Ganga River Essay

The Ganges River also called Ganga River is located in Northern India

and later becomes the India-Bangladesh border. This river is the biggest river in

India. India is home to over 1.2 billion people who belong to many different type

of religions. Bangladesh is home to more than 154.7 million people who are

majorly Muslim. The river starts high in the Himalayan Mountains and empties

into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges River is about 1560 miles or 2510 km long

and has an average deepness of 52 feet or 16 meters. The Ganges River basin

contains more people than any other river basin. The population of the basin is

around 400 million people and covers parts of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and

China. The photo to the right shows the Ganges River basin and its tributaries

that include the Yamuna

River, Son River,

Mahananda River, and

Koshi River. The Yamuna,

Son and Mahananda River

are major right side

tributaries and the Koshi

River is a major left side tributary. Due to climate change, the Ganges River in places such as Varanasi has become much shallower than in the past.

Ganges River is considered one of the most polluted rivers in the world. Almost everyday around 264 million gallons of waste are dumped into the river. In the next 20 years this amount of waste is expected to increase at least 100%. The pollution in the Ganges comes both from people and industrial

waste. Majority of the industrial waste comes from the leather factories along the

edge of the River Ganga. On top of waste, the river is full of offerings to the

Ganges. These offerings can be food or other items. The World Health

Organization said that the water levels of pollution are over 3000 times the safe

level. The Ganges Riv...

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...es water is sent to drying and sick people in hopes to

help them. The water is also used in certain rituals such as a wedding.

The Ganges River has 140 types of fish, 90 types of amphibian and

5 types of birds found nowhere but around the Ganges. The wildlife is being

affected by the pollution in the Ganges. There are only around 1500 Ganges

Photographer: Gayle Hutcher

Dolphin’s left. Dead dolphins have been examined and have traces of butyltin

and organochlorine in their bodies from the waste in the river. They are losing

their habitat due to more dams and irrigation systems being built around and on

the river. These dolphins used to be found in large groups or schools but are now

only found by themselves or in pairs.

Overall, the Ganges River is a very important river to millions of people

and the poor treatment is causing the river to “die”.