Study warns of threats to endanger aquatic species as household debris dominates river stretch in Jharkhand

Packaging waste has emerged as the largest contributor to plastic pollution along a high-biodiversity stretch of the Ganga in Jharkhand, a recent study has found.

Researchers from the Wildlife Institute of India documented 37,730 items of debris across a 76 km stretch of the river, including a 34 km zone between Lal Bathani and Radhanagar in Sahibganj district that supports endangered species such as the Gangetic dolphin and smooth-coated otter. The findings were published in the journal Sustainability.

Packaging material made up 52.4 per cent of the total, with food wrappers, single-use sachets and plastic bags most common. Plastic fragments followed at 23.3 per cent, while tobacco-related litter accounted for 5 per cent and disposable cutlery for 4.7 per cent. Smaller amounts of fishing gear, textiles and medical plastics were also recorded.

Floodplains were found to be the most polluted sites, with densities of 6.95 items per square metre — nearly 28 times higher than river shorelines. In the high-biodiversity zone alone, 61 per cent of all debris was collected, including discarded fishing nets and Styrofoam, both of which present serious hazards for aquatic species.

Household waste was identified as the source of 87 per cent of the debris, compared with 4.5 per cent from fishing gear and 2.6 per cent from religious offerings. The absence of organised collection and disposal systems in floodplain communities was singled out as a key factor driving the accumulation.

Seasonal differences were limited, but floods replenished plastic loads post-monsoon by washing waste into the river. The study, conducted between 2022 and 2024, used transect-based sampling to map the scale and type of plastic debris.