Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Impact and ecosystem service of forest and sacred grove as saviour of water quantity and quality in Garhwal Himalaya, India

  • Published:
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present study was conducted in environs of the sacred grove of Garhwal Himalaya, India, with a view to assess the impacts of sacred groves and forests on the quality and quantity of water and also to assess the effect of seasonality on perennial stream quality. Water samples were collected from three randomly selected stream spots of both the sacred grove dominated by deodar (Cedrus deodara) and the non-sacred patch dominated by oak (Quercus leucotrichophora). Water samples from both patches were within the World Health Organization (WHO) standard limits. Based on an already established water quality index, water quality of both patches was safe for domestic and irrigation purposes but needs treatment for drinking purposes. Results of the present study also showed a very prominent impact of forest type as well as management condition on water quality and quantity. The water discharge from an oak forest shows more consistency than the discharge from a deodar forest. Due to the presence of the sacred grove, the area has become the source of good quality water supply during lean season for the surrounding villages. Water quality and quantity differed along with the change in season. The sacred grove and the existing forest leave a great impression on local dwellers, as due to its presence, local dwellers never run out of water supply during the dry season. As a result, the villagers sincerely want to protect the area for the sake of their own well-being.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahmadi, M.T., Attarod, P., Marvi Mohadjer, M.R., Rahmani, R., & Fathi, J. (2009). Partitioning rainfall into throughfall, stemflow and interception loss in an oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) forest during the growing season. Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry, 33, 557-568.

  • Akoteyon, I. S., Omotayo, A. O., Soladoye, O., & Olaoye, H. O. (2011). Determination of water quality index and suitability of urban river for municipal water supply in Lagos, Nigeria. European Journal of Scientific Research, 54(2), 263–271.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alam, J. B., Hossain, A., Khan, S. K., Banik, B. K., & Islam, M. R. (2007a). Deterioration of water quality of Surma River. Environmental Monitoring Assessment, 134, 233–242.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Alam, M. J. B., Islam, M. R., Muyen, Z., Mamun, M., & Islam, S. (2007b). Water quality parameters along rivers. International journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 4(1), 159–167.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • APHA. (2005). Standard methods for examination of water and wastewater, 21 st Edition. Washington DC: APHA, AWWA, WPCF.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balan, I. N., Shivakumar, M., & Kumar, P. D. M. (2012). An assessment of groundwater quality using water quality index in Chennai Tamil Nadu India. Chronicles of Young Scientists, 3(2), 146–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bisht, S. (2007). Structure, composition and vegetational analysis of Tarkeshwar as sacred grove in Garhwal Himalaya, Thesis, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, Uttarakhand, India. http://hdl.handle.net/10603/23007.

  • Central Pollution Control Board, MoEF. (2011). Status of water quality in India, Monitoring of Indian National Aquatic Resources series: MINARS/35/2013–2014. http://cpcb.nic.in/upload/NewItems/NewItem_198_Status_of_WQ_in_India_2011.pdf. Accessed on 27 July 2017.

  • Chandra, R., Singh, S., & Raj, A. (2006). Seasonal bacteriological analysis of Gola river water contaminated with pulp paper mill waste in Uttaranchal, India. Environmental Monitoring Assessment, 118, 393–406.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fakayode, S. O. (2005). Impact assessment of industrial effluent on water quality of the receiving Alaroriver in Ibadan, Nigeria. Ajeam-Ragee, 10, 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofhansl, F., Wanek, W., Drage, S., Huber, W., Weissenhofer, A., & Richter, A. (2012). Controls of hydrochemical fluxes via stemflow in tropical lowland rainforests: Effects of meteorology and vegetation characteristics. Journal of Hydrology, 452, 247–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ishaq, F., Khanna, D.R., & Khan, A. (2013). Physico-chemical and phytoplanktonic characteristics of river Tons at Dehradun (Uttarakhand), India. Journal of Applied and Natural Science, 5(2), 465-474.

  • Khumbongmayum, A. D., Khan, M. L., & Tripathi, R. S. (2005). Biodiversity conservation in sacred groves of Manipur, northeast India: Population structure and regeneration status of woody species. Biodiversity and Conservation, 15, 2439–2456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krishnaswami, S., & Singh, S. K. (2005). Chemical weathering in the river basins of the Himalaya, India. Current Science, 89(5), 841–849.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, A. (2015). Diurnal fluctuation in physic-chemical parameters at Madkot in Gorigangariver from Kumaun Himalaya, India. Research Journal of Chemical Sciences, 5(2), 89–92.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, A., Bisht, B. S., Talwar, A., & Chandel, D. (2010). Physico-chemical and microbial analysis of ground water from different regions of Doon valley. International Journal of Applied Environmental Science, 5(3), 433–440.

