Holy water: How the Indian government plans to sell Ganges water online

New Delhi: The Indian government believes it has found a new revenue source: it will bottle and sell water from the holy, and filthy, Ganges River online.
 

On Monday, Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is minister for Telecom and IT but also heads the Postal Department, told journalists the idea killed two birds with one stone: it would revive the post office's revenues while serving the 'cultural needs' of the people.
Advertisement

"I used to get enquiries asking why we can't use the network of India Post to deliver Ganga water. I have directed the Department of Posts to utilise the e-commerce platform and make the arrangement for providing pure Gangajal from Haridwar and Rishikesh (holy places for Hindus) to people. They have assured [me] that they will take pro-active steps to address these cultural needs," said Mr Prasad.
The idea makes business sense because the demand for Ganges water is phenomenal. Hindus believe that a dip in the waters of this river can cleanse them of all their sins. India's longest river, the Ganges is an icon of the Hindu faith and revered by all Hindus without exception.

The main cremation ghat on the Ganges River at Varanasi, India. 
The only problem is that the Ganges is one of the dirtiest rivers in the world. Multiple government attempts to clean it have failed. It is more septic tank than river because, as it flows 2500 kilometres from the Himalayas through four states where 400 million Indians live, it passes through 100 towns and cities. The river absorbs all their human and industrial waste.
Experts estimate that more than 3 billion litres of untreated sewage from these towns are pumped into the river every day. Apart from sewage, waste from tanneries enters the water, adding high levels of chromium, arsenic and mercury. 

 

At the ancient city of Varanasi, the Ganges receives an additional ingredient: human ash and flesh from the cremation areas known as ghats. The level of toxins and dangerous bacteria found in the river are 3000 times higher than what the World Health Organisation considers safe.
 

But none of this information has any effect on believers. Vishwambhar Nath Mishra is a 50-something priest at Varanasi who continues his childhood habit of bathing in the waters every morning. Knowing that it is swarming with fecal matter makes no difference to him.

Wherever Mishra travels, in India or abroad, he takes a small bottle of Ganges water with him.

"In the hotel bathroom, I fill the bath or bucket and add a few drops of Ganga water to purify it. Then I can start my day," he says.

Devout Hindus get ready to take dip in the Ganges at Varanasi.  Photo: Amrit Dhillon

 

Attached link

Taxonomy

• Water

1 Comment

1. Very innovative idea by the postal department. The River Ganges might gets polluted at places where the city dumps the sewage into the river but the water at Rishikesh and Haridwar is clean since these are the two cities where the river starts interacting with human being. So I see no problem in the idea by the postal department to package and provide the same to Indians who use it for religious purpose. If foreigners are ready to drink Mineral Water packaged at source then what is the issue if the same is packaged and made available for religious purpose.