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Water quality assessment of Garhwal Himalayan Lake Tarakund based on the application of WQI and mitigation measures for its conservation and management

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Abstract

Tarakund is a small pristine lake located in the Pauri Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. Local residents, tourists, and wild animals are entirely depending on this lake to fulfill their water requirements. But in past few years due to climate change and excessive anthropogenic activities, this lake is facing a high rate of degradation and instantly needs to be conserved and managed. The baseline information about the quality of water is a precondition for the conservation and management of Tarakund Lake. The physico-chemical characteristics and water quality assessment of Garhwal Himalayan Lake Tarakund were studied monthly from January 2018 to December 2018. A total of sixteen water quality characteristics including DO, turbidity, BOD, TDS, total alkalinity were observed to evaluate the health status of the lake. WQI methodology was also applied to evaluate the health status of the water of Himalayan Lake Tarakund. The recorded observations demonstrated that the health status of water of the Himalayan Lake Tarakund in broad term stands “poor” as per the given standards of various organizations like WHO and ISO for drinking water. The WQI value (159.77) also confirmed the poor water quality of the lake.

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Acknowledgements

Two of the authors (Akash Deep, and Stanzin Namtak) are thankfully acknowledged for the fellowship given by the University Grant Commission, New Delhi through Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University (A Central University), Srinagar-Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India for undertaking the present work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Freshwater Biology, Department of Environmental Sciences, H.N.B. Garhwal University (A Central University), Garhwal, Srinagar, Uttarakhand, 246174, India

    H. Rawat, R. Singh, S. Namtak, A. Deep, N. Tripathi, V. Kirti & R. Kumar

  2. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, H.N.B. Garhwal University (A Central University), Garhwal, Srinagar, Uttarakhand, 246174, India

    S. Mamgain

  3. Department of Zoology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, 143005, India

    A. Sharma

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  1. H. Rawat
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  2. R. Singh
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  3. S. Namtak
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  4. A. Deep
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  5. S. Mamgain
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  6. A. Sharma
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  7. N. Tripathi
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  8. V. Kirti
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  9. R. Kumar
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Correspondence to R. Kumar.

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Rawat, H., Singh, R., Namtak, S. et al. Water quality assessment of Garhwal Himalayan Lake Tarakund based on the application of WQI and mitigation measures for its conservation and management. Int J Energ Water Res 5, 73–84 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42108-020-00095-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42108-020-00095-0

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