See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: [Link]

net/publication/265987460

Control of Water Hyacinth-A Case Study

Article

CITATIONS READS

3 933

2 authors:

Sunil Shaha Chandrasen Rajemahadik

Kolhapur Institute Of Technology's College Of Engineering Sanjay Ghodawat Institute
3 PUBLICATIONS 3 CITATIONS 22 PUBLICATIONS 15 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Chandrasen Rajemahadik on 06 November 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Sengupta, M. and Dalwani, R. (Editors). 2008
Proceedings of Taal2007: The 12th World Lake Conference: 1051-1057

Control of Water Hyacinth- A Case Study

Sunil S. Shaha, Chandrasen F. Rajemahadik,
Department of Environmental Engineering, K.I.T.’s college of Engineering, Gokul Shirgaon, Kolhapur,
Maharashtra 416 234
Email: [Link]@[Link], crajemahadik@[Link]

ABSTRACT

Rankala Lake having an area of 107 hectors and average depth of 10 m was impounded during
1883. Rankala Lake is an important Bird Area. Other fauna like two species of lizards and eleven
species of snakes are recorded in Lake area. Seven species of insects are found in the marshes of
“Partalla” region and around lake water. About 24 different types of fishes are found in the lake.
Tragically, Lake’s extremely diverse fauna was decimated pollution from various sources. Effects
of noxious water weeds and other associated problems threaten the sustainability of the lake's
resources. Water hyacinth Incidence in water body caused enormous problems to the economies and
the environment. The design of a particular program of water hyacinth control is not an easy task.
There are socioeconomic constraints which may prevent the practice of any particular control
method: public opinion, the lack of equipment, funding and sufficient trained personnel. A strategic
action plans have been developed to control the growth of aquatic weed. The present paper briefly
describes the methodology for control of water hyacinth in Rankala Lake at Kolhapur. Efforts are
being made by KMC to control the water hyacinth which includes manual pulling, mechanical
harvesting and biological control (introduction of weevils that weaken hyacinth root systems). The
constraints posed by all available control methods are discussed. It is considered that, under certain
circumstances, biological control of the weed alone will not be sufficient to effectively reduce the
weed in a relatively short period of time. Therefore, an integrated approach for the control of the
weed is recommended which may consist of mechanical and/or systematic manual removal. Each
method has its own economic and environmental constrain, and practical advice is needed on where
and how to use short-term control methods to complement the effect of biological control.
Therefore, technically sound programs of control of the weed should be rationally developed and
implemented.

Keywords: Environmental degradation, hydrological study, weevils, Biological control, mechanical

removal.

