You can't pollute the spiritual part

I've been struggling with my western mind for the last few days, trying to connect the way I think with the myriad differences in perception (both large and subtle) that exist between my inherently americanized view and the ideas I have learned from people in India. (Learning about other cultures always forces a renegotiation of what you think you know.) In my last blog I asked how something as beloved as the Ganga can be in such bad shape. I was thinking about our national parks campaign that urges us to keep our heritage clean, and the "clean the beaches" days we set aside....So we do these things because many of us have real attachment to these places, or more simply perhaps, pride. I asked Deepak Menon, from Arghyam, associated with the India Water Portal, how such an important component of Hindu life can be so miserably polluted. He told me the water is only the medium, or instrument, that connects one to their religion. The water itself isn't their religion. Makes sense right? Here's an easier way to consider it, depending on how you look at it: My friend Allison and I were talking about this last night on skype when she said "you can't pollute the spiritual part." My rock-star ecologist friend always gives me something else to think about.......
So I guess the conundrum for me was to separate the spirituality of the river from the physicality of the river itself. This is another form of attachment that is so dominant in western thought but lets stay on this road...

Other things to think about from my meeting with Deepak:
1- Civic responsibility is not a priority for people here.
2- People that are using bore wells for drinking water in the south are being poisoned by fluoride that occurs naturally in ground water. Over time it causes a disease called fluorosis that is crippling. (It tears your bones apart.) PEOPLE DO NOT CONNECT THE DISEASE WITH THE WATER. By people I mean the poor, those without access to education and infrastructure.
3- 47% of the Indian RURAL population practice open defecation, i.e. pooping in lakes, along roads, in fields, etc. I mostly see people using lakes and the roadside for this.
4- Question posed by Deepak: How do you get infrastructure to people when water to run it is in short supply?

Just a few things to think about.