Health fears for Hindu pilgrims
2007-01-15 15:46
New Delhi - Millions of Hindu pilgrims and ascetics took a dip in the Ganga river on Monday at the northern Indian city of Allahabad amid a controversy over the high pollution levels in the river, officials and reports said.
Sadhus, or ascetics, who lead the ritual bathing at the Ardh Kumbh Mela festival, had earlier said they would not take part in the auspicious ritual known as shahi snaan (royal bath) if the authorities did not take measures to clean the polluted river.
The authorities released waters from dams in the upper reaches of the Ganga to pacify the sadhus, officials said.
"The waters are fit for bathing. Several cusecs of water have been released into the river over the past few weeks," said local official RN Tripathi.
The ascetics seemed mollified and tens of thousands of pilgrims waited as the naked Naga sadhus smeared with ashes and brandishing swords led a long and colourful procession to take the first dip on Monday, IANS news agency reported.
Local officials said about five million people were expected to bathe at the confluence by the end of the day, one of the four auspicious bathing days during the 45-day Ardh Kumbh festival.
Wash away sins
Hindus believe that bathing at the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers at Allahabad on the auspicious occasion of Kumbh would wash away their sins and help them attain salvation from the cycle of birth and rebirth.
The growing pollution levels of the Ganga at Allahabad, caused by sewage and effluents spewed out by cities and industrial units upstream, have caused concern about the health of the pilgrims who not only bathe but also drink the water.
Hari Chaitanya Bramhachari, a Hindu leader from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, filed a case against the state government for not taking adequate steps to keep the Ganga clean.
He also threatened to commit a ritual suicide if the river was not cleaned up. He was, however, persuaded by other holy leaders not to undertake the ritual last week, PTI news agency reported.
In December, the Allahabad High Court, responding to his petition, ordered the authorities to release 1 500 cubic feet per second of water from a nearby dam and to contain effluents from tanneries.
An ambitious Ganga Action Plan to clean up the river was launched as far back as 1986. But despite $300m spent to date, environmentalists claim Ganga waters contain many times the permissible limits of bacterial and chemical pollutants and pose a serious health risk.
Sapa-dpa
- SAPA