In a landmark judgement on Monday, the Uttrakhand High court gave rivers Yamuna and Ganga rights similar to a living person. This new status of "living entity of India" is making environmentalists and locals hopeful about the future. The court's decision is expected to have a positive bearing on efforts to clean up the polluted and abused rivers.
In an effort to understand what the "living entity" status means for the rivers, NDTV travelled from Haridwar to Gangotri.