Mass Tourism impacts on Water Quality of Lidder

1. Environ Monit Assess
DOI 10.1007/s10661-012-2898-0
Impact of anthropogenic activities on water quality of Lidder
River in Kashmir Himalayas
Irfan Rashid & Shakil Ahmad Romshoo
Received: 31 March 2012 / Accepted: 12 September 2012
# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2012
Abstract The pristine waters of Kashmir Himalaya are particularly, the number of tourists visiting the valley
showing signs of deterioration due to multiple reasons. has increased in the summer months from June to
This study researches the causes of deteriorating water September, which is also responsible for deteriorating
quality in the Lidder River, one of the main tributaries of the water quality of Lidder River. In addition to this, the
Jhelum River in Kashmir Himalaya. The land use and extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides in the agricul-
land cover of the Lidder catchment were generated ture and horticulture lands during the growing season
using multi-spectral, bi-seasonal IRS LISS III (October (June–August) is also responsible for the deteriorating
2005 and May 2006) satellite data to identify the extent water quality of Lidder River.
of agriculture and horticulture lands that are the main
non-point sources of pollution at the catchment scale. A Keywords Water quality analysis . Remote sensing .
total of 12 water quality parameters were analyzed over Land use . Land cover . Visual image interpretation
a period of 1 year. Water sampling was done at eight
different sampling sites, each with a varied topography
and distinct land use/land cover, along the length of Introduction
Lidder River. It was observed that water quality deteri-
orated during the months of June–August that coincides The rivers are a refuge to many plant and animal
with the peak tourist flow and maximal agricultural/ species besides harboring precious resources of fresh
horticultural activity. Total phosphorus, orthophosphate water. Unfortunately, rivers have long been used and
phosphorus, nitrate nitrogen, and ammoniacal nitrogen abused for the disposal of wastes. Although the rivers
showed higher concentration in the months of July and have the capacity of self-purification, this capacity is
August, while the concentration of dissolved oxygen altered because of anthropogenic activities in the river
decreased in the same period, resulting in deterioration catchment, leading to the destruction of this important
in water quality. Moreover, tourism influx in the Lidder ecosystem. Humans now strongly influence almost
Valley shows a drastic increase through the years, and every major aquatic ecosystem, and their activities
have dramatically altered the fluxes of growth-
limiting nutrients from the landscape to receiving
waters. Unfortunately, these nutrient inputs have had
I. Rashid : S. A. Romshoo (*) profound negative effects upon the quality of surface
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Kashmir,
waters worldwide (Smith 2003). Surface waters are
Hazratbal,
Srinagar, Kashmir 190006, India most exposable to pollution due to their accessibility
e-mail: shakilrom@yahoo.com for disposal of wastewaters (Samarghandi et al. 2007).

2. Environ Monit Assess
Both the anthropogenic influences such as urban, in- Khadka and Khannal 2008; Mtethiwa et al. 2008;
dustrial, and agricultural activities increasing exploita- Twesigye et al. 2011). Studies have established that land
tion of water resources as well as natural processes, use activity significantly influences nutrient loadings
such as precipitation inputs, erosion, and weathering and discharges (Dillon and Kirchner 1975; Hill 1978;
of crustal materials, degrade surface waters and dam- Beaulac and Reckhow 1982; Lowrance et al. 1984;
age their use for drinking, recreational, and other Correll et al. 1992; Romshoo and Muslim 2011) or have
purposes (Jarvie et al. 1998; Simeonov et al. 2003; shown that agricultural catchments discharge higher
Mahvi et al. 2005; Nouri et al. 2008; Karbassi et al. amounts of nutrients than forested catchments.
2008a, b). Yadav and Kumar (2011) monitored the Nutrient export from pasture and grazing is not signifi-
water quality of Kosi River in India and concluded cantly different than the export from forestland use
that industrialization, urbanization, and modern agri- (Beaulac and Reckhow 1982), but discharges of nitro-
culture practices have direct impact on deteriorating gen and phosphorus significantly increased as the per-
water quality. cent of cropland increased (Correll et al. 1992).
