River Ganga: Holy for most, septic almost

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/mar/30ganga.htm:
Despite hundreds of crores of rupees being spent to clean the Ganga, the lifeline of north India, pollution levels in the river have reached septic levels at certain points with dissolved oxygen dropping to alarmingly low levels.
Ninety Five per cent of the pollution in the river is caused at point sources at which sewers and open drains bringing pollutants in domestic and municipal limits fall, while only five per cent is by the direct users.

As an Environmental Scientist who was involved in Pocomoke River(Chesapeake Bay tributary) Sediment toxicity research,

I am not at all surprised at this level of pollution in Ganges River. Non-point Agricultural runoff, very few sewage treatment plants outlet and polutry litter runoff has caused Pocomoke River disaster(massive fish kills). I would also say that Pocomoke River Pollution may be very very less compared to that of Ganges River Pollution. More studies on Ganges sediments must be done. Ganges sediments must also be analyzed for levels of various pollutants and steps needs to be taken along those lines in the cleanup process.

Makesh Karuppiah, Ph.D