Physico-chemical characteristics of river Alaknanda Uttarakhand, India

The present investigation reveals the seasonal changes in concentration of physico-chemical parameters in river Alaknanda in the year 2015-16. Water samples were collected from different sites viz. Vishnu Prayag, Nand Prayag, Karna Prayag and Rudra Prayag of Uttarakhand during summer, monsoon and winter season. The physico-chemical parameters as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), biological oxygen demand (BOD), total alkalinity (TA), total hardness (TH), total dissolved solid (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), total solids, chloride, turbidity and electrical conductivity (EC) were used to analyze the pollution status of river Alaknanda at four selected sites. The results revealed that the Karna Prayag site showed maximum concentration 1.97±0.91, 83.0±7.55, 63.33±8.50, 13.33±3.06, 252.0±48.5, 136.3±40.5 of BOD, TH, TA, Turbidity, TS and TSS respectively. The water quality was recorded below the permissible limit setup by United Nation Public Health Services (USPHS) and World Health Organization (WHO). However it may exceed in future with increasing population and anthropogenic interference in the basin and can make ecological imbalance in river flora and fauna.