Abstract:
The Ganga is the most sacred as well as one of the most exploited rivers of India. There is a plethora of information available on the river Ganga in the form of books, logs, articles, websites, videos etc. The information includes a vast array of topics including hydrology, tributaries, water uses, and environmental features such as river water quality, aquatic and terrestrial flora/fauna, natural resources, ecological characteristics, sensitive environmental components and more. With such a vast geographical extent with varied climate, land use land cover, wildlife, demography and socio-economic situation in the entire Ganga Basin, tapping information for resource planning, R&D activities is a herculen task as most of the information about this famous river is in a scattered form and reproduced from unverified sources.
Over the years, portals have become popular in the information system community. A number of web portals on various themes are being developed in the country. Recognizing the multi-dimensional information in the Ganga basin, `Gangakosh' is a step in this direction to develop a web-based information portal where variety of information on Ganga basin are being uploaded and maintained at National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee. It is believed that Gangakosh web portal will be beneficial for Engineers, Scientists and NGO's working in water sector.
