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Latest Articles
The entire Indian river system is polluted. The Central Government knows this, but has failed to improve water quality. Journalist Rajat Banerji asks: why?
So who's in charge of river cleanups? Well, they call themselves the National River Conservation Authority. So far, they've done little, reports investigative journalist Shamya Dasgupta.
No less than 1.124 tons of solid waste chromium rim the banks of the Ganga in Kanpur and is entering the food chain. Who cares? Suparna Sharma has the story.
But the biggest pollution problem facing the Ganga consists of pesticides that accumulate and get magnified at every level of the food chain in the river's ecosystem. Before you eat fish, find out where it's from. Samir Kumar Sinha has written a comprehensive report.
A new type of green toilet developed in Germany eliminates the problem of disposal of urine and excrement. It's turned into fertilizer instead of being dumped into a river. Shamya Dasgupta, who wrote this report, was impressed.
A Swedish journalist visiting the great ghats of Varanasi didn't like what he saw. Cremations, he said, have become a tourist attraction. Ingvar Oja got depressed and left Varanasi earlier than planned after reading Rao, who said that "virtue does not grow easily in Banaras. And vice has no better place. For all come here to burn."
Our monthly interview with river campaigners explores some vital questions with Roger Choate and Dr. Amitayush Vyas, on leave as assistant professor of politics at Princeton University.And his monthly commentary, Dr. Vyas explores the spiritual nature of the great river.
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Article Archives
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Will Ganga survive?
Madhusudan Srinivas | July, 2003
India has not yet accepted the truism that rivers like Ganga are ecological beings. This emerged from a frank interview awhile back with KC Sivaramakrishnan, former director of India's most ambitious river cleaning scheme - the Ganga Action Plan - when it was launched in 1985.
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Undermining the Ganga
Eco-Friends Society | july, 2003
Illegal sand mining tacitly condoned by influential citizens is causing the Ganga to move further away from its shorelines along a 5 km stretch, in the north Indian city of Kanpur
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Timeless Bridge
Vyas | July, 2003
"The Ganga to me is the symbol of India's memorable past which has been flowing into the present and continues to flow towards the ocean of the future." -Jawaharlal Nehru
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Why are Indian rivers polluted?
Shamya Dasgupta | June, 2003
Almost two decades after river cleanups were hoisted onto the national agenda, almost all rivers in India remain severely polluted. Why?
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Chromium disaster in Kanpur
Suparna Sharma | June, 2003
Lethal chromium wastes are lying along the banks of the Ganga in Kanpur. In any sane country, this would be considered an environmental catastrophe.
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Ganga struggling with pesticides
Samir Kumar Sinha | June, 2003
A total of 114 cities spew raw sewage into the Ganga. But in many respects pesticides pose an even greater threat.
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Ever tried the green toilet?
Shamya Dasgupta | June, 2003
It is a well-known fact that untreated sewage is the major cause of polluted rivers, the world over. In India, this accounts for over 70 per cent pollution problem. Here is a tough, yet only long-term solution to this vexing issue.
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Didn't like the ghats
Ingvar Oja | June, 2003
Swedish journalist Ingvar Oja shares his personal thoughts about Varanasi.
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Interview with campaigners
Eco-friends | June, 2003
Amitayush Vyas and Roger Choate are members of Civil Society Partnership Programme of Varanasi-based Sankat Mochan Foundation which is campaigning for a clean Ganga. They spoke to the Eco-Friends Society in Kanpur not long ago and reflected about Ganga pollution and how it should be tackled.
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Commentary: Timeless Bridge
Vyas | June, 2003
A bath in the Ganga undoubtedly absolves one of all sins; but what does that avail? They say that the sins perch on the trees along the banks of the Ganga.
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Ganga is polluted. So what?
Roger Choate | April, 2003
In the 56 years since Independence, not one single river in India has been cleaned up - including the holy Ganga. Swatcha Ganga Campaigner Roger Choate asks why?
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Ganga: political impasse
Rajat Banerji | April, 2003
To call the Ganga mighty is almost an understatement. Originating in the Himalayas at an altitude of 4,100 meters (13,452 feet) near the Gangotri Glacier, the river traverses 2,525 kilometres (about 1,565 miles) before emptying INTO the Bay of Bengal.
