Hyderabad, September 25, 2013: There has been no negative impact on the Hussainsagar due to the recent immersion of Ganesh idols, says a report by the AP Pollution Control Board, which has been monitoring pollution levels in the lake.

The PCB – which had carried out monitoring before, during and after the immersion of idols – said heavy rains during the immersion of idols had led to a rise in water level and a consequent dilution of pollutants.

Further assessment of the water quality would continue, it said in a press release on Tuesday.

Samples collected from five different points between August 26 and September 23, were analysed as per guidelines prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board for parameters such as pH, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and metals.

The Buddha Statue sampling point was taken as a control and water quality was accordingly ascertained. While there was little variation in pH values – a range from 7.65 to 8.0 – the TDS rose at all monitoring stations from 755 mg/l before immersion to 802mg/l during the immersion.

The DO was recorded between 2 mg/l to 3.6 mg/l before immersion. After immersion, its values ranged from 1.8 to 5.3 mg/l. The Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) values, which were in the range of 88 to 95 mg/l before, were in the range between 62 to 106 mg/l post-immersion.

Source: The Hindu, September 25, 2013