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Assessment of Yamuna and associated drains used for irrigation in rural and peri-urban settings of Delhi NCR

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Abstract

The present study assessed the quality of Yamuna River and the Najafgarh drain water for irrigational purposes in the Delhi region in terms of spatial variations in the physicochemical characteristics as well as heavy metal concentrations. The monitoring was done for the period July 2012–August 2013 representing pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon sessions and considering six physicochemical parameters. Heavy metals such as cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, zinc, and lead have been found in the river due to rampant discharge of industrial effluents into the river. The mean metal concentrations in the 15 sampling sites were in the range of (mg L−1) 0.02–0.64 (Cu), 0–0.42 (Cr), 0.13–2.22(Zn), 0.03–0.27 (Pb), 0–0.07 (Cd), and 0.01–0.13 (Ni). Multivariate statistics (PCA and HCA) were used to identify the possible sources of metal contamination and to examine the spatial changes in the Yamuna River as well as in the Najafgarh drain. This study reveals the occurrence of mean Cd concentration above the safe limit at Palla, Christian Ashram and Jagatpur of the Yamuna river while Punjabi Bagh of the Najafgarh drain necessitate treatment in terms of heavy metals such as Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn before it could be rendered useful for irrigation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the NFBSFARA, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi for financial aid. The authors wish to thank Mr. Sumit Pal (IARI, India) for his kind help in metal analysis. The authors are also grateful to Delhi Pollution Control Committee, New Delhi for providing necessary information.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Microbiology Lab, CRDT, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Arghya Bhattacharya, Priyadarshini Dey, Deepak Gola, Abhishek Mishra & Anushree Malik

  2. Water Technology Centre, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India

    Neelam Patel

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  1. Arghya Bhattacharya
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  2. Priyadarshini Dey
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  3. Deepak Gola
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Correspondence to Anushree Malik.

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Bhattacharya, A., Dey, P., Gola, D. et al. Assessment of Yamuna and associated drains used for irrigation in rural and peri-urban settings of Delhi NCR. Environ Monit Assess 187, 4146 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-4146-2

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