Chapter - 1 The Study Area INTRODUCTION

GENERAL INFORMATION OF THE STUDY AREA :

Nashik District lying between 19° 35' and 20° 52' north latitude and 73° 16' and 74° 56' east latitude, with an area of 15,582.0 km^ (6,015 sq.miles) has a population of 49,93,796 with 18 towns and 792 inhabited villages and 1136 uninhibited villages as per the sensus of 2001. Rhomboidal in shape with the longer diagonal about 170 km. From south west to north east and an extreme breadth of about 170 km. From north to south, Nasik is bounded on the north west by the Dangs and Surat district of Gujrath state, on the north by the Dhulia district, on the east by and districts, on the south by

Ahmednagar district and towards the south west by Thana district (Map 1).

The district derives its name from that of its headquarters town of Nasik, for the origin of which two interpretations are given. The town is sited on the nine peaks or

NAVASHIKHARA and hence its name. The other relates to incident in the Ramayana, where at this place Laxamana is said to have cut off the nose (NASIKA) of Shurpanakha.

Nasik is situated on the bank of the rivers and hills.

Anjaneri hill is a fine mass of trap rock, with lofty upper and lower scraps, each resting on wild and well wooded plateau. From Anjeneri hill there is a spur extending southwards for about 3 km. From which three branches spurs resembling a trishul, which extends beyond the Dama river and its headwater streams are to be found three ranges radiating in irregular curves from the Saihyadri bordering another river Vaitarna. Near the end of the northen one of these contains Kavanai or the hill of Kamakshidevi whose

temple is on the top. This was once the Peshwa's revenue officer of the circle. The river

Dama flows through irregular group of hills, main being the Mhordan hill (1,216 meters),

in the long narrow ridge in the north- northeast to south -southeast direction.

The range that stretches eastwards from the Sahydris, a little north of Alang hill fort

(which itself is just outside the district) on the southern boundary of the district is on the

whole the most rocky and precipitous in the district. The highest, Kalsubai, reach an

elevation of about 5,400 and many of the other peaks are between 4,700 and 5,000 feet

high. The best known, as well as the largest, is Patta. Though its base lies within Nasik

limits, its summit is in district. North of Kalsubai a stupendous precipice overhangs the pass between in . These ranges are bare of trees, except in

valleys. The other branch is more a step than a ridge. They flow in the direction the course of , from west to east, and sinks into the plain before reaching the

Godavari, some five km to the north-east of Sinnar town.

RIVERS FROM NASIK :

The Nasik district is drained by two chief rivers Gima and Godavari and their tributaries, the Vaitama, as well as its tributary the , must have been originally rising in the step scrap slope of the Sahydris, in the neighbourhood of Tal pass.

The crest line of the Sahydris must have formed the main watershed between Vaitarna and Dama river system initially. The Alvand river as well as the present headstream of the Vaitama in the Desh is the main source water of the Unduhol river, one of the headstream of the Dama, that is at present rising just immediately below the elbow of capture and wind-gap. The fact is evidenced by: (1) the general gradient of Desh eastward, viz. in the direction in which both the Alvand and Unduhole rivers. (2) The wide valley in which the Unduhol river originates as a stream and joins Vaitama river after its confluence with Alvand river, take westward turn. Similarly the wide and shallow valley, town of Igatpuri.from this rigion flowing east to join the Dama..

GODAVARI :

The Godavari, or the Ganga as it is locally called, is the most celebrated river not only of this district, but also of the whole of the peninsular . The principal course lies just below the scrap of the western side of the Trimbak temple. A larger and more distant branch takes its rise in the ridges that joins the Trimbak and Brahm mountains in a region having higher rainfall. After passing town of Trimbak, the Godavari turns to the west, cutting deep and rocky bed through the hilly plateu (Ghat Matha). After about 15 km. it receives a tributary called Kikvi, on the north.

DARNA :

The Dama rises on the northen slopes of the Kulang hill fort in the Sahyadris about 13 km. south to Igatpuri. Darna riverbanks are similar to that of Godavari. The river crosses at Chehadi on the Nasik- road, on the way to Sinner. The part of river bed is sandy and rocky beds in between. A dam is constructed across the Dama near Nandgaon village known as Lake Beale. This has enabled the construction of a pick-up weir on the

Godavari river at Nandurmadhmeshwar to divert the water into the Godavari canals. At

Belu village, the river Dama receives the flowing north eastwards between

Mhordan-Katlia hills on the west and Kalsubai-Bitangad-Patta range on the east in the south eastern part of Igatpuri Taluka. While Dama is additionally joined by three tributaries such as Waki, the Unduhol and the Valdevi.

