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THE GANGES
The Ganges Length : Over 2500 kmDrainage : Dendritic patternAmbala : Water divide between
Indus and GangaLength of plains: 1800 kmFall in slope : Hardly 300 metres,
i.e.one metre for every 6 km therefore ,the river develops large meanders
River Indus
River G
angaAm
bala
wat
er d
ivid
e
The Ganga River System
The Ganges river is one of the largest and by far the
most important rivers in India.She has been a symbol of
India’s age long culture and civilization, ever changing,
ever flowing, and yet ever the same Ganga.
The river Ganges is officially and popularly known by it’s
hindu name,Ganga. The Ganges is 1560 miles long and flows through China,
India, Nepal and Bangladesh. The river flows through 29 cities and about 48 towns.
RELIGIOUS IMPORTANCE
Hindus, who constitute the vast majority of India's
population, consider the Ganges a sacred river:
Ganga (or Ganges) is the daughter of the mountain
god, Himavan or Himalaya.
Every day people bathe in the sacred water believing that it will wash away their
sins. It is believed that even a few drops on their tongue will clean their bodies. To bathe
in the Ganga is a lifelong ambition for Hindus.
It is believed that any water that mixes with the smallest
amount of Ganges river becomes holy with healing
powers. Hindus also cast the ashes of their dead in the
river in the belief that this will guide the souls of the
deceased to paradise.
The Ganges has been used for irrigation since ancient times, the use of irrigation canals has increased the
production of cash crops like sugarcane, cotton and
oilseeds.
Floods of the Ganges have enriched the soil. This makes the Ganges Valley a great agricultural
region in India.
Floods of the Ganges have enriched the soil. This makes the Ganges Valley a great agricultural region in India. Fishing also is an important use of the Ganges. The Ganges is also a burial ground for the dead.
Drinking- Many cities get their drinking water from the
Ganges, which is a large problem because the water is very polluted in some parts of
the Ganges.
Energy-Only 20% of the estimated capacity of dams has been developed. At the upper part of the Ganges
River, electricity is generated at the waterfalls of the
Ganges River.
Gangotri glacier
GANGOTRI GLACIERS
Gnagotri glacier
Melt waters from Gangotri glacier
Source of river Ganga
The source of the river Bhagirathi. Gaumukh ("The mouth of a cow") is the cave in the glacier, from which the river emerges in full force.
Bhagirathi river in the Himalayas falling down a cliff in Gangotri, Uttaranchal, India.
Bhagirathi river cutting through rocks
The Bhagirathi River
Source of Alaknanda river
Alkapuri, the origin of Alaknanda river...
The five river confluences of Alakananda are Vishnu Prayag, Nandaprayag, Karnaprayag, Rudraprayag and Devaprayag… All five along the path of the Alakananda river, that goes on assimilating other rivers… Till it reaches Devaprayag, where Alakandanda meets Bhagirathi and thereon, is known as Ganga.
Vishnu Prayag,
It is the confluence of the Dhauliganga with the Alaknanda. Vishnu Prayag
It is the confluence of the Dhauliganga with the Alaknanda. Vishnu Prayag,
(confluence of Alakananda and Nandakini. (Pindari) river ) Nandaprayag
Nandaprayag
The confluence of Alaknanda and Mandakini rivers. karnaprayag
Alaknanda River
RIVER RAFTING >> GANGA-ALAKNANDA
Stones under water. Beautiful patterns of filtered sunlight on the submerged ...
RUDRAPRAYAG Confluence of Mandakini and Alaknanda river
Neelkanth Parvat & Badrinath Temple
BADRINATH - ALAKNANDA RIVER
Alaknanda River, Garhwal,
The confluence of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers.
DEVAPRAYAG
Alakananda river
Bagirathi river
Devaprayag the confluence of the two rivers
The confluence of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers DEVAPRAYAG
River Alakananda & River Bagirathi meet at the river confluence Of Devaprayag and from here it flows as River Ganga.
The headwaters of the Ganga called the ‘Bhagirathi’ is fed by the Gangotri Glacier and joined by the Alaknanda
at Devaprayag in Uttaranchal. At Haridwar the
Ganga emerges from the mountains on to the plains.
Ganga at Haridwar
Flowing through the valley to flow through the plains at Rishikesh
Alluvial fa
ns
Gnaga leaves the mountains and joins its tributaries at Haridwar
Gnaga leaves the mountains and joins its tributaries at Haridwar
The Ganga is joined by many tributaries from the
Himalayas, a few of them being major rivers
such as the Yamuna, the Ghaghara, the Ghandak and the Kosi. The river Yamuna
rises from the Yamunotri Glacier in the Himalayas.
Ganga Yamuna Sangam
Ganga Yamuna Sangam
Ganga Yamuna Sangam at Allahabad
YAMUNOTRI GLACIER
MAMALLAPURAM
A scene carved into rocks near Mamallapuram, India, depicts the descent of the
sacred river Ganges from the Himalayas. Following a
natural crack in the rock, the carving is 6 m (20 ft) high.
It depicts gods, celestial beings, and animals gathered
along the river’s (Ganges) path. The carvings date from
the 7th century AD. The monuments of
Mamallapuram are excellent specimen of Dravidian temple architecture and Pallava art.
THE GANGES AT ROMETHE GANGES AT ROME
The picture shows River Ganges as visualised by
Bernini. It symbolises four of the world’s great rivers (the
Ganges, the Nile, the Danube and the Plata), representing the four continents known at
the time.
River yamuna at yamunotri
RIVER YAMUNA
VARANASI
Varanasi is probably one of the most ancient living cities in India. Varanasi is closely
associated with Ganges. The temple town has many
temples along the banks of the Ganges.
