14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new study conducted by specialists working with the National Cancer Registry Programme under the Indian Council of Medical Research, the Ganges is now highly polluted and must be held responsible for making numerous people living nearby become sick with cancer.
Apparently, high officials have been aware of this problem for quite some time, yet not much was done in order to deal with this threat to public health.
Tree Hugger explains that, although human waste also makes its way into this river, it is waste water resulting from various industrial activities that must be held accountable for the fact that countless individuals are now suffering with either gall bladder or prostate cancer.
Should the estimates brought forth by the specialists who looked into this issue be accurate, the rates of gall bladder cancer in human communities living in areas drained by the Ganges are the second highest in the world.
As well as this, the very same communities supposedly hold the record for the most numerous cases of prostate cancer in India.
Commenting on the findings of this research, Dipankar Chakarabarty, director for the Jadavpur University School of Environmental Studies, made a case of how, "The arsenic that’s gets into the river doesn’t flow down. Iron and oxygen present in the water form ferroso ferric oxide, which in turn bonds with arsenic."
Furthermore, "This noxious mix settles on the riverbed. Lead and cadmium are equally heavy and naturally sink in the river. This killer then leeches back into the groundwater, making it poisonous."
Given the fact that, unlike surface water, groundwater in this part of the world is more often than not left untreated by the people who drink it or use it around the house, this comes as worrying news indeed.
Jaideep Biswas, director for the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, goes on to explain that, "This is the consequence of years of abuse. Over years, industries along the river have been releasing harmful effluents into the river. (...)The river and those living along its banks are paying a price for this indiscretion."