The Challenges and

Opportunities facing the Ganga

River Basin/ India's River Basins

By:
Puskal Upadhyay
Director (Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation) &
Additional Mission Director (National Mission for Clean Ganga)

Basin Management approach

Integrated Water Resources
Management(IWRM)
Ecosystems Management
River Basin Management
Helps integrate various components of ecosystem
Planning process becomes more comprehensive
Competing demands are addressed in more rational and sustainable
manner
Moves from coordination based to governance based approach
Problems of scale are better addressed
Provides a natural base to the planning process

25 River Basins in India

Ganga
Basin

Source: River Basin Atlas of India (2012), Ministry of

Water Resources, River Development & Ganga
Rejuvenation, Government of India

Importance of Ganga Basin in India

Geographical coverage is the largest 26% of Indias land mass
Most populated basin hosts 43% of Indias population
Second highest average annual surface water potential 28% of Indias total
second only to combined potential of Brahmaputra, Barack & others
38% of Indias total estimated utilizable water comes from Ganga Basin
highest amongst all
Estimated utilizable surface water in Ganga is 48% of its total potential as
compared to 4% for Brahmaputra
Total surface and groundwater storage in Ganga basin is largest groundwater
share is 64%
Nearly 40% of Indias total estimated replenishable ground water resources
comes from Ganga Basin

Challenges faced by Indias River Basins

Growing
Population
&
Increasing Water Demand

The per capita availability of India in

2010 is 1,588 m3/year moving
towards water stress
Demand expected to increase by
38% in next 4 decades
Irrigation largest consumer of
water
Very low water use efficiency
presently 35-40%
Based on a study, demand for
domestic sector to grow 2.6

Percent contribution in Water demand (2010)

Energy; 3% Industries; 6%
Domestic; 6%

Irrigation; 85%

Challenges faced by Indias River Basins

Increase in water pollution

Partially or untreated municipal

sewage 75% of the pollution load to
streams & water bodies
Estimated sewage generation in
India 62000 MLD
Treatment capacity available only
for 32% of sewage generated (CPCB,
2015)
Industries contribute approximately
25% of the pollution load highly
toxic in nature
Contamination of groundwater with

contd.

Drain discharging
into river Ganga

Challenges faced by Indias River Basins

High seasonal variations &

Extreme weather events
floods/droughts
Highly
seasonal
rainfall
concentrated over 4-5 months
Huge geographical variations in
rainfall across the country
One-sixth of geographical area
(40 million hectares) of country
is drought-prone
Around 7.5 million hectares
affected by flood

contd.

Challenges faced by Indias River Basins

Trans- boundary water

issues
Ganga-Brahmaputra-Barak
basins are international river
basins management driven by
agreements or treaties between
riparian countries
Remaining basins are mostly
inter-state
Water is a State subject
Centre only to manage in case of

contd.

Challenges faced by Indias River Basins

contd.

Fragmented Management

Water is a State subject

Management of water by multiple institutions CWC, CPCB,
CGWB, NDWA, etc.
River basin encompasses more than one State and its
management require coordination between all
stakeholders/departments/institutions
Instead of following river-basin management, most efforts by
Government to manage river were town-centric and
implemented by individual States
Activities in the upstream of a basin affects the downstream
cannot be managed by administrative boundaries
Management will not be holistic if basin approach is not
taken

Need for River Basin Management: Ganga Basin

River basin is a geographical unit enclosing an area
drained by streams and channels that feed a river at a
particular point.
Ganga Basin
Total Area

: 8,61,404 km2

Total Length : 2525 km

Uttarakhand
UP

: 1000 km

Sharing length
km
( UP Bihar)
Bihar

: 450 km
: 110

: 405 km

Jharkhand : 40 km
West Bengal

: 520 km

Need for River Basin Management: Ganga

Basin
contd.
Ganga Basin comprises of 11 states
Mainstem flows through 5 states
Pollution in Bihar cannot be managed until
upstream states are managed
Hence efforts between States cannot be
disjointed a basin level planning is
required
Ganga Action Plan (GAP) I & II successfully
created 961 MLD treatment capacity but
with limited visible change
Learning from GAP A holistic river basin
approach required to manage the river
Ganga

Jharkhand; 50389; 6%
West Bengal; 71489; 8%
Bihar; 93580; 11%
Haryana; 34343; 4%
Rajasthan; 112496; 13%
Chattisgarh; 17907; 2%
M.P.; 181066; 21%

H.P. ; 4317; 1%

U.P.; 241392; 28%

Uttarakhand; 52988; 6%

State Wise Catchment Area

of River Ganga

Upper Stretch
Gangotri to
Haridwar

Length : 294 km
Characteristics:
River flows on steep
bed
Turbulent flow with
high velocities
Centre for pilgrim
tourism & spiritual
activities
Mahaseer and Trout
key species

