The Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra River Basin (IGBRB) is a trans-boundary river basin flowing through four major countries in South Asia viz., India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Contamination of surface water by untreated or inadequately treated wastewater has been a huge problem for pathogenic microorganisms in economies in transition. Recent studies have reported that sewage surveillance can provide prior information of the outbreak data, because faeces can contain the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) shed by infected humans. Hence, in this study we geo-spatially mapped the COVID-19 hotspots during the peak time in the first and second wave of pandemic to demonstrate the need and usefulness of wastewater surveillance strategy in IGBRB during ongoing pandemic.

Further we discussed the status of sanitation, health and hand-hygiene in the IGBRB along with characterization of the challenges posed by the pandemic in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs).

Monthly Geographical Information System (GIS) mapping of COVID-19 hotspots in the IGBRB showed an increase in the spread along the direct sewage discharge points. The social inequalities expose the vulnerabilities of the urban poor in terms of the burden, risks and access to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) needs. Such an evidence-based image of the actual SARS-CoV-2 viral load in the community along the IGBRB can provide valuable insights and recommendations to deal with the future waves of COVID-19 pandemic in this region that can go a long way in achieving the UN-SDGs.

印度河-恒河-布拉马普特拉河流域（IGBRB）是流经南亚四个主要国家，即印度、巴基斯坦、孟加拉国和尼泊尔的跨界流域。未经处理或处理不当的废水对地表水的污染一直是经济转型期病原微生物面临的一个巨大问题。最近的研究报告说，污水监测可以提供暴发数据的先验信息，因为粪便中可能含有受感染的人类排出的新型冠状病毒 (SARS-CoV-2)。因此，在本研究中，我们在地理空间上绘制了第一波和第二波大流行高峰期间的 COVID-19 热点，以证明 IGBRB 在持续大流行期间废水监测策略的必要性和有用性。

此外，我们还讨论了 IGBRB 的卫生、健康和手部卫生状况，以及大流行病在实现联合国可持续发展目标 (UN-SDG) 方面所带来的挑战的特征。

IGBRB 中 COVID-19 热点的月度地理信息系统 (GIS) 地图显示，沿直接污水排放点的分布有所增加。社会不平等暴露了城市贫民在负担、风险和获得水、环境卫生和个人卫生 (WASH) 需求方面的脆弱性。这种 IGBRB 沿线社区实际 SARS-CoV-2 病毒载量的基于证据的图像可以提供有价值的见解和建议，以应对该地区未来的 COVID-19 大流行浪潮，这对实现这一目标大有帮助联合国可持续发展目标。