Assessment of the soil quality of Haridwar Uttarakhand India: A comparative study

Abstract

The present study aims to compare the quality of soil of different region of Haridwar with reference to physicochemical and heavy metal parameters. To fulfill the objectives of present study, soil sampling was performed in forest (control site), industrial, residential and agricultural areas in and around Haridwar. Soil samples were analyzed for different physicochemical and heavy metal parameters.  Values of all the studied soil parameters were found highest (an increase of 32% in temperature (16.63 to 21.640C), 121% in soil moisture (13.05 to 28.39%), 29.02% in soil porosity (37.56 to 49.03%), and 19.6% in the water holding capacity (36.22 to 43.58%), 74.18% in conductivity (0.25 to 0.40 µMhos/cm), and 203.78% in chloride (16.67 to 53.97mg/gm)) at the industrial area in comparison to other sites. During the course of the study, an increasing trend in all the parameters at all the sites was observed this may be due to the dumping of industrial solid waste and effluent. Although no negative impact was observed on the soil quality but continuous dumping will results in harmful impacts due to the accumulation of pollutants. Therefore there is a need for safe and proper disposal and utilization techniques to manage the enormous quantity of industrial waste. All the heavy metals (such as copper (0.050 to 0.055mg/gm), manganese (0.232 to 0.242mg/gm), nickel (0.035 to 0.036mg/gm), lead (0.039mg/gm), and iron (1.19 to 1.22) were found in higher concentration during the study period while cadmium was found absent during the study period.