Abstract
Rivers Ganga and Yamuna have been subjected to massive degradation and pollution due to the vast amount of wastewater entering the river during the Kumbh Mela. The Kumbh Mela, the largest religious congregation, was organized at Prayagraj, India, from January to March 2019. Despite the efforts, the river quality during Kumbh Mela was not suitable for public use, and even after Kumbh Mela, it was not substantially improved. This study estimated the water quality index (WQI) for the river Ganga and Yamuna at Prayagraj from 01.12.2018 to 30.04.2019. The study focused on the use of WQI to describe the level of pollution in the river during, before, and after the Kumbh Mela. The study also identifies the critical pollutants affecting the river water quality. The properties (pH value, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), and water color) of river water were evaluated at five different locations: (i) Rasulabad (upstream the Ganga river); (ii) Shashtri Bridge (downstream the Ganga river); (iii) Main Sangam; (iv) Chhatnag Ghat (downstream the Ganga river); and (v) Saraswati Ghat (at the Yamuna river). The study used the water sample data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Uttar Pradesh. This study revealed that water quality was within permissible limits except for BOD during the Kumbh Mela. The DO content was within the allowable limit for bathing at all five sampling locations during Kumbh Mela. This high DO content resulted from sanitation management efforts taken by the government and self-cleansing properties of the river Ganga.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Not Applicable.
References
Aggrawal, V., Dikid, T., Jain, S. K., Pandey, A., Khasnobis, P., Choudhary, S., & Singh, S. K. (2020). Disease surveillance during a large religious mass gathering in India: The Prayagraj Kumbh 2019 experience. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 101, 167–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.09.1424
Ahmed, Q. A., Barbeschi, M., & Memish, Z. A. (2009). The quest for public health security at Hajj: The WHO guidelines on communicable disease alert and response during mass gatherings. Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, 7(4), 226–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmaid.2009.01.005
Bhargava, D. S. (1983). Use use of water quality index for river classification and zoning of Ganga River. Environmental Pollution Series B (england), Chemical and Physical, 6(1), 51–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/0143-148X(83)90029-0
Bhargava, D. S. (1994). River BOD prediction under non-point discharge conditions. Indian Journal of Engineering and Materials Science, 1(1), 35–40. http://nopr.niscpr.res.in/handle/123456789/29923
Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) (2001) Canadian water quality guidelines for the protection of aquatic life: CCME Water Quality Index 1.0, Technical Report. In: Canadian environmental quality guidelines, 1999. Winnipeg: Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. https://www.ccme.ca/assets/pdf/wqi_techrprtfctsht_e.pdf
Chapman D (1992) Water quality assessment. Chapman and Hall (on behalf of UNESCO, WHO and UNEP), London
Chaudhary, M., Mishra, S., & Kumar, A. (2017). Estimation of water pollution and probability of health risk due to imbalanced nutrients in River Ganga, India. International Journal of River Basin Management, 15(1), 53–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/15715124.2016.1205078
CPCB (2000) Water quality status of Yamuna River, Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi, series ADSORBS/32/ 1999–2000. April 2000
CPCB (2002) Water quality criteria and goals. Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi, series MINARS/7/2001–2002
Dwivedi, S., Chauhan, P. S., Mishra, S., Kumar, A., Singh, P. K., Kamthan, M., & Nautiyal, C. S. (2020). Self-cleansing properties of Ganga during mass ritualistic bathing on Maha-Kumbh. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 192(4), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-8152-2
Effendi, H. (2016). River water quality preliminary rapid assessment using pollution index. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 33, 562–567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2016.03.108
Jaiswal, D., & Pandey, J. (2019). Anthropogenically enhanced sediment oxygen demand creates mosaic of oxygen deficient zones in the Ganga River: Implications for river health. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 171, 709–720. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.01.039
Kanaujiya, A. K., & Tiwari, V. (2022a). Crowd management and strategies for security and surveillance during the large mass gathering events: The Prayagraj Kumbh Mela 2019 Experience. National Academy Science Letters, 45, 263–273. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40009-022-01114-w
Kanaujiya, A. K., & Tiwari, V. (2022b). Are mass gathering events hot spot for spreading of infectious diseases: The Kumbh Mela Experience. Journal of Scientific & Industrial Research, 81(11), 1162–1172. https://doi.org/10.56042/jsir.v81i11.60324
Kanaujiya, A. K., & Tiwari, V. (2022c). The statistical analysis to find correlation between mass gathering event and COVID-19 pandemic outbreak: The Prayagraj Magh Mela 2021 experience. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section A: Physical Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40010-022-00795-8
