TheGanges Basin is a major part of theGanges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin draining 1,999,000 square kilometres inTibet,Nepal,India andBangladesh. To the north, theHimalaya or lower parallel ranges beyond form the Ganges-Brahmaputra divide. On the west the Ganges Basin borders theIndus basin and then theAravalli ridge. Southern limits are theVindhyas andChota Nagpur Plateau. On the east the Ganges merges with the Brahmaputra through a complex system of common distributaries into theBay of Bengal. Itscatchment lies in the states ofUttar Pradesh (294,364 km2),Madhya Pradesh (198,962 km2),Bihar (143,961 km2),Rajasthan (112,490 km2),West Bengal (71,485 km2),Haryana (34,341 km2),Himachal Pradesh (4,317 km2),Delhi,Arunachal Pradesh (1,484 km2), the whole of Bangladesh, Nepal andBhutan. Several tributaries rise inside Tibet before flowing south through Nepal. The basin has a population of more than 500 million, making it the most populated river basin in the world.
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The basin comprises semi-arid valleys in the rain shadow north of the Himalaya, densely forested mountains south of the highest ranges, the scrubbyShiwalik foothills and the fertileGangetic Plains. Central highlands south of the Gangetic Plain have plateaus, hills and mountains intersected by valleys and river plains. The importantsoil types found in the basin are sand, loam,clay and their combinations such as sandy loam, silty clay etc.[1]
The annual surface water potential of the basin has been assessed as 525 km3 in India, out of which 250 km3 is utilisable water. There is about 580,000 km2 of arable land; 29.5% of the cultivable area of India.
Water-related issues of the basin are due to both high and low flows. InIndia, the states ofUttrakhand,Uttar Pradesh,Bihar andWest Bengal are affected by floods.Bangladesh – at the confluence ofBrahmaputra River andGanges River – suffers from severe floods almost every year. Northern Ganges tributaries such asKosi,Gandak andMahananda are the most flood-prone, but southern tributaries also contribute. Low flows are caused by scarcity of rainfall outside the summerMonsoon, and sometimes by failure of this monsoon to develop to its normal extent.The Ganges is joined byKosi,Ghaghra, Gandak from the Himalayas and byChambal, Betwa, Son from the peninsular region.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14634988.2017.1304129
