India Invests In A Cleaner Ganges

by Annina Bergman | October 6, 2009 at 03:57 pm

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India is planning on investing around $3 billion in cleaning the river Ganges, which flows through northern India and Bangladesh. Currently, around 50 percent of Delhi's raw sewage flows straigt into the Ganges.

The 2,510 km (1,560 miles) long river is one of the world's most polluted rivers. It hold major significance to the millions of Hindus in India, each of whom must bathe in its water at least once during their lifetime. In addition to domestic sewage, the waters are also polluted by bodies of dead humans and animals, as well as ashes and chemical waste.

The Indian governent is going to build new sewage treatment plants to clean the polluted water. India hopes to purify the river enough for it to be safe to swim in by 2020. The World Bank has promised to lend India around $2 billion for the project.

Experts are sceptical about the project, as there are no funds allocated to move sewage to the new plants - only to supply them with electricity.

The stench from the treacle-like Ganges – or Ganga – has become a talking point among tourists who visit the holy city of Varanasi to marvel at the devotion of Hindus who drink its black water.

According to Hindu scripture, the river was created from the hair of the god Shiva to purify the earth and wash away its sins.

The many symbolic meanings of the river on the Indian subcontinent were spoken to in 1946 by Jawaharlal Nehru in his Discovery of India,

The Ganges, above all is the river of India, which has held India's heart captive and drawn uncounted millions to her banks since the dawn of history. The story of the Ganges, from her source to the sea, from old times to new, is the story of India's civilization and culture, of the rise and fall of empires, of great and proud cities, of adventures of man…