Cumulative Impact Assessment on River Ganga from Hardiwar to Garhmukteshwar with Focus on Point Source Discharges

Research Paper from the year 2014 in the subject Environmental Sciences, grade: 8.5, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee), course: M.Tech, language: English, abstract: There has been necessary to assess the cumulative effects of pollution Sources on river rather only assessment of each human activity and project in isolation. Based on availability of data and time constraint, study of three valued environmental components river water quality, river flow and fluid plain was carried out. This study aims for assessing the cumulative impacts of point Source discharges in river Ganga catchment from Haridwar to Garhmukteshwar (160 km) on these valued environmental components by using different methods such as for water quality, water quality modeling software QUAL2K, and for river flow, modified tenant and flow duration curve shifting methods for the assessment of environmental flow in river stretch. While for flood plain valued environmental component, qualitative method (matrix method) have been used for assessment of cumulative impact of various activities on flood plain VEC. The result shown that QUAL2K model simulation for future prediction during non-monsoon period River stretch will be affected due to severe degradation of water quality at various sites. Environmental flow assessment using hydrological methods (modified tennat method and flow duration curve shifting method) revealed that in months of lean flow river flows do not meet the requirement of minimal flow required to maintain the river environment in desirable state. Impacts on flood plain valued ecosystem component as another VEC shows that river flood plain was also severely affected.