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Ganges : the many pasts of an Indian River
Originating in the Himalayas and flowing into the Bay of Bengal, the Ganges is India's most important and sacred river. In this unprecedented work, historian Sudipta Sen tells the story of the Ganges, from the communities that arose on its banks to the merchants that navigated its waters, and the way it came to occupy center stage in the history and culture of the subcontinent. Sen begins his chronicle in prehistoric India, tracing the river's first settlers, its myths of origin in the Hindu tradition, and its significance during the ascendancy of popular Buddhism. In the following centuries, Indian empires, Central Asian regimes, European merchants, the British Empire, and the Indian nation-state all shaped the identity and ecology of the river. Weaving together geography, environmental politics, and religious history, Sen offers in this lavishly illustrated volume a remarkable portrait of one of the world's largest and most densely populated river basins.
Book
Steady erosion rates in the Himalayas through late Cenozoic climatic changes
Sediment accumulation rates and thermal trackers suggest a substantial and global increase in erosion rates over the past few million years. That increase is commonly associated with the impact of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation, but methodological biases have led researchers to debate this hypothesis. Here, we test whether Himalayan erosion rates increased by measuring beryllium-10 (10Be) in the sediment of the Bengal Bay seabed. Sediment originated from rocks that produced 10Be under the impact of cosmic rays during erosion near surface. Thus, the 10Be concentrations indicate erosion rates. The 10Be concentration of the Bengal Bay sediment depends on the contributions of the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers. Their sediments have distinct 10Be concentrations because of distinct elevations and erosion in their drainage basins. Variable contributions could thus complicate erosion-rate calculation. We traced these contributions by a provenance study using the strontium (Sr) and neodymium (Nd) isotopic sediment compositions. Within uncertainties of ±30%, our reconstructed past erosion rates show no long-term increase for the past six million years. This stability suggests that climatic changes during the late Cenozoic have an undetectable impact on the erosion patterns in the Himalayas, at least on the ten thousand to million year timescales accounted for by our dataset.Long-term Himalayan erosion rates remained stable through the global climatic changes of the past six million years, according to the cosmogenic nuclide composition of terrestrial sediments recovered from the Bay of Bengal.
Journal Article
The Ganges : India's sacred river
This book reveals facts about the Ganges, a river sacred to Hindus. Flowing through one of the most densely populated areas in the world, its banks are also the site of shrines, temples, and holy cities, including Varanasi, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
Book
Anthropogenic influences on groundwater arsenic concentrations in Bangladesh
The origin of dissolved arsenic in the Ganges Delta has puzzled researchers ever since the report of widespread arsenic poisoning two decades ago. Today, microbially mediated oxidation of organic carbon is thought to drive the geochemical transformations that release arsenic from sediments, but the source of the organic carbon that fuels these processes remains controversial. At a typical site in Bangladesh, where groundwater-irrigated rice fields and constructed ponds are the main sources of groundwater recharge, we combine hydrologic and biogeochemical analyses to trace the origin of contaminated groundwater. Incubation experiments indicate that recharge from ponds contains biologically degradable organic carbon, whereas recharge from rice fields contains mainly recalcitrant organic carbon. Chemical and isotopic indicators as well as groundwater simulations suggest that recharge from ponds carries this degradable organic carbon into the shallow aquifer, and that groundwater flow, drawn by irrigation pumping, transports pond water to the depth where dissolved arsenic concentrations are greatest. Results also indicate that arsenic concentrations are low in groundwater originating from rice fields. Furthermore, solute composition in arsenic-contaminated water is consistent with that predicted using geochemical models of pond-water–aquifer-sediment interactions. We therefore suggest that the construction of ponds has influenced aquifer biogeochemistry, and that patterns of arsenic contamination in the shallow aquifer result from variations in the source of water, and the complex three-dimensional patterns of groundwater flow.
Microbially mediated oxidation of organic carbon is thought to drive the release of arsenic into groundwater. Hydrological and geochemical analyses suggest that pond water is the source of organic carbon in groundwater in Bangladesh.
Journal Article
Ganga rejuvenation : governance challenges and policy options
\"This book focuses on governance and management issues in the much publicized 'Ganga Rejuvenation Project', led by the Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. Attempts over the past three decades to clean up and rejuvenate one of the world's greatest rivers have proved futile. The major reasons for the lack of success are absence of long-term planning, poor co-ordination and failure to sustain whatever little infrastructure for water and sewage treatment could be developed. Focusing on these broad aspects, the book explores spaces for better governance through active community participation, knowledge management, prospects of Public-Private-Partnership, e-governance, youth education, waterfront development, lessons from past failures, comparative international analogies, utilization of external aid and global expertise in successful implementation of a sustainable long-term plan for a river basin's integrated development of both the economy and environment. A host of activities, such as, improving pollution monitoring systems, new development plans for tourism enhancement; river dredging and sewering riparian cities are already being carried in the hope of quick results. The Government of India has also appointed a task force for preparation of a long-term strategy. However, substantial knowledge gaps persist especially with regard to governance. This book aims to address the governance and policy issues and will be a very timely contribution to cleaning as well as rejuvenating Ganga, a river that is lifeline of millions of people.\"--Back cover.
