Khan Ramsha, Saxena Abhishek, Shukla Saurabh, Sekar Selvam, Goel Pooja
Faculty of Civil Engineering, Institute of Technology, Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University, Barabanki, UP, 225003, India.
Department of Geology, V.O. Chidambaram College, Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, India.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021 Feb 26;28(25):33021-9. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-13096-1.
The COVID-19 lockdown has been reported as a "ventilator" for the reinstatement of natural resources across the globe. Hence, the present study attempts to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the water quality of River Gomti across its stretch of ~960 km through the assessment of 'Water Quality Index' (WQI). The study also highlights the potential risk of faecal-oral transmission of COVID-19 through intake of river water facing the issue of direct discharge of domestic sewage. A deterioration in the water quality was witnessed at ~69% sampling locations during the lockdown period (May 2020). Interestingly, none of the water samples during the pre-lockdown, lockdown, and post-lockdown periods across the whole stretch belonged to the "excellent" category (WQI<25). The DO levels fell across ~69% and ~88% of the sites during the lockdown and post-lockdown periods, respectively. Moreover, there was an increase in the BOD levels across ~69% and 75% of the sites during lockdown and post-lockdown periods, respectively. These findings indicate that the release of sewage without or with partial treatment is a chief contributor of water pollution in the groundwater fed River Gomti. Thereby, highlighting the possible risk of faecal-oral transmission of the corona virus, and creating a major concern for the residents across its stretch. The urban sprawl and riverfront development in Lucknow city also emerge as potential causes of water quality deterioration in River Gomti, considering that the water quality at five sites within the city was under the "unfit" category regardless of the lockdown situation. Thus, the urgent need of management of domestic sewage release into the river and further research on the potential risk of faecal-oral transmission of COVID-19 have been suggested in the study.
据报道，新冠疫情封锁是全球自然资源恢复的“助推器”。因此，本研究试图通过评估“水质指数”（WQI），来评估新冠疫情封锁对贡蒂河约960公里河段水质的影响。该研究还强调了，由于生活污水直接排放问题，通过饮用河水存在新冠病毒粪口传播的潜在风险。在封锁期间（2020年5月），约69%的采样点水质出现恶化。有趣的是，在整个河段的封锁前、封锁期间和封锁后，所有水样均不属于“优良”类别（WQI<25）。在封锁期间和封锁后，分别有69%和约88%的采样点溶解氧水平下降。此外，在封锁期间和封锁后，分别有69%和75%的采样点生化需氧量水平上升。这些发现表明，未经处理或部分处理的污水排放是贡蒂河（该河由地下水补给）水污染的主要原因。从而突出了冠状病毒粪口传播的可能风险，并引起了该河段居民的重大担忧。考虑到无论封锁情况如何，勒克瑙市内五个采样点的水质都处于“不适宜”类别，该市的城市扩张和滨河开发也成为贡蒂河水质恶化的潜在原因。因此，该研究建议迫切需要管理排入河流的生活污水，并进一步研究新冠病毒粪口传播的潜在风险。
