Eco-restoration of river water quality during COVID-19 lockdown in the industrial belt of eastern India

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2021-05, Vol.28 (20), p.25514-25528
• Main Authors: Chakraborty, Baisakhi, Roy, Sambhunath, Bera, Amit, Adhikary, Partha Pratim, Bera, Biswajit, Sengupta, Debashish, Bhunia, Gouri Sankar, Shit, Pravat Kumar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algal blooms; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Catchment areas; Communicable Disease Control; Coronaviruses; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; COVID-19; Drinking water; Earth and Environmental Science; Economic development; Economic growth; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental management; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental restoration; Environmental science; Eutrophic environments; Eutrophication; Humans; Impact analysis; India; Monsoons; Nutrient concentrations; Nutrient enrichment; Nutrient status; Pandemics; Research Article; Rivers; SARS-CoV-2; Shelter in place; Sustainability management; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Pollution Control; Water Quality
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-12461-4

The sudden lockdown recovers the health of the total environment particularly air and water while the country’s economic growth and socio-cultural tempo of people have been completely hampered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the industries within the catchment area of river Damodar have been closed; as a result, significant changes have been reflected throughout the stretch of river Damodar. The main objective of the study is to analyze the impact of lockdown on the water quality of river Damodar. A total of 55 samples was collected from eleven different confluence sites of nallas with the main river channel during and pre-lockdown period. The relevant methods like WQI, TSI, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and “t” test have been applied to evaluate the physical, chemical, and biological status of river water. The result of “t” test indicated that there are significant differences ( α  = 0.05) of each parameter between pre and during lockdown. Water quality index (WQI) is used for analysis of drinking water quality suitability followed by BIS. The values of WQI showed “very poor” (S1, S2, S3, S6, S7, and S11) to “unfit for drinking” (S4, S5, S8, S9, and S10) of river water during pre-monsoon season. The nutrient enrichment status of the river was analyzed by Trophic State Index (TSI) method and it shows the “High” eutrophic condition with a heavy concentration of algal blooms in almost an entire stretch. During lockdown, nutrient supplies like TN and TP have been reduced and is designated as “Low” (S1, S2) to “Moderate” (S3 to S11) eutrophic condition of middle stretch of Damodar. This research output of river Damodar will definitely assist to policy makers for sustainable environmental management despite the dilemma between development and conservation.