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Pesticide pollution of River Ghaggar in Haryana, India

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Abstract

Ghaggar, one of the major rivers of northern India originating in outer Himalayas and flowing through the state of Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan, is put to multiple uses. Along its course of 464 km, it receives discharge from various cities and runoff from agricultural lands. Punjab and Haryana are two predominantly agricultural states of India using substantial amounts of agrochemicals, yet there are no reports available in literature on the level of pesticides in the stretch of river Ghaggar through Punjab and Haryana. This is the first report on pesticide pollution of the river Ghaggar in Haryana. Water samples along the 230-km stretch of the river in Haryana were analyzed for the presence of organochlorine insecticide residues. While aldrin and dieldrin were below detection limits, both hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) were traceable in all the water samples. High concentration of β-HCH among ΣHCH indicates old pollution source whereas predominance of p,p′ -DDT among ΣDDT reflects its recent use in the catchment area of the river. The concentrations of HCH and DDT in all the samples were above the permissible limits prescribed by the European Commission Directive for drinking purposes.

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Author notes

  1. H. R. Sharma

    Present address: Department of Environmental Health, University of Gondar, P.B. No. 196, Gondar, Ethiopia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, 125 001, Haryana, India

    A. Kaushik, H. R. Sharma, S. Jain, J. Dawra & C. P. Kaushik

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  1. A. Kaushik
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  2. H. R. Sharma
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  3. S. Jain
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  4. J. Dawra
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  5. C. P. Kaushik
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Kaushik, A., Sharma, H.R., Jain, S. et al. Pesticide pollution of River Ghaggar in Haryana, India. Environ Monit Assess 160, 61–69 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0657-z

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