The Living River | Plastic on the Ganges

[Music] [Music] It is the mother. When we go in, we offer our prayers and respect. [Music] Our lifestyle is on the Ganges. Our food comes from it. We bathe in it, and we drink the water from the river. [Music] During the day, I do the work of a fisherman. Sometimes we go in the day; sometimes we go out to fish in the night. We catch fish to sell it, and from that, we are able to eat and survive. We are poor people; fishing is our livelihood. [Music]

Before we had these nets, we used to make nets by hand, and we used handmade tools to fish. But when we started getting the plastic nets in the market, we stopped making our own. [Music] Our handmade nets, we simply couldn't catch as much fish. We would only catch like four or five pounds, and then it takes a long time to make it by hand. But when you buy it from the market, you can get the net ready in two or three days. [Music] [Music]

Now, with the plastic nets available in the market, we can come back with 100 or 200 pounds of fish. [Music] Plastic nets last for a shorter amount of time—maximum five or six months. When they are worn out, we sometimes use the nets to make fences or ropes; otherwise, we burn them or throw them away. [Music] [Music]

Why would we keep the damaged nets? We throw them out in the river. When we go out, we leave a lot of them out there. I don't know what else we can do with them. This river means everything to us. We consider it our mother. [Music]

But we also have to fish every day for our survival. If we didn't do this work, where would we get our food? [Music] You.