Over the course of history, personhood has been granted to various entities such as corporations, deities, ships, animals, etc. It has been noted by various scholars that such instances of attribution of personhood have been largely arbitrary. The latest addition to the list of entities that have been granted personhood is a river. The primary justification for this has been the need for effective conservation of these rivers, which are deemed to be of immense significance and value to the local population in the countries, and which have resorted to the grant of personhood for the protection of these rivers. However, on closely examining such a grant of personhood to the Ganga and Yamuna in India, it may be noted that such arbitrary attribution of personhood achieves nothing but the creation of an avenue for the State to divest itself of its duties of preservation and conservation of these rivers. This paper attempts to highlight the fallacies associated with the theory of personhood in light of the recent grant of legal personhood to the Ganga and the Yamuna. It also highlights the practical difficulties associated with taking this step in the Indian context as opposed to the attribution of rights or legal personality to rivers in other jurisdictions. Lastly, the paper provides an alternative, duty-based approach for the protection of the said rivers.