The 2,525 km (1,569 mi) river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand,and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. It is the longest river of India and is the second greatest river in the world.

In central Bangladesh it is joined by the Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers. Their combined waters (called the Padma River) empty into the Bay of Bengal and form a delta 220 mi (354 km) wide, which is shared by India and Bangladesh. Its plain is one of the most fertile and densely populated regions in the world. The Ganges alone drains an area of over a million square km with a population of over 407 million. Millions depend on water from the holy river for several things: drinking, bathing, agriculture, industry and other household chores.Ganga river known as Ganga Maata (गग ां म त ) or Mother Ganges is revered as a goddess whose purity cleanses the sins of the faithful and aids the dead on their path toward heaven.

Map of Ganga

The Ganga originates in the Himalayas after the

confluence of six rivers.

The streams are fed by the melting snow and ice

from the glaciers.

It emerges from the Himalayas at the pilgrimage town

of Haridwar.

It flows through the plains and enters Bangladesh.

It fans out into the 350km wide Ganges Delta.

It empties into the Bay of Bengal.

• King Bagiratha through his penance was responsible for the descent of Ganga from Heaven to Earth

As the might of the river was too much for Earth to withstand, he prayed to Lord Shiva who caught the river in his matted hair.

Jawarharlal Nehru in his book ‘ Discovery of India’ says

The story of the Ganges from her source to the sea

is the story of India’s civilization and culture, of the

rise and fall of empires ,of great and proud cities,

of adventures of man…..

The Ganges basin with its fertile soil is instrumental to the agricultural economy of India.

The Ganges with its tributaries provides a perennial source of irrigation for crops.

The main dams at

Haridwar is

Farakka are a source of

power generation.

The three towns holy to Hinduism – Haridwar,Varanasi

and Allahabad attract thousands of pilgrims to its

waters.

The rapids of the Ganges are popular river

rafting area, attracting hundreds of adventure

seekers in the summer months.

Today, over 29 cities, 70 towns, and thousands of villages extend along the Ganga banks. Nearly all of their sewage - over 1.3 billion liters per day - goes directly into the river, along with thousands of animal carcasses, mainly cattle. Another 260 million liters of industrial waste are added to this by hundreds of factories along the rivers banksThe majority of the Ganga pollution is organic waste, sewage, trash, food, and human and animal remains. Over the past century, city populations along the Ganga have grown at a tremendous rate, while waste-control infrastructure has remained relatively unchanged. An estimated 80% of all health problems and one-third of deaths in India are attributable to water-borne diseases.The sacred practice of depositing human remains in the Ganga also poses health threats because of the unsustainable rate at which partially cremated cadavers are dumped. Hundreds of corpses burn on the line of wooden pyres.

There is an urgent need to aware people and get started to stop its pollution and degradation.

After two Ganga Action Plans failed to deliver the goods, seven major IITs of the country have joined hands to find ways to clean up the national river. In 1985, the government of India launched the Ganga Action Plan, which was devised to clean up the river in selected areas by installing sewage treatment plants and threatening fines and litigation against industries that pollute.

The 2006 official audit of the Ganga Action Plan has revealed that it has met only 39 per cent of its sewagetreatment target. The 2006 official audit of the Ganga Action Plan has revealed that it has met only 39 per cent of its sewagetreatment target.