River Basins
River Basin is an area of land connected and drained into a river and its tributaries. It encompasses many land and water resources, including watersheds, streams, and creeks that flow into one another and eventually into a river. It is not limited to the visible water sources but includes invisible participants of the water cycle and systems like forests, grasslands, wetlands, and natural or manmade ponds.
Together, they create an ecosystem in which all living and non-living things are connected and interdependent. Just as arteries connect the parts of the body, tributaries create a similar network that drains into a huge river.
If we compare the health of the river system with the equivalent examples of the human body, then the stream of the river is like the main artery of the human body. If the main artery is healthy, without any blockage and a sufficient amount of blood is transmitted through it. A person can be assumed to be healthy. Similarly, if there is a sufficient amount of water flowing in the mainstream, it can be said that the river is healthy. The health of the main artery is connected with capillaries and veins. Similarly, the health of the main stream of a river depends on its tributaries and distributaries.
The quality of blood in the human body is tested on various parameters, such as hemoglobin level, platelets count, etc. Similarly, river water is also tested on various chemical and biochemical parameters like dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand, pH of water, total dissolved solids, etc.
The center for Ganga river basin management and studies acts as a command center for the condition assessment and river basin management of six major river basins in India with twelve national institutes. This is based on the experience and knowledge gained during the preparation of The Ganga River Basin Management Plan. The rivers covered are Narmada, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Cauveri, and Periyar.
This project is an excellent example of collaboration between Academic Institutes, Central and state government.