Why these rivers have the same legal rights as people
In 2017, India's Ganges River and its main tributary, the Yamuna River, were granted human rights.
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News •
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari takes dip in Yamuna, drinks from river ahead of Chhath Puja
• Oct. 30, 2026, 3:00 AM ET (The Hindu)
Bangladesh presses India before Ganges water treaty expires
• Oct. 28, 2026, 10:46 PM ET (Straits Times)
Transcript
REPORTER: Meet Ganges. She loves wildlife, and she's really popular, especially with Hindus who see her as sacred. She's quite big, stretching from the Himalayas down to Bangladesh. She's also India's oldest and one of its most important people.
Confused? Well, while it might seem kind of weird, the Ganges River is one of two Indian rivers that have just been given the same rights as people.
The other is the Yamuna which runs into the Ganges. Now obviously, they're not people, they're rivers. But an Indian court decided they were really important living things that deserve the same protection people get.
You see, the rivers are really badly polluted, and Indian authorities have been trying to change that. Giving them the same rights as people means that if someone harms the river, then in the eyes of the law, it would be the same as harming a person. The decision in India comes just a week after New Zealand's third largest river, the Whanganui, also got the same rights as a person.
Local [? Maori ?] people see the river as an ancestor, and they've been fighting for years to have it recognized.
NUK KORAKO: That river is such an important and intricate part of people's lives.
REPORTER: The decision was cause for celebration among Whanganui's family members. It's hoped that in New Zealand, as well as in India, the new laws will make a big difference for these rivers and all the other people that depend on them.
Confused? Well, while it might seem kind of weird, the Ganges River is one of two Indian rivers that have just been given the same rights as people.
The other is the Yamuna which runs into the Ganges. Now obviously, they're not people, they're rivers. But an Indian court decided they were really important living things that deserve the same protection people get.
You see, the rivers are really badly polluted, and Indian authorities have been trying to change that. Giving them the same rights as people means that if someone harms the river, then in the eyes of the law, it would be the same as harming a person. The decision in India comes just a week after New Zealand's third largest river, the Whanganui, also got the same rights as a person.
Local [? Maori ?] people see the river as an ancestor, and they've been fighting for years to have it recognized.
NUK KORAKO: That river is such an important and intricate part of people's lives.
REPORTER: The decision was cause for celebration among Whanganui's family members. It's hoped that in New Zealand, as well as in India, the new laws will make a big difference for these rivers and all the other people that depend on them.
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