Q ST QUA TAT ALIT US O TY IN OF W N IN WA NDIA ATER A- 2 R ...

5.1 Ganga River SystemCHAPTER VWater Quality of Rivers in Ganga BasinThe Ganga basin covers slightly more than one-fourth (26.3 per cent) of thecountry’s total geographical area, and is the biggest river basin. In India the basincovers the whole of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and the Union Territory ofDelhi and parts of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh and West Bengal. The main river, rising in the northern most part ofUttarakhand, flows through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal and finallyfalls into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganga Basin is bound on the north by theHimalayas and on the south by the Vindhyas. The ridge between the Indussystem and the Ganga system, the Great desert of Rajasthan and the Aravalli hillsform the boundary on the west. After traversing a length of 1450 km inUttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh and 110 km in the boundary between U.P. andBihar the river then enters Bihar and flows 445 km more or less through themiddle of the State. The length of the river measured along the Bhagirathi and theHugli during its course in West Bengal is about 520 km.The Ganga has a large number of tributaries. Some of these are of Himalayanorigin having considerably large water wealth. The important tributaries withinIndia are the Kali, the Ramganga, the Yamuna, the Gomti, the Ghaghara, theGandak and the Kosi. The Yamuna although a tributary of the Ganga, is virtuallya river by itself. Its major tributaries are the Chambal, the Sind, the Betwa andthe Ken. The main plateau tributaries of the Ganga are the Tons, the Son, theDamodar and the Kasai-Haldi.5.2 Water Quality Monitoring in Ganga BasinThe water quality monitoring of the River Ganga and its several tributaries arebeing done in the basin by the State Pollution Control Boards of Uttarakhand,Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan,Madhya Pradesh and Central Pollution Control Board at 242 locations. The rangesof water quality observed in rivers in Ganga Basin with respect to Temperature,pH, DO, Conductivity, BOD, Nitrate +Nitrite, Total Coliform (TC) and FaecalColiform (FC) are presented as minimum, maximum and mean value to assess theextent of water quality variation throughout the year.5.2.1 Water Quality of River GangaThe Water quality of River Ganga indicates that pH, conductivity and DO aremeeting the water quality criteria at majority of locations. pH ranges from 6.7–55