Effect of the growing population on the air pollution, climatic variability and hydrological regime of the Ganga basin, India

The Ganga basin constitutes a major part of northern India and is a part of the Ganga–Brahmputra–Meghna basin. The basin has a population of over 460 million. With growing population, urbanization and industrialization, the climatic conditions are found to change significantly, which has a direct impact on agricultural productivity. The hydrological regime of the basin is interrelated with the climatic conditions. In the present paper, we have studied the effect of the growing population on satellite deduced parameters (normalized difference vegetation index—NDVI, soil moisture—SM, aerosol optical depth—AOD, and rainfall during 2000–2004). Efforts have been made to study the relationship between NDVI and AOD. The percentage rise in AOD during the summer season (2004) compared to 2000 is found to be very high. The western and the eastern parts of the basin are found to show contrasting seasonal behaviours.