River of Life, River of Death
Subtitle: The Ganges and India's Future
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: Dec 19, 2017
Language: eng
Format: hardcover
Number of pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9780198786177
Description: India is killing the Ganges, and the Ganges in turn is killing India. The waterway that has nourished more people than any on earth for three millennia is now so polluted with sewage and toxic waste that it has become a menace to human and animal health. 0Victor Mallet traces the holy river from source to mouth, and from ancient times to the present day, to find that the battle to rescue what is arguably the world's most important river is far from lost. As one Hindu sage told the author in Rishikesh on the banks of the upper Ganges (known to Hindus as the goddess Ganga): "If Ganga dies, India dies. If Ganga thrives, India thrives. The lives of 500 million people is no small thing." 0Drawing on four years of first-hand reporting and detailed historical and scientific research, Mallet delves into the religious, historical, and biological mysteries of the Ganges, and explains how Hindus can simultaneously revere and abuse their national river. 0.
Notes: Source title: River of Life, River of Death: The Ganges and India's Future