9 The Vaki river rises in the Dhoria hill and flows in a general southerly direction and passing between Igatpuri and Ghoti joins the Dama.

UNDUHOL:

The Unduhol river rises to the south of Anjeneri hill and flows in a southeasterly course and turns in a northerly direction to the north of Kavanai hill and has a very long winding course trending to the east before it joins the Dama below the Dama dam. The area is characterized having higher soil slops with number of tributaries. In its catchment area the Sinnar plateau. The river Dama basin includes various land use patterns pathways such as agriculture, hilly, urban, industrial and wastelands.

VALDEVI :

The Valdevi river rises on the eastem slopes of hill and flows in a general easterly direction passing by Ambe Bahula and Deolali and joins the Dama near Chehedi.

The Nasik district may broadly be divided into three major geographical regions; the downghat Kokan tract, the Gima basin and the Godavari basin.

GODAVARI BASIN :

The third geographical region, the Godavari Basin, lies to the south of the Satmalas and east of the Sahydrian scrap. The region is the most prosperous and has villages at close intervals unlike the other two. This may be divided into four sub regions:

(i) The Godavari valley,

(ii) The region of higher soils sloping away from the Satmalas towards the

Godavari and drained by innumerable tributaries

(iii) The upper Dama Basin, and

(iv) Sinnar plateau.

10 GODAVARI VALLEY:

The sub-region of the Godavari valley comprising the part of talukas Nasik and having the zone of high fertility, which increases downwards towards the east. Region closely linked number of villages having intensive agricultural practices. The most commonly grown crops are rice, sugarcane, wheat, jowar and vegetables especially onions. The region is famous for onion and grape cultivation. On account of high fertility and abundant water supplies in and around Niphad taluka, having good links with nearby urban areas including .

NORTHERN SUB-REGION :

The second sub-region, on the slops from Satmalas drained by innumerable streams towards the Godavari, in the part of talukas of Dindori, Chandwad and most of Yeola.

This is agriculturally moderately productive. Villages are of small size and less frequent as compaired to Godavari valleys. These villages are invariably located on the banks of the streams of the region.

UPPER DARNA BASIN :

The upper Dama basin along with that of its tributaries, the Unduhol and the Darna, comprises the near of whole Igatpuri taluka. Rice and ragi are main crops are cultivated from western parts. In theses three valleys, the villages are situated not in the flat lands adjoining the rivers but at their margins where the slopes begin to change rapidly to adjoining hill. This is a unique feature of this sub-region.

The main town is Igatpuri having population 31539 and showing rapid development.

SINNER PLATEAU :

The last sub-region of the plateau of Sinner is one of light reddish brown soils on rough

11 slopping ground with consequent emphasis on bajri (pearl millet) situated cuhivation.

Villages are mostly on the banks of the stream. Wherever there is convergence of

drainage from different directions, better water supply is assured and large settlements

have developed. Sinner town (population : 31620) and main activities includes betel-vine

and tobacco cultivation and its products.

GEOLOGY:

The great trap region of the Deccan covers the whole district. It is entirely of volcanic

formation. The volcanic portion consists compact, stratified and an earthy trap.

The is either fine textured or it is coarse and nodular.

SOILS :

As regards the soil, the valleys are filled with disintegrated basalt of various sheds from

gray to black, washed down by rain. It is of argillaceous nature. This soil is not favorable

to the growth of large trees but it is very fertile for cereals and pulses. The black soil contains high alumina and carbonates of calcium and magnesium with variable amounts of potash, low nitrogen and phosphorus. The red soil is less common and is suitable for cultivation under a heavy and consistent rainfall.

ECONOMIC MINERALS :

Lime nodules and kankar are found practically all over the district. The Lime nodules

yield a very good lime, slightly hydraulic, but not sufficiently so to be used under water.

Mixed with pounded bricks and sand it forms a fair mortar. The trap rock is very useful

for building purposes.

AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION :

The area is classified under Agro-ecoregion as semi-arid ecoregion with shallow and

12 medium black soil. (Reference: National Bureau of soil survey and land planning. ICAR

Nagpur 1992).

