National Geographic - UK (2022-04)

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Bhagirathi R.

Chauka

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Lucknow

Kanpur

Gwalior

Delhi

Prayagraj

(Allahabad)

Agra

Bhopal

New Delhi

Jaipur Aligarh

Devaprayag

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INDIA

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G ANG E S

G A N G E S

Peak (post-monsoon) flow

Average flow in

the Ganges watershed

in cubic meters

per second

1,000 Average flow 10,000

Bhagirathi

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(^) Ga
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Padma
Ganga (Ganges)
Ala
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Farakka
Barrage
KANNAUJ
ANUPSHAHRANUPSHAHR
RISHIKESH
HARSIL

INDIA

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S I

A

INDIAN

OCEAN

Ganges

Basin

Brahmaputra

Basin

N

0 mi 50

0 km 50

Built-up

area

Seasons of trash

Plastic waste and other trash accumulate in and along the

Ganges and its tributaries all year. But most of the waste is

flushed into the river and out to the Bay of Bengal during

the monsoon rains, which last from June to September.

JASON TREAT, NGM STAFF; NAT CASE

SOURCES: JENNA JAMBECK AND KATHRYN YOUNGBLOOD,

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA; IMOGEN NAPPER, UNIVERSITY

OF PLYMOUTH; SHARAD K. JAIN AND OTHERS, HYDROLOGY

AND WATER RESOURCES OF INDIA; SANA KHAN AND OTHERS,

HYDROLOGICAL SCIENCES JOURNAL, 2018; LANDSCAN, 2018

INDIA’S RIVER

OF PLASTIC

The holy Ganga, aka Ganges, is now heavily polluted,

a massive waterway carrying the detritus of millions

of humans out to sea. In 2019 the National

Geographic Society sent a team to survey the

Ganges River Basin specifically for plastics.

The researchers studied dozens of sites

on land and water in multiple locations,

following the river’s 1,560-mile

journey from Himalayan

glaciers to its delta on

the Indian Ocean.

Populated and polluted

The Ganges has become

one of the most populous

river basins on Earth, home

to more than 400 million

people. Every year the

river carries an estimated

6,200 metric tons of plastic

waste to the sea.

Peak (post-monsoon) flow data unavailable below Farakka Barrage