India’s Ganges River: Religion, Poverty, and Health

Culture Ganges River is called the “Holy River” to India’s Hindu people. More than 4 million Hindus bathe or take a “holy dip” in the river Many people also drink its water and use the river to wash their clothes There is a Hindu belief that if they cremate the dead and throw the body into the Ganges River the soul of the person will have an increased chance to gain access to heaven

Pollution The wood fires the cremation occurs in the open air and causes air pollution as well as depletion of India’s forests Water pollution occur due to people not being able to afford enough wood for cremation; resulting in people dumping bodies in the river with no cremation or partial burns causing disease carrying bacteria and viruses to be add to the water 19 million decaying bodies are added to Ganges River each year

Problems The problems with water pollution is that the Ganges River has over 350 million (1/3 of the population) lives along the waters basin 29 large cities are also treated along the basin

The Governments Plans The Indian government has a launched a plan to clean up the river that involves: 1. Building water treatment plants along the basin’s 29 large cities 2. Constructing 32 electric crematoriums – to help bodies burn more efficiently and lower cost of wood cremation 3. Introduction of 25,000 snapping turtles in the Ganges River - to devour the corpes

Bad News with the Government’s Plan The Sewage Treatment plants are not completed Some do not work well Only a few crematoriums have been successfully completed There is a cultural concern that Hindus will not abandon the traditional ritual of wood cremation or will not be able to afford any type of cremation

Conclusion This situation creates a tie with religious and cultural conditions to poverty and how it can affect the environment as well as the solutions to the problems