Comprehensive River Health Assessment System for Indian Rivers: A Case Study of Central Indian River Narmada

Rivers served mankind for eons and fulfilled their needs for water supply. However, rivers have been drastically modified and exploited due to the increasing industrialization and urbanization. This chapter majorly focuses on the comprehensive evaluation of river health of Narmada: fifth largest river of India and its two major tributaries based on five measuring indicators such as biological analysis, chemical analysis, physical analysis, substrate analysis, and land use/land cover analysis. The results of these indices are based on the scoring and ranking framework that clearly indicates that the river has moderate pollution levels and need immediate restoration and pollution control strategies for further intimating with the policymakers and governance systems. This study reflects the river health assessment more effectively and feasibly. This tool could be used as a futuristic approach for the health assessment of Indian River systems and biodiversity conservation.