Dirt and urbanism threaten the future of the holy city of Varanasi

New Delhi, 29 Jan 2007. - The uncontrolled waste and a controversial planning scheme threaten the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, where millions of pilgrims take baths in the Ganges while purifying almost two and a half million empty bottles fill the streets of waste annually .
According to Efe reported the delegate in the city of the India National Foundation for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH, an acronym in English), Navneet Raman, the fact that there is no proper system of garbage collection has been in "danger "monumental heritage of the city.
"The lack of facilities have led to the waste problem has remained unresolved for the past 20 years, and that has become a city Benares really dirty," said Raman.
A Benares come every year one million foreign tourists and four million Indians, attracted by an atmosphere of mystical spirituality and the possibility of purifying their souls with sacred baths in the Ganges river is not always clean.
But the agency said India IANS, the massive influx of visitors leaves behind a trail of empty bottles and trash that no one collects, leading to an environment of pollution and degradation dirty ascetic beauty and rich cultural heritage of Varanasi .
The city, says Raman, is one of the 63 sites subject to the National Urban Renewal Plan, but is at once among the ten cities in which the deterioration of heritage "seriously concerned".
In this context, a development plan sponsored by local authorities to beautify the town has provoked a bitter controversy because, as conservatives "jeopardizes the estate."
"Building malls and multiplexes in areas traditionally meant little more embellished and endangers a cultural heritage of 600 years," Raman complained to the media.
Varanasi has an area of 49 square kilometers and suffers a high rate of pollution due in part to the green areas represent only three percent of its soil, which has not been approved prevented new settlements in these areas.
Another source of criticism is the construction of bridges over the Ganges, because Raman says "the river become a barrier to be crossed," and also "the pilgrims take holy baths will be subject to scrutiny by the drivers."
Beyond the bridge and shopping centers, however, that has stirred up the conservatives of the INTACH is forecast to lift piers for river transport in areas used by devotees for bathing, prayers and funeral ceremonies .
Hindus flock to the Ganges with the belief that a dip in the sacred river washes away sins, encouraged also by the Hindu precept release from the cycle of rebirth to those killed in the holy city of Benares, where there are hundreds of temples aligned along the river.
Many even saved his life with a bowl of water of the Ganges, following a tradition that rises to heaven the souls of those taking a drink of holy water just before he died.
What is at question is whether, apart from its purifying effect, the water sent to heaven to those who ingest it due to pollution, it is well known that many fur industries located along the river diverted to waste waters and discharges of chromium and other metals.
And, in the Ganges, the remains of bodies from Hindu cremation burial with float past the temples as the pilgrims bathe with soap, remains indifferent to the flower and food offerings of the faithful in the river.
Now, members of INTACH await the visit of UNESCO, from 11 February to determine whether Benares, for some the city's oldest continuous settlement, has a chance to "purify" their heritage with a good cleanup plan.

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Thematic area:

1. The river Ganges
2. "Clean Ganges Mission," the new India plan to save their sacred river
3. Thousands of animals sacrificed to appease the Hindu gods
4. Millions of South Asians due to superstition to enjoy the eclipse
5. The Ganges, threatened and sacred