Abstract
Amongst the various anthropogenic activities, mass bathing and other religious rituals also affect the water quality of aquatic ecosystem. The present research has been conducted to evaluate the impact of mass bathing and other religious activities on the eight famous religious water bodies of Haryana (Kapalmochan tirth, Kulotarn tirth, Ban-Ganga tirth, Brahmsarovar, Jyotisar, Saraswati tirth, Phalgu tirth and Pandu-Pindara tirth). The water samples were collected from three sampling stations (A, B and C) at each of the eight selected sites (S1 to S8) before and after the religious rituals and also seasonally. The samples were analyzed for Dissolved oxygen (DO), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) ammonia and heavy metals . The study highlighted the seasonal variations of physicochemical characteristics and also the effects of mass bathing and religious activities on water quality of the religious sites. Although the water was reported as safe in terms of DO content, total ammonia, BOD and the values of COD before the religious rituals but the values exceeded the maximum permissible limit {DO (0.8±0.1, 0.76±0.11), BOD (25.07±0.13, 18.13±0.13),COD (131.9±2.08), Ammonia (2.31±.23, 6.57±0.02) Iron (5890 µg L-1) and Zinc (200 µg L-1)} after mass bathing and religious rituals indicating that the water was not suitable for drinking as well as bathing purposes after the rituals/mass bathing. So, bathing during/after such rituals may become a health hazards to the bathers or users of the water and also may affect the aquatic biota, further depleting it. There is thus a need of regular monitoring and regular application of suitable remedial measures to prevent the depletion of the quality of lentic waters.
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