Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Identification of Heavy Metal Pollution Source Due to Idol Immersion Activity Across the Cauvery River Basin, Tamil Nadu, South India


Affiliations
1 DNA Barcoding and Marine Genomic Laboratory, Department of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, India
 

Idol immersion activities alter the hydrological parameters of an aquatic body. However, relevant research in the Cauvery river basin in terms of idol immersion activity has been limited. In the present study, a total of 29 water and topsoil samples were collected from the Cauvery basin before and after idol immersion, and evaluated for the presence of metals. The experimental results showed elevated Cd and Pb levels in water and sediment samples of both Cauvery and Kollidam rivers. Strong statistical significance was observed for all the elements studied in the soil samples collected before and after idol immersion (P < 0.01). Industrial effluents, textile waste, untreated sewage, municipal waste and agricultural activities are the most common causes of elevated levels of heavy metals in the study area. Further, geo-accumulation index and pollution load index studies showed lesser impact of idol immersion on metal distribution compared to other sites reported from India. However, strict regulatory policies of the concerned authorities help maintain the quality of the Cauvery basin.

Keywords

Geo-accumulation Index, Heavy Metals, Idol Immersion, Pollution Load Index, River Basin.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Dong, Z. R., Diversity of river morphology and diversity of bio-communities. J. Hydraul. Eng., 2003, 11, 1–6.

  • Meybeck, M., Total mineral dissolved transport by world major rivers/Transport en sels dissous des plus grands fleuves mondiaux. Hydrol. Sci. Bull., 1976, 21(2), 265–284.

  • Milliman, J. D. and Meade, R. H., World-wide delivery of river sediment to the oceans. J. Geol., 1983, 91(1), 1–21.

  • Alloway, B. J., Heavy metals in soils. In Sources of Heavy Metals and Metalloids in Soils (ed. Alloway B. J.), Blackie Academic and Professional Publisher, Springer, London, UK, 1995, p.368.

  • Commission, C. W., Integrated Hydrological Data Book: Description of Different River Basins, Government of India, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, and Central Water Commission, New Delhi, 2012, p. 31.

  • Kumarasamy, P., James, R. A., Dahms, H. U., Byeon, C. W. and Ramesh, R., Multivariate water quality assessment from the Tamiraparani river basin, southern India. Environ. Earth Sci., 2014, 71(5), 2441–2451.

  • Kalavathy, S., Sharma, T. R. and Sureshkumar, P., Water quality index of river Cauvery in Tiruchirappalli district, Tamil Nadu. Arch. Environ. Sci., 2011, 5, 55–61.

  • Premkumar, L., Unfolding disaster: a study of Chemplast Sanmar’s toxic contamination in Mettur. Community Environmental Monitoring and Corporate Accountability Desk Programs of other Media (ed. Jayaram, N.), 2007, pp. 1–33; https://www.scribd.com/ document/126704364.

  • Falkenmark, M. and Widstrand, C., Population and water resources: a delicate balance. Popul. Bull., 1992, 47(3), 1.

  • Dhanakumar, S., Solaraj, G. and Mohanraj, R., Heavy metal partitioning in sediments and bioaccumulation in commercial fish species of three major reservoirs of river Cauvery delta region, India. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf., 2015, 113, 145–151.

  • Karbassi, A. R., Monavari, S. M., Bidhendi, G. R. N., Nouri, J. and Nematpour, K., Metal pollution assessment of sediment and water in the Shur River. Environ. Monit. Assess., 2008, 147(1–3), 107.

  • Alain, C. M. et al., Biogeodynamics of pollutants in soils and sediments: risk assessment of delayed and non-linear responses. In Time Frames: Soil and Sediments as Part of the Hydrological Cycle (eds Salomons, W. and Stigliani, W. M.), Springer, Verlag Berlin, Germany, 1995, p. 2.

  • Theofanis, Z. U., Astrid, S., Lidia, G. and Calmano, W. G., Contaminants in sediments: remobilisation and demobilization. Sci. Total. Environ., 2001, 266, 195–202.

