GANGA 47th Issue | Page 4

to the Tibetan border due to numerous forms the boundary between India and landslides. The Prithvi Highway, the main Nepal and then flows through the Indian route from Kathmandu to India has also state of Bihar to join the Mahananda in experienced landslide problems since the Kishanganj district. It is a tributary of the earthquake. Mahananda river. (Source: USGS, American Geophysical union Blog, BBC ) The Mechi-Mahananda interfluve is a transitional area between the hills and the Rising Arsenic levels in Kolkata’s Groundwater after the Earthquake. Scientists and experts in Kolkata dealing with Arsenic contamination in the city’s groundwater are now exploring the possibility that Kolkata’s drinking water may now contaminate a few hundred times more Arsenic than just before the tremors of April 25. While the permissible limit suggested by WHO is just 10 micrograms per liter, water samples collected from some areas in south Kolkata, such as Jadavpur and Bikramgarh contained much higher doses of Arsenic- some samples even contained 199 micrograms per liter. The possibilities are such as cracks developing in the soil after the quake and new water aquifers- natural underground water reservoirs getting contaminated with levels of arsenic. plains, and exhibits a wide range of topographical variation. The river originating in the hills attain a braiding character and have well-developed alluvial fans. The Mahananda river system, of which Mechi is a part, has a catchment area of 8088 sq.km. in Nepal and 11520 sq.km. in India. Embankments Embankments exist on the left bank of the Mechi River for 14 km. in West Bengal. These need remodeling to prevent floods in Naxalbari area of Darjeeling district. As the Mechi forms the international boundary between Nepal and India, it was agreed upon at a meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Standing Technical Committee to take due care in aligning the embankments so that they would be at identical distance from the border RIVERS OF INDIA and the top levels of the embankments should be kept same on both Rivers Of Bihar & Jharkhand the sides as far as practicable. Mechi River River linking The river originates in the Mahabharat The proposal of Kosi- Mechi interlinking is Range in the Nepal. It flows through Nepal, a part of a NPR 56000 billion River 4 Integrated River Basin Management Society