Impact of water quality attributes and comparative study of icthyofaunal diversity of Asan lake and River Asan

The present study reported a total of 28 taxa with six families from Asan lake whereas only 18 taxa were reported from river Asan in Doon valley. The families identified were Cyprinidae, Chandadae, Belonidae, Cobitididae, Mastacembellidae, and Sisoridae. The impact of water quality parameters was quite evident on the fish diversity and density of Asan Lake and River Asan. Correlation between hydrological attributes showed good relationship in Asan lake and these parameters were found to be the most important variables in shaping fish assemblage.However, in River Asan the effect of physico-chemical factors were significant on fish diversity. The study showed that Asan lake supported considerable diversity of the fishes and is important for conservation. Its fish fauna is threatened being either vulnerable or endangered. The low fish diversity in river Asan indicated the disturbed habitat and ecological conditions of the river and the data generated from it would be useful for conservation planning and management and also for future assessment of this river

Phytochemical screening and antibacterial effect of root extract of Boerhaavia diffusa L. (Family Nyctaginaceae)

Boerhaavia diffusa belonging to the family of the Nyctaginaceae is mainly a diffused perennial herbaceous creeping weed of India. The present study deals with the investigation of phytochemical analysis and evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of the aqueous and methanolic extract of the roots of Boerhaavia diffusa. The result revealed the presence of alkaloid, glycoside, saponins, flavonoids, polysaccharides, steroid and tannin in both the root extracts. B. diffusa root extract possesses antimicrobial activity as the zone of inhibition was observed for both gram positive as well as gram negative bacterial strains

Physico-chemical and phytoplanktonic characteristics of river Tons at Dehradun (Uttarakhand), India

The physico-chemical and phytoplankton characteristics of the Tons River were analyzed during August 2011-July 2012. The samples were collected from Garhi Cant (Site 1) and Tapkeshwar temple (Site 2) at Dehradun. The results showed that temperature, velocity, DO, nitrate and phosphate affected the phytoplanktonic diversity of river Tons. Thirty five genera of phytoplankton belonging to three families of Chlorophyceae, Bacillariophyceae and Myxophyceae were also identified in the river water. The family Bacillariophyceae was dominating the river with much abundance throughout the study period. Bacillariophyceae was recorded with the maximum of 222.25±90.84 Unit/L at sampling site 1 and 239.08±125.41 Unit/L at sampling site 2. The greater number of individuals was in family Bacillariophyceae (239.08±125.41 Unit/L) followed by Chlorophyceae (183.75±112.50 Unit/L) and Myxophyceae(40.91±36.16 Unit/L) during the study period. Both the number of genera and number of individuals belonging to each genera was maximum in case of family Bacillariophyceae followed by Chlorophyceae and Myxophyceae. The present study revealed that the water quality of river Tons was fairly good for the growth and survival of phytoplankton, and as a result it sustains the higher phytoplankton diversity of Tons river

Analysis of bioactive phytochemicals and evaluation of antioxidant activity of a medicinal plant, Boerhaavia diffusa L.

Boerhaavia diffusa L. (Family: Nyctaginaceae) commonly known as Punarnava is an herbaceous, spreading vine widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions in the world. The plants are a rich source of vitamins, minerals, protein and carbohydrate. The present study was carried out to determine the concentration of some bioactive phytochemicals (ascorbic acid,carotenoids, total phenolics, protein and carbohydrate) and their antioxidant activity in punarnava. Results showed the values for ascorbic acid (16.75±1.72 and 18.86±1.12 mg/100g of Fresh Weight), carotenoids (1.36±0.10 and 1.98±0.11 ìg/g of Fresh Weight), protein (122.975±6.27 and 134.45±6.23 mg/g of dry weight) and carbohydrate (56.67±5.77 and 60.11±5.23 mg/g of dry weight) for aqueous and methanolic of root extracts of B.diffusa respectively. Methanolic root extracts showed greater antioxidant activity than the aqueous extracts using DPPH method

Physico-chemical and microbiological status of River Asan in Dehradun Uttarakhand

India is rich in water resources, being endowed with a network of rivers and blessed with snow cover in the Himalayan range that can meet a variety of water requirements of the country. However, with the rapid increase in the population of the country and the need to meet the increasing demands of irrigation, human and industrial consumption, the available water resources in many parts of the country are getting depleted and the water quality has deteriorated. In the present study physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics of the water of River Asan in Doon valley of Uttarakhand India were determined seasonally during April 2011 to March 2012.Turbidity, TS, TDS and TSS values were maximum on all the sites in rainy season which may be due to the gradual disturbances in sedimentation of solids as well as dust particlesdeposited along with runoff rainwater. High temperature, Total alkalinity, Total hardness, Calcium, Magnesium, BOD and low velocity and DO showed high load of pollution in river Asan. The microbiological studies include Total Colliform/ml (462±113.13),Faecal Colliform/ml (294.5±47.37) and SPC/ml (16×102) gives a clear indication of poor water quality. The results of bacterial parameters studies exceed the drinking water permissible limits suggested by WHO, ICMR and ISI.

Seasonal variation in physico-chemical characteristic status of River Yamuna in Doon Valley of Uttarakhand

During the last few decades there has been an increasing demand for monitoring water quality of many rivers by regular measurements of various water quality variables. River Yamuna in Uttarakhand requires the same qualitative and quantitative aspects of monitoring for predicting the steady state water quality conditions. In the present work various physico chemical parameters i.e. , Temperature, transparency,  velocity, turbidity, conductivity, TS, TDS, TSS, pH, total alkalinity, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, chloride, free CO2, DO, BOD, COD, phosphate, nitrate, sodium and potassium  were analyzed for various seasons; Summer, Monsoon, Winter, for the period (April, 2011-March, 2012) in surface water of river Yamuna. Our results showed that TS, TDS and TSS were maximum in monsoon and temperature and Dissolved Oxygen was found to be maximum in winter. Velocity was found to be maximum in monsoon followed by summer and winter. The observations implied that the physico- chemical conditions of River Yamuna was good in all the three seasons however change in seasonal conditions had a great effect on hydrological parameters