The Ganges is one of the major rivers of the Indian subcontinent, flowing east through the Gangetic Plain of northern India into Bangladesh. The 2,510 km river rises in the western Himalayas in the Uttarakhand state of India, and drains into the Sunderbans delta in the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges Basin drains 1,000,000-square-kilometre and supports one of the world’s highest density of humans. The river has been declared as India’s National River. After flowing 200 km through its narrow Himalayan valley, the Ganges debouches on the Gangetic Plain at the pilgrimage town of Haridwar. 

Further, the river follows an 800 km curving course passing through the city of Kanpur before being joined from the southwest by the Yamuna at Allahabad. Joined by numerous rivers such as the Kosi, Son, Gandaki and Ghaghra, the Ganges forms a formidable current in the stretch between Allahabad and Malda in West Bengal. On its way it passes the towns of Kanpur, Soron, Kannauj, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Ghazipur, Bhagalpur, Mirzapur, Ballia, Buxar, Saidpur, and Chunar. The Ganges Basin with its fertile soil is instrumental to the agricultural economies of India and Bangladesh. The Ganges and its tributaries provide a perennial source of irrigation to a large area. 

Chief crops cultivated in the area include rice, sugarcane, lentils, oil seeds, potatoes, and wheat. Along the banks of the river, the presence of swamps and lakes provide a rich growing area for crops such as legumes, chillies, mustard, sesame, sugarcane, and jute. There are also many fishing opportunities to many along the river, though it remains highly polluted. Tourism is another related activity. Three towns holy to Hinduism – Haridwar, Allahabad, and Varanasi – attract thousands of pilgrims to its waters. 

Thousands of Hindu pilgrims arrive at these three towns to take a dip in the Ganges, which is believed to cleanse oneself of sins and help attain salvation. The rapids of the Ganges also are popular for river rafting, attracting hundreds of adventure seekers in the summer months.  

They can provide a rich source of fish and other edible
aquatic life, and are a major source of fresh water, which can be used for
drinking and irrigation. It is therefore no surprise to find most of the major
cities of the world situated on the banks of rivers. Rivers help to determine
the urban form of cities and neighborhoods and their corridors often present
opportunities for urban renewal through the development of foreshore ways such
as River walks. Rivers have been important in determining political boundaries
and defending countries. The coarse sediments, gravel and sand, generated and
moved by rivers are extensively used in construction. In recent decades, there
has been a significant increase in the development of large scale power
generation projects. Rivers also provide an easy means of disposing of
waste-water and, in much of the less developed world, other wastes.  

Among many of the projects Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated in Bihar on Sunday, it was also the opening of two pump stations in the state capital dispensing Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), a first in the city, and also the supply of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) to thousands of households in the state capital.

A project of GAIL, formerly known as Gas Authority of India Limited, over 1500 homes on Jagdeo Path will begin receiving gas through a network of pipes on Monday. An additional 5000 households will start receiving gas by the end of March when the work on installing PNG connection is completed, GAIL chairperson B C Tripathi said.

The first customer to have the PNG service available at home was Bihar Institute of Technology (BIT) director B K Singh whose residence is on Jagdeo Path.

The first CNG fuel station went in service at Auto Care pump near Rukanpura on Bailey Road where Tripathi and legislator from Danapur Asha Devi inaugurated the service in the presence of a number of senior GAIL officials, pump owner Ajit Singh and his staff members.

The second service was opened at City Fuel Pump in Patna City.

The event, however, was not without a hitch as the station sold only four grams of gas before it developed a technical snag in the system. Women auto owners who had come there to fill their tanks had to return empty-handed. GAIL officials said the problem will be rectified by Monday when the pump will start dispensing CNG to vehicles equipped with necessary requirements.

GAIL Deputy General Manager K C Dwivedi said that while consumers will be able to buy CNG at the rate of Rs. 29 per kilogram, starting March 31 it will cost them Rs. 63.47 per kilogram, higher than the rates in Delhi, Lucknow, and Jharkhand.

GAIL would be given 1.5 acres from the land belonging to the Bihar State Road Transport Corporation’s workshop located at Phulwarisharif, he said.

The move would help curb the air pollution of the state capital as CNG enabled vehicles would start plying on city roads, Kumar said.

The capital city, whose air quality has worsened in recent past, topped the Central Pollution Control Board’s air quality index on three consecutive day from January 1, 2019.