Surface Water

Bihar is surrounded by Nepal in the north, West Bengal in the east, Uttar Pradesh in the west and  Jharkhand towards the south. There are several rivers that run through the state: Ganga, Sone, Punpun, Falgu, Karmanasa, Durgavati, Kosi, Gandak and the Ghaghara, to name a few. Nearly 85% of the state’s land is under cultivation.

This paper from the journal Asian Journal of Experimental Sciences presents the findings of a study that attempted to assess the physicochemical parameters of surface water in Gujarat state to explore the suitability of water

Organisers: Himmotthan Society and International Rivers

Venue: Hotel Madhuban,
            Rajpur Road,
            Dehradun

"The Himmotthan Society works in the field of rural development in the Central Himalayan regions of Northern India. The various programmes of the Society reach approximately 900 villages across the northern states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, directly involving over 50,000 families.

Since 1985, International Rivers has been at the heart of the global struggle to protect rivers and the rights of communities that depend on them. We work with an international network of dam-affected people, grassroots organizations, environmentalists, human rights advocates and others who are committed to stopping destructive river projects and promoting better options.

The Bhagirathi in its upper reaches, here seen near Dharali (Photo: Chicu Lokgariwar)

This data book published by Central Water Commission (CWC) is a compendium of impor

Startling conditionalities

This article by Jayanta Bandyopadhyay in the Economic and Political Weekly deals with the Government of India’s proposal for addressing the twin problems of floods and water scarcity by interlinking rivers.

This article by Dinesh Kumar Mishra, Convenor of the Barh Mukti Abhiyan (movement for freedom from floods), Bihar in the Economic and Political Weekly states that the idea of a national interlinking of rivers needs to base itself on the past six decades’ experience of river and flood control measures.

Bangladesh shares 54 rivers with India. Any unilateral action by India on any of its international rivers will degrade its relations with its neighbours while also adversely affecting its ecology, economy and society. Bangladesh being a riverine and a lower riparian country remains sensitive to matters of water, whether inland or maritime.