In the western part of Igatpuri, Surgana and Paint mahals, soils have developed under humid conditions, with some laterite soils being observed at higher altitude of the hills.

The soils in the Godavari, Kadva and upper reach of the Gima and Mosam valleys are quite deep and fertile. The soil in the rest of the districts are undulating and susceptible to erosion. Light shallow soils are noticed on hill slopes and very coarse textured soils on still higher relief

The soils in the heavy rainfall zone are neutral in reaction, contain higher amounts of organic matter and are low in their base status. In between lay the soil in the transitional zone. They are slightly alkaline in reaction and contain moderate amounts of organic matter. Lastly the soil in the scarcity area are alkaline and are low in their content of organic matter and nitrogen. The exchangeable bases are observed to be high as compared to soils of transition and heavy rainfall tract. The description and chemical analysis of typical profiles are given below :

WATER RESOURCES :

The district is traversed by two main rivers, the Godavari and Gima. Many small streams meet the Godavari during its course in the district, the important amongst these being the

Kadva, Dama and Nasardi. The Gima is also formed of many streams, the prominent being the Aram, Mosam, Panjan and Maniad. The total length of fluvial waters within the district is about 560 km.

13 DARNA DAM :

LAKE BEALE :

For the supply of water to the left and right bank Godavari Canals, the first of the large

irrigation projects selected and designed by Mr. H. Fitz, G Beale as Superintending

Engineer on special duty.

The catchment area is 156 square miles. The dam has storage capacity of about 8868

million cubic feet. The dam is 82 feet high above riverbed and 92 feet above lowest

foundation level.

Its construction began in 1907 and completed in 1912. Its cost is about Rs. 27,38,596.

Below the dam about 47 miles away is a pick up weir at Nandurmadhmeshwar from

which two canals, viz. the Godavari left bank and the Godavari right bank, take off. The

Godavari left bank canal emanating from the above weir has a cultural area of 88,000 acres under its command which falls in Niphad and Yeola talukas of Nasik districts and

Kopargaon taluka of .

The Godavari right bank canal takes off from the Nandurmadhmeshwar weir and is 69 miles long. It has a culturable area of 1,36,380 acres under its command. It falls in

Niphad and Sinnar taluka of Nasik district and and taluka of

Ahmednagar district.

Water reservoirs for irrigation offer good scope for development of reservoir fisheries. The main reservoirs in the district are Chankapur 4,16,0826 hectares (1,030 acres) Gangapur 2,428.116 hectares (6,000 acres) and Dama 3,253.675 hectares (8,040 acres). Out of 57 tanks, which either perennial, long or short seasonal, there are only 5 perennial tanks and the approximate total water spread area of the reservoirs, tanks and ponds is about 9,186.372 hectares (22,700).

14 CLIMATIC CONDITIONS :

The monthly average maximum temperature reported to have been recorded in April

2004 was 48.3''C and monthly average minimum temperature in January 2004 was 8.7°C.

The weather is cold from December to February and is hot / dry from March to May.

Rainy/ monsoon season is from June to September due to south - west monsoon. The

weather is fair after the rainy season specially in October and November. In general

climate of Igatpuri and surrounding area is conducive to health. The average rainfall is

772 mm. falling in about fifty rainy days in a year. Relative humidity ranges from

maximum 90% to minimum 12%. The climatic condition the major part of study area i.e.

Igatpuri for the year 2004 and 2005 is shown in Table below. (Table 1.1).

Tablel.l: Climatic condition of Igatpuri 2004 and 2005

2004 2005 Sr. Month Rainfall Humidity Rainfall Temperature Humidity No. Temperature in mm °C % in mm °C % Max Min Morn After Max Min Morn After 1 January — 31.6 08.7 71 28 - 28.0 9.1 94 40 2 February ~ 34.7 10.9 66 20 ~ 33.6 10.4 76 29 3 March - 38.2 15.9 60 12 - 35.5 12.5 82 17 4 April ~ 38.3 18.1 77 25 ~ 36.9 19.1 64 19 5 May 55.3 36.0 23.2 89 38 8.0 37.5 18.4 73 19 6 June 301.8 33.7 22.3 96 53 1122.4 33.9 22.0 73 34 7 July 1076.0 26.0 20.2 97 87 592.9 24.4 22.2 97 62 8 August 661.0 26.0 20.4 96 90 601.8 24.6 20.0 99 82 9 September 219.0 27.1 20.1 91 66 144.8 24.6 20.7 100 89 10 October 130.0 30.3 15.4 98 36 833.3 31.8 16.7 92 ~ 11 November 6.8 31.6 11.3 69 40 ~ 31.5 10.8 59 45 12 December ~ 29.5 09.8 79 26 ~ 31.0 14.0 31 14

