Know why Ganga, Yamuna are among world's top 10 most polluted rivers

New Delhi: River, one of the most powerful forces of nature, has been revered the world over since the ancient past. These massive freshwater bodies have always been an excellent source of water and food. Some of the most advanced civilizations of the world have originated and flourished on the banks of major rivers; in fact, they have also been known by the names of the rivers. But, ever since the ancient past, humans too have been destroying and polluting the rivers to a great extent. History has shown us that human intervention in nature always disrupts its balance in some way or the other. So, let's take a look at the ten most polluted rivers in the world: 1. Citarum River, Indonesia Citarum river flows through the Indonesian province of West Java. It plays an important role in serving people great way by supplying water for irrigation and agriculture, industry, fishery and also in the electricity production. There are three hydroelectric power plant dams installed in this river. Despite of being generous, it is filled with tons of harmful substances from the industrial and domestic wastes. According to recent reports, the level of mercury is 100 times more than the legal amount. This has resulted in the dying of the river in certain parts. 2. Ganges River, India Ganga is considered to be the holiest river in Hinduism. It originates from the gangotri glacier in the western Himalayas, flows south and east through the Gangetic plain of north India entering Bangladesh and merges into the Bay of Bengal. Due to religious practices, this river has numerous pollutants ranging from household garbage in abundance to industrial wastes and toxic. Amplifying this, the religious offerings made to the river each day along with people bathing and disposal of dead bodies made the Ganges so polluted that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that people living in the vicinity of the river are vulnerable to cancer. 3. Mantanza-Riachuelo River, Argentina Originating in the capital city of Argentina, Buenos Aires, and empties into the Rio de la Plata, this river is known as the “slaughter creek” in English. It is 64 km long and defines the southern boundary of Buenos Aires federal district. This is a foul smelling river filled with toxic substances released from the household and industrial wastes. Millions of chemical wastes are being discharged in the water by petroleum companies resulting into water pollution. 4. Buriganga River, Bangladesh Buriganga received its term after its dispatch from the river Ganges. With difficulty to trace the channel , probability is that it flowed past Rampur Boalia and terminates into Meghna estuary. This river is one of the most important rivers of Bangladesh and was also one of the main drinking sources along with trade and transportation since the 17th century. According to recent reports, 4500 tons of solid waste is dumped into the river everyday from Dhaka. Despite of every effort made to keep this river clean, it still remains a mess. 5. Yamuna River, India Yamuna, the largest tributary river of the Ganges, originates from the yamunotri glacier in the Lower Himalayas. It passes through several states of north India before merging with the Ganges at the Triveni Sangam. The river meets the need of nearly 57 million people and accounts for 70% of Delhi's water supplies. But this river is now affected deeply by pollution as millions of household garbage, municipal disposals and soil erosion due to deforestation find their way into the river each day. 6. Jordan River, Israel Jordan river originates in west Asia that flows to the Dead sea. The river is bordered by the State of Israel and West Bank to the west with Jordan lying to its east. This river has religious significance, it being the place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. Human consumption of the water is almost 70%-90% resulting in the reduction of flow. The water is now contaminated by huge amount of sewage and wastes. 7. Yellow River, China The yellow river which is also called the Huang He, is the second longest river in Asia and the sixth longest river in the world. It finds its origin in the Bayan Har mountains in Qinghai province of western China an empties into the Bohai sea near the city of Dongying in Shadong province. It's called “yellow” because of the muddy water arising from loess in the lower course of the river making it yellow. According to the report by UN Environmental Programme, 4.29 billion tons of industrial wastes and sewages was dumped in 1996, making one third of it unusable. 8. Marilao River, Philippines Marilao river starts from the uplands of Rizal and flows through the Metro of Manila, in the Philippines. This river water is the most polluted, arousing a great concern not only to the government of Philippines but also the whole world. Various non-recyclable objects such as plastic, bottles, polythene bags and all other junks come from the leather tanneries, gold refineries and other industries. Also, toxic substances such as manganese, zinc, nickel and cadmium are found mixed with river's underground water making it undrinkable. Such toxicity made the river polluted and dangerous 9. Sarno River, Italy “Sarnus”, as was known to the Romans, this river originates at Mt. Sarno and passes through Pompeii to the south of the Italian city, Naples. The reason that this water body is regarded as the most polluted river in the whole of Europe is because of the dumping of all the industrial and agricultural wastes. 10. Mississippi River, U.S.A The term Mississippi refers to “big river” or “great river”. It is the main river of the largest drainage system in the entire North America and also acts as the greatest natural and economic resource for the US. This river flows all the way down in the US and rises in the northern Minnesota, meandering slowly. Mississippi river valley is one of the most fertile agricultural region. But since the modern development took its girth in the basin, this cardinal river has started getting polluted with all agricultural sewage making the surrounding areas of the river mouth as a “dead zone”.