3 ms·

I'm afraid you are right but people in India don't seem to care. I go there every year and life there compared to 10 years ago is night and day. Even in cities

I'm afraid you are right but people in India don't seem to care. I go there every year and life there compared to 10 years ago is night and day. Even in cities that are further away from the big 4 (e.g. north of New Delhi, even in Himachal Pradesh which used to be very clean as the Himalayas start there) have an extremely visible layer of smog, especially in winters. Pollution is pretty bad and water shortage is becoming more common. But surprisingly, neither the government there or the public seem to treat this as a top national emergency. This may sound elitist, but I consider New Delhi an unlivable city. It's a difficult tradeoff. Economic development seems to be the only parameter that matters, especially when there are so many in poverty. Some all time top posts on r/urbanhell are from India (UNPLEASANT IMAGERY WARNING): https://i.redd.it/n8sdntzy8bb11.jpg https://i.redd.it/n8sdntzy8bb11.jpg https://i.redd.it/y7i3lb94b1021.jpg https://i.redd.it/y7i3lb94b1021.jpg (River Yamuna. This river was reasonably clean 20 years ago but now you can see this terrible foam from the pollution and intense garbage disposal into the rivers. And yes, that's people praying, as Yamuna is considered one of the holy rivers)

whatshisface 7y ago
Why do they accept their holy rivers being polluted? Surely the religious leadership is not happy with that.
- srib 7y ago
  > Surely the religious leadership is not happy with that. Hindu religion is not like Catholic Church. Unfortunately, in such issues, it is very fragmented and 'decentralized' with multiple different sects, castes, pontiffs etc. Uttar Pradesh, where Ganga mostly flows has a lot of water heavy low-tech businesses. Leather tanneries is the first thing that comes to my mind. Illiteracy doesn't help either. Things are changing. Ganga in Varanasi and a few other areas are much cleaner in the last couple years than they have been in the past!
- gingabriska 7y ago
  The religious logic here goes like this "Ganga is so pure, it's literally impossible to make it impure and it has capabilities to wash off all our sins, then how can it possibly be polluted by people bathing/washing their cloths in it?" I tried making people understand, the only way we've forward is making movies which show what can happen if we don't stop these activities then it will begin making sense to people who have no education background.
msiyer 7y ago
Half a decade ago, I visited some very distant relatives in Delhi. I woke up at night unable to breathe properly. The next morning, when I told them about my ordeal, people boasted about their ability to breathe such air and laughed at my inability. The situation has not improved.

whatshisface 7y ago

Why do they accept their holy rivers being polluted? Surely the religious leadership is not happy with that.

srib 7y ago
> Surely the religious leadership is not happy with that. Hindu religion is not like Catholic Church. Unfortunately, in such issues, it is very fragmented and 'decentralized' with multiple different sects, castes, pontiffs etc. Uttar Pradesh, where Ganga mostly flows has a lot of water heavy low-tech businesses. Leather tanneries is the first thing that comes to my mind. Illiteracy doesn't help either. Things are changing. Ganga in Varanasi and a few other areas are much cleaner in the last couple years than they have been in the past!
gingabriska 7y ago
The religious logic here goes like this "Ganga is so pure, it's literally impossible to make it impure and it has capabilities to wash off all our sins, then how can it possibly be polluted by people bathing/washing their cloths in it?" I tried making people understand, the only way we've forward is making movies which show what can happen if we don't stop these activities then it will begin making sense to people who have no education background.

msiyer 7y ago

Half a decade ago, I visited some very distant relatives in Delhi. I woke up at night unable to breathe properly. The next morning, when I told them about my ordeal, people boasted about their ability to breathe such air and laughed at my inability. The situation has not improved.