Ganges Pollution Essay

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Anirudh Kumpawat PHI 334 Professor Shockley Increasing pollution of river Ganges in India and the continuous failure of the government to deal with it due to religious ethical issues River Ganges originates from the Gangotri glacier in the Himalayas and drains the majority of the plains of India and Bangladesh before entering into the Bay of Bengal. It is not only the largest river of India, but is also considered to be a sacred river by the followers of the prevalent religion in the country, Hinduism. As far as drainage is concerned, it is amongst the top 20 rivers in the world. (Parua, 2009) Also, the basin of the river is the most populated river basin in the world with roughly about 400 million people inhabiting it. (Parua, 2009) For centuries, the river has been serving the people of India as a source of fresh water to drink and utilize it for multiple purposes. The plains of the Ganges called the Gangetic plains are known to be one of the most fertile plains on Earth and thus agriculture thrives in the region and contributes to the significant amount of agricultural output of India and since India’s economy is agro-based, also contributes towards the economy in a major way. (Parua, 2009) The river enjoys an almost god-like status amongst the Hindus and has a number of religious cities situated along its banks where various religious rituals which include bathing in the river are performed by the millions of religious Hindus who visit these cities. Even though the river has served the local people in more ways than one for centuries and regardless of its religious and social significance, Ganges has been continuously polluted by the people of the region in a number of ways for decades if not centuries. Toxic wastes due to the industries on its banks have only contributed significantly towards pollution after independence of the country from the

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