1 From the Director’s Desk... The Environmental Information System (ENVIS) has been providing a base for information dissemination issues related to State of Environment of Odisha. Publication of newsletter is one of the major components of the ENVIS Programme; other being information dissemination through web- enabled system and query services. The Centre has been responding to various queries on environmental issues. We have discussed on various issues in our earlier publication. This issue covers "Water Quality of Mahanadi River". Dr. Sailabala Padhi , M.Phil, Ph.D., D.Sc. Director, Centre for Environmental Studies Water Quality of Mahanadi River State's Water Resources: river in Odisha are Ib, Jeera, Ong, Tel, Bratang, Manjore, Karadijore, Hardharjore & Odisha depends largely upon monsoon Surubalijore. The river length in the Odisha is for its water resources. South west monsoon 494 km. triggers rainfall in the state. About 78% of total Its farthest headwaters lie 6 kilometers amount of rainfall occurs during the period from Pharsiya village of Chhatisgarh. The hills from June to September and balance 22% are an extension of the Eastern Ghats and are a remaining period. In addition to seasonal source of many other streams which then go on availability, the rainfall in the state also shows to join the Mahanadi. For the first 80 kilometers special variation i.e. from 1200 mm in the of its course, the Mahanadi flows in a northerly southern coastal plain to about 1700 mm in the direction and drains the Raipur district and northern plateau. The state is endowed with an touches the eastern portions of Raipur city. It is extensive network of rivers and streams. The a rather narrow river at the stage. After being major river basins are Subarnarekha, Brahmani, joined by the Seonath, the river flows in the Bahuda, Indrabati, Budhabalanga & Jambhira, easterly direction through the remaining parts Mahanadi, Vansadhara, Kolab, Baitarani, of its journey. It is joined by the Jonk and Hasdeo Rushikulya, and Nagavali. In this issue focus rivers here before entering into Odisha after has been made on Mahanadi river basin. covering about half of its total length. Near the Mahanadi River Basin: city of Sambalpur, Odisha, it is dammed by the The Total Catchment area is 141134 sq. km. largest earthen dam in the world, the Hirakud It covers 4 states namely Odisha (65628 sq. km.), Dam. River is joined by the Ib, Ong, Tel, and Jharkhand (132 sq. km.), Chhatisgarh (75136 sq. other minor streams. It then skirts the km.), Maharastra (238 sq. km.). In Odisha, it boundaries of the Boudh district and forces a passes through Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Angul, tortuous way between ridges and ledges on a Dhenkanal, Deogarh, Keonjhar, Jajpur and series of rapids until it reaches Dholpur. The Kendrapara. Major Tributaries of Mahanadi rapids end here and the river rolls towards he 2 Source: Website-Water Resources Information of India Eastern Ghats, forcing its way through then via point, Jagatsinghpur. The combined Delta of the 64 kilometers long Satakosia Gorge. The Mahanadi's numerous distributaries and the Satakosia Gorge ends at Badamul of Nayagarh. Brahmani in one of the largest in India. The The river enters the Odisha plains of Naraj, Mahanadi was notorious for its devastating Cuttack, where it pours down between two hills. floods for much of recorded history. However, The river travels Cuttack district in the east-west the constriction of the Hirakud dam has greatly direction, just before entering Cuttack, it gives altered the situation. Today a network of canals, off a large distributaries called the Kathajori. The barrages and check dams keep the river well in Kathajori then throws off many streams like the control. However heavy rain can still cause large Kuakhai, Devi, Surua which fall into the Bay of scale flooding. Bengal after entering Puri district. The Kathajori Water Quality: itself falls into the sea as the Jotdar. Other distributaries of Mahanadi include the Paika, For assessment of water quality of the Birupa, Chitraptala river, Genguti and Lun. The Mahanadi river, results of five major parameters Birupa then goes on to join the Brahmani river namely pH, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), at Krushnanagar and enters the Bay of Bengal Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total at Dhamara. The Mahanadi proper enters the Conductivity, Total Coliform(TC), have been sea via several channels near Paradeep at false taken into consideration. Results of the different 3 parameters for different stations/points have been collected from the reports of Odisha State Pollution Control Board and Central Pollution Control Board. Only annual average