Seasonal variation in precipitation, surface runoff, Hill et al. (1978) found that both annual loss and
interflow, ground water flow, and pumped in and out- mean annual concentrations of nitrate are correlated
flows have a strong effect on river discharge and with land use activity. Seasonal and long-term varia-
subsequently on concentration of pollutants in the river tions in nutrient export appeared to be important fac-
water (Vega et al. 1998; Monavari and Guieysse 2007; tors (Hill et al. 1978; Correll et al. 1992). Catchment
Fig. 1 Location of the study area

3. Environ Monit Assess
Table 1 Physicochemical analysis of Lidder waters across different seasons
Parameters Month S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 Average
pH April 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.8 7.91 7.96 7.48
July 7.13 7.22 7.48 7.05 7.41 7.9 8.1 8.43 7.59
August 7.12 7.18 7.46 7.2 7.44 7.9 8.52 8.8 7.70
October 7.04 7.1 7.22 7.11 7.26 7.35 7.67 7.91 7.33
Conductivity (μScm−1) April 90 130 100 90 100 120 120 130 110.00
July 120 128 115 92 112 128 132 144 121.38
August 130 130 120 98 120 126 136 148 126.00
October 88 122 102 92 100 104 116 126 106.25
Total chloride (mgL−1) April 22 20 20 24 24 22 22 24 22.25
July 30 30 34 36 34 34 38 46 35.25
August 28 30 28 34 36 38 40 48 35.25
October 18 18 24 16 18 26 24 28 21.50
Dissolved oxygen (mgL−1) April 10.4 10 8.8 10.8 10 9.6 9.4 9.4 9.80
July 7.8 7.3 7.2 9.6 9.6 8.3 7.2 7.2 8.03
August 7.8 7.8 7.6 7.8 7.4 6.8 6.8 6.4 7.30
October 11.8 11.2 11 12.2 11.4 11.2 10.8 10.6 11.28
Biological oxygen demand (mgL−1) April 11 11.4 11.8 10.2 12 13.6 14.2 15.8 12.50
July 12.6 12.8 13 11 11 12.2 13 16.4 12.75
August 12.6 12.6 12.8 12.4 13 15.4 16.4 18 14.15
October 8.2 9.4 9.6 7.2 9 9.6 10.2 10.4 9.20
Total solids (mgL−1) April 2.2 2.25 2.34 2.32 2.44 2.52 2.58 3.4 2.51
July 2.34 2.36 2.41 2.54 2.62 2.64 2.78 3.48 2.65
August 2.3 2.3 2.39 2.48 2.6 2.62 2.67 3.96 2.67
October 2.1 2.01 2.28 1.7 2.12 2.18 2.28 2.38 2.13
−1
Total dissolved solids (mgL ) April 1.3 1.43 1.58 1.58 1.76 1.81 1.93 1.95 1.67
July 1.34 1.51 1.56 1.6 1.72 1.87 1.96 1.99 1.69
August 1.3 1.2 1.34 1.24 1.68 1.88 1.98 2.3 1.62
October 1.2 1.22 1.24 1.18 1.34 1.48 1.62 1.7 1.37
Total suspended solids (mgL−1) April 0.9 0.82 0.76 0.74 0.68 0.71 0.65 1.45 0.84
July 1 0.85 0.85 0.94 0.9 0.77 0.82 1.49 0.95
August 1 0.9 1.05 1.24 0.92 0.74 0.69 1.66 1.03
October 0.9 0.79 1.04 0.52 0.78 0.7 0.66 0.68 0.76
Nitrate nitrogen (μgL−1) April 180 187 210 177 225 230 230 235 209.25
July 198 200 205 196 226 232 236 244 217.13
August 267 268 280 210 247 287 310 325 274.25
October 160 176 188 140 160 187 196 230 179.63
Ammoniacal nitrogen (μgL−1) April 112 124 136 108 140 142 144 148 131.75
July 132 134 134 128 140 144 148 153 139.13
August 166 167 176 134 156 180 184 198 170.13
October 94 106 126 78 92 122 132 142 111.50
Orthophosphate phosphorus (μgL−1) April 24 28 42 32 44 38 44 46 37.25
July 30 42 42 34 48 62 66 72 49.50
August 32 44 46 44 48 64 68 80 53.25
October 18 28 32 22 30 38 42 46 32.00

4. Environ Monit Assess
Table 1 (continued)
Parameters Month S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 Average
Total phosphorus (μgL−1) April 38 46 72 52 76 68 78 84 64.25
July 52 70 72 62 84 106 108 116 83.75
August 54 72 78 70 86 110 112 128 88.75
October 36 44 52 38 54 66 70 82 55.25
characteristics such as drainage density, channel slope, threat to the rich water resource of Lidder is the
and basin relief ratio are also significantly positively seasonal inflow of Amarnath pilgrims during the pe-
correlated with discharge and nutrient loss (Hill et al. riod from June to August. Thus, the main impact of
1978). Land cover change plays a pivotal role in regional undesirable human activities is responsible for accel-
social and economic development and global environ- erated flow of nutrients from terrestrial to aquatic
mental changes (Xiuwan 2002). A number of research portion of the catchment. In this context, the present
works have been carried out by using various methodol- study was undertaken.