  • Jezierska, B. and Witeska, M., Soil and water monitoring, protection and remediation. In The Metal Uptake and Accumulation in Fish Living in Polluted Waters (eds Twardowska, I. et al.), Springer, Poland, 2006, p. 110.

  • Udhayakumar, R., Manivannan, P., Raghu, K. and Vaideki, S., Assessment of physico-chemical characteristics of water in Tamilnadu. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf., 2016, 134, 474–477.

  • Bajpai, A., Pani, S., Jain, R. K. and Misra, S. M., Heavy metal contamination through idol immersion in a tropical lake. Ecol. Environ. Conserv., 2002, 8, 157–159.

  • Upadhyaya, A. and Bajpai, A., Comparison of physico-chemical parameters of various water bodies in and around Bhopal (MP). Asian J. Chem. Environ. Res., 2010, 3, 20–26.

  • Shukla, S. S., Effect of public awareness campaign in mitigating impact of religious activities on Bhopal lakes. In Image of water in religion, myths, literature, Switzerland, Global Biodiversity Forum, Abstr., 2004, vol. 2, p. 17.

  • Kaur, B. J., George, M. P. and Mishra, S., Water quality assessment of river Yamuna in Delhi stretch during Idol immersion. Int. J. Environ. Sci., 2013, 3(6), 2122.

  • Mukerjee, A., Religious activities and management of water bodies. Case study of idol immersion in context of urban lakes management. Int. Water Hist. Assoc., 2005, 3(3), 325.

  • Storelli, M. M., Storelli, A., D'addabbo, R., Marano, C., Bruno, R. and Marcotrigiano, G. O., Trace elements in loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) from the eastern Mediterranean Sea: overview and evaluation. Environ. Pollut., 2005, 135(1), 163–170.

  • Reddy, M. V., Babu, K. S., Balaram, V. and Satyanarayanan, M., Assessment of the effects of municipal sewage, immersed idols and boating on the heavy metal and other elemental pollution of surface water of the eutrophic Hussainsagar Lake (Hyderabad, India). Environ. Monit. Assess., 2012, 184(4), 1991–2000.

  • Reddy, M. V. and Kumar, A. V., Effects of Ganesh-idol immersion on some water quality parameters of Hussainsagar Lake. Curr. Sci., 2001, 81(11), 1412–1413.

  • Ganeshkumar, A., Arun, G., Vinothkumar, S. and Rajaram, R., Bioaccumulation and translocation efficacy of heavy metals by Rhizophora mucronata from tropical mangrove ecosystem, southeast coast of India. Ecohydrol. Hydrobiol., 2019, 19(1), 66–74.

  • Tomlinson, D. L., Wilson, J. G., Harris, C. R. and Jeffrey, D. W., Problems in the assessment of heavy-metal levels in estuaries and the formation of a pollution index. Helgol. Meeresunters., 1980, 33(1), 566.

  • Jayaram, K. C., Kaveri riverine system: an environmental study. The Madras Science Foundation, Chennai, 2000, pp. 1–6.

  • Rajamani, R., Foreword. In Kaveri Riverine System: An environmental Study (ed. Jayaram, K. C.), Madras Science Foundation, Chennai, 1994.

  • Mathivanan, K. and Rajaram, R. D., Anthropogenic influences on toxic metals in water and sediment samples collected from industrially polluted Cuddalore coast, Southeast coast of India. Environ. Earth Sci., 2014, 72(4), 997–1010.

  • Rajaram, R., Ganeshkumar, A., Vinothkumar, S. and Rameshkumar, S., Multivariate statistical and GIS-based approaches for toxic metals in tropical mangrove ecosystem, southeast coast of India. Environ. Monit. Assess., 2017, 189(6), 288.

  • Arumugam, G., Rajendran, R., Shanmugam, V., Sethu, R. and Krishnamurthi, M., Flow of toxic metals in food-web components of tropical mangrove ecosystem, Southern India. Hum. Ecol. Risk Assess.: Int. J., 2018, 24(5), 1367–1387.

