High levels of bacteria commonly found in human and animal excreta were found in the river water in which pilgrims take a holy dip during the Maha Kumbh in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, the Central Pollution Control Board has told the National Green Tribunal.

The National Green Tribunal is hearing a petition about the quality of water in the Ganga and Yamuna rivers amid the ongoing Maha Kumbh pilgrimage. The Central Pollution Control Board submitted a report about the water contamination on February 3 to the tribunal, which took note of it in an order on February 17.

The pollution control board said in its report: “River water quality was not conforming with the primary water quality for bathing w.r.t. Fecal Coliform [FC] at all the monitored locations on various occasions. Huge number of people taking bath at Prayagraj during Maha Kumbh Mela in river including auspicious bathing days which eventually leads to increase in fecal concentration.”

Fecal coliform bacteria are microbes that typically live in the intestines of warm-blooded animals, including humans, and are found in their excreta.

The Central Pollution Control Board also told the National Green Tribunal that river water quality with respect to biochemical oxygen demand did not meet bathing criteria on January 12 and January 13 at most locations.

“…However after that organic pollution [in terms of biochemical oxygen demand] started to decrease due to freshwater intrusion at upstream locations,” the report said. “After 13th January 2025, river water quality conforming the bathing criteria w.r.t. BOD except Lord Curzon bridge on river Ganga on 19th January, 2025.”

Biochemical oxygen demand refers to the amount of oxygen that micro-organisms use to decompose organic matter in water. Low biochemical oxygen demand generally indicates purer water, while a higher figure indicates polluted water.

The National Green Tribunal on Monday noted that the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board had not yet complied with an order on December 23 to file an action taken report on steps taken to prevent water pollution. The counsel for the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday sought a day to examine reports on pollution in the Ganga and Yamuna during the Maha Kumbh, and to file a response.

The tribunal will hear the case again on February 19.

The Maha Kumbh began on January 13 and will go on till February 26. The Uttar Pradesh government claims that on an average, more than a crore people have taken the holy dip in the Ganga and Yamuna rivers every day during the pilgrimage, according to the Hindustan Times.