DEEPIKA SHARMA AND SANGEETA MADAN
Abstract
Water quality of Ganga River was comparatively assessed in Rishikesh and Haridwar from October 2016-September 2017 based on the physicochemical parameters and by using Comprehensive Pollution Index method. The result of the analysis showed that all the water quality parameters in Rishikesh were in accord with the standards prescribed by BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) (2012) except for Total Coliforms (70.07±4.57). The water quality is good in Rishikesh (CPI<0.8), but about to get polluted if proper informed actions have not been taken.While in Haridwar, water quality parameters were in borderline to the permissible limits except for Total Coliform (118.0 ±9.62) that exceeded much more than the prescribed limits as per the standards of BIS(2012). CPI values were highly fluctuating showing the trends in contamination of river water with an annual average value of 0.85. This shows that river at Haridwar is contaminated and nearly polluted. Thus the present study concluded that the water quality of Rishikesh is better than Haridwar but is vulnerable to the threat of pollution. Increased value of Total coliforms is a matter of concern which can cause major waterborne outbreaks hence regular monitoring of river water is required.