Over 600 Million People Rely On This Sacred Megariver – And It’s Rapidly Disappearing

To millions of Hindus, the Ganges River is more than a body of water – it is treated like the goddess Ganga Ma in physical form, a source of spiritual cleansing and blessings. But beyond its spiritual significance, the river is a lifeline for over 600 million people, providing water for drinking, farming, and industry. Unfortunately, it is also in the midst of an alarming transformation.

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In a new study, scientists have detailed how the Ganges River is drying up at a rate not seen for centuries. Streamflow has plummeted in the past 30 years, leaving many portions of the river impassable by boat during the summertime. Wells are drying up and farmers are struggling to irrigate their fields with canals that used to be plentiful. 

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar and the University of Arizona reconstructed the flow of the Ganges between 700 to 2012 CE by combining historical records, natural evidence, and computer-based water models.

Their work showed that the streamflow of the river has plummeted since the 1990s. The ongoing dry spell is the worst in the past 1,300 years and 76 percent more severe than its closest comparison, a serious drought in the 16th century CE. 

The study notes that the drying trend cannot be explained by natural variability – it is a sudden, odd anomaly caused by recent changes.

At 2,525 kilometers (1,569 miles) long, the Ganges River is one of the world's longest rivers. It starts as crystal clear water, high in the icy Himalayas. It then flows southeast through India and Bangladesh, passing through major cities and agricultural lands, before finally emptying into the Bay of Bengal. 

Although highly revered in Indian culture and Hinduism, the river is heavily polluted. It is estimated that nearly 5 billion liters of sewage flow into the river every day, just 25 percent of which is treated, leaving it teeming with dangerous levels of bacteria far beyond what’s safe for human use.

Now that the river is drying up, there are more worries about the river’s health. Part of the drying trend is due to climate change and the loss of glaciers in the Himalayas, often called the “water towers of Asia”. While their initial melting might increase water flows, those frozen supplies of water are ultimately being depleted and not restocked, reducing the gradual flow of water in the Ganges and its tributaries.

The extraction of groundwater is another major issue. Since large-scale irrigation began in the 1970s, water levels in the Gangetic aquifers of north India have dropped by more than 50 percent.

There is no easy solution to these problems. One suggestion is that countries that live within the megariver's vicinity – namely India, Bangladesh, and Nepal – must cooperate with the management of dams and water resources. Nevertheless, even this won’t stop the tidal wave of climate change that is reshaping the region’s future.

The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.