Study of Water Quality Assessment during Ganesh Idol Immersion and its Impact on Machna River Water, District - Betul, (M.P.)

Rivers in India are regarded as sacred from an ancient time. The quality of water is most important as compared to quantity of water, especially for potable purpose, purity is of the prime requirement. The immersion of idols of lord Ganesh during Ganesh festival is one of the major sources of contamination to the river water. Idols are made of clay but non-biodegradable thermocol and paints containing heavy metals are also used. The immersion practices lead to degradation of water quality. With this view point, to check the water quality during idols immersion the study has been carried out at five different sampling points through which river Machna is flowing during the period of Ganash idols immersion. The parameters like Temperature, Turbidity, pH, Total Hardness, Total Alkalinity, Chlorides, DO, BOD, COD, and Oil and Grease have been studies to river water at Betul. The samples were collected 10 days before the Ganash idols immersion, during immersion and 10 days after the immersion. The analytical results reveal that some parameters need treatment before the use for drinking purpose whereas all the remaining water quality parameters have been found to be safe from potability consideration and there is need to aware masses to use eco-friendly material for idols making so that culture and environment can be preserved in a cohesive manner.