Human and animal remains
Figure 5 man washes himself as body floats by (Jaiswal, 2012)
Due to its religious ties, the river is treated like it is incorruptible by man. Water has a very holy history in India; going back thousands of years. The Ganges river is said to wash away sins and purify souls (Sampat, 1996). To do this one must submerse himself in the dirty, polluted river water. Some religious Indians even drink directly from the river as they bathe themselves. Also it is said to be the path to heaven in death, consequently an incalculable number of human bodies are dumped in the river annually. Quite often, religious cremations will be held on the banks of the Ganges river and then the ashes/remains will be dumped in the water. Similarly to human corpses, dead animals, especially farm animals are frequently disposed of in the nearest river. Lack of education plays an important role in the improper disposal of bodies into the many rivers of the basin. Rotting corpses are not an uncommon sight on the Ganges river and yet Indians turn a blind eye to them.