➤ It originates from Gaumukh glacier which is located near the Gangotri Glacier (5,611 m), North of Kedarnath peak in Uttarakhand.
➤ This is the main river of Bihar which enters into the state near Chausa in Buxar and forms boundary between Bhojpur and Saran districts.
➤ Ganga river divides Bihar into two parts and enters into West Bengal.
➤ The total length of Ganga river is 2525 km. Out of this, it flows only 445 km in Bihar. It has 15,165 sq km drainage area in the state.
➤ This river is navigable all over the state, thus it provides a good source for trade and transport.
➤ Ganga has many tributaries. The rivers which join it from South are Karmanasa, Son, Punpun, Harohar, Kiul, Phalgu and Chandan rivers. The rivers which join it from North are Ghaghara, Gandak, Bagmati, Kamala Balan, Burhi Gandak, Kosi and Mahananda rivers.
➤ This river has the largest catchment area in Bihar.
➤ Mahatma Gandhi setu is a bridge constructed over this river connecting Patna in the South to Hajipur in the North.
➤ There are seven bridges on Ganga river in Bihar, which connects North Bihar to South Bihar. These are:
- Mahatma Gandhi Setu (Road only)
- Rajendra Setu (Road and Rail)
- Jayprakash Setu (Road and Rail)
- Vikramshila Setu (Road)
- Sri Krishna Setu (Road and Rail)
- Bakhtiyarpur-Tajpur Bridge (Road)
- Aguani Ghat Bridge (Road)
