Comparative Study on Water Quality Parameters at Selected Centres on Either Sides of Thanneermukkom Bund, Alappuzha District, Kerala

Abstract- The Present investigation was carried out for a comparative study of water quality parameters at selected centres on either sides of Thanneermukkom bund, Alappuzha district, Kerala. Observations were made from selected centres for a period from September, 2015 to July, 2016, covering the four meteorological seasons: post-monsoon, northeast monsoon, pre-monsoon and south-west monsoon. The observations were carried out from four stations, among that first two stations were selected to the northern side of Thannermukkom bund and the other two stations were selected to the southern side of the bund. The following physico chemical parameters like temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, transparency, pH, alkalinity, nitrate and phosphate were estimated. Pre-monsoon is the season of peak salinity in the area. During southwest monsoon period the salinity remained less due to the influx of large amount of fresh water. Generally, the physico-chemical parameters showed higher values to the northern side of Thanneermukkom bund than southern side. Most of the stations were covered with the aquatic plants especially water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). Total 44 fin fishes belonging to the 29 families, and Shell fishes like Macobrachium rosenbergii, Metapenaeus dobsoni were collected during the study period. One species of crab Scylla serrata and black clam Villorita cyprinoides were also collected. 22 species of phytoplankton and 4 species of zooplanktons were identified during study period.