GANGA RIVER SYSTEM (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 – Geography)

Context: The Supreme Court has expressed deep concern over the rampant encroachment and dumping of plastic waste on the banks of the Ganga river.

Ganga River System

• About: The Ganga is formed from six headstreams and their five confluences.
• Total Length: 2,525 km.
• Confluences: The Alaknanda River meets the Dhauliganga River at Vishnuprayag, the Nandakini River at Nandprayag, and the Pindar River to form the Ganga main stream.
• Mouth: The Ganga fans out into the 350km wide Ganga delta and finally empties into the Bay of Bengal.
• Source of the Bhagirathi River: The Bhagirathi, considered the source stream, rises at the foot of Gangotri Glacier, at Gaumukh, at an elevation of 3892m.

• Important cities near River: Haridwar, Kanpur, Soron, Kannauj, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Ghazipur, Bhagalpur, Mirzapur, Ballia, Buxar, Saidpur, and Chunar are important towns along the river.

Initiatives to fight Ganga pollution:

• National Ganga Council: To maintain water quality and environmentally sustainable development.
• Clean Ganga Fund: Announced in 2014 with the aim of using the collection for various activities under the Namami Gange programme for cleaning the Ganges.
• National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG): It aims at reducing the pollution of the river Ganga along with the conservation and rejuvenation of the river banks.