Source : Meteorological observatory, Cattle Breeding farm, ZARS, Igatpuri-422403

15 INDUSTRIES NEAR DARNA RIVER :

Nasik is known for electronic and electrical industries. In recent years few automobile have been installed. As region is known for grapes, wine industry is getting the roof around the Nasik.

All above-mentioned industries are present on Mumbai Agra Road having 10 to 15 km. distance from Darna River.

POPULATION GROWTH OF NASIK CITY :

Population of Nasik recorded 85% the highest ever growth rate between 1941-51.

Population growth rate started rising steadily after 1961 and Nasik recorded more than the average growth rate for urban India in two decades, Nasik acquired the status of

Municipal Corporation with a population of 432,000. Growth rate of 63% of the decade

1971-81 continued in decade 1981-91. By 2001, Nasik has become a million plus.

Growth rate of Nasik has been constantly more than that of urban India, and

Mumbai between 1981-2001 and also projected population increase (Table 1.2).

Table 1.2: Population Growth

Year Population In lakes Change % 1971 274482 ~ 1981 432044 57.4 1991 656925 52.05 2001 1077236 63.98 2011 1750000 62.0 2021 2600000 48.5 2031 3750000 44.25

(Source : Nasik Municipal Corporation) In 1982 Corporation has been formed covering 22 villages.

16 WATER SUPPLY :

There are three existing water works supplies water to Nasik Municipal Corporation area.

NASIK WATER WORKS :

Water supply source to this system is from . The intake work is in the form of a pump house on the river bank. Water is conveyed to the treatment plant located at

Bara Bungalow premises. This system supplies water to the areas on Godavari right bank,

Nasardi and Waldevi in Pathardi. The capacity of the treatment plant was 54 MLD in

1993 and raised to 145 MLD in 1997.

PANCHWATI WATER WORKS :

Water to this system is also from Godavari river. The intake well and pump house are situated on Godavari left bank, from where raw water is conveyed to water works at

Dindori Road. The area served by this system is on the Godavari left bank. The supply from this work is 27 MLD as perl 997 record.

NASIK ROAD WATER WORKS :

Intake works and water treatment of this system are located on Dama river, near village

Chehedi, downstream of confluence of its tributary Waldevi. The area served are Nasik

Road, Deolali Chehedi and Dasak Panchak. The capacity of treatment plant was 27.5

MLD in 1997 (Table 1.3).

Table 1.3: Water supply projections for Nasik city

Water works Location Capacity in MLD in year 1993 1997 2005/2008 2021 Nasik Water Works 54 67 98.85 110.41 Panchwati Water works 27 27 58.00 58.00 Nasik Road Water Works 27.5 27.5 55.00 53.00 New Water Works ~ ~ 43.15 75.33 Total 108.5 121.5 255.0 296.74 (Source : Nasik Municipal Corporation)

17 RATE OF WATER SUPPLY :

The Indian Standard Code, IS: 1172-1983 (Third Revision), recommends a minimum water supply of 200 liters per capita per day (Icpd) for residents. The manual on sewage and sewerage treatment prepared by Ministry of Urban Development recommends a minimum supply for domestic Icpd. Looking in to the rapid growth Nasik may not be to supply today's quantity by the year of 2021.

SEWAGE COLLECTION AND TREATMENT :

In order to maintain the water source for drinking water both for Nasik city and downstream users it is necessary to take the review of status of sewage disposal, rapid growth in settlements in the catchment area of river Dama, such as Deolali, it is observed that there is no provision for collection of municipal civic waste. The sewage joins the river Waldevi which eventually joins river Dama as also in case of Nasardi. In years to come demand for water supply will increase and river Dama will be the main source.

