ISSN: 2395-6887 Contents lists available at www.iosi.in ISOI Journal Of Microbiology, Biotechnology And Food Science Volume 2 Issue 2; Page No. 50-54 Page50 RESEARCH Assessment of Pollution status of river Ganga in Haridwar Vani Sharma and Padma Singh Department of Microbiology, Kanya Gurukul Campus, Gurukul Kangri vishwavidhayalaya, Haridwar- 249404 Email: drpadmasingh06@gmail.com ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Received 1 Jun. 2016 Accepted 16 Jun. 2016 Corresponding Author: Vani Sharma River Ganga is the largest perennial river of Indian sub-continent, which originates as a stream called “Bhagirathi” from Goumukh in the Gangotri glacier between 30”5’N and 79 0 7’E, above 4100m above mean sea level. In the present study we focused on the most important issue of today i.e. the pollution of river Ganga. The area of study includes different sites of Haridwar i.e. Bheemgodha, Prem- nagar, Kankhal and Jwalapur. In Haridwar and near by area river Ganga faces a bulk of residential, industrial and tourist waste due to which its get highly polluted. The samples from above mentioned sites were analyzed for presence of heavy metals, various physio- chemical parameters and microbial diversity. The various heavy metals had been found in the range of As (0.028 to 0.069 ppm), Cr (0.026 to 0.070 ppm), Cu (0.004 to 0,02 ppm), Fe (2.623 to 0.926 ppm), Hg (0,214 to ND ppm), Cd (1.078 to 0.0002 ppm) Ni (0.006 to 0.001 ppm), seasonal variation of physio-chemical parameters (pH, DO, BOD, TDS, Free CO 2 , Turbidity, Conductivity) and Microbial Diversity was also detected, Based on findings Ganga river found to be polluted by heavy metals and various microbes heavy metals especially Arsenic, iron and Mercury concentration was found to be above maximum acceptable concentration given by WHO and BIS. Hence appropriate measures should be taken to control the pollution. ©2016, IOSI, All Right Reserved. Email; vanisharma1988@gmail.com Key words: River Ganga, pollution, Heavy metals, Physio- chemical parameters, microbial diversity. INTRODUCTION Water is the most precious resource, essential to sustain the life on earth. The Ganga river is one of the most utilized rivers in the world, due to the abundant availability of water throughout the year, it has played an important role in the development of Indian civilization and economy. The water of river Ganga is frequently used for drinking, cooking and bathing purposes due to ancient knowledge that Ganges water does not putrefy, even after a long period of storage, Water has been used from time immemorial for remedial purposes. Most religious beliefs involve some ceremonial use of Holy water and in the India the water of river Ganga is treated with such reverence. Under the continuous Saraswati- Indus civilization going back to 7500 BC, the river Ganga is mentioned in Rigveda (Usler, 2006). Hippocrates, going back to 500 BC, wrote about the healing of disease with water. Bathing held a prominent place in the law that was prepared by the Moses under divine instruction for the government of the Hebrew nation. The role of the bath in the treatment of leprosy also would lead one to believe that the water was used for curative effects (Kloss, 1929). Outbreaks of acute diarrheal disease have been identified as causes of fatal disease dating back as far as the Sanskrit literature and during Hippocratic times. Increased urbanization and industrialization in the basin, has resulted in polluting the river, since the river has been preferred waste disposal sites for industrial and domestic effluents. Arbitrary and hysterical discharge of industrial and urban wastes into the environmental sink has become an issue of major global concern (Hernandez et al., 1988; Gupta and Mahapatra, 2003; Strong and Burgess, 2008). The pollution of