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The Priest and his River
Sujata Dugar | April, 2003
Veer Bhadra Mishra is a priest, a preacher and a scientist. And he is in love with the Ganga. Sujata Dugar caught up with him at Clean Ganga Day in Kolkata recently.
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Timeless Bridge
Vyas | April, 2003
The Ganga to me is the symbol of India's memorable past which has been flowing INTO the present and continues to flow towards the ocean of the future.
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River pollution affects millions
Roger Choate | February, 2003
Ganga organizer Roger Choate from Sweden recently addressed a CleanGanga seminar for students and faculty at IIT Kharagpur- India's premiere IT institute. Here's a summary of his thoughts.
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Death of a ghat
Rakesh Jaiswal | February, 2003
If Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee visits Sarsaiya Ghat in Kanpur, more than nostalgia, a feeling of disbelief would grip him. It was on this picturesque ghat that the young Vajpayee, then pursuing his studies, composed many of his verses.
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Reducing mercury poisoning
UNEP | February, 2003
Mercury poisoning of the planet could be significantly reduced by curbing pollution from power stations, a new report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)suggests.
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Indus River needs eco-policy
Bhagwandas | February, 2003
In our consistent exploitation of natural resources for immediate gains, we keep on destroying our ecosystems and harming their biodiversity. Because of this reckless attitude and persistent neglect, we have brought many areas under severe ecological stress.
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Three Gorges: Human rights abuse
IRN Release | February, 2003
International Rivers Network recently released an eyewitness report on the resettlement and human rights problems of the Three Gorges Project in China. More than 640,000 people have been evicted to make way for the giant dam on the Yangtze river.
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When will Ganga be clean?
Roger Choate | December, 2002
Twenty years ago a band of citizens in Varanasi (Banaras) India launched the Campaign for a Clean Ganga. What's happened since then?
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Plastic bags clogging the Ganga
Rakesh Jaiswal | December, 2002
Hundreds of thousands of high-density plastic bags are illegally being used for constructing barriers and a makeshift road during sand mining operations at the Kanpur stretch of the river Ganga.
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Satluj River: The price of industrialisation
Rajat Banerji | December, 2002
Originating at the revered Manasarovar lake in the Tibetean plateau, the Satluj is no more than a drain after it crosses the industrial city of Ludhiana.
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Environmental degradation costs Asia dearly
By a correspondent | December, 2002
Environmental neglect is costing Asian economies as much as 8 percent of national growth, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has warned in its latest regional assessment.
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Spray painters get ecology prize
By a correspondent | December, 2002
A group of American students in Illinois have won an ecology prize after spray painting more than 3,000 storm drains with the warning not to dump wastes into the local river.
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Commentary: Timeless Bridge
Vyas | December, 2002
"A man's life should be as fresh as a river. It should be the same channel but a new water every instant." - Henry David Thoreau
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Toxics contaminate Ganga
By a correspondent | November, 2002
Hazardous toxics have been discovered in the Ganga in the north Indian city of Kanpur.
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Ganga ecology threatened
Kaveri Mukherjee | November, 2002
The pace of industrialisation and urban life threatens the ecology of the Ganga and her fish
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Bio-monitoring of Indian Rivers: The way forward?
