The winter waters here were recently Himalayan snow and the chilliness is only to be expected; not so the state of the Ganges. The pollution is now causing concern to even the most convinced Hindu. The problems are many: the government has dammed the river several times before it reaches Benares and interrupted its flow—and it was the sheer flow which washed away the filth, down towards Calcutta, where it would be lost in the morass, before; the massive population growth all along the river has caused a corresponding sewage outbreak, as has the industrial growth caused a chemical and wastage problem; corruption means that any controls are simply bought off as it’s far cheaper to pay a bribe than treat the problem; the farmlands leading into Benares are more productive than ever thanks to agricultural chemicals, which of course also wash off into the Ganges; and lastly Benares itself has grown to be a pounding city of a million and a half souls all going about their business, business of one kind or another which deposits its remains straight into the now barely moving holy river that defines the holy city.
Everyone agrees that the state of the river is just getting worse and worse. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it spontaneously combust into holy blue flames. In a bad dream I see them sending out a fire-boat—as if!—which high-pressure hoses the flames with more toxic water and the gods decree that the whole city explodes in a massive cosmic act of retaliation against the filthy earthlings. Hmmm, I feel a Hindu myth coming on.