India steps up move to clean up Ganga

Hindu devotees on the banks of the river Ganga during a religious festival on Nov 17, 2015.PHOTO: REUTERS

The government is trying to inject some momentum in efforts to clean up the Ganga river, going as far as to deploy an army battalion of 600 troops in one city for the operation, apart from finalising plans to modernise hundreds of "Dhobi Ghats" or open-air laundries along the river.

The soldiers, from the army's ecological task force, have been stationed since last month in Allahabad, one of the biggest cities on the 2,525km-long river.