HOLY WATER for HOLISTIC HEALTH

PSM News /

Research to be conducted on medicinal properties of Ganga water for holistic health

 

17th Nov, 2015
To further investigate the claim made through various existing research and studies that the waters of Ganga River have medicinal properties which destroy various kinds of bacteria and microbes, in order to use it for holistic human health, the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare Shri J P Nadda has assured all support for this research including financial assistance. He stated this at the workshop organized today at AIIMS, New Delhi on the “Non-putrefying properties of Ganga Water”. Also present was Sushri Uma Bharti, Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and senior environmentalist Shri Krishna Gopal. 

Speaking at the workshop, the Union Health Minister stated that in a world increasing fighting various kinds of new and more powerful drug resistant bacteria and germs, such a study which explores and examines what is it that lends this unique property to the Ganga water that not only cleanses itself by destroying germs and microbes present in it, but also purifies other waters, is worth conducting. He described Ganga as a pious river that has many interconnected and layered values to it, be it cultural, spiritual, economical and environmental. He stated that the river flowing through 2600 kms and crossing many states nurtures these regions by providing livelihood option to many, in addition to irrigation on the banks and the plains. It is the mandate of the Government not only to clean the river but to also rejuvenate it, he further stated. He said that the valuable scientific evidence generated as a result of this research and in-depth study will help to understand the medicinal properties of the Ganga water. He said that in addition to AIIMS, New Delhi, scientists from IIT Kanpur and Roorkee, Banaras Hindu University, National Environmental Research Institute (NEERI) and National Botanical Research Institute will be participating in this detailed study. Another workshop to discuss and deliberate on the findings of the research shall be held after six months, the Health Minister informed. 
Sushri Uma Bharti highlighted that despite crores of people taking a dip in the river during numerous religious occasions every year, the river has not led to any pandemic or epidemic. This had to be the consequence of some self-purifying power of the river water, which prevented its deterioration, she stated. She added that the study would help in using the Ganga water with this unique property for a larger welfare and health of mankind. 
Shri Krishna Gopal drew from the studies and research conducted on the exclusive property of the Ganga water and the references from the Akbarnama and the British bacteriologist Ernest Hanbury Hankin, to state that the presence of bacteriophage activity had been detected in the river since long. New research needs to be conducted to further renew this claim, he added. 

Present at the workshop were senior officers from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, and Ministry for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, AIIMS, NEERI, IIT Kanpur and IIT Rourkee. 

PSM India feels that the new and innovative research has an important role to play in the restoration, protection and maintenance of the uniqueness of the ganga water. There is indeed much to learn about the Ganga and its sacred water.