SLUM AREA :

Urbanization is always seen as a prolific growth of slums and Nasik is no exceptional phenomenon. These settlements are normally along the nallas and the river banks and contributing increasing inflow of raw sewage and solid waste. Therefore, authorities have undertaken to basic facilities to keep hygienic conditions for the inhabitants and avoid contamination. Nearly 11 slimis along the river Dama in Nasik road region. Table 1.4 shows Nasik Municipal corporation programme to upgrade sewage collection, providing sanitation particularly low income groups.

ie Table 1.4: Community sanitation programme

Sr. Name of the slum Total Community Latrines Proposed Hand pumps No. popu­ Arrangement lation As per slum WAPCOS 8 12 16 No. Op. Add. wing NMC Seat­ Seat­ Seat­ exist­ re- Requi­ Exist­ Requi­ Optimum Additional ed ed ed ing quire- red ing red Require­ require­ ed ments ments 1 Wadarwadi 425 10 7 17 7 1 - - - 2 2 2 Sadan Nagar 978 30 9 39 9 1 1 4 3 (Nasik Rd.) 3 Wadarwadi 390 20 16 2 2 (Nasik Rd.) 4 Chandanwadi 302 10 2 12 2 1 1 2 1 (Nasik Rd.) 5 Gulabwadi 1521 10 50 61 51 3 1 11 1 7 6 (Nasik Rd.) 6 Siddharth 264 10 11 1 1 1 1 Nagar 7 Sonawane 460 10 15 18 8 1 2 2 wadi (IVIukti Dham) 8 Phule Nagar 438 10 15 18 8 1 1 2 1 (Deolaligaon) Total No. of community Latrins for Darna area slums 8 2 11 4 22 18 rSource: I"4asi k V !unicip al Con)oration , Godavari action Plan*[Ilomp c)nent : or interpretation, diversion and sewage treatment, Water and Power Consultancy Services (India) Government of India Undertaking, March 1994]

REVIEW OF LITERATURE :

A considerable amount of literature has been published during the last decades regarding

chemistry of water. Important contributions have been made by Chillinger (1958),

Germanov (1958), Hem (1950, 1970), Back (1960, 1961, 1966), Seaber (1960, 1962),

Davis (1961), Hill and Ellington (1961), Morgen and Winner (1962), Garrels and

19 Mackenzie (1967), Cherry (1972), Barnes and Hem (1973), Seaber et.al. (1971), Fried

(1975), Cherry and Freez (1979), Snoeyink and Jenkins (1980), Dalton and Upchurch

(1981), Krothe and Bergeron (1981), Stumm and Morgan (1981), Matthess and Harvey

(1982) Draver (1982) on different aspects of water chemistry. In India important contributions to ground water chemistry have been made by Handa (1964, 1965, 1967,

1968 and 1969), Prasad and Sinha (1969), Chatergy et.al. (1964), Baweja et.al. (1969),

Adylkar (1969), Deshmukh and Karant (1973), Sastri (1974, 1976, a, b, 1977),

Vishwanathiah (1974), Dasgupta et.al. (1976) and Vishwanathiah (1974, 1976, a,b,c,

1978). This work has thrown considerable light on pollution on different water bodies, causative factors and effects and ecosystem thereof

India has several river basins; the widest among these are Ganga and Brahmaputra, river basins of 20,000 sq.km. catchment area and above. These are classified as major river basins in addition to 14 river basins with catchment area between 2,000 sq.km. are called as medium river basins. There are 44 basins with catchment area below 2,000 sq.km., termed as minor river basins (Mahajan, 1988).

Scientific studies on rivers are comparatively of recent origin. An international effort to conduct holistic studies on some major rivers of the world was initiated by UNESCO in

1960s. The result of these investigations highlighted for the first time, an extensive degradation occurring on the ecosystem and emphasized an urgent need to reverse the trend at global level. Due to importance of river basins developments of such ecosystems linked to the Indian rivers was identified as a 'thrust area' of the science and technology sector in the Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-85). To evolve meaningful database on river basins, the involvement of Universities, R and D institutions as part of ecosystem

20 development was promoted by Science and Technology, Planning Commission

(Krishnamurti, 1989).

The maintenance of quality of water both surface and subsurface is essential to protect health of human and to provide good quality of water for industry and agriculture, and to perfect aquatic life. In all cases, pollution is a 'negative resource' reducing the economic, life supporting and aesthetic value of a water body.

In this context, there is need to identify present status of inland water quality by regular monitoring. Parkar et.al. (1980) has outlined the change in quality of water has direct and indirect impacts such as the economic, social and envirormiental costs.

