垂死“恒河母亲“:印度的圣河将死于污染 [美国媒体]

India's holy Ganges begins as a crystal clear river high in the icy Himalayas but pollution and excessive usage transforms it into toxic sludge on its journey through burgeoning cities, industrial hubs and past millions of devotees.

印度神圣的恒河始于高高的喜马拉雅冰川，是一条清澈透明的河流。但是穿过快速发展的城市、工业中心和无数的信徒居住区让它的水变成了有毒的污水。

Worshipped by a billion Hindus and a water source for 400 million, "Mother Ganga" is dying, despite decades of government efforts to save it.

尽管几十年来政府在努力拯救它，这条被10亿印度教徒崇拜、作为4亿人水源的河正在死去。

Lokesh Sharma, a 19-year-old priest in Devprayag, a small hill town where two rivers converge to form the Ganges, is his family's fourth generation to lead riverbank prayers.

Devprayag是一座小城，有两条河流相会形成恒河，19岁的神职人员Sharma住在这里，他是家族的第四代主持河边祷告的人。

"I never thought of going somewhere else and settling. Devprayag is a heaven for me. I feel blessed to be born next to Mother Ganges," Sharma said, as chanting priests and devotees, some bottling the water, dunk themselves in the fast-flowing river.

Sharma对着神职人员和信徒们吟颂道：“我从未想过去别的地方安家。Devprayag对我来说是天堂。我感觉是上天保佑让我生在母亲恒河边”，在他吟颂时，有的人在装水，有的人把自已浸在快速流动的河中。

Thousands of Indians immerse themselves and idols of their gods every day, believing a dip in the Ganges absolves a lifetime of sins. People drink the water and use it for crops.

每天有数千印度人和他们神的雕像进行浸礼，他们相信在恒河中浸一下就能免除一生的罪恶。人们饮用恒河水并用来浇灌庄稼。

But the pristine waters soon becomes a distant memory as the 2,525 km-long (1,570 mile) Ganges snakes its way down to the densely populated plains of north India, where too much water is sucked out to maintain a healthy flow. 

但是纯净的水很快就变成了遥远的回忆，2525公里长的恒河蜿蜒流入北印度人口稠密的平原，这里的人们使用了过多的水以致河流无法保持洁净。

Sliding under bridges in the industrial city of Kanpur, the water's color turns dark gray. 

在工业城市坎普尔的桥下流着的水变成了深灰色。

Industrial waste and sewage pour in from open drains, as clouds of foam float on its surface.

工业废品和污水从露天排水沟里流进河里，成群的泡沫漂在河面。

At one stretch, the river turns red.

在有一条支流处，河水变成了红色。

Nearby, tannery workers haul chemical-soaked buffalo hides into huge drums. The filthy run-off is dumped in the river.

附近的制革厂工人拖着化学浸泡过的水牛皮进入巨大的鼓厂。泡过的脏水被倒河中。

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has pledged to build more treatment plants and move more than 400 tanneries away from the river, but his $3 billion clean-up plan is badly behind schedule. 

莫迪总理政府承诺要建更多的水处理厂并要从河边搬离400多家制革厂，但是他的30亿美元清洁计划已经拖了很久了。

Less than a quarter of an estimated 4,800 million liters of sewage that flow daily into the river from main towns and cities is treated.

每天从主要城镇流入河里的污水约48亿升，经过处理污水的不到四分之一。

POLLUTION-FREE PRAYERS 
The sorry state of the Ganges is most keenly felt in Varanasi, the ancient and most holy of cities for Hindus. 

在Varanasi你很容易感受到恒河悲惨境地，这是一座古老的成市，是印度教徒最神圣的城市。

Religious students practise yoga, pilgrims seek spiritual purification and families cremate their dead by the water's edge, scattering ashes so that souls go to heaven and escape the cycle of rebirth. 

