Varanasi, Nov. 10 Hundreds of college students in Varanasi participated in a cleaning drive aimed to keep the holy Ganges river pollution-free.

Many volunteers cleaned the Ghats of the river with brooms, and also distributed pamphlets among public to spread awareness about keeping the river pollution free.

"Ganga is our natural river on one side we say that the banks of the river should be clean but the questions is what are we doing from our own side to clean the river. We throw Puja material on the banks of the river. We have organised this mass moment to make the people aware of cleaning the Ganga," said Deepak, a volunteer of save Ganga Campaign.

"From time immemorial Ganga has been considered the sacred river and some time back we also used to drink it's water. Today, the pollution level of the river has increased so much that if we don't protect it the river, it won't be in a condition to serve us any longer," said Shikha Gupta, another student.

Revered as goddess by Hindus, the Ganga River is believed to absolve people off their sins.

The Ganga runs its course of over 2,500 kilometres from Gangotri in the Himalayas to Ganga Sagar in the Bay of Bengal through 29 cities.

In 1996, the apex court banned the discharge of effluents from various tanneries located on its banks in Kanpur.

However, with one billion tonnes of waste being dumped into it everyday, the River Ganga, unfortunately, remains one of the most polluted rivers in the world. (ANI)