Seasonal Variation in Water Quality of Lukha River, Meghalaya, India

Abstract

Lukha River (Wah Lukha) is one of the major rivers of Meghalaya situated in the southern part of East Jaintia Hills District. Activities such as mining of coal and limestone, manufacturing of cement, deforestation etc. have been taking place in the catchment area of the river leading to changes in water quality. This is evident from the deep blue appearance of water of Lukha River during winter months for the last 7-8 years.Till date no convincing and conclusive reason has been given for this annual change in physical appearance.To get insight, we studied the physico-chemical water quality parameters of this river in different seasons and found that the water quality has started deteriorating due to activities occurring in the catchment area. Based on Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment-Water Quality Index (CCME-WQI) the water of the river at some locations was found of ‘poor’ quality.