Inconsistency, or A Conspiracy? - The Ganga: Water Use in the Indian Subcontinent - page 125

Barrage on the Yamuna in Delhi, (ii) Indraprastha Barrage on the river in Delhi,
(iii) New Okhla Barrage on the river in Delhi, (iv)Kota Barrage on the Chambal
in Rajasthan, (v) Upper Sarda Barrage over the Sarda in UP, (vi)Lower Sarda
Barrage at Lakhimpur Kheri in UP,(vii) Tons Barrage over river Tons in Madhya
Pradesh, (viii) Girija Barrage over the Ghagra in UP, (ix) Gandak Barrage over
the Gandak in Bihar, (x) Kosi Barrage over the Kosi at Bhim Nagar (Nepal),
(xi) Sone Barrage over the Sone in Bihar, and (xii) Mahammadganj Barrage
over a tributary of Sone.
In addition, low-height dams, anicuts etc. have come up over many tributaries.
Thus, storages that are coming up fast, reduced the volume of annual flow.
Construction of high dams at the mouth of the tributaries in Nepal and India
are now under consideration of the Government of India; these will also reduce
flow in the Ganga.
III. Regarding (c) above, the basin area of the Ganga and its tributaries are shrinking
by jacketing them with embankments and levees to avoid flood hazards in rural
and urban areas and to reclaimmore land for habitation and agriculture, as river-
banks and char land are not being spared by an exploding population. At the
same time, building reservoirs, excavating canals and distributaries etc. surface
area of minor river-bodies has increased manifold, leading to more evapora-
tion. Deforestation on hill-slopes and plains are also adding to evaporation loss
which is rising day-by-day, depleting flows in rivers.
IV. As regards (d) above, harnessing of underground reserves for agriculture, irri-
gation, drinking and industries is also rising, day-by-day. Tube wells and
dug-wells are being sunk in hordes for tapping ground water. This is leading
to increasing natural and artificial recharge by surface water, depleting flows
in rivers.
V. Regarding (e), precipitation and run-off thereafter depend on the location
of the region, cloud-formation, forest-cover, geological formation, growth of
vegetation, land slopes, habitation and many other factors. Forest-cover, veg-
etation growth, habitation etc. are man's creation. Because of a fast-breeding
population, land for habitation and farming are becoming scarce, leading to
deforestation and conversion of arable land. Forests at the feet and slopes of
hills are being felled for firewood, furniture and timber for dwelling houses etc.
All these affect precipitation and run-off in streams and rivers.
VI. As regards (f), it is well-known that the lean-season flow decreases sharply and
even falls below 40,000 cusecs in some years, which mostly comes from trib-
utaries like the Gandak, the Ghagra and the Kosi; other tributaries go dry in
lean months. Even the main Ganga and the Yamuna do not contribute much,
because of a number of irrigation dams and barrages on their upstream, at
Haridwar, Narora, Tajewala, and Okhla (Delhi), built much before the Farakka
Barrage. The Ghagra has two main tributaries - the Sarda and the Karnali; the
former's water is extensively drawn for irrigation from 1927. After some years,
it was found that the Sarda did not have ample water to meet rising demands of
agriculture in its command area. Most of its canals went dry and needed rein-
forcement, as recommended by foreign and Indian engineers. A scheme was