Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Ganges river rises as the Bhagirathi from the Gangotri Glacier at an elevation of over six thousand meters. This cold, glacial stream flows from the foot of the Gangotri Glacier before gathering strength from tributaries like the Alaknanda.
Millions of Hindus bathe in the Ganges river daily because they believe it to be the purest substance on Earth and the vehicle of ascent for souls to the afterlife. This spiritual necessity persists even though the water contains fecal coliform bacteria levels that exceed official safety limits by more than one hundred times.
The Ganga Action Plan was launched in 1985 as the largest single attempt to clean up a polluted river anywhere in the world. The plan aimed to reduce pollution from industrial waste and untreated human sewage but has been widely described as a failure due to corruption and poor environmental planning.
The Ganges Delta is located along the Bay of Bengal and covers an area of about 105,000 square kilometers. It is formed by the confluence of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, and the Meghna rivers and contains the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world.
The Ganges river ecosystem includes approximately 140 species of fish, 90 species of amphibians, and numerous reptiles and mammals. Key species include the Ganges river dolphin, the gharial, the mugger crocodile, and the critically endangered Ganges shark.