Studies on Macrozoobenthos of Rabindra Sarovar and Subhas Sarovar in Kolkata in Relation to Water and Sediment Characteristics
Contents: Preface. Introduction. Review of literature. Materials and methods. Description of study area: 1. Collection of meteorological data. 2. Collection and preservation of abiotic and biotic samples. 3. Analysis of water and sediment samples. 4. Analysis of benthic fauna. 5. Statistical analysis. Results and discussion: 1.Climate conditions. 2. Physico-chemical characteristics. 3. Water characteristics. 4. Sediment characteristics. 5. Biological characteristics. 6. Qualitative composition of benthic fauna. 7. Quantitative evaluation of benthic fauna. 8. Community analysis. 9. Statistical analysis. Conclusion. Summary. Acknowledgements. References.
From the Preface: "During the last few decades lakes allover the world have become the focus of environmental investigations. The increased human activities including excessive dumping of organic as well as non-biodegradable wastes have brought about drastic changes in lake environment in India and especially Calcutta now Kolkata. The urban lakes in Calcutta are, in fact, predominantly plagued with problems pertaining to poor water quality, prolific growth of weeds and loss of bio-eco-aesthetic values.
Keeping in view of these threats to Rabindra Sarovar (RS), Governemnt of India has declared this lake as a \'National Lake\' under the National Lake Conservation programme (NLCP). The basic objectives of such a designation to RS are to improve its environment along with prevention of pollution, catchment area treatment, desilting, deweeding as well as research and development studies on floral and faunal activities and related ecological aspects.
So, as a part of the NLCP, present investigations were undertaken on two major urban lake environments viz., Rabindra Sarovar and Subhas Sarovar, which are located in the heart of the city, Calcutta. A comprehensive study of physico-chemical characteristics of water and sediment and benthic fauna was undertaken in the present research to cover a multitude of impairments of the aquatic system like presence of nutrient salts and estimation of benthic condition. Herein, the physico-chemical status of the lake ecosystem is described covering a wide spectrum of parameters while the study on the benthic fauna emphasized their importance as an effective tool for supplementing the physico-chemical information on the lakes. Various biological indices were calculated to reflect the overall condition of the aquatic system by a single index value. On the other hand, statistical analyses were done to elaborate the inter-relationships between the selected abiotic factors and benthic components of the lake so that the available information may clearly and convincingly demonstrate the \'health\' of these two lakes."