宗教学生练习瑜伽，朝圣者寻求心灵净化，家人在河边火化他们死去的亲人，抛撒骨灰好让灵魂进入天堂免受轮回之苦。

Along the bathing ghats, prayers invoking followers to keep the Ganges clean fill the hot evening air.

沿着施行浸礼的石梯，祈祷者指引追随者让恒河保持干净，炎热的傍晚的空气中充满了这种氛围。

"I remember earlier the water was very clean and we could drink it," said 58-year-old boatman Anil Sahni. "Now you can't even bathe in it."

58岁的船夫Anil说：“我记得早年这里的河水很干净，可以喝，现在洗澡都不行了”

As the river widens it curves southwards, towards the Bay of Bengal, passing thousands more villages and swelling cities.

在河面变宽的地方开始向南弯曲，经过不断膨胀的城市和数千个村庄后注入孟加拉弯。

In the 14-million strong metropolis of Kolkata, people bathe and brush their teeth next to towering mounds of rubbish. On the outskirts, brick kilns and factories line the river banks.

在拥有1400万人口的大城市加尔各答堆积的垃圾山旁，人们洗澡刷牙。在郊外，砖窑和工厂在河的两岸沿线排开。

Downstream, a packed ferry sets off for Sagar Island, or Ganga Sagar, a magnet for Hindu pilgrims that marks the point where the Ganges meets the sea.

下游，船从拥挤的渡口开往萨格尔岛，或者叫恒河萨格尔，这是印度教朝圣者向往的地方，它是恒河入海的标志。

"I feel sad about what's happening around us. The Ganges is getting dirty day by day but nobody cares. Not even its children," said 66-year-old priest Ashok Kumar in Mirzapur, a riverside carpet and brass ware hub. 

恒河边的Mirzapur是地毯和黄铜器集散地，66岁神职人员Ashok住在这里，他说“我对我们身边发生的事感到悲伤。恒河正一天天变脏，但没人关心。连它的孩子都不关心。”

"The Ganges is our mother. There won't be any future if she dies."

“恒河是我们的母亲。如果她死了我们就没有未来了”

Click here for a photo essay http://reut.rs/2tYBlCR that depicts the pollution that has affected the holy Ganges river.

http://reut.rs/2tYBlCR 点击这里看图册，讲述了污染对神圣恒河的影响。




Gracie 5 hours ago 
And this is why Trump said no to the Paris Accord. India, China, Pakistan and other countries have NO regulations.

这就是我们对巴黎协定说不的原因。印度、中国、巴勒斯坦和其他国家都没有限制。

IronicSarcasm 4 hours ago 
@Rachel Holy COW??!!! wait thats a thing there too .. is there anything unholy there?? I mean monkey, elephant, disfigured humans, blue people.. gimme a break!!

圣牛？？！！等等，这也算……那儿有不神圣的东西吗？？比如猴子，大象，毁容的人，蓝色的人……让我喘口气！！

louisr 6 hours ago 
over a billion people defecating in the waterways.. the same water they use to drink... wow... even dogs don't do that......

10亿多人在河里排便……又在同一条河里打水喝……哇噻……连狗都不这么干……

sidb 4 hours ago 
cows do

牛会那么干

Echo 36 minutes ago 
They even bathe in it.

他们还在里面洗澡。

Willie 5 hours ago 
So, you kicked the British out and now you don't even know enough to not poop in the water your going to drink. Maybe colonialism wasn't so bad after all.

所以说，你们把英国人赶走了，现在你们不知道如何不在自已喝的水里拉屎。也许还是殖民主义好。

none 5 hours ago 
@willie....Thanks...plus British left India over 50 years ago...India today is way worse than under British

williee……谢谢……另外英国人50年前离开印度……现在印度比50年前差多了

Darkstar 4 hours ago 
The same thing happened in Africa, the colonial powers build infrastructures in Africa like sewage treatment, power lines, telephone and roads. The blacks ran them out and let everything they had fall apart and are worse off than before.