data has been analyzed. Following stations/points have been covered while analysis of the results. Sl. Monitoring Station District Sl. Monitoring Station District 1. Sundargarh Sundargarh 10. Tikarapada Bolangir 2. Jharsuguda Jharsuguda 11. Narasinghpur Cuttack 3. Brajrajnagar U/S Jharsuguda 12. Cuttack U/S Cuttack 4. Brajrajnagar D/S Jharsuguda 13. Cuttack D/S Cuttack 5. Hirakud Sambalpur 14. Kathajodi D/S Cuttack 6. Sambalpur U/S Sambalpur 15. Kuakhai U/S Khurda 7. Sambalpur D/S Sambalpur 16. Kuakhai D/S Khurda 8. Sonepur U/S Sonepur 17. Choudwar, Birupa D/S Cuttack 9. Sonepur D/S Sonepur 18. Paradeep D/S Jagatsinghpur Data covers from the year 2004 to 2013 (last 10 years). Biological Oxygen Demand: BOD is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms in a body of water to break down organic materials. Results of monitoring at different parts of the river Mahanadi show that BOD Value is more than 3 at Kathajodi D/S and Kuakhai D/s during last 10 Annual Average of BOD Value of Mahanadi River during last 10 years 39 36 3.8 33 4.2 3.4 30 4.3 3.1 27 2.9 4 3.5 24 2.8 2.5 21 2.7 3.5 3.6 2.5 2.7 1.7 18 2.5 3.9 4 2.2 2.6 1.5 2.2 1.9 BOD Value 1.6 15 2 1.6 2 2.4 3.3 2.7 2.2 3.5 1.5 1.3 1.9 1.9 1.1 12 1.8 2.1 1.6 1 1.6 1.1 2.2 0.8 1 2.6 1 0.8 1.5 3 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.1 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.3 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.4 3.9 2.1 1.4 1.3 2.2 9 1.6 1.3 1.5 1.3 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.3 1.5 1.2 1.6 1.4 1.4 3.1 1.8 3.2 2.5 1.1 1 0.9 1.7 1 1.1 0.7 0.9 1 1.3 1 2.7 6 1 1 1.4 0.9 1 1.3 0.95 0.9 1.3 1.4 1 1.3 4.2 1.5 1.9 1.1 1.3 1.1 1 1.5 1.2 1.8 1.2 3.1 1.1 1.1 1.4 2.8 1 1 1.3 1.4 1.6 0.9 1 1.2 1.2 2.8 1.4 2 3 1.3 1.2 1.5 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.6 1.1 1.8 1 1.1 0.8 1.1 1 1.5 3.6 1.3 1.5 1.1 1.1 0.7 3 1.3 0.9 2.3 3.1 2.4 1.9 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.4 0 111.2 0.9 0.8 1 1.2 Hirakud Tikarapada Sundargarh Jharsuguda Cuttack U/S Cuttack D/S Kuakhai U/S Kuakhai D/S Sonepur U/S Sonepur D/S Narasinghpur Kathajodi D/S Paradeep D/S Paradeep Sambalpur U/S Sambalpur D/S Brajrajnagar U/S Brajrajnagar D/S Monitoring Station Choudwar D/S Birupa at 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 4 years. In other points, it is less than 3. In the Hirakud reservoir, the Value is the less than 1.5. It clearly indicates that when the river passes to various places directly or through rivulets, BOD value is increasing. Such higher value may be due to anthropogenic activities. The normal standard is less than 2 for drinking water. As per CPCB guideline BOD is determined by 5 days at 200C procedure. Value is more then 2 in 3 locations namely Cuttack D/S, Kathajodi D/S & Kuakhai D/S found during last ten years. pH value: It is a measure of activity or alkalinity of water soluble substances. The normal standard of drinking water is 6.5 to 8.5., while analysing of pH value of different points of the Mahanadi River, it shows that pH value is near 8 during 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013 at all points and it is less during rest years. Maximum value of 8.2 has been observed at Kathajodi D/s during the year 2013 and minimum annual average of 7.3 has been observed at Tikarapada in 2005 and Kuakhai D/s in 2009. Annual Average of pH Value of Mahanadi river during last 10 years 90 80 7.9 8 8.1 7.9 8.2 7.8 8 8 7.7 7.9 8.1 7.9 8 8 7.8 8.1 8 7.8 70 8.1 8.1 8 8 8 7.7 7.6 7.8 8 8 8 7.9 7.8 8.1 7.9 8 7.8 7.8 60 8 7.9 7.9 7.9 8 7.9 7.8 7.8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7.7 8 7.8 7.5 8.1 8.1 7.8 8.1 8.1 7.8 7.8 8 7.7 7.6 8.1 50 8 7.9 7.9 7.9 8 7.6 8 7.8 7.7 7.9 7.6 7.9 7.71 7.6 7.74 7.9 7.4 7.8 7.8 7.7 8 7.55 7.8 7.3 7.6 pH Value 40 7.9 7.8 7.6 7.6 7.8 7.8 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.9 7.8 7.7 7.9 8 7.6 7.6 7.7 30 7.6 7.5 7.6 7.6 7.7 7.6 7.6 7.6 7.6 7.9 7.8 7.6 7.8 7.8 7.8 7.6 7.8 7.9 20 7.5 7.7 7.7 7.5 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.6 7.5 7.7 7.7 7.9 8 7.9 7.8 7.8 7.8 7.6 7.8 7.6 7.8 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.5 8.1 10 7.5 7.4 7.4 7.4 7.6 7.3 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.6 7.6 7.6 7.6 7.6 7.8 7.8 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.6 7.5 7.8 7.6 7.6 7.7 7.4 7.5 7.5 0 Hirakud Tikarapada Sundargarh Jharsuguda Cuttack U/S Cuttack D/S Kuakhai U/S Kuakhai D/S Sonepur U/S Sonepur D/S Narasinghpur Kathajodi D/S Paradeep D/S Paradeep Sambalpur U/S Sambalpur Sambalpur D/S Brajrajnagar U/S Brajrajnagar D/S Monitoring Station Choudwar Birupa at D/S 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) : It is commonly used to indirectly measure the amount of organic compounds in water.