Abstract
This paper provides an overview of the use of benthic macroinvertebrates for rapid assessment of the wadeable Himalayan mountain rivers that are under the threat of pollution as a result of direct discharge of untreated sewage and disposal of unsorted solid wastes. A review of water quality study in the rivers of Nepal indicated that organic load and water abstraction (for hydropower generation, irrigation, and drinking water supply) are the two major drivers of pollution in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) Rivers. Rapid field bioscreening (RFB) is described as one of the quickest methods useful for preclassification of the study sites, followed by NEPBIOS-Original (Nepalese biotic score). The latter has been modified several times and named differently as NEPBIOS-BRS, NEPBIOS-EXTENDED, GRSBIOS, and HKHBIOS in the context of their efficiency in application, such as for the Bagmati river system (BRS), the Ganga River System (GRS), and the HKH rivers, respectively. It is recommended that the present list of invertebrates with 145 families be further extended and the tolerance value of some of the taxa be revised.
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