    Google Scholar 

  • Madan, S., Dutta, S., & Chanchal. (2013). Water quality assessment of river Tons, Dehradun (Uttarakhand) India. Journal of Applied and Natural Science, 5(1), 76–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maru, R.N. & Patel, R.S. (2013). Ethno-Botanical survey of sacred groves and sacred plants of Jhalod and surrounding areas in Dahod district, Gujrat, India. Research journal of recent sciences, 2, 130–135.

  • Mishra, S. R., & Saksena, D. N. (1991). Pollutional ecology with reference to physicochemical characteristics of Morar (Kalpi) river, Gwalior (M.P.) In N. K. Shastree (Ed.), Current trends in limnology (pp. 159–184). Delhi: Narendra Publishing House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neary, D. G., George, G. I., & Jackson, C. R. (2009). Linkages between forest soils and water quality and quantity. Forest Ecology and Management, 258, 2269–2281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pandey, R., Raghuvanshi, D., & Shukla, D.N. (2014). Assessment of physic-chemical parameters of river Ganga at Allahabad with respect to WQI. International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology, 3(9), 16339–16349. https://doi.org/10.15680/IJIRSET.2014.0309076.

  • Rantez, et al. (1982). Measurement and computation of streamflow: volume 1. Measurement of stage and discharge. Geological survey water supply paper 2175.

  • Rawat, A. S., & Sah, R. (2009). Traditional knowledge of water in Kumaun Himalaya. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 8(2), 249–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saksena, D. N., Garg, R. K., & Rao, J. (2008). Water quality and pollution status of Chambal river in National Chambal sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh. Journal of Environmental Biology, 29(5), 701–710.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sarwade, A. B., & Kamble, N. A. (2014). Evaluation of physicochemical parameters of river Krishna, Sangli Maharashtra. Octa Journal of Environmental Research, 2(4), 329–337.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, D., & Kansal, A. (2011). Water quality analysis of river Yamuna using water quality index in the national capital territory, India (2000–2009). Applied Water Science, 1, 147–157.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Siebert, S. (2010). Groundwater use for irrigation—a global inventory. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 14, 1863–1880.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinha, A. K., Saxena, S., & Saxena, R. (2004). Water quality index for Ram Ganga river water at Moradabad. PollutionResearch, 23, 527–531.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sletnes, A.I. (2009). Sustainable forest management and influences on water resources-coordinating policies on forests and water. Report. Workshop on forests and water. Antalya. http://www.foresteurope.org/documentos/Forests_and_Water.pdf. Accessed on 27 July 2017.

  • Tyagi, S., Sharma, B., Singh, P., & Dobhal, R. (2013). Water quality assessment in terms of water quality index. American Journal of Water Resources, 1(3), 34–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyagi, S., Singh, P., Sharma, B., & Singh, R. (2014). Assessment of water quality for drinking purpose in district Pauri of Uttarakhand, India. Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences, 2(4), 94–99.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vasanthavigar, M., Srinivasamoorthy, K., Vijayaragavan, K., Ganthi, R. R., Chidambaram, S., Anandhan, P., et al. (2010). Application of water quality index for groundwater quality assessment: Thirumanimuttar sub-basin, Tamilnadu, India. Environmental Monitoring Assessment, 171, 595–609.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • WHO. (1984). Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality. Geneva.

Download references

Acknowledgements

Financial Assistance in the form of a research grant to N. P. Todaria by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India, is gratefully acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forestry & N. R., H.N.B, Garhwal University, Srinagar, Garhwal, Uttarakhand, 246174, India

    Purna Jana, Sabyasachi Dasgupta & Nagendra P. Todaria

Authors
  1. Purna Jana
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sabyasachi Dasgupta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nagendra P. Todaria
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Purna Jana.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jana, P., Dasgupta, S. & Todaria, N.P. Impact and ecosystem service of forest and sacred grove as saviour of water quantity and quality in Garhwal Himalaya, India. Environ Monit Assess 189, 477 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6173-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6173-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation