Bacterial diversity of river Kshipra with relation to human health

Abstract

Bacterial community has always been an essential component of aquatic ecosystem because of the important role played by it in maintaining continuity of ecosystem. Aquatic bacterial diversity has been an interesting, popular and wide area of research as it is well correlated with the level of pollution in the ecosystem. Addition of pollutants is one of the major factor which disturbs bacterial diversity and density in river. The aim of the present work is to investigate the presence of bacteria and analyze its correlation with pollution status in river Kshipra which is considered to be a holy river of central India. The study also records the occurrence of different bacterial species including fecal coliform, total coliforms and many other pathogenic bacteria. Presence of pathogenic bacteria like Salmonella sps., Pseudomonas sps. ,Shigella sps., Vibrio sps. and FC/FS ratio between 1.1-1.5 indicates that the river is contaminated by domestic and city sewage as well as by both animal and human excreta. The current investigation reports the occurrence of different water borne diseases like typhoid, cholera, gastrointestinal diseases and skin infections etc in people residing nearby river who consume river water for fulfilling their daily need. A strong correlation has been established between bacterial density and physicochemical parameters like temperature, Dissolved Oxygen, Biological Oxygen Demand and Chemical Oxygen Demand. Urgent measures should be taken by eminent authorities to minimize the anthropogenic activities like dumping of flower, oil, body ashes, coconut shell in order to restore this sacred river.

Keywords

• Bacteria
• Physicochemical parameter
• River
• Water Borne Diseases
• Water Pollution