Remediation of Heavy Metals through Aquatic Macrophytes from Water Bodies of Bundelkhand Region of Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

The Bundelkhand region - approximately an area of 70,000 square kilometers with 21 million people, comprising 13 districts of Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Uttar Pradesh (UP) - is facing its worst ever drought spell in living memory . There are numbers of century old historical lakes in this region which are getting polluted day by day due to the growth of the small scale industrial corridor, nutrient loading and rapid anthropogenic activities. The increasing levels of metals in the aquatic ecosystem, their entry into food chain and the overall health effects are of major concern to researchers in the field of ecology. There are out of twelve existing plants in different water bodies, four aquatic macrophytes namely Eichorniacrassipes, Pistiastratiotes, Lemna minor and Vallisneriaspiralis  were selected for phytoremediation study on the basis of their abundance in selected study areas. Concentration of six trace metals have been estimated in above mentioned macrophytes i.e., Copper (Cu), Chromium (Cr), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Lead (Pb), and Zinc (Zn). From a phytoremediation perspective, E. crassipes and Pistiastratiotes are promising plant species for remediation of polluted water bodies of Bundelkhand region.