Bloomberg Originals14 min
Modi Promised to Clean the Ganges. This Is What Happened
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- The government aims to make the Ganges fit for bathing by the 2029 election, backed by a $4.5 billion commitment, though only about half of funds allocated for the Namami Gange project were spent through 2025, indicating execution shortfalls.
- Haridwara is projected to emerge as a success story with visibly cleaner water compared to 2015, whereas satellite data indicates consistent improvement in only one in ten stretches over the last decade, with three key parameters trending negatively in many areas.
- Technical limitations prevent satellite imagery from detecting critical contaminants such as chemicals, heavy metals, pathogens, fecal coliform, and total suspended solids, while persistent organic pollutants are expected to seep from the river into urban and rural centers.
- Scientific assessments warn that groundwater depletion has compromised the river's survival base, rapid city growth poses feasibility challenges for waste capture, and post-monsoon muddier conditions in Kanpur suggest high pollution likelihood.
- Health risks include arsenic-contaminated irrigation leading to toxic food consumption and prolonged exposure to fluoride damaging bones or high nitrates impairing blood oxygenation, alongside a severe ecological shift marked by the disappearance of kachwas.
- Residents in downstream villages anticipate environmental ruin and express unwillingness to continue local activities, while data suggests infrastructure alone is insufficient and uniform, higher-volume investment is required for meaningful cleanup.