It Snowed In India! Just Kidding - 1.5 Billion Liters Of Shit Turned An Entire River Into A Toxic Foam Pit
Source - The images appear to show a snow-covered river. The reality is that stretches of one of India’s most sacred rivers, the Yamuna, are covered with toxic foam caused by industrial waste.
The Yamuna, along with India’s holiest river, the Ganges, are considered among the most polluted in the world. Activist Brij Khandelwal once described the Yamuna as "ecologically dead." Sewage from Delhi and other cities, chemical waste from manufacturing plants and pesticide runoff are all part of the problem.
Himanshu Thakkar, an engineer who coordinates the South Asian Network on Dams, Rivers and People, told the Guardian, “There are already 1.5 billion liters of untreated sewage entering the river each day and 500 liters of industrial waste.”
The river provides three quarters of Delhi’s water needs, posing a serious health threat to its 12 million residents and many other Indians who depend on it, according to The Associated Press.
I'm not going to pile it on India because they have enough shit going on (literally), but I will say that I laughed out loud when I read that article. Not because it's funny, because I can't believe that people are frolicking around in toxic waste like it's a tourist attraction. This is the exact reason why one out of every eight children in India is born a tree. Hand up, that was mean.
Do they not know that there are health risks associated with swimming in shit? Look what happened to Ryan Dunn?
Actually, that was unrelated and also mean. Hand up again.
I get that the river's holy and you need to purify your soul, but you have to find another way, guys. Or at very least find another river. I don't even know if the Yamuna is considered a river anymore because it's ecologically dead. NOTHING can grow in it.
I get why they want to keep swimming in it though; it's the closest thing India has to a foam party. Who wouldn't want to mix purification with partying? This guy does.
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In all seriousness, I hope that they can somewhat clean up the river and educate their people about how dangerous this is. Fingers crossed.