Editorial photo #796475 Environmental Issue

INDIA-POLLUTION-WATER-GANGES

Devanand Shukla,aged 73 yrs.with his wife (L) who is suffering from phyleria disease,talks during a conversation about his work for cleaning the river Ganges,in Allahabad on September 22,2015.Devanand Shukla, 73, is diminutive, uneducated and poor. But the single-handed efforts of this Class 9 dropout can put even the most famous environmentalists to shame.Sporting a sweat-soaked vest and a muddy lungi, Shukla battles scorching sun, rain and even chilly winter round the year, single-handedly preventing big drains from directly falling into the holy Ganga, in Salori area on the northern fringe of the Sangam city.Filling gunny bags with sand and using small pieces of rocks, he is busy stopping the dirty untreated waste of the city from mixing into Ganga waters. Shukla began the task in 2001 and is continuing even today, almost 15 years later. (Photo by Ritesh Shukla/NurPhoto)