The Hindu priest slowly descends the steep stairway of the ghat to the muddied waters of the River Ganga (Ganges). "The day does not begin for me without my holy dip," explains Dr. Veer Bhadra Mishra, the mahant (high priest) of Sankat Mochan Temple in Varanasi.

But he performs the ritual with a heavy heart: he is also a professor of hydraulic engineering who knows just how polluted the Ganga really is. The level of contaminants at various points along the river in Varanasi-the holiest of Indian cities-can be simply terrifying.

That is why Mishra banded together with a group of citizens, back in 1982, to form the Sankat Mochan Foundation (SMF) at Tulsi Ghat in Varanasi (Banaras). In turn, it launched the grassroots Campaign for a Clean Ganga (Swatcha Ganga Abhiyaan). This campaign has brought the plight of the polluted waterway to the attention of the nation and the world.