Non-Point Pollution of Ganga River with Pesticides: A Quantitative Approach

Vijay T. Gajbhiye
Naveen Kalra
Satya P. Mohapatra
Narendra P. Agnihotri

---

DOI: 10.2190/P0WD-PF0W-0DVD-4E7M

Abstract

Rivers are the main source of water in India, particularly for agricultural irrigation and drinking water supply. As most of the rivers pass through agricultural fields, they are subject to contamination with different pesticides used for crop protection. Residues of these chemicals have been detected in many Indian rivers. In the present study, the transport of insecticides from soil to river was measured on the basis of surface run-off, sedimentary transport, and movement of ground water from aquifer to river and vice-versa. It was found that agricultural applications of HCH, DDT, aldrin, endosulfan, and organophosphates contributed as much as 0.708, 0.682, 0.200, 0.374, and 0.926 g/ha, respectively, to the river water. In all, 2.890 g/ha was transported to the river. These values were in close agreement with overall contribution of agricultural fields to the river Ganga calculated on the basis of the amount of insecticides actually flowing in water at Farrukhabad and total catchment area from Haridwar to Farrukhabad.

---

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.