Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
Ganges Reveals Sublime Luxury, Polluted Wasteland
Listen
• 0:00
India has overtaken Japan as home to the most billionaires in Asia. Yet it also has the world's largest number of hungry people.
Take, for example, the Ananda Spa. The resort, one of India's most beautiful, affords breathtaking views of the Ganges River as it leaves the mountains and moves on to the plains of northern India.
Built as a maharajah's palace, the spa now caters to India's top executives, government officials and Bollywood stars, and serves as a reminder that some Indians are doing extremely well as the nation's economy grows briskly.
Here, the waters of the Ganges are clear and filled with fish, but as they move on they become polluted. By the time they pass the industrial city of Kanpur, the waters are oily and dead, fouled by industrial byproducts and raw waste.
Support for LAist comes from
Hundreds of thousands of Indian children die from the effects of dirty water every year. Environmentalists are trying to clean up the river in Kanpur, but their efforts are thwarted by corruption and power shortages.
On this stretch of the river, families that used to make a living by fishing the Ganges barely get by now. They are counted among the quarter of a billion Indians who live in abject poverty, with almost no prospect of moving up.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDA1OTI3MjQ5MDEyODUwMTE2MzM1YzNmZA004))
()
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
The U.S. Supreme Court lifted limits on immigration sweeps in Southern California, overturning a lower court ruling that prohibited agents from stopping people based on their appearance. -
Censorship has long been controversial. But lately, the issue of who does and doesn’t have the right to restrict kids’ access to books has been heating up across the country in the so-called culture wars.
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
Best of LAist