Ghaggar River: Impact of Polluting Agents and Microbial Components in River Water

摘要

Ghaggar, one of the major rivers of northern India originating in outer Himalayas and flowing through the state of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, is put to multiple uses. Because of Geological changes it now dries up in Rajasthan. Along its course of 464 km, it receives discharge from various cities and runoff from agricultural lands. In this study we present an extensive investigation of Physico-chemical and Biological parameters of water samples of Ghaggar River, Haryana. Water samples under investigations were collected from Panchkulla during February and March 2010 at the interval of 15 days from 5 different sites each at 50 m distance. The Physico-chemical parameters include temperature and turbidity, pH, total solids, Ca2+, alkalinity, BOD, COD and the Inorganic constituents (Magnesium and Sulphite). The major Biological parameters studied were Total Bacterial Count, Coliform Count. All these are most significant parameters contributing to water quality variations and are responsible for water quality variations were compared with standard values provided by World Health Organization (WHO). We have observed that the values of different parameters viz. Total Bacterial Count, Coliform Count) were high in comparison to standard values. The microbial pathogens like E. coli, Salmonella, and Pseudomonas have also isolated from the water. The study suggested that the Quality of water of river Ghaggar become deteriorated in this area because of effluent discharge and unhygienic personal practices. The frequent effluent of sanitary discharge in river Ghaggar should be stopped or discharged after proper treatment.