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Tributaries and Diversions
Before the Bhagirathi and the Alakananda join to form the Ganga, three other
rivers - The Mandakini, the Dhouli and the Pindar - flow into them. Coming down
the plains up to Haridwar, the Upper Ganga canal takes off from a weir at a place,
240 km below where Narora Barrage has been constructed; from there the Lower
Ganga canal takes off. An anicut was built across it at Haridwar in 1839 and the
construction of the Upper Ganga canal was completed in 1864 and was gradually
extended up to Varanasi. Narora Barrage came up in 1880 along with the Lower
Ganga canal, resulting in further diversion. From the barrage site, the river flows
about 530 km to reach Allahabad (past the ghats of Mirzapur) where the Yamuna
and the invisible Saraswati merge with it. Rama Ganga, the first major tributary of
the Ganga, joins it from the left in Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh, another tributary
from the left is the Gomati which flows into it, just south of Varanasi. The other
tributaries which join it from the right are the Chambal, the Sindhu, the Betwa, the
Ken and the Tons.
After exit from Uttar Pradesh, the Ganga enters Bihar in Rohtas district and is
joined by two other tributaries - the Ghagra from the left in Chapra district and
the Sone from the right near Maner. Another tributary from the left, the Gandak
joins it near Patna. Further down, it receives the Kosi from left at Pathar Ghat in
Saharsa district. Past the Sone, other small tributaries join it from the right - the
Punpun, the Kiul, the Maan, the Chandan and the Gerua, one after the other. As
the Ganga enters West Bengal, river Gumani joins it near Farakka from the right.
Its tributaries in West Bengal from the left are the Fulahar, the Bhagirathi (another
river, not the Ganga) and the Pagla - all in Malda district. Pagla is now totally
blocked by embankment to prevent flood. Before splitting into two distinct streams
in Murshidabad, a small tributary, the Bagmari joins it from the right, near Dhulian.
Near Jangipur in Murshidabad, the river branches off into two channels, the main
river flows south-east as the Ganga-Padma and another one flows southwards as the
Bhagirathi (Fig. 2.3).
Immediately after this diversion, two small tributaries - the Bansloi and the
Pagla - join the Bhagirathi, near Jangipur on the right bank. Soon after it enters
Nadia district, the Babla joins it from the right and carries the discharges of a num-
ber of small tributaries - The Dwaraka, the Brahmani, the Mor, the Mayurakshi,
the Kana and the Koya and joins the Bhagirathi at about 140 km downstream from
its offtake from the Ganga. The Ajoy, also a tributary from the right, joins it fur-
ther down, near Katwa in Burdwan district and carries the combined discharges of
itself, the Hingola and the Kumar. These four rivers originate from Santal Parganas
in Jharkhand and go dry except in monsoon months. The only tributary from left
is Jalangi which takes off from the Ganga at about 15 km west of Akhriganj in
Murshidabad and joins Bhairab, another offshoot of the Ganga, before it flows into
the Bhagirathi near Nabadweep in Nadia district.
After taking the discharge of the Jalangi on left bank, about 230 km from the
offtake point, the Ganga takes the name of the Hooghly which is subject to diurnal
tides. The water-level fluctuates twice daily and the range varies according to the tide
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