Status Report 2016-2019 Landscape Evolution of Rivers in the Ganga Plain and Himalaya PRADEEP SRIVASTAVA* Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, 33 GMS Road, Dehradun 248 001, India (Received on 29 July 2019; Accepted on 29 September 2019) Rivers in Himalaya and Ganga foreland respond to the tectonics and climate operating in its geomorphic continuum. The landscape of river systems draining the two continental scale geomorphic entities evolve at various spatio-temporal scales. The studies during the last five years in India have largely focused on understanding the climate-tectonic forcing and sensitivity of landscape responses and utilized high resolution geomorphic mapping, sedimentology, and luminescence chronology. A newer dimension of river/sediment connectivity, between the source and sink, in terms of sediment erosion/ delivery and storages has been initiated. Overall, >85 research articles were published that can be classified into (i) River aggradation-incision, paleofloods and neotectonic deformation in the Himalaya, (ii) Glacial morphostratigraphy in river headwaters, (iii) Sedimentation in the Ganga foreland, and (iv) River connectivity between the Himalaya and Ganga Plain. Keywords: Rivers; Himalaya; Ganga Foreland; Quaternary Evolution *Author for Correspondence: E-mail: pradeep71s@rediffmail.com Proc Indian Natn Sci Acad 86 No. 1 March 2020 pp. 369-377  Printed in India. DOI: 10.16943/ptinsa/2020/49804 Introduction The Himalaya and Ganga Plain are genetically related continental scale geomorphic units that are coupled in terms of their tectonic evolution and climatic responses at different temporal and spatial scales. The rivers that originate in the Himalaya and drain through the Ganga foreland before finally meeting the ocean exhibit a variety of landforms and stratigraphy, that act as archives of the fluvial response to tectonics of region and monsoon variability. Studies have focused on the mapping of terraces, understanding their sedimentary behaviour, deciphering aggradation and incision phases and developing the chronology of events. To evaluate the linkages between the Himalaya and Ganga plain, the contributions have been made towards (i) River aggradation-incision, paleofloods and neotectonic deformation in the Himalaya, (ii) Glacial morphostratigraphy in river headwaters, (iii) Sedimentation in the Ganga foreland, and (iv) River connectivity between the Himalaya and Ganga Plain. The following text provides a brief account and review of the work done addressing the above listed themes during the past five years. Riveraggradation-incision, Paleofloods and Neotectonic Deformation in Himalaya The river aggradation and incision, formation of fill and bedrock terraces and their location depends upon the sediment and water supply, ability of the channel- reach to transport the sediment and tectonic conditions. The shape and geomorphic effectiveness of longitudinal river profiles in the Himalaya is strongly controlled by basin geology and climate (Jain, 2018; Sonam and Jain, 2018).The data on valley fills from Alaknanda river valley suggested that valley filling follows glacial-periglacial hypothesis implying an important role of precipitation driven dynamics in sediment generation, downstream transportation and valley filling (Ray and Srivastava, 2010; Dosseto et al., 2018). The work suggested that transition between arid glacial and climatic optimum allowed valley aggradation and peak wetness leading to reduced sediment/water ratio and channel incision. Later, similar observation was made while understanding the formation of fossil valleys and epigenetic gorges and the non-glaciated rivers like the Ramganga (Chaudhary et al., 2015, 2017). Further, increased hill slope erosion and reduced channel transport capacity during drier climate is envisaged as a