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In Varanasi, some 40, cremations are performed each year, most on wood pyres that do not completely consume the body. Along with the remains of these traditional funerals, there are thousands more who cannot afford cremation and whose bodies are simply thrown into the Ganges.
In addition, the carcasses of thousands of dead cattle, which are sacred to Hindus, go into the river each year. While industrial pollutants account for a smaller proportion of contamination in the Ganges, the health and environmental impacts of toxic chemical waste can be far greater. From the plains to the sea, pharmaceutical companies, electronics plants, textile and paper industries, tanneries, fertilizer manufacturers and oil refineries discharge effluent into the river. This hazardous waste includes hydrochloric acid, mercury and other heavy metals, bleaches and dyes, pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls—highly toxic compounds that accumulate in animal and human tissue.
Runoff from farms in the Ganges basin adds chemical fertilizers and pesticides such as DDT, which is banned in the United States because of its toxic and carcinogenic effects on humans and wildlife. Damming the river or diverting its water, mainly for irrigation purposes, also adds to the pollution crisis. Rivers need fresh infusions of water to dilute and dissolve pollutants, and water flow is necessary to flush material downstream.
In , the government of India launched the Ganga Action Plan, which was devised to clean up the river in selected areas by installing sewage treatment plants and threatening fines and litigation against industries that pollute. Almost 20 years later, the plan has been largely unsuccessful.
The Western-style treatment plants simply did not meet the needs of the region. A key criticism is that local communities, those most invested in the health of the river, were not included in the planning process.
In collaboration with engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, Mishra proposed an alternative sewage-treatment plan for Varanasi compatible with the climate and conditions of India. Just as important as V. They found new ways to talk about the river that respect the Hindu worldview and veneration of the Ganges.
For example, workers in Varanasi now pick up litter along the riverfront and remove corpses and animal carcasses from the river. Despite the achievements in Varanasi, the clean-up campaign must be a national effort, touching all parts of the river, if it is to be successful. To this end, Campaign for a Clean Ganga launched a program in to raise national awareness, empower local communities to take charge of environmental issues, and build national coalitions of NGOs, industries and local governments.
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