Drinking water from the Ganges is probably not worse than having sugary drinks as your primary source of water. You develop immunity to all the germs at least,

Drinking water from the Ganges is probably not worse than having sugary drinks as your primary source of water. You develop immunity to all the germs at least, and a lot of the industrial pollutants cause developmental issues so if you're an adult male it requires a far higher level to see ill effects. It's a moot point, since bottled water is an option anyways (and cheaper than soda). The streams running through Bangalore were black with all the stuff dumped into them. Although - I hear the whole city has changed massively since last I visited (almost 10 years back now). I would love to learn that things are better.