Water Pollution in Asia’s Rivers

CHINA

Officials in Beijing have warned that a third of China's rural population - an estimated 360 million people - lack access to safe drinking water. They also said that more than 70% of China's rivers and lakes were polluted, mostly by industrial chemicals. China's waterways are dying, and its rivers are running black from factory waste and untreated sewage.

The China Daily newspaper said that about two million people have suffered diseases caused by drinking water with high arsenic content, including cancer. Some rivers are contaminated with heavy metals like lead. In the nation's cities, the situation is just as dire. There, ground water is the major source of drinking water. Yet in one recent survey, 95% of the samples tested were polluted, some with sewage. Many people blame the crisis on improper policies and poor government administration.

Decades of quick economic development have taken their toll on China's environment. Those now tasked with cleaning up face opposition from polluting industries and local governments. The current leadership has stressed the need to conserve the environment, but these latest figures show just how much damage has already been done.

INDIA

The Ganges River is central to the Hindu faith and a critical water supply for many people in India. But, the Ganges is polluted. Contamination from untreated sewage has made it, and other rivers in India a health hazard.

On the banks of Delhi, a laundry worker sings as he scrubs washing. He is working with passion - but it is hard to imagine the sheets and shirts coming out any cleaner. "20 years ago, they used to drink the river water," he told me. "Now it is so filthy, they can not even bathe in it." The other workers agreed. One woman told me that when they washed the clothes, they had to use a lot of bleach or they came out black. "We can't use any of the wells round here. We have water delivered by tanker. All the rest is contaminated," said one laundry worker.

As you walk towards the river bank you are hit by the smell. It is a rotten sour stink coming up from the water - water that is just black in color. Trash floats along the edges of the river and there is thick smoke rising from a series of big rubbish dumps strewn along the opposite bank. In cities like Delhi, about 80% of river pollution comes from untreated sewage. The combination of fast growing populations and mostly old, poorly maintained sewage systems has proved deadly. The sewage from many homes is not treated at all. “People who are actually suffering from this don't really have a voice. It's the people downstream who suffer, the poorer people, the fishermen, the people who are falling sick," said a city official. "We do so much for AIDS and cancer and cardiac problems but the biggest killer in India is still water-borne diseases and these are preventable deaths."

The government is spending vast sums of money on tackling river pollution. Ishan Sharma of the Ministry of the Environment and Forests says a plan to clean up the Ganges started 18 years ago. It has reduced pollution but by less than a third.

Further down the bank, priests and mourners carry out a cremation. The river is also a final resting place. Traditionally it plays a part in every Indian life, from the spiritual to the practical. But without dramatic action, its own life is under threat.


Water Pollution in Asia’s Rivers Questions

1. What is the major cause of pollution in China’s rivers?

2. What has changed in China that has led to all this contamination?

3. How are people in China directly affected by water pollution?

4. How is water pollution in India different from the pollution in China?

5. What has led to this pollution increase in India’s rivers?

6. How effective have efforts been to clean up the Ganges?

7. Suppose that you are a government leader in China or India. Describe some steps (at least 3) that your government could take to clean up your country’s rivers.