<p>The Ganga is a diverse and complex system that is currently suffering increased demands, severely affecting the quantity and quality of flow and occupation of ‘river space’. The River needs to be redefined through innovative solutions to improve its health.</p>

Post-Green Revolution, India has witnessed a dramatic increase in wheat and rice production from 50 to 203 million tonnes between 1950 and 2000. This transformation has come about, in part, through the expansion of groundwater irrigation in northwestern India. However, large-scale groundwater pumping has aggravated waterlogging, salinisation, pollution and caused a steep decline in water tables. Improved water use efficiency, crop diversification and better regulations are needed to arrest the over-exploitation of groundwater across the region.

River management in India must be made a priority and strict laws should be enforced to preserve the river space. The floods in Kerala serve as a reminder that serious measures must be taken by the government to combat these natural phenomena.

The Ganga is a diverse and complex system that is currently suffering increased demands, severely affecting the quantity and quality of flow and occupation of ‘river space’. The River needs to be redefined through innovative solutions to improve its health.

Extreme events are high magnitude, low frequency events that have the ability to transform a landscape of any region significantly. Earth’s changing climate and projected changes in weather and hydrological parameters suggest that such events have happened in the past and the present. The big question is: what will be their characteristics and frequency in a climate change scenario?

A natural process of ebb and flow - floods turn hazardous only when they affect people and property. The judicious use of flood prone areas is the need of the hour to minimise damage while allowing a river its free flow.

A proper integration of fluvial geomorphology and river engineering is needed to understand the flooding behaviour of rivers, especially those draining north Bihar plains.

Flood Hazard Mapping is an appropriate land use planning tool for flood prone areas as it creates easily read, rapidly accessible mechanisms which facilitate planners identify risk areas and prioritise their response efforts.