ogies and algorithms to derive land cover and change
information from different sets of remotely sensed data
(Singh 1986, 1989; Tateishi and Kajiwara 1991; Study area
Lichtenegger 1992; Muchoney and Haack 1994;
Wismann 1994; Lambin 1996; Sailor et al. 1997; The study area is Lidder valley (Fig. 1) which lies to
Romshoo 2003; Romshoo et al. 2011). Although tourism the North of Anantnag district (Jammu and Kashmir,
plays a vital role in generating both national and local India) in the central Himalayan mountain range with
revenue, it has an adverse effect on the environment the geographical coordinates of 33°4′–34°15′ N lati-
(Pandey et al. 1995). The significance of ecological tude and 75°05′–75°32′ E longitude. The valley is
impacts from tourism and recreation has been recognized 50 km long and has a varied topography with the
widely by protected area management agencies and altitudinal extremes of 1,600–5,200 m. The most im-
researchers (Buckley 2001, 2002; Leung and Marion portant settlement in the Lidder valley is the town of
2000; Newsome et al. 2002; Sirakaya et al. 2001). Pahalgam with a lot of hotels and restaurants.
During recent years, rapid increase in the popula- Pahalgam is an important tourist destination and also
tion has resulted in the establishment of new settle- gateway to many treks including the one to the holy
ments in the catchment of Lidder River. Humans in the cave of Amarnath—sacred to Hindus.
process began to degrade the environment, particularly Lidder River, one of the important right bank
the aquatic ecosystem, by deforestation and denuda- tributaries of river Jhelum, is formed by two mountain
tion of drainage basin. Also, vast forest areas were torrents which flow from North–East and North–West.
converted to agriculture and pastures degraded be- The eastern stream trickles from the snow on the
cause of overgrazing by the cattle. Population density southern slopes of Panjtarni Mountains and flows into
also exerts an important influence on nutrient concen- oligotrophic Sheshnag Lake. Leaving the Sheshnag,
trations in river systems (Caraco and Cole 1999). the stream flows in a westerly direction, joining the
Predominantly urban catchments generally have in- western branch at Pahalgam. The western branch has
creasing nutrient loading rates with an increasing per- its origin from Kolhai Mountains and is joined by the
centage of impervious land area (Beaulac and stream flowing from Tarsar and Chandasar lakes.
Reckhow 1982). This is attributable to the fact that After the confluence of the two streams at Pahalgam,
hydraulic characteristics and land activities are influ- the river flows in southerly direction. In its passage
ential factors in nutrient loading rates in urban land use through the lower part of the valley, the river separates
areas. Currently, one of the visible problems with the into numerous channels in the vicinity of twin towns
Lidder waters is high pollution load contributed by of Anantnag and Bijbehara. Lidder joins river Jhelum
domestic, agricultural, and tourism sectors. One more at Gur after traveling a course of 70 km approximately.

5. Environ Monit Assess
The climate of the area is subhumid temperate. The Materials and methods
major portion of rainfall is received from March to May,
and the period from November to February receives Water quality analysis
heavy snowfall. The geology of the area is mainly com-
posed of Silurian Shale, Panjal Traps, Muth Quartizite, Eight water sampling sites were taken along the length
Syringothris Limestone, Fenestella Shale, Quartzite, and of the river for physicochemical analysis (Fig. 1).
Agglomeratic Slate (Middlemiss 1910; Bions and Before collecting the water samples, all the sample
Middlemiss 1928), ranging in age from Devonian to bottles were washed with Laboline and rinsed with
Upper Permian (Wadia 1976). A major fault roughly distilled water. Water sampling was done during morn-
trending NNE–SSW has brought Fenestella Quartzite ing hours from 8:30 am to 12:00 noon. The samples
in juxtaposition with Agglomeratic Slate (Kaul 1976). were collected in airtight glass jars of 3-l capacity.
