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NEW DELHI, India-Within sight of Delhi's gleaming new metro train, Nawal Kishore slips the body of a baby into the waters of the Yamuna, one of the world's filthiest rivers.It's just another day at work for the 40-year-old man, who has been disposing of the bodies of three or four children, rich and poor, in the polluted waters of the Yamuna or in the equally dirty river bank every day for the past decade.Most Hindus cremate their dead, but crematoria across India usually turn away the corpses of babies and children under 3, citing a tradition which says they should either be buried or submerged in "holy" rivers.But last month, a court in the Indian capital New Delhi ordered authorities to stop the practice and told crematoria not to turn away corpses-apparently to little effect."I don't know how many babies I have put there, maybe thousands," said Kishore, pointing to the dirt-blackened, still waters of the Yamuna, which flows through east Delhi, soaking up the city's sewage and effluents, most of it untreated."I have heard about the court order ... but people are still coming," he said.Hindu scholars say there is nothing in the scriptures to oppose the cremation of babies, yet most parents still cling to a tradition which has grown up over centuries.The Indian capital, a city of 14 million, most of them Hindu, is getting a makeover as it prepares to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010, with new flyovers being built, roads widened, and metro rail services extended to new areas.But the lack of a dignified burial ground for children underlines the shortage of civic amenities, activists say.The small patch of land by the river, covered with disheveled weeds and human and animal feces, is popularly known as "Bachchewala Ghat" or "child burial ground".Before Kishore, his father and grandfather did the same job."It's been our ancestral job," he said. "Our religion says that babies cannot be cremated. They have to be put in the river or buried. People come here from all over Delhi." To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah...
