What's Ganga?

The Ganges (pronounced /ˈɡændʒiːz/; Hindi: गंगा Gaṅgā, IPA: [ˈɡəŋɡaː] ( listen), as in most Indian languages) is one of the major rivers of the Indian subcontinent, flowing east through the Gangetic Plain of northern India into Bangladesh. The 2,510 km (1,560 mi) river rises in the western Himalayas in the Uttarakhand state of India, and drains into the Sunderbans delta in the Bay of Bengal. It has long been considered a holy river by Hindus and worshiped as the goddess Ganga in Hinduism. It has also been important historically: many former provincial or imperial capitals (such as Patliputra, Kannauj, Kara, Allahabad, Murshidabad, and Calcutta) have been located on its banks. The Ganges Basin drains 1,000,000-square-kilometre (390,000 sq mi) and supports one of the world's highest density of humans. The average depth of the river is 52 feet (16 m), and the maximum depth, 100 feet (30 m).

The many symbolic meanings of the river on the Indian subcontinent were spoken to in 1946 by Jawaharlal Nehru in his Discovery of India,

[Source : Wikipedia]

waking up the sleeping sons of the Ganga

The remark on the Ganga by a TV commentator on Fox News in the US not only invited criticism from Indians but also started a strong debate. While most of the people from different quarters criticised the commentator for calling Ganga 'disease' during a TV show, some on the other hand congratulated him for waking up the people, who claim to regard the holy river as a mother. "Congratulations to the reporter of Fox News for waking up the sleeping sons of the Ganga.

 

'Wake up sons of Ganga'

• Binay Singh

VARANASI: The remark on the Ganga by a TV commentator on Fox News in the US not only invited criticism from Indians but also started a strong debate.

While most of the people from different quarters criticised the commentator for calling Ganga 'disease' during a TV show, some on the other hand congratulated him for waking up the people, who claim to regard the holy river as a mother.

"Congratulations to the reporter of Fox News for waking up the sleeping sons of the Ganga. I hope the sons of the Ganga, whether they are scientists or activists or common man, can now at least wake up and do something to cleanse the river of its disease," said Navneet Raman, former convener of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Varanasi chapter.

Justifying his point, he says the Central government has by asking World Bank for a loan of one billion dollars to clean the Ganga already excepted that it is diseased. They need the money from people to whom the river does not belong to and who have no faith in the river. If the sons of the Ganga are unable to treat their own mother, how can they complain if such a remark is made. We need to ask ourselves what is our relation with the river and Mother Ganga really is. The reporter has in no way mentioned that the river is a profane body of water. He is saying it is diseased. If we think the river is our holy mother then we have to make sure she is healthy again so that we can play and live in her lap, under her spiritual guidance. "The sons of the river Ganga have the strength and the capacity to take care of their mother but the willingness has been lacking," he said.

"We the sons of the Ganga" should do some real action to cure her illness through local medicine rather than buy bandages and drugs from international stores like the World Bank. If we treat our mother with respect and dignity and take care of her then there will not be a single voice that can question our Mother and her qualities. No one can question the spirituality of our mother Ganga, but she is ill and if we do not treat her, who will? he questions.

Prof BD Tripathi, environmental scientist and coordinator of the Centre for Environmental Science and Technology (CEST), Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and member of newly constituted National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), also criticises the commentator for his remark but admits that the Ganga is getting polluted in certain areas and suffering from illness. "I am still sticking to my point that the US TV commentator is ignorant about the qualities of the Ganga and that he should not pass such comments on the Ganga, but I admit that the river is getting polluted in certain pockets, particularly when it passes through the cities," he said.

"In fact, I started work on Ganga pollution in 1972 and the research results were discussed in the Parliament on July 21 1980. This laid the foundation stone of the Ganga Action Plan (GAP)," he claimed. "As a scientist I am aware of the fact and I can say that the whole river will be polluted if the discharge of industrial and municipal effluents into the Ganga are not stopped completely," he said. Prime Minister is also serious on the issue of pollution in the Ganga. The NGRBA has been constituted for this purpose.

Definitely it is an official fact that the holy river is diseased with pollution as mentioned in the records. The report prepared for the Supreme Court by member (water resources) Environment and Forests Division and Water Resources Division, Planning Commission, clearly stats that the goal of cleaning the Ganga has not been fully achieved. Dr Kirit S Parikh, member (water resources), Planning Commission, reviewed the utilisation of fund under GAP and prepared the report in May this year. Varanasi generates 290 MLD sewage out of which only 102 MLD sewage is being treated in the sewage treatment plant (STPs) and the rest of 188 MLD is being drained untreated into the Ganga. According to the report, an important factor of pollution is the inadequate flow in the river due to water extraction for various purposes including irrigation, drinking water supply and industrial use. A large portion of the Ganga is diverted into the Upper and Lower Ganga canals resulting in meagre flows, especially in the Haridwar-Allahabad stretch, which is very sensitive.
[Courtesy : The Times of India]