Ganges River

The Ganges River is a very important river. It originates as the Bhagirathi River from the Gangotri Glacier which lies at altitude in the Uttaranchal Himalaya Mountains to the north of India and it joins the Alaknanda River near the town of Deoprayag to form the Ganga. Continuing along it flows across the broad plains of North India, which are sometimes referred to as the Gangetic Plains. It empties into the Bay of Bengal after multiplying its volume from the contributions of many watersheds.

The total length of the river is about 2,507km (1,558 mi). One of the most important human populations on earth is built around the Ganges River and its associated bodies of water. It is generally regarded as being well built up, or densely populated.

The Mouths of the Ganges River are in the country of Bangladesh, or Bangla. The region encompassing the delta near the coast at the Bay of Bengal is known as The Sundarbans or Beautiful Forests. The Sundarbans are a region of thick mangrove forests, and one of the major habitats of the Bengal tiger.

The Ganges Basin is incredibly productive. At present 1 in 12 people in the world (8% of the total) live in its catchment area. Due to the incredible magnitude of population and the role of the basin as an industrial developmental zone, industrial pollution and the alteration of animal and forest/jungle habitats is increasing in the region. Gentrification within India is generally cited as an important factor in this trend.

The Ganges River in Hinduism

The Ganga is personified in the Hindu religion as a goddess: Ma Ganga or Mother Ganges.

There are several places that are sacred to Hindus that lie along the banks of the river Ganga, including Haridwar and Varanasi. It is believed that taking a dip in the Ganges will wash away one's sins, and that having one's ashes disposed of in the river after death may improve one's next life or even allow Moksha to be attained sooner. Devout Hindus make serious pilgrimmages to bathe in the river and to meditate on its banks. Many millions of people travel to the river every year. It is perhaps the center of intramural Indian tourism.

According to one mythological legend, Brahma collected the sweat of Vishnu's feet and created the river. Because the Ganga had been touched so deeply by two members of the Trimurthi, it became very holy.

Native Westerners are more or less familiar with the image of ritual bathing in the Ganges River.

Pollution Of the Ganges

The pollution of the Ganges River is becoming increasingly worse as time goes on. Pollution that is found in the Ganges River include cremated corpses, livestock carcasses, raw sewage, waste from factories, and the used water from residential sources. There are many metallurgy, chemical industry, alcohol beverage distillation and coal-related facilities within its watershed.

There have been many attempts to clean up the Ganges River and its many associated tributaries, but most have either failed or exacerbated the pollution. It is very difficult to solve this problem.

India's government has already spent over $33 million to help the overwhelming sewage problem. MBA programs at places like Harvard University and Stanford University are starting to include Indian river pollution in their discussions of the environment.