INVESTIGATION OVER WATER QUALITY OF RIVERS GANGA AND YAMUNA DURING KUMBH-2019-A CASE STUDY AT PRAYAGRAJ (ALLAHABAD), UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA

Water is synonymous with life. Water is simply as important as oxygen for breathing. Without water, life as we know it could not have evolved and would die. Rivers have been an integral part of human civilizations from times miserable. Therefore, rivers are considered to be sacred. There are various reasons for river water pollution like urbanization, industrialization, religious activities and many more. Kumbh Mela is considered as one of the greatest religious festivals of Hindus where millions of people gather together for spiritual experiences in godliness. It occurs in four different places. Prayagraj (Allahabad), India is the place where the present study was carried out to assess the impact of changes occurring in the properties of water during Kumbh, 2019. In the present study, the following ten different sampling sites were selected along river Ganga and Yamuna: Ganga Arti Ghat (S1), Daraganj (S2), Shastri Bridge (S3), Saraswati Ghat (S4), Gaughat (S5), Boatclub (S6), Sangam (S7), Arail Kaccahr (S8), Arail Uparhar (S9), Chhatnag (S10). Kumbh fair was held from January 14, 2019 to March 4, 2019. Water samples were collected during the monthly intervals from December 2018 to May 2019. The observed values of different physico -chemical parameters like pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solid, total hardness, calcium hardness, magnesium hardness, alkalinity, chloride, dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of samples were compared with National Standard (BIS, 1991) and International Standards by World Health Organization (WHO). According to the result obtained most of the parameters were within the permissible limit except BOD and hardness which were found to be beyond the permissible limit. However, as per the present investigation and analysis, it was observed that the quality of water was very poor which was not fit for drinking and irrigating purpose etc.