The most significant environmental problem and threat to public health in both rural and urban India is inadequate access to clean water and poor sanitation (UNEP, 1995).

Withdrawals of water for domestic and municipal uses in India were estimated at 24.98 billion liters per day in 1968-69. About 70% of this amount was for rural and rest for urban uses. Around 65% of the villages were dependent on wells, 15% on rivers, lakes and springs, 8% on tube wells and the rest on open tanks and ponds for their water requirements. The main source of contamination is seen in and around urban and industrial zones. CPCB has reported that out of 3,245 Indian towns and cities, with about

156 million population, only 21 towns have partial or full sewage treatment facilities.

Most of the domestic, agricultural and industrial wastes are discharged into natural water sources, usually imtreated and or partially treated.

The effluents are characterized according to their sources as domestic sewage, industrial effluent, agricultural leaching, waste tip seepage, runoff from land, accidental spillage of chemicals during loading and transit, accidental leakage from industrial storage tanks, oil

21 refineries etc. (Krishnamurti, 1989). According to medical experts, about 75% of all illness in India are due to contaminated water, such as typhoid, infective hepatitis, cholera, diarrhoea and dysentery, mariy of them could result into epidemics (Mahajan,

1988). In 1955-56, Delhi reported an outbreak of jaundice and about 40,000 cases were reported. The cause was tressed to discharge of untreated domestic waste into river

Yamuna through 17 major drains and canals of Delhi. Bombay experienced similar outbreak of jaundice in 1978, reporting more than 2000 cases. Reports of huge fish killing and destruction of low aquatic life forms due to industrial pollutants have resulted into loss of lively hood for million of poor from fishing community.

The extent of pollution due to pesticides and fertilizers has not yet been quantified, but it is definitely a big source of pollution and can pose a serious problem for both ground water and surface water quality.

Out of the important sources of industrial effluents are the sugar mills located in rural and suburban areas of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Punjab. These sugar plants use large quantities of water and discharge various types of effluents generated from sugar and sugar based industries. Because of release of these wastes, aquatic life is endangered in to high salt concentrations, high BOD and COD, blockage in drains and ditches due to suspended solids, rapid exhaustion of oxygen in water bodies due to organic pollutants, mainly sugars and carbohydrates. These pollutants cause foul odour and make the water body unsuitable for fish and other aquatic life. Thus pollution from industrial sources is expected to increase with the increasing use of water for industrial purposes. Comparatively high temperature of Indian rivers and low levels of summer flows, combined with generally increasing withdrawals can lead to serious water pollufion problems (Mahajan, 1988).

22 According to surveys carried out by several workers on selected stretches of some of the important rivers in India, it has been observed that water of most of the rivers is polluted. Various sources responsible for the pollution of these rivers and their consequent effects on water quality are summarized in Table 1.5

Table 1.5: Environmental Status of Indian Rivers

Rivers Place affected Cause of pollution Pollutants and affected parameters Ganga Rishikesh, Antibiotic plant, 45 Antibiotic waste(9.028m"'/day). Kanpur, tanneries, 10 Textile mills EffluentsBODashighas230mg./lit.MPN/1 Allahabad, and other industries 00ml, bacterial counts 400-2400. Banaras.Patana, Calcutta Hooghly Calcutta Domestic sewage and Industrial waste (252 million gallon/day). industrial waste from Total solid-2345 MT/day tributaries of Ganga Suspected solids-1073.9 MT/day Dissolved solidsl 169.5 MT/day Delhi 13 big Nallas Okhia Pesticides- DDT, Chloral hydrate. Hot industrial units, thermal water. Oil and grease (1800/day), ink power plants, oil and dyes (300 kg/day), Organics (3800 refineries, city sewage kg/day). Acids (91000 kg/day). Alkalis (700 kg/day). Heavy metals (180 kg/day)* Gomati Lucknow 33 waste out falls of pulp 21.26 million gallons of waste per day** and paper industries, distilleries and city sewage Damodar West Bengal Fertilizer unit, govt, 18000 m'^/day from fertilizer units fertilizer factory, cement containing alkalis, chromates, ammonia, units, thermal plants cold cyanides, phenols etc. accounting for washery. 43000 kg BOD 40.64 MT of fine metallurgical coal/day. Suvarna- Ranchi Ranchi distillery, city BOD as high as 104 mg./lit., DO 0.3 Rekha Jamshedpur sewage. mg./lit.. Chambal Gwalior Rayon and silk factories 20 million gallons/day of untreated industrial waste*** Tapi Nepa-nagar Paper mills 6-8 million gallons/day of untreated industrial waste Godawari Andhrapradesh Paper mills High amount of putreschible organic matter, 45000 gallons/day black liquor. Chaliyar Calicut Rayon factory 49641 m'^/day industrial effluent, High BOD. Kalu Mumbai Extensive industrial PH as low as1.2 to 2.4, overall complex (A1, steel, deteriorated Water quality. canning, textile, chemicals synthetic fiber, phenol petrochemicals, pesticides, dyes, pharmaceuticals.)

