The Pitiful Condition of Goddess Ganga

All the people of India....Its time to wake up to a new dawn. With the coming of the report of Montana State University researchers that claim Ganga to be fast becoming of the most impure river in the country, Ganga is soon becoming a threat to the lives as well as health of the river and the people who depend on it. The river that since ages have been revered as a goddess is on the road to become mucked up.

The main reason behind this is the untreated sewage, cremated remains, chemicals and disease-causing microbes that live in this river. On the other hand, the cows wade in the river, people washing their laundry are also the reasons that add up to the trouble. According to researchers in US, “Ganges has become the kind of place where genetic material could transfer between pathogens and create new pathogens”. Humans today are dying from water borne diseases, more than ever. In the north and northern eastern reason, Ganga is the major cause of deaths. The reason being - enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) bacteria. Known as 0157:H7 bacteria, this was first found in United States where it infects 73,000 people and kills about 60 people in an year.

Though the government have claimed to spent almost five billion rupees by launching the Ganga Action Plan in 1986, the efforts have gone in vain. Domestic and industrial pollution, combined with deforestation, use of pesticides and fertilizers and other factors, have rendered the water of Ganga unfit for drinking or bathing.

It should be noted that the Ganga basin is the most important basin in the country, supporting 300 million people out of which 20 millions live in the densely populated cities. Due to the lack of proper sewage facilities 88%, the effects are hazardous. While the Ganges is in the upper Himalays it is clean, pollution fee and crystal clear. According to reports, Uttar Pradesh alone is responsible for 50% of the waste and pollutants in Ganges. This as the end is resulting in an array of diseases like cholera, hepatitis, typhoid and amoebic dysentery.

Ganga, which is the epitome of the Indian faith, is getting blemished in front of our eyes. Though government is trying its level best to keep situations under control, but it become inevitable that individuals should take the responsibility as well. We should endeavor to protect this river, otherwise our mother will be defiled by the names 'dirty', 'polluted' and so on. The government is trying its level best to keep the Ganges clean, but we too should joinn hands in making out sacred river, pollution free.