Varanasi is situated on the crescent shaped left bank of the holy Ganga, it is one of
the ancient seats of learning in India, it is said to be
respectively a compound of the names of two streams, the Varuna and the Assi,
which still flow.
Till May 24, 1956, Varanasi was known by the name
Banarus. From time immemorial Varanasi, has
been a great religious center for Hindus and one of their
most sacred places of pilgrimage, visited by millions
each year.
Himalayan tributaries of River Ganga
Yamuna river
Ghaghara river
Gandak river / kali river
Kosi river
Tributaries from the Peninsular Uplands
River Chambal a Tributary of Yamuna
River Chambal
River Betwa a Tributary of Yamuna
River Betwa
River son
River son a tributary of Ganga
Farakka Dam
Bhagirathi – Hoogly a distributary of Ganga
Bhagirathi – Hoogly a distributary of Ganga
After Ganga- Brahmaputra (Padma)has merged the combined river is known as Meghna River
After Ganga- Brahmaputra has merged the combined river is known as Meghna River
Meghna River
Meghna river is one of the major rivers in Bangladesh,
specially famous for it’s great estaury that discharges the
flow of Ganga-Padma, Brahmaputra-Jamuna and the Meghna itself. It is a
flood-prone river.
The downstream of Surma river from Ajmiriganj is often referred to as the Meghna. The Meghna has 2 distinct
parts: the Upper Meghna and the Lower Meghna.
The Upper Meghna from Kuliarchar to Shatnol is a comparatively small river. The Lower Meghna below
Shatnol is one of the largest rivers in the world because of its wide estuary mouth. The Lower Meghna is at times
treated as a separate river.
There are two major dams on the Ganga. One at Haridwar
diverts much of the Himalayan snowmelt into the Upper Ganges Canal, built by the British in 1854 to irrigate
the surrounding land.
The other dam is a serious hydroelectric affair at
Farakka, close to the point where the main flow of the
river enters Bangladesh, and the tributary Hooghly (also
known as Bhagirathi) continues in West Bengal
past Calcutta.
THE SUNDERBAN DELTA
The Sunderbans delta is the largest mangrove forest in
the world. It lies at the mouth of the Ganges and is spread across areas of Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. It is largely a tangled swampland.
The silt deposits of the delta covers an area of 23000 sq
miles. The river courses in the delta are broad and active, carrying a vast amount of
water. The rains from June to October cause most of the Bangladeshi delta region to
flood.
On the seaward side of the delta are swamplands and
tidal forests called Sunderbans. The delta
experiences strong cyclonic storms before and after the
monsoon season, which can be devastating.
GANGES RIVER DELTA
The Ganges Fan is a large submarine accumulation of
sediment at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal, and
stretches from India, through Bangladesh, to Myanmar
from west to east, and past Sri Lanka to the south.
The sediment is carried through a series of
underwater canyons, some of which are more than 1500 miles (2,414km) in length.
(the Ganges Fan is not to be confused with the Ganges
Delta.)
GANGES CANAL
Ganges Canal was dug from Haridwar to Kanpur in later half of 19th century and a very wide network of small
tributary canals were constructed from the main canal to act as source of
irrigation in the fertile plains of Western Uttar Pradesh .
This canal is still supplying water to thousands of villages in western Uttar Pradesh and
water of Ganga, flowing in this canal, is in true sense the
life line of western Uttar Pradesh an area which
played a central role in the Green revolution of India.
HOW CLEAN ARE OUR WATERS???
Pollution of the Ganges has become so serious that
bathing in and drinking it’s water has become very dangerous. The major
polluting industry along the Ganges is the leather
industry especially near Kanpur.
In Kanpur, hides of goats, horses and cows are bought
in for tanning. The large amount of water used in this
process, mixed in with chemicals are dumped into
the Ganges.
A recent study has proved that the amount of sewage
flowing in Ganges has doubled since 1985. Nearly 1
billion liters of mostly untreated raw sewage that
enters the sewage everyday.
Also, inadequate cremation procedures contributes to a
large number of partially burnt or unburnt corpses
floating down the Ganga, not to mention livestock corpses.
There has been many clean up acts, such as GAP
(Ganges Action Plan) and the Oswald Plan. The GAP act
began in 1985.
The GAP act was meant to clean up India’s most
important river, but after twelve years of work and $300 million funding, the
GAP has achieved very few of it’s objectives.
The Oswald plan was to release thousands of turtles, which were supposed to eat the rotting corpses floating in
the water. Some people thought that the turtles would
leave the area.
In November 1991 a survey that was conducted showed
that 60% of the turtles remained in Varanasi area and were seen nibbling on
human flesh.
Hopefully, in the future the river Ganges will be as clean
as the Hindu pilgrimages believe it to be. It maybe a
while but with more coordinated effort the waters of the Ganges will be clean.
Can we help???
Central government approves Rs 7K crore for cleaning Ganga
The Ganga will flow clean and free from pollution by 2020, ...???
The Ganges River, considered to be sacred in India is getting a $1 billion clean up loan from the World Bank.The Ganges River (or Ganga as it also called) is 2500 km long and has incredibley high pollution, everything from industrial chemicals to raw sewage. The $1billion World Bank Ganga River Loan will support the clean up efforts launched by the Indian government. Clean up efforts that inlcude building water treatment plants, fixing dams and other water quality improvement measures.
“ Environmentalists say the river supports over 400 million people, and if the unabated pollution is not controlled, it will be the end of communities living along the banks.”
“Let each one of us be responsible and
ensure we are not contributors to pollution of our environment.”