ROLE OF ALGAE IN ASSESMENT OF POLLUTION STATUS OF RIVER GANGA AT KANPUR, INDIA

Vinod Rishi¹, A. K. Awasthi² and Ravindra Singh¹

Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Environment, Mahatma Gandhi Chitrakoot Gramodaya Vishwavidyalay, Chitrakoot, Satna, India¹;

Department of Botany, Brahmanand PG College, Kanpur, India²

ABSTRACT

Algal samples were collected from two sampling stations viz. Bithoor (Upstream) and Jajmau (Downstream) of river Ganga at Kanpur and total 51 genera spread over 228 species belonging to Chlorophyceae, Cyanophyceae, Euglenophyceae and Bacillariophyceae have been identified. The most dominating group was Cyanophyceae followed by Bacillariophyceae, Chlorophyceae and Euglenophyceae. During the present investigation 34 genera and 36 species were identified as indicator of organic pollution (OP). The Palmer’s Pollution Index (PPI) of both genus and species for Bithoor were 29, 28 and Jajmau 31, 32 respectively. Thus, river Ganga at Kanpur was highly polluted with organic contaminants.