Algae as Bio-monitors for Damodar River Water Pollution

Damodar is an important tributary of Ganga river basin and cater the needs of industries and growing human population in the eastern part of India. Assessment of algal diversity was carried out to understand the impact of coal mining and allied industrial activities on the ecological condition of Damodar river basin. Surface water and algal samples were collected in the summer (2009) from ten sites along the Damodar River. Bio-monitoring of algal diversity showed high organic pollution load in the Damodar River. These observations were confirmed by statistical analysis. Algal community analysis and multivariate analysis showed influence of organic pollution in the river. Cluster analysis (CA) identified the similarity and dissimilarity among sampling sites and discriminate the reference site from rest of the impacted sites in the Damodar river basin.