The Ganges, threatened and sacred

New Delhi, 21 March 2007. - From the glaciers of the Himalayas to the distant shores of Bengal, the Ganges, Hindu holy river and a livelihood for tens of millions of people, faces two serious threats: pollution and overexploitation.
"The river is facing alarming levels of pollution and overexploitation of resources, which is the reason why in some places one can walk where once was water," he told Efe Parikshit Gautam, CEO of World Wildlife Fund ( WWF initials in English).
The Ganges basin fed by life to a third of the land that forms part of India, and its passage through the continent not only testifies to the existence of ancient civilizations, but sustains millions of families, to the point that one of every twelve people on Earth lives under its influence.
However, human activity itself, which acquires its meaning and way of life around the river, the Ganges that puts at risk the agricultural and industrial uses of the land, while river flow appears increasingly thin by the limited contribution of its tributaries, content, increasingly, even swamps.
The massive construction of dams weakens the natural river flow and prevents sediment reaching the mouth, which favors the salinization of the area and with it the death or migration of native species, the WWF warned in a report released this days.
At the end of its cycle, in the Sunderbans delta, the organization estimates that 95 percent of the water of the Ganges has been diverted flow, which affects a rise in sea levels and increased salinity that puts endangered ecosystems, india news agency ANI.
"Many farmers divert river water for their crops, sometimes illegally, which together with the proliferation of wetlands and contamination forced to take measures to avoid facing an irreversible situation," Gautam told Efe.
Along the banks of the Ganges, many fur industries discharging waste water in their chromium and other metals, which will later stop for pilgrims who come to purify their bodies in the sacred volume.
Because the Ganges river is also the foundation of Hindu theology, and he come on pilgrimage million people each year, encouraged by the fact that its waters wash not only sins, but that release of the cycle of rebirths.
Ignoring the wild levels of pollution, many Hindus saved with a bowl of holy water from the river waiting to ingest just before he died and have therefore, according to oral tradition, his soul ascends to heaven.
In this range of problems are also linked to climate change, whose effects threaten an ecosystem made ​​up of over 140 species of fish, 90 amphibians and the endangered Gangetic dolphin.
"Glaciers account for between 30 and 40 percent of the water of the Ganges, and between 70 and 80 percent for the Indus River. Studies are needed to determine the impact of melting glaciers on stream flow, "he told the newspaper" The Times of India "Sejal Worah, another spokesman for WWF.
However, concerns about the abandonment of the river is not new, and by 1985 the government launched an action plan of the Ganges (Ganga Action Plan), that 22 years later is considered a "failure" by Gautam.
"The plan has no substantial results, even though their goals were wide: he wanted to stop pollution and reintroduce species, but was not well implemented because it required an effort of coordination at many levels," said the activist.
That plan was devised earlier by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, perhaps influenced by his father, the head of government Jawaharlal Nehru.
"From its source to the sea, the Ganges is the history of Indian civilization," said the historic former Indian prime minister.
Alien to man but under the constant influence, the Ganges continues its 2,510 miles of water stanza eternal, silent chronicler of the successes and misfortunes of their children, "from the old days, Nehru said the new".

Share

Thematic area:

1. "Clean Ganges Mission," the new India plan to save their sacred river
2. The river Ganges
3. Bangladesh faces climate change with doubts about its survival
4. Dirt and urbanism threaten the future of the holy city of Varanasi
5. Millions of South Asians due to superstition to enjoy the eclipse