Polluted Ganges must be cleaned, gurus demand

Sunrise in Varanasi.

AndreasVJ has contributed a photo to this story.

This is the Ganges River in West Begal, at the point of its confluence with the Jalangi, near Navadvip, 130 km north of Calcutta is considered a holy place and is of special significance as the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, regarded as a special incarnation of Radha and Krishna.

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Photo by: Jessica Siebenmorgen.

Upriver from Rishikesh while bathing in the freezing cold Ganges river we got caught in the middle of gang of monkeys coming down from the mountains for a drink.

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I am a Hindu myself but I frankly admit the Hindu religion is very very dirty. You visit any goddamn Hindu religious place on the map and you reach a polluted heaven. The basic nature of all these places is that they will attract an enormous number of pilgrims all round the year and all the puja and parab and bathing in the sacred river and stuff pollutes the 'sacred' Ganges river. Right from Haridwar and Varanasi down to the burning ghats of Kolkata. Add to that all those idols and filth that are dumped into the river after the Durgapuja each year. All this is bound to cause an environmental hazard any day now. I think the pollution level of the Ganges has reached an alarming proportion now. However, in a country of Hindu bigotry, there is little way out.

My photos were shot from near Outram Ghat in Kolkata just before dusk.

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The auspicious ever gracing river ganges as seen on a mansoon evening at Rishikesh.

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Shot of a bird as it soars along the Ganges river, taken from a hotel rooftop along the ghats at Varanasi.

Photo is copyright Jeremiah Hill, 2007. More images of Varanasi at www.jeremiahhill.com

Jeremiah Hill has contributed a photo to this story.

Ganges at Haridwar is a totally unique experience. This picture is taken of the Ganges at Ghats for snana (sacred bath) near Har Ki Pauri Temple at evening time. The Ganges was in full flow and as such water was not very dirty but there is no doubt that it has been polluted to a great extent and i feel everyone concerned i.e. the politicians , the industrialists, the public are responsible for it. It does need cleaning urgently and a sincere effort is required from everyone.

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Sorry, how can you be a "right wing disciple" of Maharishi? Gurus don't have political wings. This reporter (the one quoted in Times Online) needs to learn a bit about comparative religion.

dirk772 has contributed a photo to this story.

the banks of holy ganges are highly polluted and full of litter and people are still bathing in huge numbers in that polluted water. and it seems as if nobody cares. its a sad picture.

satyaki_23 has contributed a photo to this story.

Indians throw half burned dead bodies, female fetus , industrial and civic waste, plastic and heavy metal ;  Every day they pollute river <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Ganges in every conceivable way. Hindu Indians call this river “ Ganga Maiya” or Mother Ganges they worship her as a goddess still they have turned this river into a mammoth flow of pollutants.

 

No amount of legislation or pollution control unit is enough to save this river unless and until people of India understand the reality and change themselves. Uneducated and ill educated Indians put very high value in momentary benefit of convenience and cash. In a country where more than 80% of the total population is either uneducated or ill-educated there you need to educate the mass first. Only proper education of Indian population can save river Ganga.

 

This photo shows the Dakshineshwar Kali Temple in Kolkata, India. This large temple on the bank of the Ganga draws thousands of devotees everyday, many of whom also bathe in the Ganga. Apart from bathing devotees, flowers and other waste from the temple also pollute the river here and at other places of pilgrimage. However, most of the pollutants are organic in nature, and are therefore less harmful than the effluents that are added to the Ganga from the industrial cities.

Joy Forever has contributed a photo to this story.

I was amazed at the pollution in the "important" rivers and waters of India. It is sad to see the affect of poverty stretching to the areas that are "holy."

psalm61 has contributed a photo to this story.

This photo was taken at sunrise on the Ganges river in Varanasi. i was waiting for this boat as i took the photo, i wanted to take a picture of both a boat and the sunrise. The river is very beautiful but with many elements of sadness as well.

mokogee has contributed a photo to this story.

My photo was taken of a young girl drinking water from the Ganges.

alexlwood has contributed a photo to this story.

Each morning in Varanasi, India, pilgrims, villagers and tourists assemble along the banks of the river Ganges. The Ganges is the holiest river in India and Varanasi the holiest city. It is a pilgrimage site for the Hindu population of the country and many of the elderly from across India come to Varanasi to pass on. To die in Varanasi, they say, allows one to escape the cycle of birth and rebirth. Every morning before dawn, these pilgrims come down to the ghats where rituals are conducted. I captured this image of a saddhu, a holy man, welcoming the dawn in a personal and silent rite. It is an extremely humbling experience to take in the tranquility of any morning on this most sacred of rivers.

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People do whatever daily needs in Ganges - Holy River.
Bathing, washing, cooking, urinating, drinking............. even funeral of the bodies

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The other point that struck is Sunita Narain.  She's the hugely energetic director of the Centre for Science and the environment.  They've done some very effective campaigns over water, I know.  I don't know whether or not they are tackling pressurising the authorities over the Ganges.  If they are, then the authorities will certtainly be obliged to prick up their ears!

washing my sins away
sitting on the banks of the Holy Ganga in Ramjhula, Rishikesh 2003

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Early mornings in Varanasi - Hindus make pilgrimages to bathe in holy water of the Ganges. The river is filled with floating marigolds and other gifts to the gods, but also pollutants from factories up stream. Meanwhile people are bathing and brushing their teeth.

cwpnyc has contributed a photo to this story.

this photo was taken in March of 2005 and if you notice there is someone in the photography taking a photo of me

kittymears has contributed a photo to this story.

This shot was taken in the morning while I was walking along the banks of the river Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras, India). The arrival of the golden dawn brings thousands of worshippers down the ghats. People stand in the river water, facing east across the river, praying and pouring water out of urns or hands held up to the sunrise, heralding the gift of a new day. However the river is now sick with the pollution of human and industrial waste, and water-borne illness is a terrible factor here. But the threat posed by this pollution isn’t just a matter of health—it’s a matter of faith.

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It's not up to me to say that the river Ganges is dirty.
I haven't been there long enough.

I remember one ugly spot where we took a picture of human produced rubbish accumulating by the edge of the Ganges.

To judge by statistics of bacteria found in the holy river one must do something to about it.

The proposed river turbine scheme doesn't sound right to me as it's too artificial and everything like that harms nature.

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Typical early morning on the Ganges in 1996.

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