A leading river expert in the Indian state of West Bengal says that constant erosion may lead to the merging of the Ganges with a smaller tributary, affecting thousands of villagers.
The expert, Kalyan Rudra, says the Ganges may soon end up joining course with the Pagla in West Bengal's northern district of Maldah.
But government officials discount the threat and say there is no danger.
The Pagla originates from the Ganges and then flows into the Mahananda river on India's border with Bangladesh before flowing into that country.
Mr Rudra says the Ganges is now barely 100 metres from the Pagla river and at the present rate of erosion it may only be a few weeks before it flows into the Pagla.
"Even a year ago, the distance between the two rivers was more than 300 metres but it is now down to less than half that. The danger of the two rivers merging is real," he says.
"The bed of the Ganges is rising and its water is already seeping into the Pagla through smaller canals."
'Nothing being done'
Residents of the Maldah district agree.
"The erosion on the banks of the Ganges is fierce. Whole areas are eaten away by the river and only a small embankment constructed by the local authorities is keeping the two rivers away," says Tariqul Islam, convenor of the Ganga Bhangan Protirodh Committee (Resist Erosion on the Ganges Committee).
"But water is seeping through the embankment and that's weakening it considerably."
Mr Islam says the government's irrigation and flood control department is doing nothing to stop the erosion of the banks.
 The Ganges is only 100 metres away from the Pagla |
"In some other areas along the Ganges, they made an effort to the stop the erosion by dumping boulders in iron-net casing but here they are doing nothing and that's endangering the whole area ," he says.
Experts say if the rivers merge, the combined volume of water will inundate a huge area in Maldah district.
"If the two rivers merge, nearly 20,000 people living in the area will lose all they have," says Mr Rudra.
"There's a chance of more inundation downstream."
He says that if that happens, a barrage which is used to control the flow of river water into India and Bangladesh will become useless.
Others say rivers such as the Bhagirathi, located downstream in India and fed by the Ganges, would have less water as a result, possibly affecting operations at Calcutta's main port.
"Calcutta port will suffer more and more siltation," says Nilanjan Dutta of the Calcutta Research Group.
'No threat'
Maldah's district chief, Abhijit Choudhury, however, rules out the possibility of the two rivers merging.
"Our engineers feel the embankment separating the two rivers is strong enough There's no cause for panic," says Mr Choudhury.
Six years ago, the Ganges was barely a kilometre from its biggest tributary, the Bhagirathi, at Qutubpur in Murshidabad district, further downstream from Maldah.
The spectre of two big rivers joining course forced the state government to impose immediate measures to strengthen and protects the banks.
The erosion was controlled and a major disaster was averted.
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If the two rivers merge, nearly 20,000 people living in the area will lose all they have
