Cleaning of the mighty River Ganga - Methodology and progressive implementation

River Ganga (the Ganges), which is a major river of India and the most sacred, has been polluted by man's activities over a long period of time. Indeed, in some stretches of the river pollution has been so severe as to call for drastic and immediate action. The Ganga Basin Action Plan was undertaken by the Government of India in response in an attempt to clean it up, at least to bathing water quality standards. A description is given in this paper of that programme, its objectives, how it was implemented, the results achieved and the lessons learned from it. Attention is also drawn to how the experience gained from this massive and remarkable project is being drawn upon for cleaning up the other polluted rivers in India, and to how these activities are impacting positively on public's attitude to rivers.