Environmental impact analysis of atmospheric deposition and landscape composition on Ganga river at Varanasi

Abstract

The human civilization has evolved all along the water courses especially along rivers. Water is the most important gift of nature responsible for life on the earth, cause of revolution in socio-economic arena of human development and, has made earth different from rest of the planets. Our drinking water need, domestic uses, irrigation, industries, waste disposal and many other activities all depends on fresh water resources. More than 97% of total water on the earth is contained in oceans and is salty in nature. Under hydrologic cycle, the water from different water courses and moist surfaces including plants, evaporates and fall again on the earth in the form of rain or snow and passes through living organisms and ultimately returns to the ocean. After precipitation, the water that does not percolate down into the ground or does not return to the atmosphere as evaporation or transpiration enters the rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, wetlands and artificial reservoirs and together are called surface waters. newlineOur country is endowed with a rich and wide array of water resources. Approximately 45,000 km long river systems criss-cross the length and breadth of India. There are 14 major and 46 medium river basins which extend over the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. However, due to anthropogenic pressure, many rivers in our country, including the Ganga River in several stretches, have become unfit even for bathing.