Shamya Dasgupta | November, 2002
The growing importance of river bio-monitoring is emphasised by Dr. R.C. Trivedi at the Central Pollution Control Board in an interview with www.cleanganga.com
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India's radioactive river - ever - present danger
Rajat Banerji | November, 2002
The River Subarnarekha literally translates into "streak of gold". But the only streaks in this river are untreated sewage, industrial and mineral wastes and unbelievably, radioactive wastes affecting human health, according to Rajat Banerji, managing editor of www.cleanganga.com
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Commentary: Timeless Bridge
Vyas | November, 2002
"O Ganga strange are your ways, you fill up the sea but dry up Bhavsagar - the sea of troubles of worldly life." - Ratnakar (Hindi poet)
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Commentary : Frankly Speaking
Fran Peavey | November, 2002
Dear Fran, I'm 24 years old. Do you think Ganga will be cleaned during my lifetime? (I hope to live a long time.) Thanking you, Mayank
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Mahantji: Born on Ganga
Veer Bhadra Mishra | October, 2002
Some 20 years ago Dr. Veer Bhadra Mishra launched the Campaign for a Clean Ganga in Varanasi, India. In a recent speech in London signaling collaboration with the River Thames, he explains the global importance of the great Indian waterway that guides his destiny. Extracts:
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Ganga before birth
Mayank Singh | October, 2002
A lot has been said of the Ganga of this world. But how many of us know of the other - worldly river? Read on as to how she was born
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Carcinogens threaten millions in Kanpur
By a Correspondent | October, 2002
Carcinogens in drinking water threaten the health of rural masses in downstream Kanpur
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The River Betwa: opportunity lost
Rajat Banerji | October, 2002
Activists had a chance to ensure a pollution-free Betwa River. Regrettably, that didn't happen
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Flooding in Bihar
Samir Kumar Sinha | October, 2002
Instead of preventing floods, embankments have worsened the situation. The proof? Increased investment in flood control has seen a rise in flood damage
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Commentary: Going global
Roger Choate | October, 2002
Ganga supports almost 8% of the worlds population
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Commentary: Timeless Bridge
Vyas | October, 2002
"O, India, thy plight makes me weep. For thy tale is the most distressing and exemplary of tales. I burn in sorrow and find no rest in any manner. Drown, O, Drown me, O wide Ganga so that I may get peace." - Dr. Mohammad Iqbal
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Toxic vegetables, courtesy of Kolkata
Shamya Dasgupta | September, 2002
Kolkata's waste recycling in its wetlands now poses dangers to public health. Vegetables that utilize Kolkata's sewage are increasingly laced with industrial toxins.
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New dawn for Kolkata Port?
Kaveri Kumar | September, 2002
The impressive Port of Kolkata (Calcutta) has played a significant role in the history of India. Environmental measures are now being carried out to breathe new life into the old port.
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Europe still recovering from river flooding
Roger Choate | September, 2002
Europe is engaged in a huge cleanup and restoration operation after massive flooding of major rivers devastated swatches of the continent.
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River Damodar: well-orchestrated protests
Samir Kumar Sinha | September, 2002
www.cleanganga.com has earlier carried a detailed report about the severely polluted River Damodar. But not everybody is sitting back fatalistically .
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Chaliyar River: Everybody loses, ok?
Rajat Banerji | September, 2002
The hand that feeds also punishes. A rayon grade pulp plant in the Chaliyar Basin provided employment and also revenues to the state. Then it was accused of despoiling the environment. Yet its closure proved to be no real solution.
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Whitewater rafting on the Ganga
Rajat Banerji | September, 2002
Whitewater rafting on the Ganga is a world of thrill and wonder.
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Commentary : Frankly Speaking
Fran Peavey | September, 2002
Although I currently reside in the Washington, DC area, I have recently been appointed director of an orphanage in Varanasi. We're a bit new, in fact still under construction. The advantage of being new though is that we have a unique opportunity to take some cutting-edge initiatives to introduce technology and awareness, which our Motherland desperately needs. We'd like to start some programmes to educate the kids about water pollution problems in our area. Any assistance you could render would be greatly appreciated! - Pallavi Raina
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Commentary: Timeless Bridge
Vyas | September, 2002
"Mischief has appeared on land and sea as a result of the evil which men's hands have done. God has ordained it thus for men, so that they may taste the fruit of their own actions and mend their ways." - Quran 30 : 41
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Vanishing fishing communities of the Ganga
Samir Kumar Sinha | August, 2002
The Ganga is regarded as the backbone of freshwater fishing in India. This commercial activity provides thousands of fisher folk their source of livelihood. But the fish catch has declined by almost 70% in a decade. Such a decline doesn't just reflect an unhealthy river. It has also disrupted an entire way of life for the fishing community of the Ganga basin
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Ayurvedic view of environmental pollution
Ram Dutt Tripathi | August, 2002
Was Ayurveda originally developed to save the human race from environmental disasters such as river pollution?
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River Luni: a noxious cocktail
Rajat Banerji | August, 2002
Once upon a time, the Luni was a river. It's something else now
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Threat to Missouri River
By a Correspondent | August, 2002
The Missouri River in the USA is potentially threatened by pollution dating back to 1868
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River pollution kills frogman?
By Correspondent | August, 2002
The Israeli government is granting a full military funeral for a navy commando who contracted cancer and died after diving into the polluted Kishon River near Haifa.
