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Special prayers on river Ganga's birthday

     Varanasi: Special prayers were organised on the bank of Ganga river in Varanasi marking the birthday of the river. People performed prayers by offering milk to river Ganga on Friday and pledged to stop the pollution of the river. According to the organiser of the Gangotri Welfare Committee, Kishori Raman Dubey, prayers offered to prevent the river from getting further polluted. "The condition of Ganga River has worsened. The river is drying up and has almost turned into a drainage. To retain its lost glory, we decided to celebrate its birthday every year," said Dubey. Legend has it that on this day, Goddess Ganga descended from heaven onto Lord Shiva's matted locks and then flowed onto the Himalayas. The Ganga runs its course of over 2,500 kilometres from Gangotri in the Himalayas to Ganga Sagar in the Bay of Bengal through 29 cities. In 1996, the Supreme Court had banned the discharge of effluents from various tanneries and factories located on its banks in Kanpur. However, with one billion tons of waste being dumped into it everyday, the River Ganga unfortunately remains to be one of the most polluted rivers in the world.
-May 2, 2009