ABSTRACT
Moribund streams, palaeochannels and buried rivers exist as markers of such historical alterations, arising from tectonic events, anthropogenic activities or climatic changes. Palaeochannels, also known as palaeodrainages, palaeorivers, buried rivers or cut-off rivers, are usually present in a fluvial system, especially in a lowland alluvial setting. Palaeochannels are important for land and water management and have therefore garnered much attention in fluvial geomorphology studies. The River Jamuna is at present virtually dead, and parts of its old pathways can be delineated from historic maps and records whereas the Saraswati survives as a shallow, shrinking and at times non-perennial and virtually discontinuous stream across parts of Hooghly and Howrah districts of West Bengal. Since the discharge of the Ganges began to flow primarily through the Padma channel early in the 6th century, the Bhagirathi-Hooghly system began to progressively get starved of upland flow.
