Satish Pradhan Dynanasadhana College

A Study of water quality in and around Khardi Village, Taluka Shahpur, District Thane.

Dr. Sonali Kokane Senior Programme Officer, NSS unit, Satish Pradhan Dynanasadhana College

This report was prepared for NSS unit of Satish pradhan Dnyanasadhana College during

The Rural Residential Camp at Vanganpada village, Kardi, Shahpur 2017-18 21st December 2017 through 27th December 2017

1 | P a g e A Study of water quality in and around Khardi Village, Taluka Shahpur, District Thane.

Introduction to Khardi town:

Khardi is a town in , . It is also a station on the Suburban Railway system on the Central line route between and Kasara. It is 1000 ft above sea - level and is a major attraction and favoured destination for people in Mumbai with a hectic life, to spend some time with their family, rest, relax or just enjoy its natural beauty. Khardi is a flourishing township which has a national bank, hospital, post office, petrol pump, restaurants, a school, a police station, a Jain Temple, and a market. It takes nearly 1 Hr 30 Min for one to reach Khardi from Mumbai (CST) & about 45 Min. from . Khardi is located on National Highway No.3 one of the prominent 4 lane Highway which connects to nearly 18 Indian States. All the devotees bound for the holy shrine of Shirdi Sai Baba pass from Khardi further enhancing its importance.

Khardi is part of Taluka: Shahapur, (District: Thane) which is surrounded by the Sahyadris and places like Mahuli and Aaja are popular spots for trekking. The Maharashtra Government has declared Shahapur a centre for Tourism. Shahapur had an average literacy rate of 87%, higher than the national average of 59.5%. Since Dist: Shahapur supplies almost all the drinking water to Mumbai, the government of Maharashtra has declared this town to be a No Chemical Zone; no one can start a chemical industry here. Many dwellers from Mumbai & surrounding towns have made Khardi their second home while few have migrated lock stock barrel to open, clear, pollution free & Panoramic environment of Khardi. Khardi is very easily accessible by Rail or Road. Surrounded by 3 beautiful sweet water lakes namely Bhatsa, Tansa and Vaitarna, who are the major source & suppliers of drinking water to Mumbai and Thane city.

About 100 km away from hustle bustle of Mumbai (Colaba to Khardi approx. distance)... Khardi offers refuge particularly in the post monsoon months up to onset of summer (May– June). Three large fresh water bodies surrounding Khardi help keep temperatures down thus bringing much relief. (Approx. Distance from Thane City is about 60 km)

2 | P a g e Introduction to the Water Usage in the town of Khardi:

"'Water" is a prime natural resource and is considered as a precious national asset. Water is used for various purposes ranging from domestic, agricultural, industrial & allied purposes. The deterioration of water quality takes place due to untreated disposal of sewage and industrial effluents.(Abbasi et al, 2002).Disposal of untreated domestic sewage from cities, towns and villages is the major source of pollution of surface water bodies leading to the outbreak of water borne diseases. According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, about 80% of water pollution in developing countries like is caused by domestic wastes (Durmishi et al., 2012). The growth of urban megalopolises increased industrial activities and dependence of the agricultural sector on chemicals and fertilizers which has led to overloading of the carrying capacity of water bodies to assimilate and decompose waste load. The objective of any water quality management is to balance the interests of users with the development of the resource, while at the same time improving and preserving environmental quality and ecosystem services.

Our NSS camp was based in Khardi village for the three consecutive years and we undertook this project to evaluate the quality of water sources in Khardi namely the three sweet water lakes of Bhatsa, Tansa and Vaitarna. Water Quality Index for Ground Water are based on assessment of various parameters such as pH, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate, chloride, TDS, fluoride, nitrate, iron, sulphate, manganese, turbidity, total alkalinity, sodium, potassium, electrical conductivity and carbonate. (Ramakrishnaiah et al, 2009) .The parameters for determining the quality of River water consists of physico- chemical parameters viz. pH, DO, BOD, COD, Ammonia and Nitrate. We studied the parmeters of River water of River Vaitarna, River Bhatsa, River Tansa.

