Researcher(s):
Amanda Wickramasekera
ENVS course(s): 400 Initiated: September 2012 Completed: May 2013 Go to project site
|
This thesis aims to explore how the contribution of spiritual practices to pollution of the Ganges River is represented in national and international sources. The Ganges River is one of the most polluted rivers in the world, it runs through five major states of India and is the most holy and sacred river to all Hindu followers. I will explain how such a spiritually valuable and loved river has become so polluted. I will then analyse people’s perceptions about what factors have lead to the current polluted situation, and how general citizens of India who use the river and government leaders perceive this problem. Based on my analysis I argue that it is a widely recognized perception that spiritual practices are contributors of pollution to the Ganges River in non-scholarly writings. On the other hand, scholarly writings perceive industrial and municipal waste as the major sources of pollution to the Ganges River. These perceptions of blame for Ganges pollution may misdirect clean up efforts.