10.2190/P0WD-PF0W-0DVD-4E7M P0WDPF0W0DVD4E7M 6 Non-Point Pollution of Ganga River with Pesticides: A Quantitative Approach 95 110 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 P0WDPF0W0DVD4E7M.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=P0WDPF0W0DVD4E7M 1 Vijay T. Gajbhiye Naveen Kalra Satya P. Mohapatra Narendra P. Agnihotri Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 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. R. D. Wauchope, The Pesticide Content of Surface Water Draining from Agricultural Fields—A Review, <i>Journal of Environmental Quality, 7</i>, pp. 459-472, 1978. R. D. Wauchope and R. A. Leonard, Maximum Pesticide Concentrations in Agricultural Run-off: A Semiempirical Formula, <i>Journal of Environmental Quality, 9</i>, pp. 665-672, 1980. G. W. Bailey, R. R. Swank, Jr., and H. P. Nicholson, Predicting Pesticide Runoff from Agricultural Lands: A Conceptual Model, <i>Journal of Environmental Quality, 3</i>, pp. 95-102, 1974. H. C. Agarwal, P. K. Mittal, K. B. Menon, and M. K. K. Pillai, DDT Residues in the River Jamuna in Delhi, India, <i>Water Air Soil and Soil Pollution, 28</i>, pp. 89-104, 1986. P. Haldar, P. Raha, P. Bhattacharyya, A. Chowdhury, and N. Adityachaudhury, Studies on the Residues of DDT and Endosulfan Occurring in Ganga Water, <i>Indian Journal of Environmental Health, 31</i>, pp. 156-161, 1989. A. Ramesh, S. Tanabe, H. Iwata, R. Tatsukawa, A. N. Subramanian, D. Mohan, and V. K. Venugopalan, Seasonal Variation of Persistent Organochlorine Insecticide Residues in Vellar River Waters in Tamil Nadu, South India, <i>Environmental Pollution, 67</i>, pp. 289-304, 1990. A. Naiv, P. Dureja, and M. K. K. Pillai, Levels of Aldrin and Deildrin in Environmental Samples from Delhi, <i>Science of the Total Environment, 108</i>, pp. 255-259, 1991. S. P. Pathak, S. Kumar, P. W. Ramteke, R. C. Murthy, K. P. Singh, J. W. Bhattacherjee, and P. K. Ray, Riverine Pollution in Some Northern and North Eastern States of India, <i>Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 22</i>, pp. 227-236, 1992. P. K. Ray, Measurement on Ganga River Quality—Heavy Metals and Pesticides, <i>Project Report</i>, Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, Lucknow, 1992. N. P. Agnihotri, V. T. Gajbhiye, M. Kumar, and S. P. Mohapatra, Organochlorine Insecticide Residues in Ganga River Water near Farrukhabad, India, <i>Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 30</i>, pp. 105-112, 1994. Anonymous, <i>Statistical Report</i>, District of Farrukhabad, 1992. R. Wallach and R. Shabtai, Surface Run-off Contamination by Soil Chemicals: Simulations for Equilibrium and First-order Kinetics, <i>Water Resources Research, 28</i>, pp. 167-173, 1992. R. Singh, R. Babu, P. Narain, L. S. Bhusan, and I. P. Abrol, Soil Erosion Rates in India, <i>Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 47</i>, pp. 97-99, 1990. S. J. Smith, A. N. Sharpley, and L. R. Ajuja, Agricultural Chemical Discharge in Surface Water Runoff, <i>Journal of Environmental Quality, 22</i>, pp. 474-480, 1993.