REMOVAL OF TOXIC COMPONENTES AND OTHER HEAVY METALS AROUND

VAIAGAI RIVER BASIN NEAR MADURAI REGION USING PHYTOREMIDATION

S.Karpagamoorthy, AP/Civil, KIT & KIM Technical Campus

Phytoremediation is a word formed from the Greek prefix “Phyto” means plant and suffix
“remedium” meaning to clean (or) restore. Phytoremediation, the use of green plants to clean up
polluted soil and water resources has received much attention in the last few years.
Phytoremediation offers owners and managers of metal contaminated sites is an innovative and
cost effective option to address recalcitrant environmental contaminants. Although not a new
concept, phytoremediation is currently being re-examined as an environmentally friendly, cost-
effective means of reducing metal contaminated soil. Genetic engineering approaches are currently
being used to optimize the metabolic and physiological process that enable plants to
phytoremediation, sites contaminated with heavy metals. Water is the fundamental element and it
is linked up with the origin, evolution and undoubtedly the destiny of life. Next to oxygen, water
essential substance for all living organism on earth and only a tiny proportion of the global
freshwater is present in rivers. Unfortunately rivers are perhaps the worst polluted freshwater
ecosystem in earth. Most rivers in India are polluted and their water unfit for human use. Many
rivers and water bodies are becoming saturated with organic compounds from industrial effluents,
posing a major threat to both human health and aquatic life.The problem of water quality
deterioration is mainly due to human activities such as discharge of industrial and sewage wastes
and agricultural runoff which cause ecological damage and pose serious health hazards.

There are 34 river basins in Tamil Nadu. For hydrological studies, they are grouped into
17 river basins. The Vaigai River basin is one of them. Vaigai river basin covers an area of about
7009.13 sq.km and hilly area extends to 2,101.68 sq.km and located in the Theni, Dindugal,
Madurai, Sivaganga, and Ramanathapuram Districts of Tamil Nadu. Vaigai, the main river
originating from Varushanadu valley with its tributaries forms a well-defined, compact drainage
basin. Vaigai river basin lies between the geographic co-ordinates Lat. 9o 15’ – 10o 20’ N and
Long. 77o 10’ - 79o 15’ and falls within the Survey of India toposheets, 58F, 58G, 58J and 58k.
The total extent of the area is covered within the administrative boundaries of 20 taluks and 37
blocks.

According to Central Pollution Control Board, 90% of the water supplied to the towns and
cities in India is polluted, out of which only 1.6% gets treated. Out of 3119 towns and cities, only
8 have complete sewage collection and treatment facilities. According to the Ministry of
Environment and Forests (MEF), most rivers in India are polluted, mainly because of direct inflow
of untreated sewage resulting in unacceptable levels of biological oxygen demand (BOD) and
suspended solids (SS). Hence I intended to evaluate the Vaigai river and its tributaries for the
pollution status.

NAME : S. KARPAGAMOORTHY

DEPT : CIVIL ENGINEERING

APPLICATION NUMBER : 2024KARE000112