(Source : Trivedi R K., 1988, Ecology and pollution of Indian rivers, pp 11-17) (*George et.al., 1965; CPHERI, Zonal center, Delhi **.Arrora et.al., 1973 CPHERI, Zonal laboratory Kanpur *** Sastry et.al., 1972, Zonal Laboratory Madras)

23 A survey of the domestic sewage disposal system in the country revealed that most of the cities like Kanpur, Benglore, Ahmedabad etc. do not have full scale sewage treatment plants. Some cities, which have such facilities, are so inadequate that the degree of waste treatment is not up to the mark to discharge it in to the river without affecting water usage downstream. National Environment Engineering Research (NEERI, ) had carried out a survey for the presence of synthetic detergent in city sewage of Delhi, Kanpur,

Kolcutta, Madras, Nagpur and Jaipur in 1970 and it was found that the amount of alkyl benzene sulphonate (ABS) ranged between 0.2 to 2.0 mg./lit., creating hindrance during the treatment of water for water supply (Mahajan, 1988).

Metallic impurities are introduced into the aquatic ecosystem by human activities as well as natural sources. Generally, weathering of rocks, mining, quarrying, smelting and processing of metallic articles and use of articles containing metals are responsible for the introduction of metallic pollution in water bodies. Heavy metal toxicity and pollution as well knovm and hardly require any elaboration. Apart from the above sources, automobile exhaust, garbage incinerators, aerosols and cans of cold drinks, cosmetics, pesticides, paints, varnishes propellants etc. can add to the metals. Toxicity of a metal to an organism depends on its concentration in the ambient condition. Almost all metals are toxic at higher levels, but a few are toxic even at very low concentration. The presence of such metals in surface water is a subject of serious concern. Surface water with higher quantities of toxic metal ions can affect the public health to a great extent when used for drinking and bathing purposes. The impact of heavy metals in drinking water is generally cumulative. Hence, prolonged use of such water is dangerous to health. They cause biochemical effect such as inhibition of enzyme, genetic damage, hypertension and

24 impaired fimctioning of vital body systems. Some of the heavy metals like Cr, Cd and Pb are well known carcinogens in human system (Gautam et.al., 1994., Nayak et.al., 1994).

Similarly, high concentration of heavy metals in soil leads to accumulation in plants resulting in the contamination in food chain. This is because many of these metals are toxic to animals and man (Tank, 1983). Therefore, there rapidly growing awareness about the threat posed by these potentially toxic heavy metals present in soil and water resources. Furthermore depending upon the retention capability of soils, these metals undergo considerable movement in the subsurface and enter in to the local groundwater

(Pawar et.al. 1989).

The discharge of industrial effluents or sewage may contribute to a significant amount of heavy metals (Berrow et.al., 1972., Manivasakam, 1987, Srikant et.al., 1992). Even sewage from domestic origin is reported to have appreciable amount of toxic elements like lead, cadmium and nickel (Williams, 1975). Plants absorb these metals from the soil through their root system (Hagari, 1973). Principal source of metals in water was reported from atmosphere, especially lead (Buchaner, 1973). Therefore, investigation of heavy metals in water columns as well as sediments has been required for all the rivers of the world (Abdulla et.al., 1972., Forstner et.al., 1983; Garlasehi et.al., 1985 Sakai et.al.,

1986). Studies have been taken up in India by Vivian et.al., 1977; Pandey et.al., 1980;

Ajmal et.al.; 1985 Grieken.et.al., 1987; Gautam et.al., 1994; Srivastava et.al., 1994 clearly indicated the source of metals. Trivedi et.al. (1991) and Goel and Bhosale (2001) studied heavy metals such as Cu, Mn, Cd, Ni, Zn, Fe amd organic waste from river

Krishna covering 260 km. distance indicated non-point sources are responsible for heavy metal contamination.