Book
Ganga-Brahmaputra river discharge from Jason-2 radar altimetry: An update to the long-term satellite-derived estimates of continental freshwater forcing flux into the Bay of Bengal
This paper discusses the use of Jason‐2 radar altimeter measurements to estimate the Ganga‐Brahmaputra surface freshwater flux into the Bay of Bengal for the period mid‐2008 to December 2011. A previous estimate was generated for 1993–2008 using TOPEX‐Poseidon, ERS‐2 and ENVISAT, and is now extended using Jason‐2. To take full advantages of the new availability of in situ rating curves, the processing scheme is adapted and the adjustments of the methodology are discussed here. First, using a large sample of in situ river height measurements, we estimate the standard error of Jason‐2–derived water levels over the Ganga and the Brahmaputra to be respectively of 0.28 m and 0.19 m, or less than ∼4% of the annual peak‐to‐peak variations of these two rivers. Using the in situ rating curves between water levels and river discharges, we show that Jason‐2 accurately infers Ganga and Brahmaputra instantaneous discharges for 2008–2011 with mean errors ranging from ∼2180 m3/s (6.5%) over the Brahmaputra to ∼1458 m3/s (13%) over the Ganga. The combined Ganga‐Brahmaputra monthly discharges meet the requirements of acceptable accuracy (15–20%) with a mean error of ∼16% for 2009–2011 and ∼17% for 1993–2011. The Ganga‐Brahmaputra monthly discharge at the river mouths is then presented, showing a marked interannual variability with a standard deviation of ∼12500 m3/s, much larger than the data set uncertainty. Finally, using in situ sea surface salinity observations, we illustrate the possible impact of extreme continental freshwater discharge event on the northern Bay of Bengal as observed in 2008.
Key Points
The use of Jason‐2 radar altimeter over large rivers
Retrieving Ganga‐Brahmaputra river discharge from radar altimeters
An update to the long‐term estimates of the freshwater flux in the Bay of Bengal
Journal Article
River of life, river of death : the Ganges and India's future
India is killing the Ganges, and the Ganges in turn is killing India. The waterway that has nourished more people than any on earth for three millennia is now so polluted with sewage and toxic waste that it has become a menace to human and animal health. 0Victor Mallet traces the holy river from source to mouth, and from ancient times to the present day, to find that the battle to rescue what is arguably the world's most important river is far from lost. As one Hindu sage told the author in Rishikesh on the banks of the upper Ganges (known to Hindus as the goddess Ganga): \"If Ganga dies, India dies. If Ganga thrives, India thrives. The lives of 500 million people is no small thing.\" 0Drawing on four years of first-hand reporting and detailed historical and scientific research, Mallet delves into the religious, historical, and biological mysteries of the Ganges, and explains how Hindus can simultaneously revere and abuse their national river. 0.
Book
Enhanced flood risk with 1.5 °C global warming in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin
Flood hazard is a global problem, but regions such as south Asia, where people's livelihoods are highly dependent on water resources, can be affected disproportionally. The 2017 monsoon flooding in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin, with record river levels observed, resulted in ∼1200 deaths, and dramatic loss of crops and infrastructure. The recent Paris Agreement called for research into impacts avoided by stabilizing climate at 1.5 °C over 2 °C global warming above pre-industrial conditions. Climate model scenarios representing these warming levels were combined with a high-resolution flood hazard model over the GBM region. The simulations of 1.5 °C and 2 °C warming indicate an increase in extreme precipitation and corresponding flood hazard over the GBM basin compared to the current climate. So, for example, even with global warming limited to 1.5 °C, for extreme precipitation events such as the south Asian crisis in 2017 there is a detectable increase in the likelihood in flooding. The additional ∼0.6 °C warming needed to take us from current climate to 1.5 °C highlights the changed flood risk even with low levels of warming.
Journal Article
Sand mining across the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna Catchment; assessment of activity and implications for sediment delivery
While issues of pollution, floods and drought in our rivers are widely studied, there is a hidden crisis with respect to the widespread global extraction of sand. Large volumes of sand are needed in the construction industry to make concrete. So far, calls for greater monitoring of sand mining activity have largely gone unmet. This is due to the fact mining is extensive, often hidden (e.g. underwater) and thus very difficult to properly assess. To meet this challenge, we use remote sensing methods to detect and monitor sand mining activities at the catchment scale, across the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River system (catchment size 1.72 million km
2
). Based on this analysis, here we show that mining activity is diverse and pervasive across the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna Catchment system for our study period of 2016–2021, with rates of extraction increasing within some of the rivers. Results show the total estimate for sand extraction is ∼115 Mtyr
−1
± 20 Mtyr
−1
, which is of a similar order of magnitude to the natural bedload flux of the catchment. While there are some limitations to deriving estimates based solely on imagery, this work highlights both the widespread spatial extent and large magnitude of sand mining for one of the world’s biggest catchments. Furthermore, given our estimated scale of sand extraction, it demonstrates the need to properly account for mining activities when considering delivery of sediment to deltas in terms of the management of these vulnerable systems in the face of rising sea-levels. Overall, this work stresses the urgent requirement for further similar studies of sand extraction in the world’s large rivers, which is vital to underpin sustainable management plans for the global sand commons.
Journal Article