By ANI

KANPUR: The quality of water in the river Ganga has witnessed a significant improvement during the lockdown, imposed in the backdrop of coronavirus pandemic. According to experts, the quality has improved by 40-50 percent as compared to earlier.

One of the major factors attributed to this significant improvement is the shutting down of industries and other manufacturing units that use to discharge large volumes of effluents and toxicants into the river ecosystem.

"There has been 40-50 percent improvement in the quality of water in Ganga," said Dr PK Mishra, Professor at Chemical Engineering and Technology, IIT-BHU.

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One of the locals told ANI, "The water quality has improved but the water levels are low. Once the water levels increase, Ganga will appear completely clean".

Prime Minister Modi had on March 24 announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown as a precautionary measure to control the spread of the coronavirus.

Besides Kanpur, locals in Varanasi also said that water in the Ganga river has seen improvement in quality as is apparently more clearer.

"There is a lot of difference. Today, the water looks clean. One of the biggest reasons behind this is that today all factories are closed," said a local.

On the other hand, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases rose to 3374 in India on Sunday, as per the data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.