The hydrological budget of the three major Asian rivers, namely the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, is controlled by the Indian monsoon and Westerlies but their contribution in these basins are highly variable. Widely varying average annual precipitation has been reported within these basins. A poor network of in situ rain gauges, particularly in mountainous regions, inaccessible terrain, high variations in altitude and the significantly large size of basins forces adaption of satellite-based average annual precipitation. We investigate precipitation patterns for these three basins by using satellite-based Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM-3B42) data and compare and validate it with Asian Precipitation Highly Resolved Data Integration Towards Evaluation (APHRODITE) and India Meteorological Department (IMD) interpolated gridded precipitation data. The entire basins as well as basinal areas within the geographic limits of India have been considered. Our study shows that the precipitation broadly follows an east–west and north–south gradient control. The easternmost Brahmaputra Basin has the highest amount of precipitation followed by the Ganga Basin, and the westernmost Indus Basin has the least precipitation; precipitation is highest on the higher elevations than compared to lower elevations of the basins. A seasonal- and elevation-based approach is adapted to estimate snow precipitation and is discussed in terms of overall precipitation.

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Buried course of the desiccated river Saraswati/ Ghagghar-Hakara from Himalayan front to Arabian Sea through the plains of NW India has been in discussion and scientific investigations since ~140 years due to its importance in societal evolution and drainage disorganization. Its plains were inhabited by the Harappan/ Indus civilization (7000-1200BC) which collapsed around 4-3 ka BP. Views, both, in favor and against a relation between collapse of civilization and drying up of the Saraswati river exist. The palaeocourse of this river, causes and timing of its drying and reasons of civilization collapse still elude consensus. A large amount of new data generated in last two decades on surface, subsurface and chronological aspects of the Holocene deposits and archeology along the path of the Saraswati river has enhanced our understanding but the problem of defining its evolution through geological time is very complex.In this paper we critically examine the views on the link of the Saraswati paleochannel with the Sutlej towards west and Yamuna towards east as source for the perennial water supply. We also discuss the role of climate change and evaluate the role of active faults (Himalayan Frontal Trust and tear faults), basement structure (Delhi-Sargodha Ridge) and seismicity of the Haryana plains in context of the drainage reorganization as a possible cause of the drying up of the river. Systematic mapping of the entire palaeochannel course with generation of sedimentological and chronological data for the gap areas is suggested for understanding the evolution and demise of the Saraswati river.

The Quaternary sediments and landscapes of the plains of north-western Haryana and the ancient settlement mounds distributed across them have great potential to reveal the history of the evolution and disappearance of palaeorivers and their relationship to the Indus Civilization and Early Historic periods in northwest India. There are numerous palaeochannels in Haryana, and their distribution and burial in the subsurface creates difficulties for accessing the archives and proxies necessary for developing insight into the timing of river flow and shift, and its relationship to settled populations. This paper investigates the deep and shallow subsurface sedimentary lithology of an area around Sirsa that is close to the course of the modern Ghagghar River. The paper presents additional age constraints provided by dates from the site of Rakhigarhi and examines a sedimentary substrate of a new archeological mound situated on the palaeochannel identified at a mound near Dhir village. New AMS radiocarbon dates of drifted charcoal from natural and cultural strata suggest human activity and/or natural burning in this region as early as 10405 to 10190 cal BP (8455 to 8240 cal BC). The substrate sediments recorded at Dhir mound indicate flooding events after the urban phase of the Indus Civilization.Supplementary material at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5604984

This article addresses the excavation method and support design for the adit tunnel in the Rudraprayag District, Lesser Himalayas of India, using Rock Mass Rating (RMR), Tunneling Quality Index (Q), and New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM). Based on ONORM B 2203 correlations with RMR and Q systems, the New Austrian Tunneling Method rock structure classes were developed. Because the geology was constantly changing, NATM concepts were applied. The RMR-based rock mass estimates were overestimated, but the qualitative investigation was correct. The NATM method is more appropriate for a Garhwal Himalayan rock with varying rock mass uncertainty. The present adit research reveals several outstanding questions about rock mass quality, tunnel behavior during construction, and use. The analysis results might be used to build new tunnels in comparable terrain in other parts of the world.