Sehore, April 10 Nearly 11,000 litres of milk were poured into the Narmada River in Sehore district, Madhya Pradesh, as part of a religious ritual, prompting environmentalists to raise concerns about its negative impact on the ecosystem.
This took place at the conclusion of a 21-day religious event, part of a purification ritual that concluded at Satdev village in the Bherunda area, about 90 km from the district headquarters, with a 'mahayagna' (large ritual fire) on Wednesday.
The milk was offered to the river as part of rituals and prayers for the purity of the water, the well-being of pilgrims, and prosperity, organizers said on Thursday.
They said that the milk was transported to the riverbank in tankers and then poured into the flowing water while mantras were chanted in the presence of a large crowd of devotees.
However, environmentalists raised concerns about this practice, warning of its potential ecological impact.
"Such large quantities of organic matter can deplete dissolved oxygen in the water, adversely affecting the river ecosystem," said environmentalist and wildlife activist Ajay Dube. "This also affects local communities that depend on the river for drinking water and threatens aquatic life as well as domestic animals."
Religious offerings should be symbolic and mindful, he asserted.
Another environmentalist, Subhash Pandey, said that 11,000 litres of milk acts as a significant organic pollutant.
"It is highly oxygen-demanding and can lead to oxygen depletion, aquatic mortality, eutrophication (the process of plants growing on the river surface), and loss of potability. These effects are predictable from dairy effluent chemistry and have been documented in similar incidents worldwide," Pandey said.
The Narmada originates in Amarkantak in the state and flows westward for 1,312 km to Maharashtra and Gujarat, emptying into the Arabian Sea via the Gulf of Cambay.
It is the largest westward-flowing river in the peninsula, passing through a rift valley and serving as a crucial water source for irrigation in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.
