What is the most polluted river in the world?
The River Ganges, with a length of 2,510km, is one of the major international rivers of the world. The river and its tributaries pass through several densely populated areas of India, Bangladesh and Nepal. Millions of people in these countries are dependent upon this river for drinking water, irrigation, navigation and the provision of hydroelectric power. However, the Ganges has become one of the most polluted rivers in the world and the quality of life of its people has fallen to an alarming scale within the past few decades. Many small tributes of the Ganges have either dried up or the volume of water in these rivers has decreased alarmingly during the dry season owing to deforestation across northern India and Nepal Himalayan region and othe climatic changes. Worst River Pollution In November, 1986, firefighters tackling a blaze at the Sandoz chemical works in Basel, Switzerland, flushed a total of 30 tonnes (29.5 tons) of agricultural chemicals into the Rhine River, killing 500,00
November 2009: The Manawatu River (in New Zealand) is the most polluted river of 300 tested in the Western world. “The Manawatu tops a new pollution measurement of 300 rivers and streams across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, research by the Cawthron Institute has found. The waterway is fouled with treated sewage, industrial waste and farm runoff. Under a system measuring oxygen changes in water, the Manawatu has by far the world’s highest reading – almost twice as much as the next worst. It measured 107 on the scale. Anything over eight is considered an indication of poor ecosystem health.
