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Modi's first pledge was to clean up India's sacred Ganges River. So what went wrong? https://bloom.bg/2PWPIk1 

Vishwambhar Nath Mishra, an engineer and professor at the city’s Banaras Hindu University, is also a Brahman and high priest at the Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple, one of the most revered in Varanasi. The temple foundation runs a laboratory that tests for fecal coliform bacteria, science that Vishwambhar Mishra, like his father before him, uses to press for a cleaner Ganges.

At his sprawling home on the banks of the Ganges, Mishra cited data showing that 85 percent to 90 percent of the river’s problems are caused by raw sewage disposal. City sewers along the river’s course are the chief culprit, with “uncontrolled development” also a concern. “People now say that the Ganga is cleaner,” he said. “I say her condition has further worsened.” In reality, “all that’s needed is that we not treat Ganga as a dustbin.” Modi’s supporters are vocal, said Mishra, but there’s a silent majority that has turned against him.

Progress in Varanasi, as in Prayagraj, means clearing the way to temples. Outside one of the houses scheduled for demolition, Nirmala Gupta, 60, stood on a heap of rubble trying to come to terms with the demise of the home she was married into 40 years before. She is no longer a Modi supporter. “We never thought such a thing could happen, that the government goes out of its way to destroy such an ancient neighborhood,” she said. “One day they spoke about it, the next they turned up with bulldozers. We’ve been living without sewage or water connections for the last 10 days now. But they say it will make life easier for worshippers.”