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Commentary: Frankly Speaking
Fran Peavey | August, 2002
How can the Ganga ever be cleaned in Varanasi?
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Commentary: Timeless Bridge
Vyas | August, 2002
Man is alone and he is related at the same time. His happiness depends on the solidarity he feels with his fellowmen, with past and future generations. - Erich Fromm
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Time running out for Ganga dolphins?
R.K. Sinha and Samir Kumar Sinha | July, 2002
The Gangetic dolphin has been declared an endangered species by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Can we assure the Gangetic dolphin a new lease of life in Indian rivers, especially in the Ganga?
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Sand miners are diverting the Ganga!
G.P. Varma | July, 2002
Uncontrolled sand mining threatens the Ganga in Kanpur.
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The death of a river: Noyyal
Rajat Banerji | July, 2002
When a scientific paper states that a river is dead, it is evidence enough on the condition of the river. Read on as to how profits continue to override environmental concerns
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Ecosan: the sane Option
Shamya Dasgupta | July, 2002
It is a well-known fact that untreated sewage is the major cause of polluted rivers, the world over. In India, this accounts for over 70 per cent pollution problem. Here is a tough, yet only long-term solution to this vexing issue.
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Comeback of that old village friend - the water tank!
By a Correspondent | July, 2002
Practically forgotten by planners for over a century, water tanks are suddenly looking like a sound solution for communities without access to river water.
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The Seattle settlement: Duwamish river
By a Correspondent | July, 2002
In each issue we've run a story about a successful river cleanup - usually in the developed world. But not all rivers in the West are pristine...
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Commentary: Timeless Bridge
Vyas | July, 2002
The sacred river Ganga (Ganges) in India is one of the most enduring images of the country. Daniel Lak
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Commentary: Frankly Speaking
Fran Peavey | July, 2002
The site cleanganga.com gives a story about a dirty Indian river, and a cleaned river in the developed world. My questions is, have all rivers in the west been cleaned?Shankar Narayan, of Madurai
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Why are Indian rivers still polluted?
Shamya Dasgupta | June, 2002
Dasgupta says the problem emanates from the office of the Prime Minister and his do-nothing National River Conservation Authority.
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Pesticides are poisoning the Ganga
Samir Kumar Sinha | June, 2002
Pesticides dumped into the Ganga are, if anything, even more insidious than raw sewage.
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Citizens force shutdown of big polluter of Bhavani River
Rajat Banerji | June, 2002
Angry citizens have forced closure of a viscose factory dumping toxins into the Bhavani River.
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Case study: Renewed hope for the troubled Mekong River
Roger Choate | June, 2002
Community participation is the key to future planning along the Mekong River.
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Could the Ganga simply disappear?
Sharat Pradhan | June, 2002
A sadhu and ecologist, Swami Sundaranand has lived alongside Gangotri for over half a century. He was the first to point out that Gangotri Glacier is retreating.
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Commentary: Frankly Speaking
Fran Peavey | June, 2002
Varanasi may be the holy city, but there are other places, too, which need attention. Can we not prioritize places according to the level of contamination in its waters?
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Commentary: Timeless Bridge
Vyas | June, 2002
A bath in the Ganga undoubtedly absolves one of all sins; but what does that avail? They say that the sins perch on the trees along the banks of the Ganga. No sooner does the man come back from the holy waters than the old sins jump on his shoulders from the trees. The same old sins take possession of him again. He is hardly out of the water before they fall upon him.
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UN assistance for threatened African river
By a Correspondent | May, 2002
Filthy flows the Ganga, still. But in Kenya, they're doing something about their dangerously polluted Nairobi River
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Not enough water
Rajat Banerji | May, 2002
In terms of water quantity, the most stressed river basin in India is the Sabarmati. But now the planners are going to try doing something about that.
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Chromium catastrophe in Kanpur
Suparna Sharma | May, 2002
Lethal chromium wastes are lying along the banks of the Ganga in Kanpur. In any sane country, this would be considered an environmental catastrophe.
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High times in Banaras
Gopal Kaushik | May, 2002
An intrepid biker has several fascinating experiences in Varanasi. Read on.
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Commentary: Frankly Speaking
Fran Peavey | May, 2002
From this month, we start a column with Fran Peavy, co-founder of the Sankat Mochan Foundation. She will respond to the most interesting letter written each month.
