Groundwater typologies in the Indo Gangetic Basin

The Indo‐Gangetic plains comprise the large floodplains of the Indus and Ganges‐Brahmaputra river systems. They are home to approximately 1 billion people and encompass northern and eastern India, much of Bangladesh, parts of southern Nepal and the most populous parts of Pakistan. The economy, poverty and health of the region are highly diverse and include areas of extreme poverty as well as highly successful and growing economies. Exploiting easily accessible water resources for drinking water, agriculture and growing industries has been fundamental to the region’s success and will continue to play a large part in its future. Despite the presence of the large rivers, groundwater is highly exploited across the basin through an estimated 20 million boreholes. Hand pumps and…