Pollution of The Ganges

Pollution Of The Ganges

The Ganga is the largest river in India with an extraordinary religious importance for Hindus. Along its banks are some of the world's oldest inhabited places like Varanasi and Patna. It provides water to about 40% of India's population in 11 states. In modern times, it is known for being very polluted.

An estimated 2.9 billion litres or more of human sewage is discharged into the Ganges daily (200 million litres daily in the city Varanasi alone), although the existing treatment plants have capacity to treat only 1.1 billion litres per day, leaving a huge deficit.