Global Pulse Blog

Home to over 400 million people, the Ganges river winds through India’s history, culture and countryside. Unfortunately, rapid industrialization and urbanization has left an unholy mark on the Ganges as dangerous amounts of untreated industrial pollution and human excrement enter the river every day.  These conditions are all too common in rivers worldwide  and create an environment ripe for diseases ranging from schistosomiasis to Cryptosporidium.

But long time advocacy is finally paying off as the WSJ reports that World Bank and the Indian government are set to spend $4 billion to “to ensure that by 2020 no untreated municipal sewage or industrial runoff enters the 1,560-mile river.”.  The methods proposed also have the benefit of being less carbon and electricity intensive than traditional wastewater treatment plants – key aspects for a country with chronic brownouts in a warming world.  In order to reach their goal, the government and partners will need to engage the most neglected slums which, if done right,  has the potential to create environmental justice at the same time as cleaning the river.

Of course, governments have a tendency of announcing lofty environmental goals which are then forgotten in the next election cycle. The Ganges also had a previous cleanup effort that failed to reach its goals, partly because of lacking public participation. Hopefully things will be different this time, but GP would love to hear from anyone with on the ground insight.