Rivers have always been worshipped in India, and yet they are in a deplorable state today. The Ganga, regarded as holy and formally declared as the national river, and the Yamuna, the river of Indiaâs capital, are mortally sick. Many other rivers in the country are declining or dying. It is difficult to find living, healthy rivers, and even the few that exist are under threat of decline. Heavy pollution is a major cause of this situation, but there are also other factors, such as excessive abstractions or diversions of waters, and violence to their physical components such as the river-bed, banks, floodplains, and so on. Underlying such abuses is a poor understanding of what constitutes a river.

This book goes into the present condition of several Indian rivers, their various states of decline or health, and the factors that have had an effect on their well-being. It explores also the deeply flawed attitudes and approaches towards rivers and towards the environment in general.

The chapters by diverse authors make a plea for a proper understanding of our rivers in all their complexity, for a healthy relationship with them, and for a radical re-examination of what constitutes true development. This compilation is important as a detailed river-wise account of the situation, and serves as an aid to understanding what has gone wrong (or right in a few cases) and what needs to be done in order to restore our rivers to vibrant health.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations List of Tables, Figures, and Boxes Introduction 1. The Yamuna: Living or Dying? Brij Gopal 2. The Yamuna: An Extreme Case Manoj Misra 3. The Ganga: A Lament and a Plea Rama Rauta 4. The Ganga: A Trickle of Hope Vinod Tare and Gautam Roy 5. The Ganga: Pollution Abatement Strategies—A Review of GAP and Emerging Institutional Models N.C. Narayanan 6. The Indus System: Changing Environment in the Jhelum Basin Shakil A. Romshoo 7. The Brahmaputra and Other Rivers of the North-East Chandan Mahanta and Lalit Saikia 8. Embanking Rivers: The Bagmati in Bihar Dinesh Kumar Mishra 9. The Rivers of West Bengal: Dying, Living Kalyan Rudra 10. The Mahanadi: A Great River in Distress Ranjan Kishor Panda 11. River as a Feminine Presence: Godavari in Andhra Pradesh R. Umamaheshwari 12. In Search of a Living River: A Journey across Tamil Nadu S. Janakarajan 13. Between the Living and the Dying: Rivers of Kerala Latha Anantha 14. Karnataka: Cauvery in Death Throes Leo F. Saldanha and Bhargavi S. Rao 15. Living and Dying Rivers of the Western Ghats Pandurang Hegde 16. Endangering a Heritage: Rivers of Maharashtra Parineeta Dandekar 17. The Narmada and Other Rivers of Gujarat Himanshu Thakkar 18. Caring for Our Rivers: An Overview Paritosh C. Tyagi 19. A Law to Protect Rivers Manoj Misra 20. What Hydroelectric Projects Do to Rivers Ravi Chopra 21. Killing a River: Failure of Regulation Kelly D. Alley 22. Towards a More Comprehensive Understanding of Rivers Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt Afterword by Ramaswamy R. Iyer Annexe to Afterword Index Notes on Editor and Contributors