ABSTRACT
The 2507 km-long Ganges (or ‘Ganga’) River originates near Gangotri, south of the main Himalayan divide at a height of 4500 m in the Uttaranchal region of India. It is distributed over China, Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. India has the largest (79%) share of the basin (or 1.1 million km2) while Bangladesh’s share is the smallest (4.6%) (Fig. 1). The river branches into two channels about 4 km below Farakka in the Indian State of West Bengal. The main left arm enters Bangladesh about 18 km below Farakka and joins the Brahmaputra River at Gualundo, while the right arm (known as Bhagirathi-Hooghly) continues to flow south in West Bengal as Bhagirathi.