Kannel, P. R., Lee, S., Lee, Y. S., Kanel, S. R., & Khan, S. P. (2007). Application of water quality indices and dissolved oxygen as indicators for river water classification and urban impact assessment. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 132, 93–110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-006-9505-1
Khan, R., Saxena, A., Shukla, S., Goel, P., Bhattacharya, P., Li, P., & Shaheen, S. M. (2022). Appraisal of water quality and ecological sensitivity with reference to riverfront development along the River Gomti India. Applied Water Science, 12(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-021-01560-9
Khan, R., Saxena, A., Shukla, S., Sekar, S., & Goel, P. (2021b). Effect of COVID-19 lockdown on the water quality index of River Gomti India. With Potential Hazard of Faecal-Oral Transmission. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13096-1
Khan, R., Saxena, A., Shukla, S., Sekar, S., Senapathi, V., & Wu, J. (2021a). Environmental contamination by heavy metals and associated human health risk assessment: A case study of surface water in Gomti River Basin, India. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28(40), 56105–56116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14592-0
Online document Water quality requirement for different uses notification (2000). Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cpcb.nic.in/wqm/Primary_Water_Quality_Criteria.pdf
Online document Annual Report of CPCB (2018-19). Retrieved March 19, 2022,from https://cpcb.nic.in/openpdffile.php?id=UmVwb3J0RmlsZXMvMTExOV8xNTk3MDM3NTM0X21lZGlhcGhvdG8xOTY1Ni5wZGY=
Online document Annual Report of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India (2018-19). Retrieved March 19, 2022. https://jalshakti-ddws.gov.in/sites/default/files/Annual_report_2018_19_dws.pdf
Online document State Mission for Clean Ganga Uttar Pradesh. Retrieved December 18, 2021, from https://smcg-up.org/2018/12/05/e-tender-for-treatment-of-drains-by-modular- technology-using-geo-tubes-for-the Kumbh-mela-2019/
Online document National Mission for Clean Ganga. Retrieved July 2, 2022, from https://nmcg.nic.in/location.aspx
Online document Swach Kumbh’ falls flat, thousands of toilet defunct on Day 1. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://www.orissapost.com/swach-kumbh-falls-flat-thousands-of-toilets-defunct-on-day-1/
Online document Ganga 2022 Daily E-Bulletin. Retrieved March 19, 2022, from http://kumbh.upecp.in/home/bulletin
Panda, P. K., Panda, R. B., & Dash, P. K. (2018). The river water pollution in India and abroad: A critical review to study the relationship among different physico-chemical parameters. American Journal of Water Resources, 6(1), 25–38. https://doi.org/10.12691/ajwr-6-1-4
Pandey, J., & Singh, R. (2017). Heavy metals in sediments of Ganga River: Up-and downstream urban influences. Applied Water Science, 7(4), 1669–1678. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-015-0334-7
Pesce, S. F., & Wunderlin, D. A. (2000). Use of water quality indices to verify the impact of Cordoba city (Argentina) on Suquy´a River. Water Research, 34(11), 2915–2926. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0043-1354(00)00036-1
Selvam, S., Jesuraja, K., Roy, P. D., Venkatramanan, S., Khan, R., Shukla, S., & Muthukumar, P. (2022). Human health risk assessment of heavy metal and pathogenic contamination in surface water of the Punnakayal estuary. South India. Chemosphere, 298, 134027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134027
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. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-011-0011-4
Shukla, S., Khan, R., Ahmed, Y., & Memish, Z. A. (2021). Conducting mass gathering events during the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study of Kumbh Mela 2021 as a potential ‘super spreader event.’ Journal of Travel Medicine, 28(8), tabb160. https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taab160
Sridhar, S., Gautret, P., & Brouqui, P. (2015). A comprehensive review of the Kumbh Mela: Identifying risks for spread of infectious diseases. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 21(2), 128–133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2014.11.021
Suthar, S., Sharma, J., Chabukdhara, M., Nema, A. K. (2010). Water quality assessment of river Hindon at Ghaziabad, India: Impact of industrial and Urban wastewater. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 165(1):103–112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-0930-9
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Prayagraj Mela Authority and Central Pollution Control Board for using its data and reports published in various books and documents.
Funding
The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Human Participants and Animal Research
Not Applicable.
Informed consent
Not Applicable.
Ethics approval: Not Applicable.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Kanaujiya, A.K., Tiwari, V. Water quality analysis of River Ganga and Yamuna using water quality index (WQI) during Kumbh Mela 2019, Prayagraj, India. Environ Dev Sustain 26, 5451–5472 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-02907-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-02907-9