Ganga-yamuna

Earthquake 2,500 years ago could have changed Ganga's course: Study

An earthquake around 2,500 years ago could have caused the Ganga river to abruptly change course, according to a new study published. Researchers said the "undocumented" quake, possibly of magnitude 7-8, rerouted the main channel of the river in present day Bangladesh, a country vulnerable to big seismic shocks. "I don't think we have ever seen such a big one (earthquake) anywhere," said study co-author Michael Steckler, a geophysicist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia Climate School, US. "It could have easily inundated anyone and anything in the wrong place at the wrong time," Steckler said. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. Originating in the Himalayas, the river Ganga eventually combines with other major rivers, including the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, before culminating in the Bay of Bengal. The rivers form the world's second-largest system, the Amazon being the largest. Many river-course changes, called 'avulsions', including some tha

Polymers in microplastics may pose risk to Indo-Gangetic plain: Study

Polymers in microplastics may pose a risk to the Indo-Gangetic plain, a study on rivers Ganga and Yamuna by the Goa-based CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography has concluded. The study titled A comprehensive assessment of macro and microplastics from Rivers Ganga and Yamuna: Unveiling the seasonal, spatial and risk factors', has been published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials'. The researchers behind the study have said that their findings could serve as a starting point for the action plan required by municipal corporations to tackle plastic pollution and target the possible sources. As per the study, conducted by a team led by Dr Mahua Saha, Principal Scientist, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography (CSIR-NIO), microplastics were detected in Ganga from Haridwar to Patna, with the concentration of the pollutant being higher during the wet (rainy) season than the dry season. The high-hazard polymers in microplastics may pose a risk to the Indo-Gangetic plain, it ...

Yamuna water level in Delhi may breach danger mark on Tuesday: CWC

The water level in the Yamuna river in Delhi is rising and is expected to breach the danger mark of 205.33 metres on Tuesday, the Central Water Commission (CWC) has said. According to the CWC's flood-monitoring portal, the water level in the Yamuna at the Old Railway Bridge stood at 203.18 metres at 1 pm on Sunday. The warning level is 204.5 metres. The water level is likely to rise to 205.5 metres between 11 am and 1 pm on Tuesday, the CWC said in an advisory. Northwest India has seen incessant rainfall over the last two days, with many areas in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan recording "heavy to very heavy" precipitation. While Delhi recorded 153 mm of rainfall in a 24-hour period ending at 8:30 am on Sunday, the highest in a single day in July since 1982, Chandigarh and Ambala reported record rainfall of 322.2 mm and 224.1 mm respectively, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The catchment of the Yamuna river system covers

Ganga-Yamuna water level rises in Prayagraj, submerges low-lying areas

Water levels of the River Ganga and River Yamuna rose in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj submerging the low-lying areas around the Sangam Ghat and the roads surrounding it

Book Review: Islam in India - Some reality checks and balances

Ghazala Wahab spectacularly fulfills her mandate of informing non-Muslims about Islam in India and engaging Muslims in a conversation about the way forward

UP has a water crisis but why are voters indifferent to it?

As parties promise to clean up the Ganga and Yamuna, why is clean water not an electoral issue?

Ganga, Yamuna are now legally people; Is it a start of looking after them?

In the space of a week, the world has gained three notable new legal persons

Speaking for the river

In myth, Ganga cleansed and purified human souls, while Yamuna is sister of the god of death