Lidder River serves as a drinking water source to a Separate samples were collected in 250-ml glass bot-
huge population lying in its catchment. Besides, tles for the estimation of dissolved oxygen (DO). All
Lidder River is important for agriculture as it serves the samples were transported to the laboratory for
as a source of irrigation for the same. The river also refrigeration and were analyzed within 48 h. Twelve
harbors rich resource of fisheries particularly brown physicochemical parameters were analyzed in the
trout. Hence, the river is socioeconomically important present study which includes pH, electric conductivity,
for the population in its catchment. dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand, total
Fig. 2 Land use land cover map of Lidder River catchment

6. Environ Monit Assess
chlorides, total solids, total suspended solids, total water quality results in order to assess the impact of
dissolved solids, ammoniacal nitrogen, nitrate nitro- tourism on water quality.
gen, total phosphorus, and orthophosphate phospho-
rus. Analysis was done for all the four seasons viz, Land use land cover mapping
spring, summer, autumn, and winter in 2007. Analysis
of physicochemical parameters was done priority- Bi-seasonal satellite data IRS-P6-LISS-III pertaining to
wise. pH, conductivity, DO, nitrates, and phosphates October 2005 and May 2006 were used to map land
were determined immediately followed by others. The cover types in Lidder catchment. IRS-P6-LISS-III with
physicochemical parameters were analyzed as per as spatial resolution of 23.5 m, Path/Row 92/46 (19
standard methods (APHA and AWWA 1999). October 2005), 92/47 (19 October 2005), 93/46 (24
Dissolved oxygen was estimated by modified October 2005), 92/46 (26 May 2006), 92/47 (23 May
Winkler’s method, total chlorides by argentometric 2006), and 93/46 (29 April 2006) were used. LISS III
method (Mackerath et. al. 1978), ammoniacal nitrogen operates in four bands: green band with a wavelength
and nitrate nitrogen by salicylate method (CSIR ranging from 0.52 to 0.59 μm, red band with a wave-
1974), and total phosphorus and orthophosphate phos- length ranging from 0.62 to 0.68 μm, near infrared band
phorus by Stannous Chloride method (APHA 1999). with a wavelength ranging from 0.77 to 0.86 μm, and
short-wave infrared with a wavelength ranging from
Tourism data 1.55 to 1.70 μm. Land use land cover mapping was
done as per the standards laid by NNRMS (Anonymous
The environmental impact of tourism is assessed pri- 2005). For delineating land use land cover satellite data
marily through the physicochemical analysis of water were processed. Processing of satellite data involved
quality because it is an excellent indicator of human georectification, georeferencing, co-registration, and
use of the ecosystem. Monthly tourism data from 1997 mosaicing appropriate scenes of the study area.
to 2011 were acquired from Jammu and Kashmir Onscreen image interpretation technique was then
Tourism Department to analyze the seasonal variation employed for differentiating Land Use Land Cover
in tourist flow. Also, data pertaining to pilgrims visit- (LULC) after using various image-processing techni-
ing holy Amarnath cave annually from 1979–2009 ques like image enhancement, filtering, etc. to enhance
were acquired. Tourism data were correlated with the interpretability of the LULC classes.
Table 2 Recent tourist inflow
into Lidder valley Year Non-pilgrim tourists Total no. of tourists
Domestic Foreign Local Pilgrim tourists
1997 6,340 291 5,396 79,035 91,062
1998 8,340 365 6,396 149,000 164,101
1999 58,162 673 36,322 114,000 209,157
2000 58,775 679 31,376 173,334 262,164
2001 49,744 650 29,205 119,037 198,636
2002 11,468 378 27,533 110,793 150,172
2003 60,249 1,301 375,263 153,314 590,127
2004 158,549 3,715 251,513 400,000 813,777
2005 273,121 3,899 440,649 388,000 1,105,669
2006 254,590 2,975 444,604 265,000 967,169
2007 149,413 2,094 341,966 213,565 707,038
2008 131,422 2,131 163,898 498,198 795,649
2009 130,675 2,106 451,546 373,419 957,746
2010 159,860 2,218 63,242 458,212 683,532
2011 277,731 4,918 422,712 635,000 1,350,361

7. Environ Monit Assess
Results and discussion as salts of sodium, potassium, and calcium. Chlorides
are leached from various rocks into soil and water by
Water quality weathering. The chloride ion is highly mobile and is
transported to closed basins (WHO 1996). The con-
The results of water quality analysis are summarized centration of total chlorides increased downstream
in Table 1. Water was alkaline with pH value ranging which can be attributed to the waste inflow in the form
from 7.1 to 8.43. Gradual increase in pH from site I to of domestic sewage.
