The Ganges is a trans-boundary river of India and Bangladesh. It is about 2,525 km long river and is the
second largest river on the Indian-subcontinent by discharge. It rises in the
western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south
and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges is the most
sacred river to Hindus and is also a lifeline to millions of Indians who live
along its course and depend on it for their daily needs. It is worshipped as
the goddess Ganga in Hinduism. The Ganges was ranked among the five most polluted rivers of the world in 2007,
with fecal coliform levels in the river near Varanasi more than one hundred times the official Indian
government limits. Pollution threatens not only humans, but also more than 140
fish species, 90 amphibian species and the endangered Ganges river dolphin.
Images f the Ganges River, India
