Zürcher Nachrichten - India's Hindus bathe in holy river defiled by pollution

EUR -
AED 3.826681
AFN 70.961758
ALL 98.138602
AMD 405.652886
ANG 1.877182
AOA 951.190259
ARS 1045.720247
AUD 1.602814
AWG 1.877897
AZN 1.775245
BAM 1.955573
BBD 2.102956
BDT 124.465544
BGN 1.955294
BHD 0.392554
BIF 3076.642669
BMD 1.041829
BND 1.403837
BOB 7.197164
BRL 6.043693
BSD 1.041579
BTN 87.914489
BWP 14.229347
BYN 3.408604
BYR 20419.848375
BZD 2.099456
CAD 1.456529
CDF 2991.091432
CHF 0.930957
CLF 0.036923
CLP 1018.83097
CNY 7.54601
CNH 7.562783
COP 4573.368835
CRC 530.538382
CUC 1.041829
CUP 27.608468
CVE 110.252195
CZK 25.343745
DJF 185.478458
DKK 7.457729
DOP 62.772709
DZD 139.835759
EGP 51.726992
ERN 15.627435
ETB 127.508391
FJD 2.371151
FKP 0.822333
GBP 0.831435
GEL 2.855018
GGP 0.822333
GHS 16.456089
GIP 0.822333
GMD 73.970229
GNF 8977.957272
GTQ 8.040066
GYD 217.904692
HKD 8.109446
HNL 26.320943
HRK 7.431636
HTG 136.72412
HUF 411.522823
IDR 16610.452733
ILS 3.863061
IMP 0.822333
INR 87.968134
IQD 1364.44153
IRR 43834.955489
ISK 145.523076
JEP 0.822333
JMD 165.930728
JOD 0.738765
JPY 161.242873
KES 134.884334
KGS 90.122166
KHR 4193.512952
KMF 492.268155
KPW 937.645704
KRW 1463.259646
KWD 0.320727
KYD 0.867999
KZT 520.059599
LAK 22878.342838
LBP 93271.167197
LKR 303.144792
LRD 187.998165
LSL 18.795317
LTL 3.076251
LVL 0.630192
LYD 5.086409
MAD 10.478083
MDL 18.997794
MGA 4861.435378
MKD 61.522855
MMK 3383.819949
MNT 3540.134882
MOP 8.35093
MRU 41.443187
MUR 48.810083
MVR 16.10707
MWK 1806.090235
MXN 21.281613
MYR 4.654932
MZN 66.583684
NAD 18.795317
NGN 1767.675143
NIO 38.325549
NOK 11.531328
NPR 140.663663
NZD 1.78585
OMR 0.400943
PAB 1.041579
PEN 3.949541
PGK 4.193513
PHP 61.404399
PKR 289.239507
PLN 4.337676
PYG 8131.055634
QAR 3.798559
RON 4.978071
RSD 116.991412
RUB 108.671879
RWF 1421.834864
SAR 3.911473
SBD 8.734231
SCR 14.272055
SDG 626.663972
SEK 11.501974
SGD 1.402931
SHP 0.822333
SLE 23.68116
SLL 21846.638123
SOS 595.230868
SRD 36.978718
STD 21563.75683
SVC 9.113941
SYP 2617.626467
SZL 18.788818
THB 35.922648
TJS 11.092512
TMT 3.646401
TND 3.309016
TOP 2.440072
TRY 36.018972
TTD 7.074178
TWD 33.946439
TZS 2770.578216
UAH 43.089995
UGX 3848.553017
USD 1.041829
UYU 44.294855
UZS 13362.448044
VES 48.506662
VND 26482.251319
VUV 123.688032
WST 2.90836
XAF 655.880824
XAG 0.033274
XAU 0.000384
XCD 2.815595
XDR 0.792308
XOF 655.880824
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.379151
ZAR 18.862746
ZMK 9377.71492
ZMW 28.772658
ZWL 335.468513
  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

India's Hindus bathe in holy river defiled by pollution
India's Hindus bathe in holy river defiled by pollution / Photo: Money SHARMA - AFP

India's Hindus bathe in holy river defiled by pollution

Sweeping aside thick toxic scum, thousands of Hindu devotees ignored court warnings Thursday against bathing in the sacred but sewage-filled Yamuna river, a grim display of environmental degradation in India's capital.

Text size:

Thousands celebrated the festival of Chhath Puja for the Hindu sun god Surya, entering the stinking waters to pray as the evening rays set in the sky.

A parliamentary report in February called the Yamuna "more of a toxic waterway than a river", saying the foam clouds were formed from a potent chemical soup including laundry detergent and phosphates from fertilisers.

"Please understand you will fall sick", a high court order said Wednesday, Indian media reported, restricting ritual bathing on health grounds. "We can't allow you to go into the water."

But housewife Krishnawati Devi, 45, said she was not worried.

"I believe the waters of the river are pure and blessed by the sun god himself," she said. "Nothing will happen to me -- god will take care of everything."

Hindu faithful ignored the order, with women wrapped in fine saris and heavy jewellery wading into the grey waters.

White foam swirled around their feet. In places, it was so thick it looked like the river had frozen.

"Chhath is a festival of unflinching faith", said Avinash Kumar, 58, a government office worker. "We can also offer prayers at home but it doesn't feel the same as praying in the river."

Others thumped drums and sang.

- 'Toxi-city' -

New Delhi's authorities have poured in anti-foaming agents to disperse the froth, and used nets to sweep the scum away -- but it has done nothing to clean the fetid water itself.

"It stinks, but it's ok," said 14-year-old schoolgirl Deepa Kumari. "What is important is that we get to celebrate in the river with our people."

Rituals in the days-long festival culminate at dawn on Friday.

"I don't bother about the pollution", said Pooja Prasad, 20, a student. "The mother goddess will take care of all our troubles", she added.

The sprawling megacity of some 30 million people is also smothered in poisonous smog -- fuelled by burning crop fields and vehicle exhaust fumes.

Levels of fine particulate matter -- dangerous microparticles known as PM2.5 pollutants that enter the bloodstream through the lungs -- have this week surged beyond 50 times the World Health Organization recommended daily maximum.

"Toxi-city", broadcasters dubbed the capital.

- 'Filth' -

City authorities have declared repeated efforts to clean the river.

From an icy source of a Himalayan glacier, the Yamuna feeds into the mighty Ganges, flowing more than 3,100 kilometres (1,925 miles) to the sea in the Bay of Bengal.

But barely 400 kilometres into that journey, the water passing New Delhi is already effectively dead.

The parliamentary report warned of an "excessive presence of heavy metals" and cancer-causing pollutants ranging from arsenic to zinc, from everything from batteries to pesticides.

"Contamination... transform it into a carrier of untreated industrial waste, garbage, agricultural run-off and municipal waste," the report read.

"This has a profound effect on the well-being of the people".

Government statistics say 80 percent of the pollution load is raw sewage, far exceeding permissible levels for bathing.

Some of the faithful have traditionally drunk the water.

Levels fluctuate, but in one spot in 2021 in south Delhi, faecal bacteria levels exceeded maximum health regulations by 8,800 times.

But many say they are frustrated at the situation.

"The river is sacred to us, but all the filth from the industrial belt nearby is being pumped into it," added Kumar.

"Every year they say they are going to clean it, but nothing ever happens."

M.Hug--NZN