Analysis of water quality and biomonitoring of Tuirial River in vicinity of the Hydel Project in Mizoram

Abstract

The majority of people in Mizoram depend on surface water bodies for their day to day life, as underground water is hardly assessable in most parts of the state, due to predominance of hilly terrain. The supply of treated water is limited, and majority of rural people depend on untreated water for drinking and other purposes. Major portion of domestic, agriculture, industrial and other wastes are directly or indirectly discharged into the rivers situated in the vicinity, as no proper drainage system has been developed in the state so far. Thus, there is an ample need to determine status of fresh water bodies in the state, and to develop appropriate strategy for management of surface water bodies. In view of this, the present research was taken up to determine quality of water and biomonitoring of Tuirial river in vicinity of the Tuirial Hydel Project, Mizoram. This study is also aimed to determine how the bioindicators respond with intensity of pollutants. Undoubtedly, the information procured from this study would provide a needful dimension towards formulation of appropriate water pollution abatement technique, which can be used as a measure for management of aquatic bodies. Keeping in view the components of hydro electric power projects, four sampling points along the river bank namely, Site 1 - demarcated as reference station which is at the upstream of dam; Site 2 - demarcated as diversion inlet on river; Site 3 - demarcated as powerhouse outlet and Site 4 - demarcated as diversion outlet situated downstream of river were selected for detailed investigation. Water samples were collected (at monthly interval) for a period of two years i.e., from January 2008 to December 2009, and analyzed for various physico-chemical (temperature, total dissolved solids, electrical conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand, total hardness, acidity, total alkalinity, chloride, fluoride, nitrate-N and phosphate-P content) and biological characteristics (saprobic score, diversity score, taxa richness