Surface water quality assessment of Harmu and Subarnarekha River Basin, India using index mapping

ABSTRACT In this paper, an effort has been made to develop a methodology to integrate the Water quality index(WQI) withgeographic information system (GIS) for an effective interpretation of the quality and healthstatus of the Harmu River basin and Subarnarekha River basin. HRB and SRB has been taken as a casestudy. The physical, chemical and biological analysis has been interpreted using WQI. Based on theresults of the analyses, spatial distribution maps of selected water quality parameterswere prepared usingGIS platform. A significant degradation in the WQ of the stations located in the lower reaches of theriver basin is observed. Harmu mukti dham is the most polluted stationfollowed by Hatia and Gatalsudstation. The most inferior WQ with OIP value of 4.20 (polluted class) is observed in the pre-monsoonseason of 2020 Gatalsud station. The OIP based on the individual index values was estimated giving thevalues in terms of pollution indices.