13JL_____________________________________________________________________________________________ ~~_E;~.::...

SVI/P-17
Blue Green Algae as Indicator of Disturbed
Conditions in North Indian Gangetic Plains
Omesh Bajpai, Himanshu Rai, Narendra Mohan'*and
Rajan K Gupta'
~~_~IM9..I~ __________________________________________________________________________________________________131

'Paryavaran Shodh Ekai, Department of Botany, D.A.V. College,

Kanpur, U.P., INDIA, Email: dr_n.mohan@rediffmail.com;
' Department of Botany, PI. L.M.S Govt. P.G. College, Rishikesh -
24920 I, Dehradun, Utiarakhand, INDIA
Algae, because of their nutritional needs and their
position at the very base of aquatic food webs, provide
relatively unique information concerning ecosystem
condition compared with other aquat.ic flora and fauna. Algal
response is rapid and predictable to a wide range of pollutants
and pressures providing potentially useful early warning
signals of deteriorating conditions and their possible causes.
Comparative assessment of algal assemblage provides one of
the important benchmarks for characterizing the minimally
impacted biological conditions of disturbed ecosystems.
Fresh water bodies in populated plains of tropical
countries face various disturbances in the form of pollutant
and nutrient inflow, heavy metal and elemental precipitation
(wet or dry) and constant silt inflow (natural or
anthropogenic). These adverse constrain effectively
influence the algal assemblage and can be a good indicator of
overall health of the water body. Present study examines the
comparative algal assemblage in fresh water bodies of two
sites (Lakhna town and Kanpur) of Uttar Pradesh situated in
the Gangetic plains of north India, in order to identify
potential factors influencing the algal growth and indicator
algal species for these habitats.
Lakhna (26°39'00.33" N, 79°9'00.12" E), in Etawah
district of Uttar Pradesh, is situated at an average elevation of
143 mt. and is primarily a rural town (population- 10,452),
with moderate to low level of anthropogenic pressure;
whereas Kanpur (26°27'38.66" N, 80°20'00.26" E) situated
at an average elevation of 126 mt. is the second largest city of
the state (population- 2,551,337) and has been one of the
oldest industrial townships of North India .Water bodies in
Kanpur city receive loads of nutrient inflow through
precipitation (dry Iwet) and through industrial effluents.
Therefore the human related pressures are higher in localities
in Kanpur than in Lakhna town (effluent and precipitation
inflow etc).
Water samples from different water bodies in the two
localities (i.e. Lakhna town and Kanpur) were collected
throughout the year and physical (water level, total hardness,
total hardness, water temperature and transparency) and
chemical (dissolve oxygen, BOD, nitrate, ammonia, pH,
carbonates, bicarbonates, alkalinity and chloride) characters
of these water bodies were also recorded. These samples
were analysed for blue green algae (BGA). A total of
seventeen genera of fresh water blue-algae were recorded
from Laklma whereas water samples from Kanpur recorded
eighteen genera of blue-green algae. Though there was
considerate presence of BGA throughout the year in both
localities, the growth was maximum during winter and spring
seasons. Further nearly all the chemical and physical
parameters of water bodies showed elevated trend in
localities from Kanpur relative to Lakhna town indicative of
more disturbed conditions in localities in Kanpur.
Key words: Algae, Algal assemblage, Blue green algae BOD '
 Fourth International Conference on
Plants & Environmental Pollution
8-11 December, 2010

(8) Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, New Delhi

@ Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi

Deptt. of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science

& Technology, Govt. of India, New Delhi

Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India,

New Delhi

Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India, New Delhi

Australian Government
Aid Program

MONSANTO ~ Monsanto Holdings Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi

..- - Murdoch University, Perth, Australia

National Bank For Agriculture and Rural

Development (NABARD), Mumbai

State Bank of India

Agilent Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.