Results of the Survey Samples of Water

River: Vaitarna

Vaitarna is an important river in Thane District that flows across Shahapur, Wade and talukas. The tributaries of this river are Dahreja, Surya, and Tansa. A dam has been built onthe river. Datiware Creek is near the mouth of the river. Detailed analysis of monitored data is given in table below.

3 | P a g e Parameter pH DO BOD COD TOC Ammonia Sample 1 7.7 7.0 8.5 28.33 21.86 0.1 Sample 2 7.9 6.9 10.5 26.26 25.38 0.1 Sample 3 7.6 7.1 9.7 19.40 18.19 0.1 Sample 4 7.5 7.2 11.22 24.93 20.71 0.1 Sample 5 7.8 7.0 13.48 22.46 17.93 0.1

The Pollution in this river is due to Domestic discharges and human activities as there are no industries around 3km.

Tansa River

The Tansa River is a small river on Salsett Island near Mumbai, and is one of Mumbai's water sources via Tansa Lake. It is embanked by one of the largest masonry dams in the world, built in 1892. The embankment is nearly 2 m. long, 118 ft. high and 30 m. thick at the base. The dam has 1310 mcm capacity of water retention. Detailed analysis of monitored data is given in table below:

Parameter pH DO BOD COD TOC Ammonia Sample 1 7.9 6.8 4.2 24 76.3 0.1 Sample 2 8.0 6.9 3.5 36.53 85.36 0.1 Sample 3 8.1 6.5 5.4 37.40 58.29 0.1 Sample 4 8.4 7.0 4.6 41.87 76.71 0.1 Sample 5 7.7 6.5 5.7 40.45 75.93 0.1

The Pollution in this river is due to presence of Small scale industries.

River Bhatsa

Bhatsa River originates near Kasara and gets extended to Shahapur in the Thane district. River basin covers the major area from Shahapur to Titwala. Along the river stream many villages such as Bathsai, Shera, Vaveghar, Nadgaon and Rang are located. At Titwala Bhatsa River confluences with Kalu River, this flows through the Murbad district. From Kalyan onwards, the river flows towards Diva and Mumbra and finally it empties into the . MPCB has following three monitoring locations of Bhatsa River. The descriptive statistics is given in table below:

4 | P a g e Parameter pH DO BOD COD TOC Ammonia Sample 1 7.9 6.8 4.2 24 76.3 0.1 Sample 2 8.0 6.9 3.5 36.53 85.36 0.1 Sample 3 8.1 6.5 5.4 37.40 58.29 0.1 Sample 4 8.4 7.0 4.6 41.87 76.71 0.1 Sample 5 7.7 6.5 5.7 40.45 75.93 0.1

There is no development zone up to 3 km. Only non-polluting industries such as Garment stitching, wooden furniture, wooden toys, and assembling units for Electronic items are allowed around 3 km No effluent discharge possibilities exist but still the high pH maybe due to accidental discharge of effluent from Liberty Oil Mill.

References 1. Abbasi, S.A., 2002, Water Quality Indices State–of–the– Art, Pondicherry: Pondicherry University, Centre for Pollution Control & Energy Technology. 2. CPCB, 2001, Environmental Atlas of India, New Delhi: Central Pollution Control Board. 3. Ramakrishnaiah C R, Dadashivaiah C., Ranganna, G., 2009, Assessment of Water Quality Index for the Groundwater in Tumkur Taluka, Karnataka State, India, EJournal of Chemistry, http://www.e-journals.net 2009, 6(2), 523-530 4. Durmishi, B.H., M. Ismaili, A. Shabani, Sh. Abduli, Drinking Water Quality Assessment in Tetova Region, American Journal of Environmental Sciences 8 (2): 162-169, 2012

5 | P a g e