Life and death on the Ganges
 
A holy man’s crusade
 
In September, 1998, I visited the Indian holy city of Varanasi (Benares) where an extraordinary man, Veer Bhadra Mishra, is trying to clean up one of the world’s great rivers, the Ganges. Mishra’s crusade is a struggle pitting a religion, a culture, science and politics against one another. At stake are the lives of millions. The full documentary, The Holy Man and Mother Ganga, appeared on CBC TV’s “Man Alive.” It is narrated by Patricia Chew, and the opening segment appears below.