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Running out of water?
Rajat Banerji | April, 2002
Thousands of citizens formed a human chain along the ghats of Varanasi to demarcate World Water Day on March 22, and India's spiralling water crisis. By 2025 we could run out of fresh water altogether, writes Rajat Banerji.
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Wouldn't you like a nice anaerobic sludge blanket?
Suparna Sharma | April, 2002
Kanpur is a North Indian city along the Ganga that got hooked on a strange technology for cleaning the holy river.
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Savaged and ravaged - the River Damodar
Rajat Banerji | April, 2002
Every month we feature a report on a polluted Indian river - this time around, the River Damodar in the lower Ganga Basin. With 40 per cent of India's reserves in coal and 90 per cent of mica reserves, the basin's mineral wealth poses the biggest threat to the waterway's survival.
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Reviving the Hudson River - American success story
Roger Choate | April, 2002
This month Roger Choate explains how the mighty Hudson River has been transformed from a toxic disaster into a recovery that New Yorkers are proud of.
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Commentary: Timeless Bridge
Vyas | April, 2002
"Guard yourself against three causes that beget the wrath of the Lord: Polluting the water resources, befouling the pathways and shades." - Hadith
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Convergence of two rivers - Ganga and Thames
Roger Choate | March, 2002
The River Ganga in India and The Thames in London are together discussing wide-ranging plans for collaboration, according to cleanup campaigners in both countries.
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Next life for the Yamuna River - Delhi's sewer
Rajat Banerji | March, 2002
Every month this website examines the status of major Indian rivers. This time around, environmental journalist Rajat Banerji discovers a semblance of hope for the highly polluted Yamuna River - the most important tributary of the Ganga.
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Cleaning the Rhine: An incredible human achievement
Renate I. Mreschar | March, 2002
As late as the 1970s the River Rhine was the open sewer of Europe. Vast stretches had simply died. Since then, pollution levels have dropped by 90 percent - thanks in large part to voluntary action rather than legislation.
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Kid power
Sharmila Chandra | March, 2002
One day a 12-year-old student in Varanasi went around to her neighbors and asked them not to throw their garbage onto the road. "But where can we dump it?," they asked. The local authorities hadn't provided garbage bins.
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Fear and loathing along the ghats
Ingvar Oja | March, 2002
Swedish journalist Ingvar Oja shares his personal thoughts about Varanasi where he discovered "the business of death."
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Commentary: Timeless Bridge
Vyas | March, 2002
"The Ganga to me is the symbol of India's memorable past which has been flowing into the present and continues to flow towards the ocean of the future." - Jawaharlal Nehru
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Commentary: Timeless Bridge
Vyas | February, 2002
"...we are still alive, still vital, still looking forward, still dissatisfied with our present, still not merely adoring the past, but looking forward to the future. So long as we have this kind of impulse in our minds, the future of our country, of every country for that matter, is safe." - S. Radhakrishnan
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Protector of the Ganga
Sharmila Chandra | February, 2002
The Ganga could not have wished for a worthier son - nominated in 1999 as hero of the century by Time magazine for bringing the plight of the Ganga to the attention of the world.
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Ganga evokes symphony of a great culture
Vidya Niwas Mishra | February, 2002
The very name Ganga evokes a symphony of a great culture shared by Asian peoples.
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Killing off the fish
Eugene Datta | February, 2002
Why fish harvests along the Ganga have plummeted - a disaster for the fishing industry.
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Every river in India is polluted. Here's why
Rajat Banerji | February, 2002
All the great rivers in India have something in common. They're filthy.
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The Thames: Life after death
Mark Lloyd | February, 2002
Every month www.CleanGanga.com examines successful river cleanups around the world. As late as 1956 the Thames was biologically dead - the sewer of London. How did this transformation come about?
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Fate of the Ganga: political impasse for India
Rajat Banerji | February, 2002
Every month CleanGanga.com features a study of a major Indian river. We are launching the series with the Ganga.
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River planner speaks out. Interview with KC Sivaramakrishnan
Madhusudan Srinivas | February, 2002
India has not yet accepted the truism that rivers like Ganga are ecological beings. This emerged from a frank interview with KC Sivaramakrishnan, former director of India's most ambitious river cleaning scheme - the Ganga Action Plan-when it was launched in 1985. Extracts from the interview.
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