success of GAP. "By the introduction and implementation of the Ganges Action Plan there has definitely been an improvement in the quality of water in the river," says N.C. Gupta, general manager of the Ganga Pollution Control Unit.
Armed with reams of statistics, Gupta says that the quality of river water at Varanasi has improved substantially, but he admits that a more coordinated and sustained effort will be required before the waters of the Ganges become as pure as pious Hindu pilgrims believe them to be.
"Name me one major river where you can drink the water without first boiling it," says Mr. Gupta. "Look how long it took to clean the Thames and this is a much bigger river system."
FOUL WATERS RUN DEEP: A woman wades through flood waters near India' s southern city of Madras. Severe pollution has put India's vital waterways in increasing jeopardy.