The Ganges is a trans-boundary river of Asia which flows through India and Bangladesh. The 2,525 km (1,569 mi) river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It flows south and east through the Gangetic plain of North India, receiving the right-bank tributary, the Yamuna, which also rises in the western Indian Himalayas, and several left-bank tributaries from Nepal that account for the bulk of its flow. In West Bengal state, India, a feeder canal taking off from its right bank diverts 50% of its flow southwards, artificially connecting it to the Hooghly River. The Ganges continues into Bangladesh, its name changing to the Padma. It is then joined by the Jamuna, the lower stream of the Brahmaputra, and eventually the Meghna, forming the major estuary of the Ganges Delta, and emptying into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna system is the second-largest river on earth by discharge.
South Asian river dolphins are toothed whales in the genus Platanista, which inhabit the waterways of the Indian subcontinent. They were historically considered to be one species with the Ganges river dolphin and the Indus river dolphin being subspecies. Genetic and morphological evidence led to their being described as separate species in 2021. The Ganges and Indus river dolphins are estimated to have diverged 550,000 years ago. They are the only living members of the family Platanistidae and the superfamily Platanistoidea. Fossils of ancient relatives date to the late Oligocene.
The Ganges river dolphin is a species of freshwater dolphin classified in the family Platanistidae. It lives in the Ganges and related rivers of South Asia, namely in the countries of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. It is related to the much smaller Indus river dolphin which lives in the Indus River in Pakistan and the Beas River of northwestern India.
The Sundarbans National Park is a national park, tiger reserve and biosphere reserve in West Bengal, India. It is part of the Sundarbans on the Ganges Delta and adjacent to the Sundarban Reserve Forest in Bangladesh. It is located to south-west of Bangladesh. The delta is densely covered by mangrove forests, and is one of the largest reserves for the Bengal tiger. It is also home to a variety of bird, reptile and invertebrate species, including the salt-water crocodile. The present Sundarban National Park was declared as the core area of Sundarban Tiger Reserve in 1973 and a wildlife sanctuary in 1977. On 4 May 1984 it was declared a national park. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1987, and it has been designated as a Ramsar site since 2019. It is considered as a World Network of Biosphere Reserve from 1989.
The gharial, also known as gavial or fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family Gavialidae and among the longest of all living crocodilians. Mature females are 2.6 to 4.5 m long, and males 3 to 6 m. Adult males have a distinct boss at the end of the snout, which resembles an earthenware pot known as a ghara, hence the name "gharial". The gharial is well adapted to catching fish because of its long, narrow snout and 110 sharp, interlocking teeth.
The Karnali River, called Ghaghara River in India, Mapcha Tsangpo in Tibet, and the lower Ghaghara in Awadh called Sarayu River, is a perennial trans-boundary river that originates in the northern slopes of the Himalayas in the Tibetan Plateau, cuts through the Himalayas in Nepal and joins the Sharda River at Brahmaghat in India. Together they form the Ghaghara River, a major left-bank tributary of the Ganges. With a length of 507 km (315 mi), it is the longest river in Nepal. The total length of the Ghaghara up to its confluence with the Ganges at Revelganj in Bihar is 1,080 km (670 mi). It is the largest tributary of the Ganges by volume and the second largest by length after Yamuna.
National Chambal Sanctuary, also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a 5,400 km2 (2,100 sq mi) tri-state protected area in northern India for the protection of the Critically Endangered gharial, the red-crowned roof turtle and the Endangered Ganges river dolphin. Located on the Chambal River near the tripoint of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, it was first declared in Madhya Pradesh in 1978, and now constitutes a long narrow eco-reserve co-administered by the three states. Within the sanctuary, the pristine Chambal River cuts through mazes of ravines and hills with many sandy beaches.
Dibru-Saikhowa National Park is a national park located in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts, Assam, India. It was designated a Biosphere Reserve in July 1997 with an area of 765 km2 (295 sq mi), including a core area of 340 km2 (130 sq mi) and a buffer zone of 425 km2 (164 sq mi).
The Indian softshell turtle, or Ganges softshell turtle is a species of softshell turtle found in South Asia in rivers such as the Ganges, Indus and Mahanadi. This vulnerable turtle reaches a carapace length of up to 94 cm (37 in). It feeds mostly on fish, amphibians, carrion and other animal matter, but also takes aquatic plants. This turtle is listed in part II of Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and possession of this species is an offence.
The Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion of northern India.
The ongoing pollution of the Ganges, the largest river in the Indian subcontinent, poses a significant threat to human health and the environment. The river provides water to about 40% of India's population across 11 states. It serves an estimated population of 500 million people, more than any other river in the world.
Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in the Gangetic plains of Uttar Pradesh, India. It was established in 1986 and covers 2,073 km2 (800 sq mi) across Meerut, Muzzafarnagar, Ghaziabad, Bijnor, Meerut and Amroha districts. This area has not enjoyed protection needed to check poaching and various other threats to wildlife due to lack of proper notification.
Kukrail Reserve Forest, an urban forest created in 1950s as a plantation forest, is located about 9 km northwest from Lucknow city centre in the Uttar Pradesh state of India. It has a captive breeding and conservation center for the freshwater gharials, one of the 3 native species of crocodiles in India.
Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary is located in Bhagalpur District of Bihar, India. The sanctuary is a 60 kilometers stretch of the Ganges River from Sultanganj to Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur district. notified as Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary in 1991, it is the protected area for the endangered Gangetic dolphins in Asia. Once found in abundance, only a few hundred remain, of which half are found here.
The National Waterway 1 (NW-1) or Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system is located in India and runs from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal via Patna and Bhagalpur in Bihar across the Ganges river. It is 1,620 km (1,010 mi) long, making it the longest waterway in India. It is of prime importance amongst all the national waterways considering its locational advantages. The NW-1 passes through West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and serves major cities and their industrial hinterlands like;
The Indus river dolphin is a species of freshwater dolphin in the family Platanistidae. It is endemic to the Indus River basin in Pakistan and Beas River in northwestern India. This dolphin was the first discovered side-swimming cetacean. It is patchily distributed in five small, sub-populations that are separated by irrigation barrages.
Bhor Saidan Crocodile Breeding Centre, managed by the Haryana Forests Department to captive breed and conserve the freshwater mugger crocodile native to India, is located at Bhor Saidan village on Kurukshetra-Pehowa Road in Kurukshetra district of Haryana in India. It is 13 km from the old Kurukshetra Bus Stand and 22 km from the new Kurukshetra Bus Stand in sector 10.
Ravindra Kumar Sinha is a Padma Shri awarded Indian biologist and environmentalist. He served as Vice-Chancellor of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University from 2019-2023 and also served in Nalanda Open University. Previously he was the Head of the Department of Zoology at Patna University, and is a pioneer researcher and wildlife conservationist, famous for his efforts for the conservation of Gangetic Dolphins, he is popularly known as the "Dolphin Man of India".
Swatch of No Ground Marine Protected Area is a protected area of Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal. The reserve covers an area of 1,636 km2 (632 sq mi).
MV Ganga Vilas is the world's longest Motor Vessel (MV) river cruise. it was flagged off by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, on 13 January 2023 via video conferencing, where the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Assam, Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma, and the Union Minister of Port Shipping and Waterways, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal were also present. It is the first cruise ship made in India.
