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Mounds of toxic foam cover India’s sacred Yamuna river
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Mounds of toxic foam cover India’s sacred Yamuna river
Ancient Egyptians chop heads off anyone dumping into Nero
Indians really strange bunch, water is sacred, but dump all garbage and pollute it like hell
Ancient Egyptians chop heads off anyone dumping into Nero, which they consider sacred
Hindu worshippers brave toxic white foam to bathe in India's sacred but polluted river
Thousands of worshippers held offerings to the sun god standing waist-deep in the river, while some bathed in the polluted waters.
Nov. 12, 2021, 10:38 PM CST / Updated Nov. 13, 2021, 12:34 AM CST
By Rhoda Kwan
One of India’s most sacred rivers is covered in swathes of bright white toxic foam.
That didn’t stop thousands of Hindus wading into the Yamuna, which runs through the capital New Delhi, to celebrate a religious festival this week.
Worshippers held offerings to the sun god standing waist-deep in the river, while some bathed in the polluted waters. Children also played amid the toxic froth.
Chhath Puja is an ancient Hindu festival where rituals are performed to thank the Sun god for sustaining life on earth.Manish Rajput / SOPA/LightRocket via Getty Images
The foam is partly the result of poor management of waste from the nearby industrial hubs and New Delhi’s more than 20 million residents.
It’s caused by a high level of phosphates and surfactants in the river, combined with a low level of oxygen in the water and lower winter temperatures, Manoj Misra, the convener for the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan (Campaign of a Living Yamuna), a group which campaigns to regenerate the polluted river, told NBC News.
Besides worshippers bathing in it, the river also provides more than half of New Delhi’s water.
The Yamuna has become dirtier over the years as most of the capital’s sewage flows into the waterway despite laws against polluting.Altaf Qadri / AP
Chhath Puja, the Hindu festival, ran from Monday to Thursday. It includes fasting and making offerings to the deity, Surya, whilst standing in water.
Some worshippers saw the hazardous waste as a test of their faith.
“What fear? If we are scared, then how can we pray?” Rajesh Kumar Verma told the Associated Press.
The annual festival draws thousands of worshippers to the river’s banks, as well as international attention to India’s pollution problem.
The country contains 35 out of the world’s 50 most polluted cities, while the air quality for Delhi tops rankings for the world’s most polluted cities, according to 2020 statistics by IQAir, a Swiss air technology company which compiles air quality data.
Winters in particular have become a time of health woes, when the city is covered with a toxic haze that obscures the sky and air pollution levels reach catastrophic levels.
Despite the pollution, devotees flock to the river every year for the festival.Money Sharma / AFP - Getty Images
Hindus brave toxic white foam to bathe in India's sacred river
Thousands of worshippers held offerings to the sun god standing waist-deep in the river, while some bathed in the polluted waters.www.nbcnews.com
In this case it is the untreated waste from the tanneries which is destroying natureman made religion, which is destroying the nature
i agree but its not just the untreated waste, but the ashes of dead and even dead body parts being thrown into the river for centuriesIn this case it is the untreated waste from the tanneries which is destroying nature