Environmental Issues of India and China
Menu
Pollution in the Ganges River
Causes Ganges River / Getty Images News
- Up to 1/3 of India's population lives around the river, approximately 400 million people From Britannica Image Quest
- 200 liters of waste is dumped into the river each day around Varanasi, India
- 12 billion liters of waste water is poured into the Ganges each day
- The river is being used for washing kitchen items, bathing, sewage, and is exposed to human remains
- It is a holy river in India, and it is believed that if one touches or baths in it, they are "clean" or their sins have been taken away
- People are unaware of the amount of toxins in the river, so they keep using it for cleaning
- Solutions have been considered, but barely any action has taken place
- Amount of pollution has increased, and the river is full of harmful bacteria
- Levels of bacteria have gotten to where there are 31 million particles every 100 milliliters
- People who have used the river for cleaning or bathing have been found to have
- Cholera
- Typhoid
- Other water-borne diseases
- Rates of water-borne diseases have increased, about 66% of the people that live around Varanasi have been found to be sick