  • Singh, M., Müller, G. and Singh, I. B., Heavy metals in freshly deposited stream sediments of rivers associated with urbanisation of the Ganga Plain, India. Water Air Soil Pollut., 2002, 141(1–4), 35–54.

  • Jayakumar, R., Dhanakumar, S., Kalaiselvi, K. and Palanivel, M., Multivariate statistical analysis of heavy metals and other hydro chemical characteristics in industrially polluted groundwater resources of Mettur, India. Chem. Sci. Trans., 2015, 4(3), 728–735.

  • Mortvedt, J. J., Heavy metal contaminants in inorganic and organic fertilizers. Fertil. Res., 1996, 5–11.

  • Department of Environment, Government of Tamil Nadu, India, 2001, http://www.tnenvis.nic.in/DtProfiles/trichy (retrieved on 19 March 2009).

  • Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Toxicological profile for lead (draft for public comment). US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Atlanta, GA, USA, 2019.

  • Davidson, A. et al., Lead. In Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 2014; 10.1002/14356007.a15_193.pub3.

  • Carr, D. S., Spangenberg, W. C., Chronley, K. and Meshri, D. T., Lead compounds. In Kirk‐Othmer Encycloped. Chem. Technol., 2000, 14, 1–26.

  • Shalini, P., Heavy metal contamination due to idol immersion in Hussain Sagar lake, Hyderabad, India. Int. J. Curr. Adv. Res., 2018, 7, 14235–14238.

  • Giripunje, M. D., Fulke, A. B. and Meshram, P. U., Effect of idol immersion on water quality and tilapia fish in Futala, Gandhisagar and Ambazari lakes of Nagpur, India. Springerplus, 2014, 3(1), 669.

  • Vyas, A., Bajpai, A., Verma, N. and Dixit, S., Heavy metal contamination cause of idol immersion activities in urban lake Bhopal, India. J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manage., 2007, 11(4), 37–39.

  • D’Adamo, R., Specchiulli, A., Cassin, D., Botter, M., Zonta, R. and Fabbrocini, A., The effect of floods on sediment contamination in a microtidal coastal lagoon: the Lagoon of Lesina, Italy. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol., 2014, 67(3), 297–309.

  • Solaraj, G., Dhanakumar, S.,·Mohanraj, R. and Rutharvel Murthy, K., Water quality in select regions of Cauvery Delta River basin, southern India, with emphasis on monsoonal variation. Environ. Monit. Assess., 2010, 166, 435–444.


Abstract Views: 160

PDF Views: 71




  • Identification of Heavy Metal Pollution Source Due to Idol Immersion Activity Across the Cauvery River Basin, Tamil Nadu, South India

Abstract Views: 160  |  PDF Views: 71

Authors

Vinothkannan Anbazhagan
DNA Barcoding and Marine Genomic Laboratory, Department of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, India
Rajaram Rajendran
DNA Barcoding and Marine Genomic Laboratory, Department of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, India
Ganeshkumar Arumugam
DNA Barcoding and Marine Genomic Laboratory, Department of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, India
Arun Ganeshan
DNA Barcoding and Marine Genomic Laboratory, Department of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, India

Abstract


Idol immersion activities alter the hydrological parameters of an aquatic body. However, relevant research in the Cauvery river basin in terms of idol immersion activity has been limited. In the present study, a total of 29 water and topsoil samples were collected from the Cauvery basin before and after idol immersion, and evaluated for the presence of metals. The experimental results showed elevated Cd and Pb levels in water and sediment samples of both Cauvery and Kollidam rivers. Strong statistical significance was observed for all the elements studied in the soil samples collected before and after idol immersion (P < 0.01). Industrial effluents, textile waste, untreated sewage, municipal waste and agricultural activities are the most common causes of elevated levels of heavy metals in the study area. Further, geo-accumulation index and pollution load index studies showed lesser impact of idol immersion on metal distribution compared to other sites reported from India. However, strict regulatory policies of the concerned authorities help maintain the quality of the Cauvery basin.

Keywords


Geo-accumulation Index, Heavy Metals, Idol Immersion, Pollution Load Index, River Basin.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv120%2Fi1%2F200-208