site VIII is related to increasing pollution pressure Dissolved oxygen showed inverse relationship with
resulting because of tourist and agricultural activities temperature, which is in agreement with Henry’s Law
in the catchment of Lidder. (IUPAC 1997). The maximum concentration of dis-
Total chloride concentration ranged from 16 to solved oxygen was recorded in the spring season and
44 mgL−1. Chlorides are widely distributed in nature late autumn. Difference of nearly 2 mgL−1 between
Fig. 3 a Total number of
tourists visiting Lidder val-
ley from 1997 to 2011. b
Number of pilgrim tourists
(Yatris) visiting Lidder val-
ley from 1980 to 2011

8. Environ Monit Assess
upstream and downstream stations was observed in rus, and orthophosphate phosphorus showed almost a
some months, which is an indicator of heavy organic similar trend as that of nitrates. Phosphorus contami-
pollution in the lower reaches owing to flushing of nation is attributed to high anthropogenic pressure
sewage directly into Lidder River by nearby settlements. (sites 6, 7, and 8) and presence of Silurian shale in
TDS was maximum during summer months which the catchment of Lidder River (Middlemiss 1910).
can be attributed to accelerated snowmelt, increasing
runoff, rainfall in the catchment of Lidder, grazing, Tourist data analysis
and tourist activities. Hence, the river downstream is
affected by silt-impregnated waters derived from its Time series of the tourist data from 1997 to 2011 was
catchment. analyzed (Table 2) to investigate if there is any link
Calcium was the dominant cation at all stations between the deteriorating water quality and number of
because of the presence of calcium-rich rocks tourist arrivals in Pahalgam. We also analyzed the
(limestone) in the catchment of Lidder (Bions and number of pilgrim tourists visiting holy Amarnath
Middlemiss 1928). The concentration increased from cave from 1980 to 2011 (Fig. 3). Both the data showed
station I to station VIII. A similar behavior was shown an increasing trend across the years as is reflected by
by magnesium whose concentration increased down- r2 values of 0.728 and 0.683, respectively. In the
stream. The only source of magnesium is dolomite in 1990s, tourist inflow into the Lidder Valley was very
the catchment of Lidder River. little owing to the turmoil in the region. Since 2003,
Nitrate nitrogen increased significantly down- the situation improved, and there has been an expo-
stream, which is related to the entry of nitrogenous nential surge in the number of tourists visiting Lidder
wastes from tourist activities (bathing and defecating Valley (Fig. 3). Year 2011 saw more than 13.5 lakh
on the river banks) and agricultural activities. tourists visiting Lidder valley, the highest number
Agricultural activities are predominant in plains of recorded till date, while the lowest number has been
Lidder valley (Fig. 2) which include Aishmuqam (site recorded in 1997. Similarly, 2011 saw 635,000 pilgrim
7), Mattan (site 8), and Bijbehara. The exceptionally tourists (highest) visiting Amarnath cave, while as the
high nitrate concentration downstream can be attribut- pilgrim data show, a decrease in the 1980s and 1990s.
ed to the use of large quantities of nitrogenous fertil- The ever increasing tourist inflow into Lidder valley
izers in its catchment which ultimately find their way has serious ecological consequences especially pollut-
in Lidder River. Ammoniacal nitrogen, total phospho- ing the pristine waters of the Lidder River.
