A sharp fall in the water level of the Ganga downstream from Narora in Bulandshahr district of western Uttar Pradesh has fuelled fears of the grand old river being reduced to a trickle at the holy Sangam in Allahabad. The fall in the level of the river, considered the lifeline of the State since ancient times, has set alarm bells ringing. The state of the river in Varanasi is no better than in Allahabad. The only silver lining is that the level of the river is likely to rise with the melting of the mighty glaciers in Gangotri in the upper reaches of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand, from where the Ganga originates, as the summer progresses. Regeneration of its water resources is the second aspect which is expected to enhance the Ganga's volume, according to irrigation officials monitoring the flow of the river. Explaining the reasons for the alarming depletion in the water level, the Chief Engineer of the Ganga Division in Meerut, H. S. Sharma, says 300 cusecs of water is being released in the Ganga at Narora through the process of "escaping' after mandatory diversion of the river water to different sources of irrigation. This means that 300 cusecs is available in the river from Narora to Ballia in eastern UP passing through Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Kanpur, Fatehpur, Allahabad, Mirzapur and Varanasi. Originating from Gangotri as Bhagirathi, the river flows to Tehri district in Uttarakhand where the Tehri Dam is being built. At Prayagraj in the neighbouring State, the Bhagirathi is joined by the Alaknanda to become the Ganga. In the holy town of Hardwar, from where the Ganga flows into the plains, nearly 12,000 cusecs of water is available in the river. "Of the 12,006 cusecs available in Hardwar this past Thursday, 10,265 cusecs was transferred to the Upper Ganga Canal and 500 cusecs to the East Ganga Canal with 1,090 cusecs of water remaining in the river,' the Chief Engineer told The Hindu. At Narora, the volume of the river goes up to 6,330 cusecs, the increase being on account of the water released from the Kalagarh Dam and the regeneration of the river through its tributaries and small streams. However, the Ganga at Narora is left with only 300 cusecs as 6,030 cusecs from the 6,330 cusecs is transferred to the Lower Ganga Canal for irrigation purposes. Downstream of Narora the water level doesn't get recharged to the desired level as there has been a simultaneous depletion in the surface and sub-surface storage facilities. Rapid industrialisation along with rapidly increasing levels of pollution coupled by a steep increase in the number of water users are cited as the other reasons for the decline in the level of the Ganga. Though irrigation officials in Lucknow expect a better Ganga when the State gets its full quota of water from the Tehri Dam next year, claimants are ready to bring the situation back to square one even with the increase in the volume of the river. Says a senior official of the State Irrigation Department here, "UP's share would be 3,500 to 4,000 cusecs from the Tehri Dam, but of this 150 cusecs would be given to Agra for the city's drinking water needs, around 50 cusecs would go to Noida, 300 cusecs has to be given to Delhi, and around 1,100 cusecs will be transferred to Deoband in Saharanpur district and Muzaffarnagar for irrigation purposes.'