M.K. Singh, R.Paul, B.Karmakar, A. Jamatia, M.K.Das

ABSTRACT

Durga puja is the main festival of residents of Tripura (Bengali Community). After predetermined time, idols are immersed in Haora River every year. As the extent of idol immersion increases with increasing population which is alarming situation. In the present study, one sampling station Dashamighat was selected for physiochemical parameters and metals concentration determination of water samples. The analysis was carried out for temperature, pH, turbidity, alkalinity, DO, BOD, TSS, TDS, total hardness and chlorides under physiochemical parameters and metals such as magnesium, calcium, cadmium, chromium, lead, iron and arsenic. The result obtained reveals that Haora river water become acidic after idol immersion and all the physiochemical parameters were found within the permissible limit with a few exceptions. The concentrations of metals were found within the permissible limits except for chromium, iron and lead which is slightly higher than the permissible limit. The trend of increasing such parameters indicates that idol immersion activity affect the water quality to the extent with respect to self-purification of the water and flow of the stream of the river. Keywords : Durga puja, idol immersion, Haora River, physio-chemical parameter, metal ions.