Challenges:
Disruption of natural
flow due to several
HEPs/ dams
Deforestation
Loss of native
medicinal and herbal
plants
Highly sensitive and
fragile ecosystem and

Middle Stretch
Haridwar to
Varanasi

Length : 1082 km
Characteristics:
River enters into
plains
Wide river bed and
flood plain
Active breeding sites
of turtles, crocodiles,
ghariyals, gangetic
dolphins, etc.
Narora Atomic Power
Plant

Challenges:
Huge quantities of
water abstraction and
diversion
High degree of
pollutant loads from
domestic, industrial
and agricultural
activities

Lower Stretch
Varanasi to Ganga
Sagar

Length : 1134 km
Characteristics:
Heavy sediment
transport and
deposition
Meandering river and
frequent change in
channel path
Active breeding sites of
Gangetic Dolphins, etc.
Sunderbans - a
UNESCO World
Heritage Site & home
to Bengal Tiger

Challenges:
Encroachment of river
bed, sand mining, etc.
Frequent floods and
droughts
Large point and nonpoint pollution load

08/09/2014

Efforts Towards Ganga Conservation

15

A Shift Towards Basin Based Approach

GAP I
Launched in 1985
Focus on Main
stem of River
Ganga
25 Towns Covered
260 schemes
completed

GAP II

NRCP

Extended
Extended from GAP I
in
in 1993
Merged
Merged with NRCP
in
in 1996
Taken
Taken up
up works on
four
four tributaries
Yamuna,
Yamuna, Gomti,
Damodar
Damodar &
Mahananda
Mahananda

Launched in 1995
1995
Covered 41 major
Rivers of the country
8 Ganga
Ganga basin rivers
taken up viz Betwa,
Betwa,
Chambal, Gang.a,
Mahananda,
Mandakini,
Ramganga, Yamuna

GAP :Ganga Action Plan

NRCP : National River Conservation Plan
NGRBA :National Ganga River Basin Authority
NMCG
:National Mission for Clean Ganga
SPMGs
:State Program Management Groups

Namami Gange

NGRBA

Separate
Separate Authority
for
for Ganga
Ganga created
created
in
in 2009
2009
Chaired
Chaired by
by Prime
Prime
Minister
Minister of
of India
India
NMCG
NMCG as an
implementing
implementing body
body
at
at center
center and
SPMGs
SPMGs at states

Project
Project under
under
Separate
Separate Ministry
Ministry for
for
Ganga
Ganga Rejuvenation
Rejuvenation
All
All 11
11 Basin
Basin states
states
covered
covered
Conservation
Conservation
measures
measures for all
all
tributaries
of
Ganga
tributaries Ganga

Namami Gange Holistic

approach
Ganga River Basin
Management Plan (GRBMP)
by IIT Consortium
Thrust
Areas
Pollution
abatement

Wholesome
River

River Front
Development

Flood-plain
protection &
Sand-Mining

Conservation
of biodiversity

Capacity
Building and
States
participation

Peoples
participation
and creating
awareness

Research and
Monitoring

Tributaries and subtributaries of Ganga

brought under one umbrella

Improved InterMinisterial and CentreState Co-ordination

Namami Gange Holistic approach

Duration: 5 Years 2015-16 to

2019-20
Cost (2015-16 to 2019-20):
20,000 crores
Includes ongoing projects and new
initiatives
Four-fold increase over the
expenditure in the past 30 years
Primary focus on pollution
abatement

contd.

Municipal Sewage
Management
River Surface Cleaning
Industrial Pollution
Rural Sanitation
Crematoria
Connecting People with
River
Water Quality Monitoring
Biodiversity Conservation
Aviral Ganga

Efforts initiated under Namami Gange

100% sewerage
treatment
infrastructure for
118 Towns

River Front
Development

Strict
enforcement for
Industrial
pollution

Improved wood-based
crematoria

Massive
Afforestation Drive

River Surface
Cleaning
Treatment of drains

Meeting the challenge: opportunities

Problem flagged at
appropriate time

National Commitment
and Priority

Existing Institutions

Sharing of international
experience

River Ganga is still a living river (Dissolved Oxygen

meets the standard at majority of the segments)
Rejuvenation efforts initiated with launch of
Namami Gange
Dolphins, turtles, ghariyals though threatened but
efforts to conserve these species are initiated
River Ganga declared as National River
Prime Minister announced Namami Gange Program
Budget allocated for Ganga Rejuvenation has
increased 4 fold Rs 20,000 Crores till 2019-20
National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA)
an apex level Authority chaired by Honble PM of
India
National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)
implementing body of NGRBA
State Program Management Group (SPMGs) in
Successful
experience of international rivers such as
all 5 basin states
Rhine, Danube, Thames, Murray-Darling, etc.
provides learning for Ganga Rejuvenation

Thank
You