The geo-hydro-morphometry of the river Ganges has a history of long and wide variations as the river is continuously fed by the high Himalayas hill ranges, the highest in the world. The river is categorized as an international one, passing through several independent countries. The major flow of the river used to flow through the branch river, Bhagirathi-Hooghly on the banks of which both the city and port of Calcutta (now renamed as Kolkata) are situated. However, due to massive tectonic and morphological changes, the flow through the branch river has gradually decreased resulting in enormous damages to the port and the city. After more than a century long of investigations on the probable causes of deterioration and its remedies, a barrage across the river had been constructed near a place, called Farakka in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal, India for diversion of a part of lean season flow (40,000 cu secs) from the parent river to the branch river for the resuscitation of the branch river and revitalization of the port of Calcutta. The turmoil started since the construction of barrage between 1965-1975 and the major neighbouring countries, India and Bangladesh, were locked with the dispute over the sharing of water of the parent river. After several rounds of discussions at different levels between the two countries, short-term agreements were signed two times, one in 1977 and the other in 1985, and finally one long term Treaty was signed in 1996 between the two countries in an atmosphere of peaceful co-existence.
<EM>Audience: The book will be of interest to researchers and scientists, professionals and policymakers in water resources management and environmental science, conservation policy and development research.
The Ganga
Water Science and Technology Library VOLUME 64
Editor-in-Chief V. P. Singh, Texas A&M University, College Station, U.S.A. Editorial Advisory Board M. Anderson, Bristol, U.K L. Bengtsson, Lund, Sweden J. F. Cruise, Huntsville, U.S.A. U. C. Kothyari, Roorkee, India S. E. Serrano, Philadelphia, U.S.A D. Stephensen, Johannesburg, South Africa W. G. Strupczewski, Warsaw, Poland
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The Ganga Water Use in the Indian Subcontinent
by
Pranab Kumar Parua Consulting Engineering, Asian Development Bank
Foreword by Dr. S. S. Ganguly
123
Dr. Pranab Kumar Parua Consulting Engineer Asian Development Bank New Delhi India
[email protected]
ISBN 978-90-481-3102-0 e-ISBN 978-90-481-3103-7 DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3103-7 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009938167 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Disclaimer: The facts and opinions expressed in this work are those of the author and not necessarily those of the publisher. Every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders of the figures and tables which have been reproduced from other sources. Anyone who has not been properly credited is requested to contact the publishers, so that due acknowledgement may be made in subsequent editions. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
The author dedicates this