Impact of anthropogenic activities on water quality of Lidder River in Kashmir Himalayas

Abstract

The pristine waters of Kashmir Himalaya are showing signs of deterioration due to multiple reasons. This study researches the causes of deteriorating water quality in the Lidder River, one of the main tributaries of Jhelum River in Kashmir Himalaya. The land use and land cover of the Lidder catchment were generated using multi-spectral, bi-seasonal IRS LISS III (October 2005 and May 2006) satellite data to identify the extent of agriculture and horticulture lands that are the main non-point sources of pollution at the catchment scale. A total of 12 water quality parameters were analyzed over a period of 1 year. Water sampling was done at eight different sampling sites, each with a varied topography and distinct land use/land cover, along the length of Lidder River. It was observed that water quality deteriorated during the months of June-August that coincides with the peak tourist flow and maximal agricultural/horticultural activity. Total phosphorus, orthophosphate phosphorus, nitrate nitrogen, and ammoniacal nitrogen showed higher concentration in the months of July and August, while the concentration of dissolved oxygen decreased in the same period, resulting in deterioration in water quality. Moreover, tourism influx in the Lidder Valley shows a drastic increase through the years, and particularly, the number of tourists visiting the valley has increased in the summer months from June to September, which is also responsible for deteriorating the water quality of Lidder River. In addition to this, the extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides in the agriculture and horticulture lands during the growing season (June-August) is also responsible for the deteriorating water quality of Lidder River.

Abundant and Rare Bacterioplankton in Freshwater Lakes Subjected to Different Levels of Tourism Disturbances

“…Bacterioplankton communities are highly sensitive to changing aquatic environmental conditions [2,3] and are strongly influenced by water chemistry [4][5][6][7]. Today, water quality for many water bodies has deteriorated due to anthropogenic disturbances, such as industrial pollution [8], agricultural nonpoint source pollution [9], domestic sewage [10], residential areas. The number of daily visitors can reach 500-10,000 people.…”

Spatio-temporal patterns and factors controlling the hydrogeochemistry of the river Jhelum basin, Kashmir Himalaya

“…Several past studies have reported the changes in the chemistry of river water mainly due to land use changes and terrace-agriculture practices (Jenkins et al 1995;France-Landlord et al 2003). In the present basin, during the recent past, a lot of land use and land cover conversions are taking place resulting in the spatial extents of agriculture land that is on a decline contrary to an increase in horticultural area Rashid and Romshoo 2012). The people, in order to coax more from the horticultural soil, add extra and different kinds of fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, and fungicides.…”

Quantitative impacts of population on river water quality in the Jinshui River basin of the South Qinling Mts., China

“…Human activities have more or less impacts on the surrounding ecological environment, altering the nitrogen cycle in aquatic systems (Howarth et al 1996), changing hydrological circulation (Ahn and Merwade 2014), deteriorating river water quality (Rashid and Romshoo 2013;Liu et al 2014), etc. In a watershed scale, population growth significantly contributes to the pollutant concentrations in rivers and determines the carrying capacity of water environment to a certain extent.…”

“…Rapid increase in the population is generally responsible for the degraded environment, particularly the aquatic ecosystem (Howarth et al 1996;Rashid and Romshoo 2013;Liu et al 2014). Rashid and Romshoo (2013) recognized the impacts of tourist numbers on seasonal variation in water quality of Lidder River in Kashmir Himalaya.…”

“…Rashid and Romshoo (2013) recognized the impacts of tourist numbers on seasonal variation in water quality of Lidder River in Kashmir Himalaya. Stream water quality around urban villages with high population densities was worse than that within business districts away from the urban villages in Guangzhou, China (Liu et al 2014).…”