Foreword
This treatise is the SEVENTH publication in the ADSORBS series and attempts to collate and interpret the basinwise pollutional status of the Ganga basin and pinpoints action plan, both immediate and long term. Part I of the present treatise, the SECOND publication in the ADSORBS series, covered the river Yamuna, a major tributary of the Ganga. Part II covers the entire Ganga Basin excluding the Yamuna Sub-basin. The seven maps added to this report cover the entire Ganga basin including the Yamuna Sub-basin, while the text omits information in the Yamuna Sub-basin which are detailed in Part I.

The Ganga basin extends over 1.06 million China (Tibet) and Bangladesh. The area of the and covers more than one fourth (26.3 per cent) in the country. The Ganga drains eight States : desh, Rajasthan, r..4adhya Pradesh, Bihar, West square kilometres including the areas in Nepal, river

basin in India is 861 ,404 square kilometres of India's geographical area and is the biggest : Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Ut tar Pra, Bengal, and the Union Territory of Delhi.

square kilometres including the areas in Nepal, ~ river basin in India is 861 ,404 square kilometres of India's geographical area and is the biggest : Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Ut tar Pra, Bengal, and the Union Territory of Delhi.

The treatise reports the standardized format of information as given in Part I and the check- list of information includes water use and water pollution potential of the Ganga basin including information on the hydrology, physiography, climate, demography, land use, agriculture, indus- try, water use, and wastewater disposal. The data analysis atlempts to bring out possible relationship between human activities and different aspects of water quality in the Ganga. The entire riverine systems are classified stretch by stretch on the basis of designated best use of water and thus laying down the minimum desirable levels of water quality for different reaches of the streams in the Ganga basin. Finally an action plan is suggested integrating water quality management and monitoring programme, combining the designated best use requirements with the existing water quality. The data base used in this report generally relates to the period 1976- 77. Water quality data used, however, relate to 1981 and 1982~ Preparation of such a report has become possible with the cooperation of the different Central and State Government Organisa- tions which is gratefully acknowledged. The Central Board acknowledges the cooperation received from the State Pollution Control Boards of Ut tar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, in parti- cular, and also from those of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

The Central Board's core staff comprising Dr. R. N. Bhattacharyya, Dr. S P. Chakrabarty, Mrs Usha Ghosh (nee Ma,dan) , Dr. (Mrs) K. K. Saxena coordinated the project during the pro- cess of data collection. The drafting group comprising Mrs Bonya Basu (nee Ghosh) and Shri K. K. Gupta prepared the rough maps.

The entire raw data and rough maps were handed over to the Center for Study of Man and Environment (CSME) who scrutinized the entire data, got those rectified and prepared the report and final maps, including printing the report and map. The yeomen services given by the follow- ing three persons, Shri S. P. Das Gupta, Professor A K. Saha, and Professor K. N. Mukherjee, of the CSME need special mention.