Plastic Free Ganga | 18 May 2024
Why in News?
The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and Social Development for Communities (SDC) Foundation have launched a collaborative initiative titled “Flowing Towards a Plastic-Free Future” to free the Ganga river and its 15 tributaries from plastic pollution and conserve the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem.
Key Points
- The drive will take place over five days in seven states, namely Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand.
- The initiative focuses on raising awareness about detrimental effects of plastic on freshwater biodiversity.
Wildlife Institute of India
- It is an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
- It was established in 1982.
- It is based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
- It offers training programs, academic courses, and advisory in wildlife research and management.
Ganga River
- It is the longest river of India flowing over 2,510 km of mountains, valleys and plains and is revered by Hindus as the most sacred river on earth.
- The Ganga basin outspreads in India, Tibet (China), Nepal and Bangladesh over an area of 10,86,000 Sq.km.
- In India, it covers states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Delhi draining nearly 26% of the total geographical area of the country.
- It originates in the snowfields of the Gangotri Glacier in the Himalayas.
- At its source, the river is called the Bhagirathi. It descends down the valley upto Devprayag where after joining another hill stream Alaknanda, it is called Ganga.
- The principal tributaries joining the river from right are the Yamuna and the Son.
- The Ramganga, the Ghaghra, the Gandak, the Kosi and the Mahananda join the river from left. The Chambal and the Betwa are the two other important sub- tributaries.
- The Ganges River Dolphin is an endangered animal that specifically habitats this river.
- The Ganga joins the Brahmaputra (Jamuna) in Bangladesh and continues its run under the name Padma.
- The Ganga widens out into the Ganges Delta in the Sundarbans swamp of Bangladesh, before it ends its journey by emptying into the Bay of Bengal.