Lament of a River

According to Hindus, the river Ganga (feminine) is sacred. It is worshipped by Hindus and personified as a goddess, who holds an important place in the Hindu religion. The Ganga originates in the Himalayas at the confluence of five headstreams – the Bhagirathi, Mandakini, Alaknanda, Dhauliganga, and Pindar at Devaprayag in the India state of Uttarakhand. Out of the five, the Bhagirathi is held to be the source stream originating at the Gangotri Glacier at an elevation of 7,756 m (25,446 ft). The
streams are fed by melting snow and ice from glaciers including glaciers from peaks such as Nanda Devi and Kamet. The picture below is of the great river Ganga as it originates at Gangotri. Believe me; the water is so cold and so clean that it seems impossible that it is the same Ganga at Patna or for that matter even Varanasi.


At Devprayag, the Bhagirathi from the Gaumukh and the Alaknanda unite to form the Sacred Ganga. One could see the two distinct colors of the two rivers; one snow white and the other dark mossy green mixing to form a fearful torrent .It was a sight to behold. Thus, DevPrayag is the true birthplace of Ganga and is considered only next to Prayagraj in importance. From there on the Ganga continues its journey to the various different prayags and becomes the fearful and mighty torrent, which is the real Ganga. Until the holy city of Rishikesh one cannot, but admire the sheer force and the sheer purity of the Ganges River (Believe me, I have been to all these places and seen the transformation of Ganga from a milky clean and flooding river to a polluted and smelly one). However, the real damage starts at the city, which is the gateway to both Shiva and Vishnu. That is, at Haridwar.

The river suddenly transforms from a mighty ocean of water to a kind of garbage disposal yard and bathing ghat. We have the mighty Ganga Aarti everyday at the ghat of the river ganga.One of the ritual is to light lamps and allow it to flow in the river Ganga for the fulfillment of ones wishes. But, the damage done to the river by means of addition of tones and tones of flowers , plant leaves and clay diyas , makes us wonder how indifferent a man can be when it comes to taking care of a natural resource. . The, this is not just the problem concerning the industrial wastes and the lack of water treatment facilities for the river, but it also concerns the people’s sentiments and emotions. Then, in an emotional country like India where people great deeds, both good and bad, in the name of sentiment and emotion, it is not easy to discount the sentiment.



It is believed by many people that one dip in the great river Ganga is enough to wash away ones entire life’s sins (and make a start for more). About 60,000 people take a holy dip in the Ganga at the ghats each day and there are thousands of people present at the Ganga aarti at Haridwar. The people may be washing away their sins, but what of the poor river that is burdened by not only the curses and travails of the people, but also the industrial wastes that flow into it from the major cities such as Varanasi and Kanpur.The final nail in the coffin of Ganga comes at Kashi. Everyday around 60000 people come to the ghats of kashi to have the ritual bath and with them comes tones and tones of paraphernalia such as plastic bags, flowers, fruits, which adds more “sins” to the river.

The practice of allowing people to burn their dead relatives near the rivers and leaving their sometimes half-burnt bodies to float in the river does not help matters. I think this is a very insalubrious practice both for the river and for the people for whom the Ganga is the source of drinking and bathing water. Now, from a great mass of fresh water at Rishikesh and Haridwar, the Ganga becomes a waterway of stench and garbage. The lesser the discussion about Ganga, Varanasi onwards, the better. The river is a sick one and instead of washing away our sins, a dip in it can give you previously unknown diseases..



The efforts of the Sankat Mochan Foundation and its Swatcha Ganga campaign have not fructified so far, even after more than two decades, due to apathy and prejudices of the executive. Our universities and professional bodies have to take a pro-active lead, be it cleaning rivers, environment or other spheres. Small financial assistance given by Inter-national Development Agencies of governments like Sweden and USA directly to NGOs may also stop; because the Government of India has taken a policy decision that foreign assistance to NGOs may not be given directly. NRIs living outside India want to support gurus, temples and Hindu organizations and they are not so interested in
NGO activities going on in India for development and appropriate use of technologies. Big international foundations want NGOs to work in areas, which are favored by these foundations.

What shall we do??? Where shall we go??? I would like the reader to ponder about this grave problem as it has the potential of having the gravest of consequences for our coming generations.