Table 3 Time series of total monthly tourists visiting Lidder valley from 1997 to 2008 (excluding pilgrim tourists)
Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Month
January 78 97 618 586 514 254 2,819 2,670 4,631 4,531 4,997 1,919 3,770
February 53 67 425 404 334 175 1,941 1,839 3,179 3,120 3,441 1,322 2,596
March 45 56 357 338 296 147 1,627 1,541 2,674 2,616 2,885 1,108 2,177
April 247 311 1,970 1,868 1,629 810 8,985 8,511 14,744 14,444 15,930 6,119 12,020
May 811 1,019 6,461 6,129 5,365 2,657 29,474 27,920 48,419 47,379 52,255 20,071 39,428
June 4,529 5,687 36,064 34,208 30,001 14,831 164,511 155,835 270,304 264,448 230,731 112,025 220,067
July 4,466 5,607 35,558 33,728 29,580 14,623 162,203 153,649 266,512 260,738 75,146 110,453 216,979
August 1,271 1,595 10,114 9,594 8,414 4,159 46,139 43,706 75,810 74,168 74,200 31,419 61,720
September 268 335 2,126 2,017 1,759 874 9,698 9,186 15,934 15,589 17,193 6,604 12,973
October 49 62 394 374 318 162 1,799 1,704 2,945 2,891 3,189 1,225 2,406
November 133 166 1,056 1,001 878 434 4,815 4,561 7,912 7,740 8,537 3,279 6,441
December 77 97 614 583 511 253 2,803 2,655 4,605 4,505 4,969 1,909 3,749
Total 12,027 15,101 95,757 90,830 79,599 39,379 436,813 413,777 717,669 702,169 493,473 297,451 584,327

9. Environ Monit Assess
As per analysis done by the Centre of Research for the main river front, thus exposing the water body to a
Development (CORD) in 2011, about 2,682 metric high risk of contamination. There are also many areas
tons of solid wastes were generated comprising in and around Pahalgam town without any solid waste
975 metric tons from hotels and 1,707 metric tons collection/disposal mechanism. The huge quantity
from tourists. From June to August 2011, about of garbage, in dispersed form, is being disposed
83 % (2,231 metric tons) of total annual solid wastes off around these areas and finally finds its way
were generated with an average generation of about into Lidder River. The pilgrimage tourist base
24.77 metric tons/day. The per capita generation of camps at Nunwan, Zagipal, Chandanwari, and
solid waste is about 2.40 kg/day. In absence of any Sheshnag are not adequately equipped to suffi-
proper waste disposal mechanism or facility, it has ciently deal with the scientific disposal of solid
been observed that a considerable number of hotels wastes during the pilgrimage period. Considerable
dump their wastes openly in the forest area and along quantities of solid waste from these camps, main
Table 4 Correlation between average of water quality parameters and tourist arrival in Lidder vale (ρ is correlation coefficient)
Parameters Number of tourists ρ Parameters Number of tourists ρ
pH Conductivity (μScm−1)
April 7.48 15,930 April 110.00 15,930
July 7.59 287,569 July 121.38 287,569
August 7.70 81,800 August 126.00 81,800
October 7.33 3,189 0.50 October 106.25 3,189 0.62
Total chloride (mgL−1) DO (mgL−1)
April 22.25 15,930 April 9.80 15,930
July 35.25 287,569 July 8.03 287,569
August 35.25 81,800 August 7.30 81,800
October 21.50 3,189 0.77 October 11.28 3,189 −0.62
BOD (mgL−1) Total solids (mgL−1)
April 12.50 15,930 April 2.51 15,930
July 12.75 287,569 July 2.65 287,569
August 14.15 81,800 August 2.67 81,800
October 9.20 3,189 0.40 October 2.13 3,189 0.61
TDS (mgL−1) TSS (mgL−1)
April 1.67 15,930 April 0.84 15,930
July 1.69 287,569 July 0.95 287,569
August 1.62 81,800 August 1.03 81,800
October 1.37 3,189 0.58 October 0.76 3,189 0.56
NO3−–N (μgL−1) NH4+–N (μgL−1)
April 209.25 15,930 April 131.75 15,930
July 217.13 287,569 July 139.13 287,569
August 274.25 81,800 August 170.13 81,800
October 179.63 3,189 0.21 October 111.50 3,189 0.28
OPP (μgL−1) TP (μgL−1)
April 37.25 15,930 April 64.25 15,930
July 49.50 287,569 July 83.75 287,569
August 53.25 81,800 August 88.75 81,800
October 32.00 3,189 0.65 October 55.25 3,189 0.67

10. Environ Monit Assess
Fig. 4 Scatter diagram showing correlation between seasonal average of water quality parameters and tourist arrival in Lidder valley
township of Pahalgam from locals and other tou- reckless tourist activities play a significant role in the
rists, and trail garbage all along the pilgrimage alteration of water quality of Lidder. The highest value
route to Amarnath cave finally find their disposal of correlation coefficient was shown by chlorides
in the main water body of Lidder River. (0.77) followed by orthophosphate phosphorus
Monthly tourism data from 1997–2009 (Table 3) (0.65), while a negative correlation was shown by
were correlated (Pearson and Lee 1896) with seasonal dissolved oxygen (ρ0−0.62).
