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The Ganges

Three 13 year old pupils from London, Dua, Amalia and Nayan, are on a trip of a lifetime to explore the river Ganges in India.

Three 13 year old pupils from London, Dua, Amalia and Nayan, are on a trip of a lifetime to discover the river Ganges in India. They are in Patna, which is located on the middle course of the river where the Ganges is over 4km wide. The Ganges is one of the world’s biggest rivers, and seven times the size of the river Severn, Britain’s longest river. They discover that the source of the Ganges is in the Himalayas and the deltas of the Ganges, as it reaches the Indian Ocean, are in Bangladesh. They meet a local scientist as they travel along the river, and discuss how the river is deemed sacred to Hindus and a lifeline to local people who use the river to irrigate their crops, to wash and to travel, yet it is heavily polluted. The pollution affects the river dolphin population. The pupils discover that the course of the river changes as it slows and it deposits sediment, which affects the navigation of boats. This sediment helps provide the farmers with rich, fertile soil when the river floods during the monsoon.

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10 minutes

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