In recent years the Ganga and other rivers in India have been facing a serious threat from pollution, dams, construction, sand mining and other human activities, impacting people and species dependent on them for their existence
Gangotri town by the side of Bhagirathi river, the origin of the River Ganges and seat of the goddess Ganga Image: Mrinalpal / Shutterstock.com
From her birth place Gangotri, where the goddess Ganga descended from a lock of Shiva’s hair over 10,000 feet high in the Himalayas, the River Bhagirathi flows rapidly to join with the Alaknanda and becomes Ganga mata at Devprayag. She merges with other rivers, swells with melted ice and monsoon rain along her way, through valleys and flat plains to the Bay of Bengal over 2,500 kilometers away.
Spiritual guru Sadhguru “Yogi, Mystic, Visionary†and Founder of the Isha Foundation tweeted in May 2018 to his 4 million followers: “Ganga isn't just a river. She is like our mother.â€
The Ganga is an abundant source of life to more than 40 percent of Indians who depend on her throughout her length across Northern India. However, in recent years the Ganga and other rivers in India face a serious and even existential threat from pollution, dams, construction, sand mining and other human activities. Their degradation impacts all those people and species that depend on them for their existence.
Of the eight major Indian river systems, the Ganga is the largest. We consider Ganga jal pure, even magical in healing and many holy cities are placed along her life-giving banks. People flock to these cities to pay homage.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected to Parliament in May 2014 from the holy city of Varanasi, on the banks of the River Ganga, he said, “It’s my destiny to serve Maa Ganga.“
(This story appears in the 21 October, 2022 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)