Sirsa river runs through the central part of the Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh (BBN) industrial region in district Solan of Himachal Pradesh. The water of this river is used for irrigating agricultural fields by the farmers. The increased industrial and urbanization activities in the valley are being pointed out as the cause of river water pollution by the farmers and other habitations in the region. Therefore, such reports prompted the idea to conduct this study to assess the river water suitability for irrigational commitments. Thus, Sirsa river water quality was assessed during the year 2018 by taking seven sampling sites as treatments which were replicated six times. To assess the suitability of Sirsa river water for irrigation purposes, various quality parameters such as pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR), Soluble Sodium Percentage (SSP), Residual Sodium Carbonate (RSC), Permeability Index (PI), Kelly’s Ratio (KR), Magnesium Hazard (Mg. Haz.)and Chloro-Alkaline Index (CAI) were determined. In the Sirsa river water pH, EC,RSC,SSP,SAR,PI,KR,Mg Hazand CAI were found in the range of 6.64-7.55, 129.50-719.67 µS/cm, -5.27 - -2.18 meq/l, 13.49-49.44%, 0.41-4.00%, 28.20-57.89%, 2.94-21.24%, 14.97-37.83%and 0.04-0.58%, respectively. All the factors were within the safe range for irrigation purposes except KR values. The high KR values above unity pointed out towards sodicity hazard of water which, therefore can not be used for irrigation purposes.
Nutritional, medicinal and indigenous use of Nasturtium officinale in Tehsil Thunag of District Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, North Western Himalaya, India
