A cult river for Hinduism, in which people and animals are washed, where wastewater drain and over which the dust of the dead are disposed of, attributed unique abilities for self -cleaning. We decided to check if there are scientific evidence of such properties.

Medieval Indian poet-mystics of Cabir attributed This description of the Ganges: "Hell floats along the river, full of trenched corpses of husbands and animals." Its water from antiquity was used in leather, woodworking, cattle and sugar industries, for agricultural purposes, for domestic needs - washing, washing, cooking, as well as as a cemetery for cremated and even non -aboliad bodies. Moreover, modern publications in tourist Blogs And social networks They say that, despite the pollution, the sacred river cleanses itself, attributing this magical property of its spiritual strength, then the ability to hold oxygen. The media called The River "Assassin" and "Deadly for Man".

Gang, the third in water intonation of the river in the world, inferior only to the Amazon and the Congo, It flows On the territory of India and Bangladesh. Its source is located in the Western Himalayas, on the Gangrieg glacier, then the river flows to the southeast, passing through the Indo-Ghang plain, and flows into the Bengal Bay. In Hindu mythology Gang is considered a heavenly river lowered to the ground. Legends report that the river flows in three worlds: heavenly (high -haul source), earthly and underground. Myths also call the river the embodiment of the goddess Gangi - according to one version, the daughter of Brahma. The Hindus believe that washing in the sacred river can wash off sins and illness, and the soul of the deceased is relieved in the river from the wheel of Samsara. The best place to go to the next world Hindus They think The city of Varanasi. Patients and old people come there, and relatives bring the bodies of their loved ones. It is believed that in the manicarik-ghat-the most popular place of cremation-the fire has not died out for more than a millennium. However, cremation in Varanasi costs a lot of money, so the bodies who have not paid for it, as well as unmarried girls, children and pregnant women with an attached cargo are simply lowered to the bottom of the river.

Ganges called The second in pollution of the river in the world, second only to the Chitarum on the Indonesian island of Java. By calculations The Economist, due to infections of the gastrointestinal tract caused by pathogens from the river, daily dies a thousand children. WHO Curses A slightly different figure: for 30–40% of deaths from intestinal infections in the region, the water of the Holy River is responsible. They found causative agents of cholera, dysentery, hepatitis, amoebiasis, shigellosis, schistosoma mansoni pathogen and fecal enterobacteria. Water near the city of Varanasi Describe as "brown soup from excrement and industrial drains." In this area in samples Determined About 600 capable of propagation of fecal enterobacteria, while threshold permissible norm is 120 times lower.

Ганг, Священный, Река, Харидвар, Индия, Индуистские — Traditional wash in Ganges

The history of the study of the microbiological composition of Ganges is gaining momentum along with an understanding of the bacterial nature of the disease. Dr. Ernest Khankin, who studied and worked under the leadership of Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur, went to India in 1892. He is there I took up The study of cholera and refuted the theory of miasm, demonstrating the scientific community of the cholera vibrion, opened in 1883 by Robert Cochu. Comparing water samples in different areas, he noticed an interesting fact: the Jumna river - the tributary of the Ganges near the city of agra - contained 100,000 cholera vibrions of 1 cm³, while 5 km downstream there were not a single active pathogen, but only about 100 germs. Then Khankin suggested that the waters contain some kind of microorganism that kills bacteria.

Already in the XX century, microbiologist Felix d’Erell Highlight It will be called a bacteriophage, that is, the "attempt of bacteria." In 1928, the scientist came to India in the midst of a cholera outbreak. He prolonged the bacteriophage from the feces of recovering people. Without special bureaucratic problems, D’Erell received permission to use bacteriophage in humans. The medicine showed excellent results: out of 70 patients who received the medicine, only six died, while in the control group, consisting of 240 sick people, 143 people died. In the notebook, the microbiologist wrote: “In the wide spread of cholera, a certain number of villages are striking, where there was not a single case of cholera, and there the bacteriophage opened in well water, in flies, in the feces of healthy people. In the villages where the epidemic began, the bacteriophage was not found. ” Later scientists more than once They found it In the waters of Ganges, significant colonies of bacteriophages, which, in fact, restrained the development of pathogenic bacteria. At the same time, bacteriophages are not unique inhabitants of the Indian river. According to the latter data, they are in soil, fresh and salty water, other living organisms. The total number of bacteriophages on our planet is 10³¹, and their weight is about 109 tons.

Scientists also report that Ganges are capable of holding a large amount of oxygen, which can somehow influence self-cleaning, but they cannot explain what this is determined for sure. National Public Radio in 2010 reportedThat the causative agents of cholera and dysentery in the river have become much less.

The authorities of the country and non -profit organizations They are arranged Various campaigns in the cleansing of the river, but still significant results have not been achieved. Experts They sayWhat will be needed for several decades of active actions so that the water becomes safe enough for a person.

Thus, the waters of the Indian Gang River really contain microorganisms that control the number of bacteria - pathogens of infections. Moreover, they are not unique and are only able to control the populations of pathogens, and not completely clean the water from them.