Comparative Physico-Chemical Limnology of Two Lakes of Kashmir Himalaya

Abstract

In the present paper an effort has been made to evaluate the trophic status of two lakes viz; Dal Lake and Manasbal Lake on the basis of physico-chemical parameters criterion. Four ecologically different habitats in each lake were selected for the present study i.e DL1-DL4 & MS1-MS4 in Dal and Manasbal Lake respectively. The rate of pollution in both the lakes varied from basin to basin as well as lake to lake. It has been observed that both lakes are subjected to anthropogenic stress in the form of nutrient enrichment which changes the overall trophic status of both the lakes. However, the stress is more pronounced in Dal Lake as compared to Manasbal Lake which shows higher pollution levels as depicted by physico-chemical parameters. While the rural lake (Manasbal) is marching towards high trophic nature as a result of heavy influx of nutrients from the catchment area, the urban valley lake (Dal) operating under tremendous anthropogenic pressures receives heavy load of pollutants leading to its rapid trophic evolution in the form of eutrophication.