Figure 6 severe amounts of garbage on river banks (Merritt, 2012)
Although held with such high religious views, Indians treat the river like a garbage dump. Ignorance plays a key role in the disposal of garbage because it is clearly visible; the amount of garbage and waste in the rivers of the basin. Indians simply fail to believe their actions could impact such a divine creation. Therefore, they dispose of garbage directly into the river in many areas. Even though the effects of this, similar to disposing corpses, can be clearly seen, smelt and experienced through illness they do not stop. Much of the cause can be attributed to simple human error on an everyday basis. However, the government also plays an important role in garbage disposal. In many cities and towns the garbage system, and or the lack there of, leaves citizens with no choice but to throw their garbage away. Once again, the garbage problem in India is only getting worse with population growth.