Centre commissions project to study microbial diversity in Ganga

A study to assess microbial diversity along the entire length of river Ganga costing over Rs 9.3 crore has been commissioned by the central government, according to a report by The Hindu.

The report states that the project also expects to assess whether the stretches of the 2,500 km long river has microbes which can promote "antibiotic resistance".

The project, which is expected to last over two years, will be undertaken jointly by scientists at the Motilal Nehru Institute of Technology in Allahabad; National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in Nagpur and Sardar Patel Institute of Science and Technology in Gorakhpur.

According to the report, start-up companies like Phixgen and Xcelris Labs will also be a part of the project. The two companies, the report states, provide genome sequencing services which will involve mapping the genomes of the microbes sampled.

According to a note released by the National Mission for Clean Ganga, the purpose of the project is to indicate the type of "contamination" in the river and "threat to human health". Additionally, it also seeks to identify the sources of a type of bacteria living in the gut of animals and humans, called the Eschericia coli.

While earlier there have been several studies undertaken to examine the microbial diversity in Ganga, no study has looked at the "entire stretch" of the river, Atya Kapley, a scientist at NEERI and a part of the project told the newspaper.

The report states that a study commissioned by the Union Department of Biotechnology and the UK Research Council and published in 2017 revealed that India has some of the highest antibiotic resistance rates among bacteria that cause infections.