Think Green Live Clean

Photo Credit: Devon Fisher

The holy Ganges River has a long history of reverence in India, as it is the most sacred river in the country. The river signifies divine consciousness for Hindus who come from all over the country to bathe, worship and honor dead relatives in the divine waters. Thousands of Hindu followers have their bodies committed to the Ganges each year in belief that the river’s waters will carry their souls to eternal salvation. With an estimated 2 million people visiting the river each day, the high level of pollution in it is not so surprising. However, the waste from the ritual bathing, the laundry sites, corpse disposals and cremation rituals along the river are not the main concern, rather, the river is also a sewage dump and today, one of the most polluted rivers in the world.

India’s explosive population growth during the last three decades, combined with industrialization and rapid urbanization has put tremendous pressure on the sacred stream. Nearly 89 million liters of raw sewage flow into the Ganges each day, causing the river to choke with filth. Those who drink from the river risk contracting waterborne diseases such as typhoid, polio, and jaundice. Contact and ingestion of the water has been known to lead to skin problems, disabilities and high infant mortality rates. In hopes of improving the river’s fate, concerned advocates are threatening India’s government, who has already dedicated 51 billion rupees (US$1.2 billion) to clean the Ganges since 1982, mostly through the construction of sewage treatment plants. Yet frequent power failures minimize the facilities’ effectiveness.

In the sacred Hindu text, the Ramayana, Lord Vishnu (preserver of the universe), says “Man becomes pure by the touch of the water, or by consuming it, or by expressing its name,” while referring to the Ganges. Unfortunately, however, this romantic view of the Ganges has collided with India’s grim realities.