Facts to know why Ganga is India's most sacred river

New Delhi: India's longest and the most sacred river Ganga holds great importance in the economic, social and cultural life of the Indian people in general and Hindus in particular.Apart from its religious significance, it is also the lifeline to millions of Indians who depend on its fertile plains. Its water has always been considered to have extraordinary powers but there are few rarely known facts about India: 1. Antiputrefaction properties of Ganga River waters usually tend to putrefy when the lack of oxygen promotes the growth of anaerobic bacteria that lends the water a distinct smell and stale taste. The water of Ganga though considered one of the dirtiest, does not tend to putrefy over longer periods of storage.In fact, British Physician, C.E. Nelson, observed that the Ganga water taken from Hooghly river (one of its dirtiest mouths) by returning ships to England remained fresh throughout the voyage.This was the reason East India Company ships only used water from Ganges for drinking purposes on their 3-month long voyage back to England because it stayed “sweet and fresh.” 2. Ganga is Shifting Ganga in Haridwar has shifted from its original course by 500 meters in the past few decades. If this trend continues it can spell havoc for many settlements and farmers down the Gangetic plains.Most of it is natural, but pollution and deforestation are also to be blamed in here. Experts believe Ganges is moving eastward towards Bangladesh. The shift has become more pronounced in the last three decades. 3. Water Shortages in Ganga Ganga is looming under severe water crisis. Gangotri glacier has been receding at an alarming rate due to a smog-generated climate change over the mountains, but experts argue poor water resource management, dumping of industrial waste, sewerage and over population are to be blamed. Not only does this pose a risk of environmental disaster, but also of spiritual crisis. 4. Ganges River Dolphin The Ganges River Dolphin used to exist in large numbers near the urban centers in both the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers and was declared India's National Aquatic Animal in 2009.Their numbers have now dwindled to a quarter of their numbers fifteen years ago. There are several marine dolphins, whose ranges include some freshwater habitats, but there are only four dolphin species that live only in freshwater rivers and lakes and Ganges river dolphin is one of them. 5. Ganges Shark The Ganges shark is a rare fresh water shark species that inhabits the waters of Ganges. It is stocky, with a broadly rounded snout and has small eyes. It is a freshwater species and is known from only two surviving specimens collected in the Ganges River. Its small eyes indicate its habit to exclusively include murky waters. 6. Unexplained Sounds in Ganges Delta Mistpouffers or Barisal Guns are unexplained sounds that resemble a sonic boom that have been reported in many waterfront communities worldwide. In India especially, they have been heard in the delta regions of Ganga and Brahmaputra.While they resemble the sonic boom of a supersonic jet, what's even mysterious is the fact that they have been reported from times before any aeroplanes were invented. 7. Sheer Size of Ganga Ganges river system is very complicated, especially in the delta region. Its complex tributaries and bifurcations in Bengal make it very difficult to determine its exact length. However, it is believed to be slightly over 2,500 km in length.It covers an area of about 59,000 sq km. 8. Ganges Fan Submarine fans are submerged geological structures formed from large scale sedimentation from rivers. Ganges fan is the largest submarine fan on Earth. It is about 3000 km long and about 1000 km wide with a maximum thickness of 16.5 km.The fan is said to completely cover the Bay of Bengal. Currents have transported the sediment through a series of submarine canyons, some of which are more than 1,500 miles in length. 9. Higher Dissolved Oxygen Content of Ganga An Indian environmental engineer, D.S. Bhargava after three years of thorough study of Ganga concluded that Ganga is able to reduce its biochemical oxygen demand level much faster than other rivers.Bhargava says, organic materials usually exhaust a river's available oxygen and starts putrefying. But in the Ganges, an unknown substance acts on organic materials and bacteria and kills them. He further adds Ganga's self-purifying quality leads to oxygen levels 25 times higher than any other river in the world. 10. Antibacterial Nature of Ganga Jal In 1896, Ernest Hanbury Hankin (a British bacteriologist) after testing the water from Ganga wrote a paper that was published in French Journal describing that the bacterium Vibrio Cholerae that causes the deadly cholera, when put into the waters of Ganga died within three hours. The same bacteria continued to thrive in distilled water even after 48 hours.He also suggested that the water of this river and its tributary Yamuna were responsible for containing the spread of deadly cholera in the region in those days.Similarly in 1927, Félix d'Herelle (a French-Canadian microbiologist) was amazed to find no germs at all in water collected just few feet below the floating bodies of people who died of cholera and dysentery.The presence of bacteriophages (viruses that kill bacteria) in the water of Ganges is considered as the reason behind this quality and its purity.