INTRODUCTION At present there are only six lakes in the city

and two more are adjacent to the city. The Rankala
The Kolhapur City, famous as ‘Dakshin Kashi’ lake, Kotitirth lake, Hanuman lake, Lakshatirtha
since ancient times, is a holy place. The city has an lake, Raman-Mala lake and New Palace Lake are
elevation of 550 M above the Mean Sea Level in the main city area whereas the Rajaram lake and
(MSL) and situated on 16o 42’ N latitude and 74o Kalamba lake are situated on the outskirts of city.
14’ E longitude. Kolhapur stands on the bank of Among those ‘Rankala Lake’ is the oldest & most
river Panchaganga, which is a tributary of river popular one.
Krishna and has got developed on a region that
comprises of Deccan Trap. The weather of STUDY AREA: RANKALA LAKE
Kolhapur city is pleasant and cheerful. The city
enjoys moderate temperature changes, dropping up The Rankala Lake is in the heart of Kolhapur city,
to 10o C in winter and occasionally rising above which was build up during a period of 1877-1883.
40o C in summer. West and South-West are the Area of the lake is 107 hectares and average depth
prominent wind directions. of the lake is 10 m. Rankala provides irrigation
The city of Kolhapur was famous for its lakes water for about 80 hectares of lands in and around
and other water bodies. In fact, Kolhapur was the city of Kolhapur. The lake has a great Socio-
called a city of Lakes. During the development cultural, aesthetic and recreational value. The area
phases of the city, many of these lakes and ponds of the catchment is 700 hectares. Total storage
were refilled. These water bodies supported capacity of the lake is about 43,50,141 M3. Useful
wildlife and humans by providing water for Capacity of lake water is 27,45,042 M3 . The major
drinking and irrigation. However, nowadays few of sources of water to the Lake are ,a natural nalla
these lakes are used for irrigation and some from the ‘Shyam Society’ and through a nalla
support wild life as well as recreation. from “Partala”- a pocket consisting of natural
marshy land area of about 2.0 hectares. Through a The deteriorating water quality is reflected in
Feeder Channel from the Bondrenagar area enters profuse growth of water hyacinth as well as other
the Lake at a point near the waste weir. At present, submerged aquatic plants like hydrilla. The
the lake supports aquatic flora and fauna. It also enormous growth rate of aquatic weeds and plants
attracts many wildlife and bird species. A 1994-96 as well as uncontrolled human interference has
count of the ‘Asian Waterfowl’ census showed virtually threatened the existence of Rankala Lake.
nearly 5000 birds of 74 species such as grebes, Streams carrying sewage from the lake catchment
cormorants, ibises, cooches, jacanas, spoonbills, are main sources of pollution and subsequent
shop birds, geese, ducks and other migratory birds deterioration.
from Central Asia, Siberia and Europe which To assess an overall condition of the Lake, a
flocked in and around the Lake; out of which 20 detailed hydrological study of the Lake was carried
species are aquatic ones. A lot of fish culture and out. Water, bacteriological and sludge samples
aquatic life is noted in the Lake. were collected from 12 different locations and
sources of ingress into the Rankala Lake.
PRESENT STATUS Locations of these sampling points have been
shown in Figure No. 1. The study of the physico-
Nowadays due to increased urbanization, chemical and biological parameters of the Lake
uncontrolled human interference and water indicated magnitude of the pollution in the
encroachment, the Lake is under a sever threat of Lake. A summary of Lake water and bottom
pollution due to thousands of liters of sewage sediments characteristics are given in Table No. 1
entering into its body as well as due to the solid to Table No. 4.
waste dumping practices in the Lake’s catchment.

1319 1332
2
131 0 1309 1264 A2 (DHUNAYACHI CHAVI )
131 ( AREA 0.54 Ha)
33

131
1 1236
N
13

1317 46
13

5
131
14
13

1230 4
1229 1318 1316 S5,SL4 985
GATE NO.3
DHUNYACHI CHAVI WATER SAMPLING LOCATIONS
1231A
987

S6 S1 Near Hunting Tower

GATE NO.2 988
MIRABAG GATE
S2 Near Tambat Gate
1171 1105 S4,SL3
1110A S3 Middle of The Lake
GATE NO.1
974

1111A Near Sandhyamath

S4
973
SL5 A
S3 S5 Near Rajghat
RANKALA LAKE
117A S2,SL2 S6 Near Mirabag Gate
998A
972B
1112 S7 S7 Near Waste Weir/Partala
WASTE WEIR
H.F.L.
S8 Extension Bridge
S9 F.S.L.
S8 Ingress Point of Bondrenagar
Nalla near Waste Weir
956

955

1086 945
S1,SL1 948 94
2 S9 Ingress Point for flow
954
1084 from Partala near Bridge
946

952
947

998 944
1089 STONE QUARRIES (12)
953 S10 Ingress Point for Sewage Entry from
1087 1082
S12 Shyam Society
6A

AREA 4.80 Ha B
93

999
1088 1080 S11 Sewage Flow from Shyam
1090 1081 S10 AREA ALLOTED TO LATE Housing Society
1091 BAL CHAVAN (0.43 Ha)
9

934
72

S12 Ingress at first Disel Pumping Station

933
0

994
72
3

1077
99

S11 723
722
992
1076 1001A
931

930 923
1001B NALLA AREA WITH IRRI. DEPT.(0.42 Ha) SLUDGE SAMPLING LOCATIONS
SLUM
AREA (0.27 Ha) 926
SL1 Near Hunting Tower
FISHERIES SL2 Near Tambat Gate
TO RADHANAGARI AREA 1.02 Ha

