Consequences of Degradation of Punyamati River: Religious Impacts Through Water Quality Analysis

CONSEQUENCES OF DEGRADATION OF PUNYAMATI RIVER: RELIGIOUS IMPACTS THROUGH WATER QUALITY ANALYSIS Ms. Srijana Shrestha TU Registration No: 5-2-1014-0040-2013 TU Examination Roll No: 510140009 A PROJECT WORK SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BOTANY SUBMITTED TO DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY NIST COLLEGE BANEPA-4, KAVRE, NEPAL JULY, 2017 ABSTRACT Degradation of rivers in the urban area has become a serious problem around the world. Though the leading cause of river degradation are diverse, disposal of solid and liquid waste, encroachment upon the river waterway and water extraction are solve of the obvious cause river degradation. The study was carried out with the aim of evaluating the factors leading to degradation of Punyamati River and cultural and religious consequences there from. Punyamati is an important river with religious and cultural significance of Panauti. The study identified the disposal of sewage, industrial waste water and agricultural runoff as leading causes of river water degradation of Punyamati River. Analysis of river water quality at five different locations along the river course- Dhaneshwor, Chaukot, Banshghari, Pashupatinath Area and Trivenighat, revealed progressive degradation in the river water quality due to increasing pollution load resulting from untreated effuluent discharge. Increasing river pollution was found to be impacting negatively on religious rituals performed in Punyamati Rivers. The study clearly reveal that the number of people using river water for all kinds of religious and cultural uses have been declining over time, obviously due to increasing pollution in the river. I DISCLAIMER I hereby declare that this study entitled “CONSEQUENCES OF DEGRADATION OF PUNYAMATI RIVER: RELIGIOUS IMPACTS THROUGH WATER QUALITY ANALYSIS” is based on my original research work. Related works on the topic having duly acknowledged. I owe all the liabilities relating to accuracy and authenticity of data or any other information included in this project work. ……………………… Srijana Shrestha Date: II ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all I would like to express my deep gratitude to Mrs. SangitaThapa, lecturer of NIST College for her expert guidance, constant encouragement, and valuable suggestions for the completion of this project work and in doing out best in this work and kindly agreed to contribute as my supervisor in under taking of this project work. Respectfully, I would like express my deep sense of indebtedness and profound gratitude to Mr. Chet Bahadur Bista, principal of the college for providing me such an opportunity to carry out this project work. I also sincerely owe to Mr. Bishwo Ram Tamang, co-ordinator of the batch for providing guidance, valuable suggestion, constructive comments and encouragement throughout the undertaking of the research and writing works. I am thankful to Chemistry Department of NIST College, Banepa and Lab Assistant, Mr. Dinesh Prasad Dahal for assisting me during lab process for research. I would also like to thank my friends Mr. Ashok Thapa, Ms. Reshma Shrestha, Ms. Tara Ghimire and Ms. Ruby Hamal who help in completion of this project work.. My special thanks goes to Ms. Tara Devi Shrestha who constantly help me during field survey and Mr. Suraj Manandhar for his technical support without which this project work would have not been accomplished. I would like to express my deep gratitude to my beloved parents and my family members for their belief, love and encouragement throughout my study period. Srijana Shrestha T.U. Registration No.: 5-2-1014-0040-2013 Exam Roll No.: 510140009 III LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 : Classification of surface water in Nepal 12 Table 3.1 : Objective wise Methodological Tools 15 Table 3.2 : Methods for the Evaluation of water Quality Parameters 20 Table 4.1 : Dissolved Oxygen in five different stations of Punyamati River 23 Table 4.2 : Free Carbon dioxide in five different stations of Punyamati River 24 Table 4.3 : Choloride concentration in five different stations of Punyamati River 25 Table 4.4 : Total Solid Matter in five different stations of Punyamati River 25 Table 4.5 : Acidity in five different stations of Punyamati River 26 Table 4.6 : List of religious and cultural activity of Triveni Ghat 28 IV LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 : Sources of pollution 13 Figure 3.1 : Methodological framework of the study 14 Figure 3.2 : Map of Kavrepalanchok district showing location of 17 Panauti Municipality Figure 3.3 : Map of Panauti Municipality 18 Figure 4.1 : Dissolved Oxygen in five different stations of Punyamati River 23 Figure 4.2 : Free Carbon dioxide in five different stations of Punyamati River 24 Figure 4.3 : Chloride concentration in water samples 25 Figure 4.4 : Total solid matter in water samples 26 Figure 4.5 : Variation in acidity of water samples 27 V LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS DHM Department of Hydrology and Meteorology DO Dissolved Oxygen FAO Food and Agriculture Organization GNI Gross National Income HDI Human Development Index ICIMOD International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources mg/l Milligram per litre ml Milliliter NTNC National Trust for Nature Conservation NWSC Nepal Water Supply Corporation PPM Parts per Million RONAST Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology UN United Nation UNDP United Nation Development Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization WHO World Health Organization WWF World Wildlife Fund VI TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT I DISCLAIMER II ACKNOWLEDGEMENT III LIST OF TABLES IV LIST OF FIGURES V LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS VI CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………….. 1-7 1.1 Background…………………………………………………………………….. 1 1.1.1 Water ……………………………………………………………………. 1 1.1.2 River: It’s Importance …..………………………………………………. 2 1.1.3 River and Culture ………………………………………………………. 3 1.1.4 River Pollution ………………………………………………………….. 4 1.2 Objectives ……………………………………………………………………… 5 1.3 The Research Questions ……………………………………………………….. 5 1.4 Rationale ………………………………………………………………………. 6 1.5 Limitations of the Study ………………………………………………………. 7 CHAPTER 2 : LITERATURE REVIEW ……………………………………….. 8-13 CHAPTER 3 : MATERIALS AND METHODS ……………………………….. 14-22 3.1 Methodological Framework ………………………………………………….. 14 3.2 Study Area …………………………………………………………………… 15 3.3 Research Methodologies …………………………………………………….. 19 3.3.1 Water Sample Collection …………………………………………….. 19 3.3.2 Field Survey ………………………………………………………….. 20 3.3.3 Secondary Data Collection …………………………………………… 20 3.4 Data Analysis Approach …………………………………………………….. 20 CHAPTER 4 : RESULT …………………………………………………..……. 23-29 4.1 Water Quality Analysis …………………………………………………….... 23 4.1.1 Dissolved Oxygen ……………………………………………………. 23 4.1.2 Free Carbon dioxide ………………………………………………….. 24 4.1.3 Chloride ……………………………………………………………… 24 4.1.4 Total Solid Matter …………………………………………………… 25 4.1.5 Acidity ……………………………………………………………….. 26 4.2 Religious Uses of River …………………………………………………….. 27 CHAPTER 5 : DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION …………………………. 30-36 5.1 Discussion …………………………………………………………………… 30 5.1.1 Dissolved Oxygen ……………………………………………………. 30 5.1.2 Free Carbon dioxide ………………………………………………….. 31 5.1.3 Chloride ……………………………………………………………… 31 5.1.4 Total Solid Matter …………………………………………………… 32 5.1.5 Acidity ……………………………………………………………….. 32 5.2 Religious Uses of River …………………………………………………….. 33 5.2.1 Changes in the Religious and Cultural Uses resulting from ………… 35 River Pollution 5.3 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………. 35 CHAPTER 6 : RECOMMENDATIONS …………………………………………. 37 APPENDIX I - QUESTIONNAIRE APPENDIX II – LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS REFERENCES Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1Background 1.1.1 Water Water found on the earth is the most essential commodity for all kinds of living beings. It is one of the prime essential ingredients of life. More than 2000 years ago, in one of the great Epics, a sage advised his ruler “If you wish to establish your reputation among people, store great quantities of water in valleys of our kingdom. Those who fail to store water will fail to store their glory.” Therefore, the relation between the life and water is so intimate that it is virtually impossible to separate them from each other. Water is a transparent and nearly colorless chemical substance that is the main constituent of Earth’s streams, lakes, and oceans, and the fluids of most living organisms. Water strictly refers to the liquid state of that substance that prevails at standard ambient temperature and pressure; but it often refers also to its solid state (ice) or gaseous state (steam or water vapor). It also occurs in nature as snow, glaciers, ice packs and icebergs, clouds, fog, dews, aquifers and atmospheric humidity. Water (H2O) is a polar inorganic compound that is at room temperature a tasteless and odorless liquid, nearly colorless with a hint of blue. This simplest hydrogen chalcogenide is by far the most studied chemical compound and is described as the "universal solvent" for its ability to dissolve many substances. (Earnshaw, Alan, 1997) Water covers 71% of the Earth’s surface. It is vital for all known forms of life. On the Earth, 96.5% of the planet’s crust water is found in seas and oceans, 1.7% in groundwater, 1.7%in glaciers and ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland, a small fraction in other large water bodies, and 0.001% in the air as water vapor, clouds and precipitation. Only 2.5% of this water is freshwater, and 98.8% of that water is in ice and groundwater. Less than 0.3% of all freshwater is in rivers, lakes, and the

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