Community based river health assessment of Ramganga: mobilizing the masses for river conservation
Student name: Mr Priyanshu Thapliyal
Guide: Dr Sudipta Chatterjee
Year of completion: 2015
Host Organisation: TERI University
Abstract: The Report gives an account of the River health assessment workshops organized by WWF-India at four field sites – Marchula, Moradabad, Bareilly and Shahjahanpur, along the banks of Ramganga River. The workshops are a part of ‘Rivers for life, Life for rivers (2012-17)’ programme of the Organization under which one of river Ganga’s tributaries –Ramganga, has been identified to be critical for its overall conservation. Ramganga, which originates from Doodhatoli ranges of Kumaon Himalayas confluences with Ganga at Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh and drains huge amount of pollutants into it. This heavy load of pollutants is a result of numerous sugar mills, paper and pulp industries, brass industry and distilleries which are present along the course of Ramganga in the industrial towns such as Moradabad, Rampur and Kashipur. Effluents from these industrial units along with discharge of untreated municipal waste, unsustainable farming practices, sand mining, E-waste washing and many more such pressures increase the vulnerability of the river system from the growing anthropogenic disturbances. These ‘disturbances’ to the natural regime of the river effect its catchment and floodplain, river flow velocity and volume, aquatic ecosystem, water quality and resilience of the wetland. The report gives an introduction to the concept of river health assessment and its different perspectives. It also summarizes the programme activities that took place during the internship period. Through the use of secondary data and land use maps of the four sites, an attempt has been made to gain preliminary understanding of the areas under consideration. The results show a gradual fall in the river health as it moves from the hills of Uttarakhand to the plains of Uttar Pradesh where it faces numerous anthropogenic pressures along its journey. Community participation at each site is also studied. No concrete conclusions are made as that needs further long term analysis of the study areas.
KEYWORDS: River health assessment, River health index, Community participation, River health report card