SL3 Near Sandhyamath

SL4 Near Rajghat

SL5 Near Shalini Palace Main Gate

Figure No. 1 Locations of sampling points

1052
 Table No. 1 Physico-Chemical and Bacteriological Analysis of Rankala Lake water.

No Parameter Unit Lake Water

Top Bottom
Physico-chemical
0
1. Temperature C 22.5 21.5
2. .pH --- 8.09 7.15
3. Total Suspended Solids Mg / lit 38.2 48.8
4. Total Dissolved Solids Mg / lit 260.8 309.5
5. Total Hardness as CaCO3 Mg/lit 159.5 196.2
6. Total Alkalinity as CaCO3 Mg/lit 176.5 166.3
7. Chlorides as Cl- Mg/lit 56.6 50.6
8. Total Phosphorous Mg/lit 0.064 0.026
Mg/M3 64 26
9. Dissolved Oxygen Mg/lit 4.22 1.50
10. Nitrate as NO3 Mg/lit 2.62 3.24
11. Nitrites as NO2 Mg/lit 0.017 0.016
12. Total Kjeldhal Nitrogen Mg/lit 4.76 5.40
13. Ammonia as NH4 Mg/lit 0.40 0.58
14. Chemical Oxygen Demand Mg/lit 56.2 113.66
15. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) Mg/lit 21.5 33.5
at 270C for 3 Days
16. Secchi Disc Transparency Cm 80.0 ----
17. Chlorophyll A Mg/m3 12 To 35
Bacteriological
1. MPN No/100 ml >2400 ----

Table No. 2 Summary of Physico-chemical and Bacteriological Analysis of Ingress of Sewage in the
Rankala Lake water.

No Parameter Unit Lake Water

Physico-chemical
0
1. Temperature C 24.5
2. .pH --- 7.37
3. Total Suspended Solids Mg / lit 59.0
4. Total Dissolved Solids Mg / lit 332.0
5. Total Hardness as CaCO3 Mg/lit 192.5
6. Total Alkalinity as CaCO3 Mg/lit 255.0
7. Chlorides as Cl- Mg/lit 77.0
8. Total Phosphorous Mg/lit 2.55
9. Dissolved Oxygen Mg/lit Nil
10. Nitrate as NO3 Mg/lit 4.77
11. Nitrites as NO2 Mg/lit 0.015
12. Total Kjeldhal Nitrogen Mg/lit 13.26
13. Ammonia as NH4 Mg/lit 1.04
14. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) Mg/lit 222.5
15. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) at Mg/lit 75.5
270C for 3 Days
Bacteriological
1. MPN No/100 ml >2400

Table No. 3 Results of Analysis for Biological Parameters and Phytoplankton Production in the Rankala
Lake

[Link]. Parameter Mirabag Sandhyamath Middle of Lake Near Hunting Tower

01 Algal Cells Density (per ml) 15000 23000 18000 19000
02 Algal Biomass (mg/l) 6 12 8 9
03 Primary Production
1. Annual Rates (g C / 60 180 175 140
[Link])
2. Mean Daily Rates (g C / 0.16 0.49 0.48 0.38
[Link])

1053
Table No. 4 Condition of Sludges in Rankala incurred more than Rs.16 Lakhs for this purpose in
Lake 1996. During April 2000 to October 2000, about
2000 truckloads of water hyacinth were removed
Parameter Value (range) manually and mechanically from the Lake.
pH 6.93 to 7.23 Further, from July 2001 to September 2001, the
Organic Carbon 24.1 to 121.2 mg / gm K.M.C. with the help of a number of private
Total Nitrogen 28 to 142 mg / gm individual agencies and NGO’s removed about
Phosphorus 1.2 to 6.8 mg / gm 2973 truckloads of hyacinth mechanically.