非洲也是，殖民者在非洲修建基础设施如污水处理厂、电网、电话网和公路。黑人把它们败光，让他们拥有的一切分崩离析，搞得比以前还惨。

illdo 3 hours ago 
a bangladeshi told me that they have water mains from the 1700s from when britain built them.....the mains are still in use

孟加拉人告诉我，他们的供水管道还是18世纪英国人给他们建的……现在还在用。

Dan 5 hours ago 
Yet, these countries lecture America on the global climate accord. Try fixing your problem locally before you start pointing fingers.

然而，这些国家在教导我们关于世界气候协定的事。先解决自已的问题再去指点别人吧！

PB 54 minutes ago 
I'm not listening to any admonishment from a country wherein 60% of the (rather ample) population defecates outdoors.

60%的人在室外排便，我是不会听这样的国家教导的。

John Dryden 6 hours ago 
India is full of horrible starving people who do not care about pollution or human life.

印度满是恐怖饥饿的人，他们不关心污染和人命。

carl 5 hours ago 
india is a cesspool country. i will not go there even if they pay me

印度是个粪坑国家。他们请我去我也不会去的。

Tony 6 hours ago 
Ok so let me understand this..the Hindu's who make up the majority of India, are the ones polluting their sacred river? I'm guessing its not that scared after all

嗯，我想想……印度教是印度的主要民族，同时也是污染他们圣河的人？我看它根本就没那么神圣嘛

SEAN 6 hours ago 
What do you expect from a country where 80% of the population finds it acceptable to defecate in the street?

在一个80%的人都觉得在街上拉屎可以接受的国家，你还能指望什么？

razi 8 hours ago 
And people " purify " and drink this water.

人们喝下去，人体净化这河水。

glenk 6 hours ago 
Just keep that population growing. All will be fine.

只要保持人口增长。一切都会好的。

Ben 6 hours ago 
Too many people and more to come. The final result will be the collapse of the nation. The river is already dead. "The Ganges is our mother. There won't be any future if she dies." Such an idiot. Ganges' so-called children are raping their mother and killing themselves because they are stupid replicators and polluters. They behave more like flies than humans, or perhaps that is unfair to flies. If river is holy then Indians are sacrilegious. An irresponsible, disgusting people.

太多人了而且还在增加。最终结果会是这个国家崩溃。那条河已经死了。“恒河是我们的母亲。如果她死了我们就没有未来了”，这个SB。恒河那所谓的孩子们正在强奸他们的母亲河，他们在自杀，因为他们是愚蠢的繁殖机器、污染机器。他们不是人，更像是苍蝇，也许这还侮辱了苍蝇。如果那河流是神圣的，那印度人就渎神了。一群不负责任，恶心的人。

Rich 6 hours ago 
this is one reason Trump pulled out of the Paris Accords...we have given many millions to these people, and this is what we get.

这就是川普退出巴黎协定的原因……我们给了这些人无数美元，得到的却是这个。

Nemo S 6 hours ago 
And who's fault is that and please don't say the U.S.A and then demand extortion money through the U.N... It's your country CLEAN IT UP and don't expect us to pay for it...

这是谁的错，请不要说是美国的，说完又去通过联合国敲诈我们……那是你们的国家，收拾干净了，别指望我们给酬劳……

smsw 6 hours ago 
Cow protection is essential to the Indian Hindus but not preservation of environment, rivers, proper sanitation and toilets, and above all, security of their own women and charging their violators.

对印度教徒而言，最最重要的事情是保护牛，而不是保护环境、河流、像样的卫生设备和测所，更不要说保护他们自已的女人和起诉罪犯这样的事情了。

longdrive 7 hours ago 
These are the same people who get a 13 year pass on the climate change deal. Thanks for getting us out of it President Trump.

这就是那些签了13年气候协定的人。谢谢你所我们救出来，川普总统。

Jeff 5 hours ago 
That river has always been an open sewer where they dump excrement, bodies, and industrial waste. This is nothing new.

那条河一直就是条臭水沟，他们往时面倒粪便、扔尸体、排放工业废物。一直就是这样。