variation in water quality parameters. Correlation be- Hence, accelerated flow of tourists from June to
tween tourism influx into the Lidder Valley and sea- August causes deterioration in water quality of
sonal variation in water quality showed a positive Lidder River. Due to the increase in the tourist inflow,
trend for all the water quality parameters except dis- there has been a significant impact on deteriorating
solved oxygen (Table 4, Fig. 4), suggesting that water quality of Lidder River. This is evidenced from

11. Environ Monit Assess
the past data (Bhat and Yousuf 2003). Water quality extents. Land use has a considerable role in affecting
parameters especially dissolved oxygen, ammoniacal water quality of streams (Horner et al. 1996). If catch-
nitrogen, and total phosphorus are showing a change ment is covered with impervious surfaces, such as
in their concentration when we compare 2003 WQ roads and parking facilities, the water quality of
data with the 2007 observed data (Table 5). streams is seriously degraded. Agriculture as a non-
Dissolved oxygen showed a slight decrease by point pollution source greatly affects water quality of
0.07 mgL−1, while ammoniacal nitrogen and total streams due to use of pesticides and fertilizers which
phosphorus showed a significant increase by 120.7 after degradation find their way into the streams di-
and 51.75 μgL−1, respectively. This could be attribut- rectly causing enrichment in the concentration of ni-
ed to the increased tourist flow over the years (Fig. 3) trogen and phosphorus compounds, thereby affecting
in addition to the extensive agricultural and horticul- the biota of stream (Botkin and Keller 2009). People
tural practices employed by the people in the living in the catchment of Lidder are shifting their land
catchment. use from agriculture to orchards owing to the decrease
in discharge of Lidder due to changing climate.
Land use land cover Moreover, apple orchards are economically more viable
as compared to agriculture. The spatial extent of agri-
Knowledge of land use and land cover is important for culture has decreased from 120.27 km2 (Zaz and
many planning and management activities and is con- Romshoo 2008) in 1972 to 108.58 km2 in 2006. The
sidered an essential element for understanding the area under orchards was 17.65 km2 in 1972 (Zaz and
earth system (Lillesand et al. 2004). Using on-screen Romshoo 2008), while it is 73.03 km2 as of 2006
digitization, 13 land use land cover classes were de- showing more than a fourfold increase during the past
lineated (Fig. 2, Table 6) based on shape, size, pattern, 34 years. A zoomed-in view showing change in land use
tone, texture, and association (Oslon 1960). These from agriculture to orchards in Lidder valley from 1992
include bare rock, barren land, coniferous forest, crop- to 2005 can be seen in Fig. 5. Though the area under
land, degraded forest, grassland, orchards, perennial agriculture has reduced considerably, the increased use
snow, plantation, scrub, settlements, water body, and of fertilizers over the years has led to the deterioration in
wetland. This was followed by extensive ground ver- the water quality of Lidder especially in the lower plains
ification where a total of 202 ground samples were
taken. The overall accuracy of the delineated LULC
map was 93.56 % (Table 7), modified after incorpo- Table 6 Land use land cover statistics of Lidder Valley
rating necessary field information. Coniferous forest Class name Area (km2) % age
(20.45 %) was the most dominant land cover type
followed by scrub (15.33 %), perennial snow Bare rock 110.86 8.90
(14.43 %), degraded forest (12.65 %), bare rock Barren land 67.39 5.41
(8.9 %), and cropland (8.74 %), while wetland Coniferous forest 254.81 20.45
(0.16 %) was the least dominant class as per the spatial Cropland 108.86 8.74
Degraded forest 157.56 12.65
Grassland 43.77 3.51
Table 5 Change in physicochemical characteristics of water
from 2003 to 2007 Orchards 73.03 5.86
Plantation 32.17 2.58
Year 2003a 2007 Change
Perennial snow 179.72 14.43
Parameter
Scrub 190.94 15.33
Dissolved oxygen (mgL−1) 9.17 9.1 -0.07 Settlements 7.13 0.57
Ammoniacal nitrogen (μgL−1) 17.42 138.13 +120.71 Water body 17.50 1.40
−1
Total phosphorus (μgL ) 21.25 73 +51.75 Wetland 1.98 0.16
a
Total area 1,245.73 100.00
Bhat and Yousuf 2003

12. Environ Monit Assess
Table 7 Accuracy assessment of land use/land cover
Reference data
BR BL CL CF FP GL OF OR PS SF SE WA WE Row total
Classification data
BR 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8
