The dried-up bank of Ganga behind Golghar in Patna. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh
Patna, March 21: The Ganga has shifted several kilometres away from its original course. The Telegraph highlights the plight of the river in context of the recent high court directive
Court order
On March 4, the high court directed the state government to restore the original course of the Ganga. A division bench of Justice L. Narasimha Reddy and Justice Vikash Jain asked authorities concerned to dig a 50-ft-wide channel on the riverbed from the Civil Court Ghat to Digha Ghat.
Brick kilns
'Most brick kilns from Patna City to Maner are on the riverbed. Waste dumped from these kilns have led to the shift,' said Ashok Ghosh, professor-in-charge, department of environment and water management, AN College.
Silt role
Experts from the Centre for Flood Management Studies at National Institute of Hydrology, Patna, pointed to excessive siltation as one of the factors behind the shift.
Human hand
Experts claimed that brick kilns and sand mining are the two root causes for the change in the course of Ganga.
