"Temperatures are rising four times faster than elsewhere in China, and the Tibetan glaciers are retreating at a higher speed than in any other part of the world.... In the short term, this will cause lakes to expand and bring floods and mudflows. . . . In the long run, the glaciers are vital lifelines for Asian rivers, including the Indus and the Ganges. Once they vanish, water supplies in those regions will be in peril."
-Qin Dahe, former head of the China Meteorological Administration
The River Ganges has been revered by millions in India as a symbol of spiritual purity for more than two millennia. The Ganges (pronounced Ganga, in most Indian languages) originates in the frozen heights of the Himalayas. The 1,557 mile river begins at the Gangotri Glacier, flows east through the Gangetic Plain of northern India into Bangladesh and drains into the Sunderbans delta in the Bay of Bengal.
"Man becomes pure by the touch of the water, or by consuming it, or by expressing its name" -Lord Vishnu, the four-armed "All Pervading One", proclaimed in the Ramayana, the Sanscrit epic poem composed four centuries before Christ.
India's Hindus worship the Ganges, or "Mother Ganga," as a personified form of the goddess Ganga. Some Hindus believe that life is incomplete without bathing in the river at least once in a lifetime and many families keep a vial of water from the Ganges in their home. They believe that the water from the Holy Ganga can cure the ill but also, if someone is dieing, the water can be drank to cleanse the person's soul of past sins. Some of the most important Hindu festivals and congregations happen on the banks of the river Ganges. Devout Hindus make pilgrimages to meditate on the banks and bathe in the river, believing that the river will wash away one's sins.
Nearly 400 million people live at the banks of the River Ganga in the various ancient cities that are proof of the historical importance of the river. An estimated 2,000,000 people ritually bathe in the river daily. The river sustains live in many villages and cities by providing drinking water and irrigation of waste. The belief (and the observable fact) is that the water of Ganga does not decay for years when other river waters develop bacteria and fungi within days. Due to the multitudes of people bathing in it and the river's bacteriophages (tiny viruses that eat the larger bacteria) the water has a self-purification effect. The water-borne desentery and cholera are naturally killed off which prevents large-scale epidemics. The river is the basis for the thriving civilizations on its banks and its unique biological make-up feeds its long-standing traditions...
...However, the spiritually romantic view of the river collides with the grim present situation. The country's explosive growth within the last three decades (population rising to nearly 1.2 billion, second only to China), industrialization and urbanization has put immense amount of pressure on the river. Pollution has built up over the years to now alarming proportions. As per UECPCB study, the level of coliform present in water should be below 50 for drinking purposes, less than 500 for bathing, and below 5,000 for agricultural use. The Holy River Ganga, at the city of Haridwar, has reached 5,500. The levels of mercury found in the water, sediment, benthic fauna, fish, soil and vegetation has also become worrisome.
According to the study, the high level of coliform is due to sewage disposal directly into the river. Nearly 89 million liters of sewage is disposed daily into the river from 12 municipal towns along its route to Haridwar; including hazardous medical waste from the base hospital at Srinagar due to the lack of an incinerator. The concentration of bacteria is in some parts 3,000 times over the safety limit. Parts of the Ganges becomes black, septic, and sometimes corpses of semi-cremated adults or enshrouded babies drift by.
In 1985 the Government of India lauched the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) which was discontinued in 2000. During the 15 year period, the knowledge and experience gained through the plan led to a mere million (of the 89 million) liters of sewage to be targeted, then intercepted, diverted and treated. Since the discontinuing of GAP, the talks of clean-up has simply been talk. The first meeting if the Ganga River Basin Authority (GRBA) had its first meeting in early October, 2009. Hosted by the Prime Minister, the meeting of the GRBA resulted in a mandate to address the problem of pollution in the river with a holistic and comprehensive strategy. Only time will tell...
its a very surprising fact is that the water of Ganga does not decay for years when other river waters develop bacteria and fungi within days. its a quite information blog about the holy ganges.
Posted by: irrigation systems | July 14, 2010 at 03:06 AM