BL 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6
CF 0 0 44 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 47
CL 0 0 0 23 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 24
FP 0 0 0 0 13 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 14
GL 0 0 1 0 0 19 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 21
OF 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 1 0 0 0 14
OR 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 0 0 13
PS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 6
SF 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 27 0 0 0 28
SE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 8
WA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 6
WE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 7
Column Total 8 6 45 24 14 19 15 13 6 31 8 6 7 202
Producer’s accuracy User’s accuracy
BR0(7/8)×100087.50 % BR0(7/8)×100087.50 %
BL0(5/6)×100083.33 % BL0(5/6)×100083.33 %
CF0(44/45)×100097.77 % CF0(44/47)×100093.62 %
CL0(23/24)×100095.83 % CL0(23/24)×100095.83 %
FP0(13/14)×100092.86 % FP0(13/14)×100092.86 %
GL0(19/19)×1000100.00 % GL0(19/21)×100090.48 %
OF0(12/15)×100080.00 % OF0(12/14)×100085.71 %
OR0(12/13)×100092.31 % OR0(12/13)×100092.31 %
PS0(6/6)×1000100.00 % PS0(6/6)×1000100.00 %
SF0(27/31)×100087.1 % SF0(27/28)×100096.43 %
SE0(8/8)×1000100.00 % SE0(8/8)×1000100.00 %
WA0(6/6)×1000100.00 % WA0(6/6)×1000100.00 %
WE0(7/7)×1000100.00 % WE0(7/7)×1000100.00 %
Overall accuracy0[(7+5+44+23+13+19+12+12+6+27+8+6+7)/202]×100093.56 %
BR bare rock, BL barren land, CF coniferous forest, CL cropland, FP forest plantation, GL grassland, OF open forest, OR orchards, PS
perennial snow, SF-scrub forest, SE settlements, WA water body, WE wetland
of the catchment. During the period from 1980 to 1981, impact on the deteriorating water quality of Lidder
24.14 kg/ha of fertilizers were used (Anonymous 2008). waters in the low lying areas of the catchment espe-
Over the course of time, people started to extensively cially around site 7 (Aishmuqam) and site 8 (Mattan)
use fertilizers to increase the crop productivity, and the where land use is dominated by agriculture. In many
application of fertilizers increased 44.21 kg/ha in 2002– areas of the Kashmir valley, economic factors and
2003. An all-time high rate of fertilizer application of decreasing stream flows are the driving forces for the
97.03 kg/ha was used for 2007–2008 (Anonymous change of land use from water-intensive agriculture
2008). The excessive use of fertilizers has a significant to orchards.

13. Environ Monit Assess
Fig. 5 Land use change from agriculture to orchards in Lidder valley from 1992 to 2005
Conclusion phosphorus, and BOD from April to August. Due to the
increase of these nutrients, the ecology of the river is
Various land use practices in the catchment of Lidder changing and adversely affecting the distribution of
River that has tremendous ecological and socioeco- aquatic flora and fauna therein. The direct discharge of
nomic importance depict the way we are treating our the effluents and sewage from the surrounding areas into
fresh water ecosystems. From the analysis and discus- the Lidder River has increased the nutrient loading in the
sion of the results, it is concluded that the main rea- Lidder River. As a result of nutrient enrichment, a drop in
sons for the deterioration of the water quality of Lidder the oxygen content has been observed which has direct
River are increase in the nutrient and silt load from the bearing on abundance of aquatic fauna (like fishes
catchment due to reckless use of pesticides and fertil- especially trout).
izers, encroachment, and unplanned urbanization in the The waters of Lidder are simultaneously subjected
vicinity of the river. This fact has been substantiated by to multiple and competing uses. This serves domestic,
the physicochemical characteristics of the river. The agriculture, irrigation, and other commercial sectors
physicochemical analysis shows an increase of most of (including hotels at Pahalgam) sectors, which have a
the water quality parameters particularly nitrate nitrogen, direct bearing on the water quality of Lidder River. It
ammoniacal nitrogen, total phosphorus, orthophosphate is inferred from the study that pollution load increased

14. Environ Monit Assess
considerably (as depicted by concentration of various Buckley, R. C. (2001). Environmental impacts. In D. Weaver
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Oxford: CAB International.
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