Japan offers loan to clean up India's Ganges river

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2006

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India has sought a multi-million-dollar loan from Japan to clean up the Ganges, its holiest river which is clogged with waste and remains of cremated bodies, a minister told parliament.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has agreed to hand out five billion rupees (111 million dollars) to clean up the Ganges at the Hindu pilgrimage town of Varanasi, junior environment minister Namo Narayan said.

The clean-up involves the construction of a modern sewage treatment plant and revamp of drains and riverside baths used by hundreds of thousands of Hindus during cremations, he said.

Hindus believe the immersion of human remains in the river leads to salvation for the soul but environmentalists warn the ancient practice has...