25 Soam and Sing (1997) used spatial modeling approach to water pollution monitoring for

Krishna river with reference of sugar industrial waste. They identified three distinct types

of pollution such as sugar industries waste, fertilizer and pesticide contamination and

domestic waste.

Rivers of Maharashtra, can be broadly divided into two categories- East flowing rivers

drain into the bay of Bengol and west flowing rivers flow into Arebian Sea. The east

flowing rivers of Mahrashtra are Godavari, Vainaganga, Vardha, Penganga, Puma,

Manjra, Bhima, Nira, Sina, Krishna, Koyna, Panchganga, Dhudhganga. West flowing

rivers are Tapi, Gima, Vaitama, Ulhas, Savitri, Sastri, Vasisthi. Godavari basin covers

maximum area of Maharashtra. Godavari basin face the pollution problem from various

sources that are responsible for contamination of water such as :

• Release of pollutants from municipal industrial effluents, dumping of solid waste

from various activities.

• Leaching of agricultural land carrying material used during agricultural practices

such as fertilizers and pesticides.

• Runoff from city streets, from solid waste storage sites, commercial activities in

urban environment and from industrial sites.

• Erosion of soil and sedimentation in water bodies number of workers monitored

the river water quality.

Gunale and Ghole (2004) prepared a report for MPCB on river water quality in

Maharashtra and reported major stretches of rivers such as Panchganga, Krishna, Mula-

Mutha, Godavari are polluted due to domestic and industrial wastes.

26 Work carried out by CPCB (1995) on the Godavari river revels that the higher BOD

values indicated river stretch from Gangapur to was found polluted and

remaining stretch are relatively clean in 1990-1999. The work done by Gaikwad (2000)

on river water quality in and around Nasik region urban discharge and other human

activities are the main reasons in changing its quality. The multifactorial correlation

matrix between parameters was made for 30 sampling station of Godavari. The

parameters showed either a direct / positive correlation or indirect/ negative correlation in

the present study. In this study, an inverse relationship was observed between DO and

free CO2 (r = -0.77). The same type of relationship has been earlier observed by others

also (Ganapati, 1940; Gonzalves and Joshi, 1946; Rao, 1955). Similarly, an inverse

relationship was noted between DO and most probable number (MPN) (r = - 0.64), DO

and COD (r = - 0.66) and DO and total alkalinity (r = - 0.68). On the contrary, total

alkalinity showed direct relationship with free C02 (r = 0.69). The same type of

relationship has been observed by More (1997). Similarly, a direct correlation has been

found between total alkalinity and total hardness (r = 0.59) also recorded by Olsen and

Sommerfeld (1977) and Goel et.al., 1985. Calcium has also shown a direct relationship

with total alkalinity (r = 0.64), Magnesium (r = 0.62) and total hardness (r = 0.80). Total solid content showed direct relationship with total alkalinity (r = 0.72). The same trend was also observed by More (1997). Increase in BOD and COD in the present study gains the support from the findings of Sriwastava (1993) as well as Diwakar and Saxena

(1996).

Number of workers Aher et.al., 2002, and Islam (2002) and Bhonsle (2003) made survey of water pollution on Godavari river, and canal water showed that water is

27 characterized by alkaline earth. Same type of work carried out by Islam, Gyananath

(2002) from Swami Ramanandtirth University on contamination of chemical fertilizers from ground water and seasonal variation. Prominently they found that phosphate levels are higher than permissible limit. Nande (2000) monitored the physicochemical characters of Godavari and Kadwa river near Sinnar and found that both rivers are polluted by disposal of sewage and industrial waste and leaching from land due to use of fertilizers and pesticides. River Dama flowing on the periphery of old city was not investigated for its quality assessment Hence, the present investigation was undertaken for its systematic study of Godavari basin, especially Dama river in the Nasik region in order to understand the present water quality and to know the sources and types of pollutants responsible for any change. Such basic background data will help in maintaining quality of water for a growing urban areas. Also such data will help to systematically plan the developmental activities with ensuring conservation and protection of river water quality.

Sargaonkar and Deshpande (2002) gave classification of water in Indian context using various parameters and classified as excellent, acceptable slightly polluted, polluted and heavily polluted.

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