IIT-K to lead Ganga's revival with US ‘spy images' from 1965
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Lucknow: In a groundbreaking move, the Uttar Pradesh govt has announced a pioneering project led by IIT-Kanpur to study the Ganga river's past and chart its future with the help of the rare images captured by the American spy satellite series 'Corona'.
The initiative, launched by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), marks a significant step towards preserving the river's heritage and ensuring its sustainability.
By combining declassified 1965 images from the Corona satellite series with cutting-edge 2018-19 satellite data, IIT-K researchers have documented significant changes in the river's morphology, flow patterns, and land use over the past five decades, providing valuable insights into its transformation.
The project will also develop interactive digital displays for nine key locations -- Haridwar, Bijnor, Narora, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Bhagalpur, and Farakka--providing critical insights for informed decision-making at local, regional, and national levels.
Talking to TOI, Prof. Rajiv Sinha, Department of Earth Sciences, IIT-K, said: "This project was funded by NMCG, Ministry of Jal Shakti. The project has already been completed and NMCG is now funding anew project to make this data and information available on a web-GIS portal, so that it is accessible to the general public.
It will also include some additional functionalities related to query and statistics generation.
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All the data will be integrated into a Web-GIS platform with a powerful query system, allowing researchers and planners to quickly retrieve specific data as needed.
The images note significant changes in the morphology of the Ganga around the confluence zone in Prayagraj and interestingly not so much in the Yamuna river during the period 1965-2019.
While the Ganga has maintained its general form and position of meanders, there are significant reductions in the meander wavelength, width of the channel belt and active floodplain width. The channel centre line shift image of the six decades shows that the main channel of the Ganga river has been moderately migratory in this reach.The channel has migrated in the order of 2.5km in upstream of the Sangam region,and this has resulted in a significant change in the meander wavelength of the Gangajustbefore its confluence.
The position as well as the morphology of the river in Kanpur has changed moderately during the period 1965-2018 as shown in the 'Corona' images.
The planform based on the 1965 image shows large mid-channel bars, large lateral bars and a very wide active floodplain. The Oxbow lakes and meander scars close to the barrage site in the 2018 image are manifestations of the older active channel belt of 1965 that has now moved NW to its current position.
A comparison of the 1965 Corona image and2018 Sentinel image of the Ganga around Varanasi shows very little modification in channel morphology.Ingeneral,the channel has broad meanders in this reach and the position and form of the meanders are strikingly similar in both images suggesting a very stable reach. Not just the meanders, some of the large bars have also remained unchanged in more than five decades. The govt has said, "The Corona images capture the Ganga in an almost untouched form, while the 2019 images reveal the changing reality, where barrages, embankments, and urban sprawl have restricted the river's meandering pace.
This comparative study now offers fresh hope. Scientists now have concrete maps that indicate areas where restoration could help the Ganga regain its old rhythm and where improved land use could enhance its health."
With a public data dissemination system in place, this valuable information will be accessible to various stakeholders, driving future research on the Ganga. IIT Kanpur scientists see this as a groundbreaking step towards data-driven decision-making in Ganga conservation.
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