DOI: 10.36347/sjet

Pages: 204-213

This paper presents an assessment of water quality of the river Yamuna, when it meanders along the city Yamunanagar, India and is subjected to sewage and industrial pollution. The analysis of various pollution parameters showed an increase when the sewage and industrial channel joined the river. Changes in the biotic communities: phytoplankton, zooplankton and macrozoobenthos have been explained numerically in terms of abundance and diversity index. Phytoplanktons, zooplanktons, as well as macrozoobenthos showed a decrease in population and diversity values with an increase in pollution, along with a correlation with physico-chemical aspects. Navicula, Cocconeis, Closterium, Micrasterias, Dactylococcus and Oscillatoria were the common phytoplankton taxa, Keratella and Brachionus were common zooplanktons and Tubifex was the common benthic organism with a wide range of tolerance to different physico-chemical conditions. The extent of pollution by certain heavy metals such as Cu, Zn, Ni, Co, Cd and Pb has also been studied.