Management of Water Quality and Biodiversity of the River Ganga

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of these issues and suggests approaches to water management in the Ganga basin. The Ganga river basin is one of the most dynamic, productive and diverse river basins in the world and is a part of the composite Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin, which lies in China, Nepal, India and Bangladesh. The river Ganges receives sediments from the Himalayas as well as the Peninsular region. The water-related issues of the basin are both due to high and low flow. People believe that the river water never spoils even if stored for decades and has germ-killing quality. Major human impacts on river Ganga, as in other tropical streams, are excessive water abstraction for irrigation and human consumption, and related alterations in longitudinal, lateral and vertical riverine connectivity; over-exploitation of other resources; deforestation in the entire basin, particularly catchments; and high levels of pollution from different sources.