Ganges River

The Ganges rises in the southern Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Its two principal headstreams, the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda, meet at Devaprayag, where the main river is known as the Ganga. It descends through the Himalayas, reaches the Indo-Gangetic Plain near Haridwar, and flows generally southeast across northern India. After entering Bangladesh, it is known as the Padma. The Padma joins the Brahmaputra, called the Jamuna in Bangladesh, and the combined waters meet the Meghna before passing through a broad delta to the Bay of Bengal.

The Ganges is about 2,510 kilometres long. Its basin covers roughly 1.086 million square kilometres across parts of India, Nepal, China and Bangladesh. Himalayan snow and glacial melt contribute to river flow in the warmer months, while the southwest monsoon brings much of the basin's rainfall from midyear onward. As a result, discharge changes markedly by season: flows tend to rise during the monsoon and decline in winter. The river and its tributaries drain a large part of the northern Indian subcontinent and feed the extensive Ganges–Brahmaputra delta.

The Ganges basin contains one of South Asia's most densely settled and agriculturally productive regions. River water and tributaries support communities, irrigation, fishing and commerce. The Ganges also holds profound religious importance in Hinduism, where it is revered as sacred and known as Ganga or Ganga Ma (Mother Ganga). Pilgrimage sites and riverside bathing places—including those at Haridwar, Prayagraj and Varanasi—draw worshippers. These religious meanings belong to Hindu traditions and coexist with the river's everyday importance to people of many faiths across the basin.

The basin's large population and intensive use of land and water place pressure on the river. Untreated sewage, industrial discharges and agricultural runoff are among the sources of pollution; water extraction for irrigation also affects the river and its tributaries. India approved the Namami Gange Programme in 2014 as an integrated mission with stated aims that include reducing pollution and conserving and rejuvenating the Ganga. River restoration involves both water quality and the condition of connected habitats and tributaries.