Abstract
The present work emphasizes the need for sustainable river basin planning and management, which is considered as a pre-requisite for socioeconomic and cultural development of a nation. Since the pollution and abstraction of riverine water resources for various purposes are inevitable, an effective decision-making and policy implementation are needed to strike a balance between the development and sustainability. Keeping these concerns in view, the study provides a novel decision-making approach for rejuvenating major river across the globe by trying to achieve following objectives: (a) providing a scientific in-depth discussion about the inter-related and complex threats and challenges; (b) assessing the success and limitations of earlier and recent programmes initiated by government for rejuvenating river basin; (c) developing strength–weakness–opportunities–threats matrix to derive policies; and (d) procuring the opinions of multiple stakeholders at all levels to suggest best strategies for reaching sustainability goals. A case study of one of the heavily polluted river basins of the world, namely Ganges, India, has been considered for demonstrating the decision-making approach. The study proposes certain modifications in the current policies, and also some innovative strategic policies are recommended to strengthen the task of achieving development of the river basin in an integrated and sustainable manner.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are also thankful to Central Water Commission (CWC), Lucknow, UP, India, and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), New Delhi, India, for sharing information on river Ganges. All references cited in the text have provided the detailed insight of this important research and therefore are greatly acknowledged. We also express our sincere thanks to the anonymous reviewers and editors for their valuable comments and time.
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Srinivas, R., Singh, A.P. & Shankar, D. Understanding the threats and challenges concerning Ganges River basin for effective policy recommendations towards sustainable development. Environ Dev Sustain 22, 3655–3690 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00361-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00361-0