The Deccan Geographer Vol. 62, No. 9 December, 2024, pp. 1-12 (ISSN-0011-7269) UGC Care Listed Geography Journal ACCELERATING WATER HYACINTH IN ANASAGAR LAKE OF AJMER CITY: AN ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN Monika Kannan, Rishi Saxena and Kumar Gaurav Abstract Water hyacinth (WH) is infamous for its significant environmental harm and the financial strain it imposes for control measures. Nonetheless, there are considerable opportunities for utilization, particularly among rural populations. The plant thrives in areas where it has been introduced due to elevated temperatures, eutrophic conditions, and other environmental influences. For the past six months increasing water hyacinth in Anasagar lake has been a reason for severe concern, as its expansion hampers aquatic life and also impacts the ecological environment. The deployment of machines and manpower over the last few months have failed to put a check on their accelerating expansion in Ana Sagar Lake in Ajmer from being smothered under a carpet of water hyacinth. Water testing to analyse the major reasons responsible for growth and expansion of water hyacinth is undertaken. Sample have been collected from ten random places across the lake over a period of five months (January-May 2024. Water testing methods-IS: 3025 (Part-11):2022, IS 3025 ( Part-9 ) : 2023, IS: 3025 (Part- 32):1988, IS: 3025 (Part-10):2023, IS 3025 ( Part- Sec–1): 2022. Trend of accelerating spread of water hyacinth has been monitored through Google Earth Pro. Meteorology data has been acquired from Indian Meteorological Department, New Delhi for the last five months. ArcMap has been used to extract the observed values and expansion rates of water hyacinth in the lake. The observed values are corelated with the area extracted from Arcmap and relationships have been established. Levels of Chloride, Nitrates, Dissolved oxygen and pH have been majorly taken consideration. Studies indicate that hyacinth plant grows in a wide range of temperatures between 13° to 40 °C but optimally grows from 25° to 30°C. Corresponding Author: Kumar Gaurav, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Sophia Girls’ College (Autonomous), Ajmer (Rajasthan)