This specialised study on the ecological conditions obtaining over the Ganga Delta is a new addition to the series of monographs published by this Institute. It is based on in-depth research and primary data concerning the properties of the terrain, the changing course of the river Ganga, its flow pattern as well as the human habitat and economic activities along the basin. It comes from the pen of a senior geologist who worked at our Institute as a Professor of Ecology. Written from the problem-solving angle, the work lays adequate stress on the restorative policies that demand attention of the concerned decision makers. It is being released in collaboration with M/s. K. P. Bagchi & Company with the hope that it will enrich the existing literature on the subject.
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The river Ganga rises at Gaumukh, the snout of the small Gangotri glacier on the northern slope of the main snow range of the Himalaya in the Uttar Kashi district of the State of Uttar Pradesh. After following for about 140 km through the Himalaya Mountains, it enters the eastern edge of the (Dehra) Doon Val-ley at Risikesh and finally leaves the hills at Haridwar 24 km downstream. It then traverses the heart of the north Indian plains. After flowing past the Rajmahal hills on the eastern part of the State of Bihar, the river enters its deltaic regime and makes to the Bay of Bengal through a number of distributaries the principal of which are Bhagirathi-Hooghly and the Padma-Meghna. Historically and traditionally, the former combination is taken to be the last stretch of the river Ganga with its con-fluence with the Bay of Bengal at the Sagar Island.
During its 2525 km journey from the mountains to the Bay of Bengal, the river receives about ten main tributaries both from the Himalaya Mountains to the north and the central Indian plateau to the south. These tributaries and the river traverse 8 States namely, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and the capital of Delhi.
The area of the Ganga basin is about 861,404 sq. km covering about 26% of India's total geographic area. 37% of the Indian population of 7.46 million (approximate for 1986) reside in the Ganga basin. 27 cities and 371 smaller towns are located on its banks and 292 other towns in rest of the basin. It is needless to say that the river Ganga occupies a very significant position in the history, culture and economy of India.
While the course of a river more or less steadies itself in a relatively short time, its deltaic region shows signs of prolonged evolution, present many opportunities as well as difficulties and therefore, should prove an area of profound scientific interest.
The imprint of the freedom struggle, of the IInd World War, rapid increase in population due to its location in the tropical belt and specially the political bifurcation of India in 1947 with the first mammoth migration of population in history and the new changes in the social structure towards consumerism have given new twist to the environment and growth of this region which should be the subject matter of detail study in the interest of present and the posterity.
Rapid political, social, demographic, economic and to a large extent geomorphological changes have brought about an imbalance in the relation between man and the nature, and the situation is fast turning towards an ecological disaster. Some blame the population rise and some blame the geomorphological setting and the paucity of natural resources. The experience of ecological trauma of the Ganga Delta will surely be felt soon in several other parts of Asia and the developing countries the world over, and the attempts to avert this disaster will usher in new hopes in the Third World..
The Ganga Delta covers an area of about 63948 sq. km of which 23,491 sq. km lie in the State of West Bengal in India and the rest 40,457 sq. km. (Paxton, 1986-87) in adjoining Bangladesh. The total population of the Delta is 42,621,250 making a density of population of 667 persons per sq. km. In the Indian part, the population is 20,706,250 with a density of population of 881 persons per sq. km.
The present study is mainly confined to the Indian part of the Delta. This is because collection of detail information on the Bangladesh part would have taken considerable time.
The part of the Ganga Delta in India is about 355 km. long (north to south) and about 160 km broad at the sea front. The total sea front of the Delta is about 420 km. In India, the districts of Murshidabad, Nadia, 24 Parganas (North and South) and Calcutta lie between the Bhagirathi river to the west and the border with Bangladesh to the east.
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