COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PARAMETERS OF WATER IN MAIN RIVER CHANNEL OF RIVER GANGES AFTER DAM WALL OF MANERI BHALI PHASE I AND PHASE II HYDROELECTRIC POWER PROJECTSMadhu Thapliyal, Poonam Tiwari, Bipinkumar Sati, Prashant Anthwal, Anjan Chakraborti and Ashish ThapliyalAbstract River Ganges is one of most important river of India that originates in Uttarakhand and has several tributaries. Natural resources of this river system are being harnessed indiscriminately including development of Hydroelectric Power Projects (HEPs). To increase power output from HEPs water is routed into the tunnels for turbines and because of this the main river channel after dam wall witnesses huge fluctuations in water levels. We compared changes in physico-chemical parameters of water, before and after dam wall, at two HEPs sites - Maneri Bhali Phase I and Phase II located in district Uttarkashi. All parameters measured showed significant changes in water quality parameters at both the sites after dam wall. Maximum values of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD, 5 day), after the dam wall, at both the study sites have crossed 4.62±0.01 mg L-1, which is alarming. Dissolved Oxygen (DO) was within prescribed limits but maximum DO before the dam wall was 13.4±0.03 mg L-1 while maximum DO observed after the dam wall was 9.53±0.03 mg L-1. Maximum water temperature changed from 170C before dam wall to 190C after dam wall while minimum values of 50C before wall changed to 70C after dam wall. Principle Component Analysis (PCA) also clearly shows that critical factors before and after dam wall vary and at Meneri Bhali Phase I and a clear pattern of changes have been established. Our observations suggest that river discharge after dam wall into the main channel needs to be regulated more stringently to avoid ecological catastrophe.
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