Ganga or Ganges River

1. Ganga or Ganges River

2. Ganga • River Ganga is the longest river in India. • The Ganges lies at a height of 13800 feet in the mountain range of the Himalayas in the Tehri Garhwal near Gangotri. • The river Ganges is considered as the holiest of all rivers in the Bhagawad Gita. • No other river has been more mentioned in the ‘Puranas’ as the Ganga. • According to the Puranas, the Ganges is considered as the holiest of all shrines. • Not only man, but even the most mean creatures like insects get liberated and achieve salvation. • One dip in the Ganga is said to free a man from all sins.

3. Ganges River • Ganges River, Hindi Ganga, great river of the plains of northern India. • Although officially as well as popularly called the Ganga in Hindi and in other Indian languages, internationally it is known by its conventional name, the Ganges. • For most of its course it is a wide and sluggish stream, flowing through one of the most fertile and densely populated regions in the world. • Despite its importance, its length of 1,560 miles (2,510 km) is relatively short compared with the other great rivers of Asia or of the world.

4. Source: npr.org

5. Ganges River • Begins in the Himalayas and flows 1500 miles directly through the Indo- Gangetic plain • Also known as “Gangamai” or Mother Ganges • Important for farming, trade, and transportation • Holiest river of Hinduism • Home to the Goddess Ganga • Hindus believe they must purify themselves in it • Travel down the sacred “Ghats” or steps • Bathe and drink water to wash away their sins • Ashes of the dead are scattered in the water

6. Ganges River • One of the most polluted rivers on earth • Raw sewage, industrial waste, dead animals and humans have poisoned the water • Toxic chemicals and bacteria • Dangerous to Hindus who bath in and drink it • Hepatitis, typhoid, and cholera are common • Many Hindus travel as far upstream as they can before purifying themselves • Cities like Varanasi get many bathers because of the relatively clean water • Less pollution

7. The Ganga, especially, is the river of India, beloved of her people, round which are intertwined her memories, her hopes and fears, her songs of triumph, her victories and her defeats. She has been a symbol of India’s age-long culture and civilization, ever changing, ever flowing, and yet ever the same Ganga. -Jawaharlal Nehru, First Prime Minister of India

8. Ganges-Brahmaputra-Barak Basin • Has multiple-use potential for its abundant water resources. • Irrigation • Power Generation • Industrial development • Fisheries • Navigation • Least developed region in the world.

9. The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Barak Basin • The basin is shared by: • Bangladesh (7%) • Bhutan, China, India (80%) • Nepal (13%)

10. Religious Signifigance • The Ganga is mentioned in the Rig-Veda, the earliest Hindu scriptures. • Ancient scriptures mention that The Ganges carries the blessings of Lord Vishnu’s feet • hence the name ‘Vishnupadi’ meaning ‘Emanatingfrom the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord Vishnu’

11. The Ganga is worshipped by the Hindus and personified as a Goddess.

12. Worship of Ganga Ma http://gkamesh.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/ganga-devi-2.jpg http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/India/North/Uttar_Pradesh/Varanasi/photo384540.htm http://hinduexistence.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/sagar6.jpg

14. Hindu Myth in the Basin • Bathing in water will cleanse sins and is life-long mission. • Waters cleanse any place or object. • Ashes of dead in the river will carry souls to paradise.

16. http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main53.asp?filename=Ne160612GANGA.asphttp://archive.tehelka.com/story_main53.asp?filename=Ne160612GANGA.asp

17. The Ganga Paradox • Ganga is always ritually pure • It rids people and objects of ritual impurities • But it is heavily polluted by sewage, industrial, and agricultural pollution • Devout Hindus believe that due to Ganga’s power, gandagi(waste) does not harm Her • “Mother Ganga cleans up after her children” • Some Hindu scientists claim Ganga has special physical qualities that make her less susceptible to pollution • NGOS seek to use religion to change the mind set • Respect Ganga Ma! Don’t dump your waste in her!! • Government inefficiency/inaction seen as major roadblock to change

18. Pollution in the Basin • Sheer volume of waste • estimated at nearly 1 billion liters per day - of mostly untreated raw sewage • inadequate cremation procedures contributes to a • large number of partially burnt or unburnt corpses floating down the Ganga • livestock corpses • One every 2 hours • Leather industry • One billion liters of raw sewage a day • The Ganga Action Plan – India attempts to clean up? • Any ideas of how to help the pollution of the Ganga

19. A building near the Ganges River overflows with wood and tinder to be used in cremation. Several sets of stairs wind up the bank and around the huge piles of wood. A cow eats hay near the shore where a boat is docked. A few men are scattered across the shore. • Cremation along the Ganges River is common practice for Hindus. • Hindus regularly bathe in it, wash their clothes in it, and even drink from it. • Their dead are often cremated and thrown into the river. • Because some cannot afford enough wood to fully burn a body, the corpses that are thrown into the river are often partially-burnt or unburnt. • This, along with sewage, trash, and other contamination, make the Ganges one of the most polluted rivers in the world.

20. Pollution of Ganga • *Cities with most polluted Ganges water • -Kanpur • -Mirzapur • -Varanasi • -Allahabad • -Patna • When Ganga flows from highly populous areas the Ganges collects large amounts of human pollutants such as faecal coliforms (bacteria) and Schistosomamansoni (flat worm, parasite) • Recent water samples collected in Varanasi revealed fecal-coliform counts of about 50,000 bacteria per 100 milliliters of water, 10,000% higher than the government standard for safe river bathing

23. Results of Pollution of the Ganges River • water-borne diseases including cholera, hepatitis, typhoid and amoebic dysentery. • An estimated 80% of all health problems and one-third of deaths in India are attributable to water-borne diseases. • Hundreds of corpses burn on the line of wooden pyres. • Soot-covered men bustle about, raking in the still-glowing ashes, sweeping them into the river. • Ganga is getting polluted day-by-day. • Nearly 170 factories and tanneries located between Kannauj and Varanasi, covering an area of 450 km, were found responsible for polluting the river by discharging wastes into it without treatment,” Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh told reporters on August 28, 2010. • There is an urgent need to aware people and get started to stop its pollution and degradation.

24. Economy vs. Ecology • The Indian government has spent close to $140 million in cleaning the Ganges, but environmentalists say there has been no significant improvement in the quality of the water in the river • Indian officials in charge of the Ganges cleanup said the Dutch aid would help complete the cleansing of the Ganges to a point where the pollution would become negligible. • Meanwhile treatment plants have been set up to ensure industrial waste goes into the river only after being treated. •  One plant with the capacity to treat 5 million liters of water daily is functioning while another with a capacity to treat 36 million liters will become operational soon.

25. Economy vs. Ecology Cont’d • Experts say the level of pollution in the river has been contained, even if it has not been eliminated. • Meanwhile, the government is planning to build more than 50 dams and barrages to regulate the river-flow, supply water and generate power. • The largest of them near Tehri has already attracted controversy amid concerns about safety and the environment