Humans love water. Aside from the obvious reasons of needing water to survive, humans have an uncanny attraction to water, evident in the high demand for waterfront apartments, and expensive beach vacations. Our desire to be near a water source dates back to the birth of civilisation, where every cradle formed next to a river.

Pollution of the waters that run through ancient cities

We place focus on the Ganges River for our post today. The Ganges River was where the development of the most extensive Neolithic site, the Indus Valley Civilisation, occurred. Today, it flows through most of India, cutting into Bangladesh and emptying out into the Bay of Bengal. River Ganges provides an array of ecosystem services to the 650 million people within its basin, and is worshipped by the Hindus as the goddess Ganga.

Despite being worshipped for its purifying qualities, the River Ganges is ironically the dirtiest river in Asia, specifically at the stretch called Yamuna River. River health indicators such as low dissolved oxygen content and high heavy metal percentage showed the detrimental conditions of Yamuna. At this stage, the Yamuna is a dead river, incapable of sustaining an ecosystem (Rai, 2011).

Sources of pollutants – household and industrial waste

 

The causes of pollution of River Ganges is overbearingly anthropogenic, and links greatly to the lack of providence of formalised drainage system in the many informal settlements flanking the channel. Faecal matter and household wastewater containing chemicals such as detergents, are often flushed into the channel untreated. Industries such as leather tanneries also illegally release large volume of chemicals and acidic compounds choke full of heavy metals into the sewerage system, which flows into the channel untreated (Parthasarathy, 2016).

 

Sources of pollutants – Religious believes

 

Due to its holy status, River Ganges plays a vital role in many aspects of the Hindu religion. During the day of Durga Puja, devotees worships the goddess Durga, and conduct rituals that include submerging idols of the goddess into the holy river. These idols are usually made out of cheap paints laden with heavy metals, and are disposed in the river after the celebrations conclude. It was also believed that after death, if one’s remains are to be cremated at the banks of the Ganges, and ashes scattered into its waters, they will obtain a spiritual level deemed as “Moksha”, liberating them from the endless cycle of rebirth. At the holy city of Varanasi, an estimated 32,000 corpses are cremated and offered into the river annually. The sheer amount of human remains adds on to the pollutants entering the channel.

 

Human attempts to re-purify the waters

The water pollution of Ganges drew attention from many. Environmentalists have called for immediate restrictions on sewage entering the channels, and religious leaders preached about how India is slowly “killing its own mother” (Rowlatt, 2016). In the following post, we will look into the attempts by the state and its people in fighting against the poisoning of Ma Ganga.

 

References

Parthasarathy, S. (2016). In Pictures: The toxic cost of Kanpur’s leather industry. India Today. https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/the-toxic-cost-of-kanpurs-leather-industry-329990-2016-07-19

Rai, R. K. (Ed.). (2011). The Yamuna River Basin: Water Resources and Environment. Springer.

Rowlatt, J. (2016). India’s Dying Mother. BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-aad46fca-734a-45f9-8721-61404cc12a39