Biological control
Problems and Control Methods
In 1982 Neochetina Eichhornae were imported and
As far as phytoplankton are concerned, about 57 been used as Biological agent in [Link] was tested
species belonging to chlorophyceae, in India prior to field release at National Centre for
cyanophyceae, bacillariophyceae and dinophyceae Biological Control (ICMR) Banglore. ‘Weevils’
are observed. Phytoplankton clearly shows a trend were found to be effective in this process. The
of increase or decrease, in both number of species ‘Weevils’ lay their eggs inside the petioles of
as well as their abundance with organic pollution, leaves of water hyacinth and damage the leaves
light intensity and temperature of water. The extensively.
phytoplankton can serve as a ‘bio-indicator’ of The K.M.C. had initiated biological control
pollution. Eichhornia Crassipes well known as programme with exotic weevils and fungal
‘Water Hyacinth’ is growing in the Lake since pathogen to control the growth of water hyacinth
1994, at an alarming rate. As far as submerged biologically.. The program was started on 26th
aquatic plants are concerned, hydrilla is found in April 2001 and upto 28th Feb 2002, about 56000
the lake water as a prominent species. The net weevils were released on water hyacinth in 10
primary annual production of hydrilla and other steps. Further 47000 more weevils were applied up
submerged macrophytes range from to 2 to 10 tons to 7th December 2002.
per hectare. An infestation and dense growth of
such macrophytes affect the movement of water, Monitoring the establishment and spread of
air transport mechanism in a lake etc., which Biological Agents
ultimately have an adverse effect on overall health
of the Lake. Moreover, the residents of aquatic The incubation period of the eggs is 6-7 days . The
environment such as birds and diving ducks found larvae after hatching from the eggs feed on the
it extremely difficult to search for food since the bulbous petiole and complete their larval instars in
thick mash of the macrophytes pose difficulties in the petiole. The mature larvae, leave tunnel of the
their operations like diving, flights on water petiole and get themselves attached to the root hair
surface and swimming. Therefore an integrated for pupation. The larval period last about 1 month.
program for control of hyacinth was developed as The adult emmerges out of the pupa after 10 days.
follows. Thus the life cycle is completed in 2 months in
summer and 3 months in winter. The life span is
Physical control around 4-6 months. The result showed that the
weevils had adopted well in both the glasshouse
a. Manual removal and also to field condition.
Visual observations and pre and post-release
The social workers have identified key sites for sampling protocols have been used to monitor and
manual removal. These include low lying evaluate the establishment, spread and impact of
accessible areas around the lake periphery which the Neochetina weevils and fungal (Alternaria ) on
are the prime targets for manual removal water hyacinth in Lake Rankala. These natural
operations. enemies on the weed have been observed to have a
significant impact and localised complete
b. Mechanical control suppression of resident water hyacinth mats. After
the first spray, the fungus Alternaria eichhorniae
Mechanical control operations were adopted for started establishing slowly. Third month onwards
the removal of water hyacinth in Lake Rankala and the fungal symptoms started appearing and gradual
have so far consisted solely of ‘Bachoe’ and increase in fungal infestations was observed. In 12
dumping of the collected water hyacinth and other months almost 86-88 percent of plants were found
weeds along the periphery of lake. It is then infested with fungus. Figure no. 2 shows effect of
transported to Municipal Solid Waste processing fungal culture on water hyacinth.
site. The K.M.C. is exerting continuous efforts to
remove the water hyacinth and hydrilla. It has

1054
 100

90

80
% of Affected Plants

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
No. of Months

Figure No.2 Effect of Fungal Culture on Water Hyacinth

Table No. 5 Advantage & Constrain of Control Methods

Method Advantage Constrain Efficiency

Hand Cutting / Low Technology, affordable, selective. Labour intensive Effective for initial infestation ,
Pulling very effective in locatised area.
Mechanical Removes plant biomass, immediate relief Slower and more Heavily infested system non-
Removal in harvested area, effective for free expensive than , manual selective , used in areas of chronic
floating and emergent plants removal ,may spread plant problem.
fragments , disposal of
harvested plants
Biological Provides long term, low cost reduction in Slow process, does not Long term control without intense
Control biomass produce eradication management

This operation considerably reduced the CONCLUSION:

concentration of water hyacinth; but yet some
patches of hyacinth and hydrilla were seen in the The invasion of Lake Rankala by water hyacinth
lake. Moreover, this operation posed a problem led to the initial decrease in the population of
with the dyeing and decaying plant which emergent macrophytes as the hyacinth, which
ultimately added to organic load in the lake doubles its population in two weeks under
environment. favourable conditions, out-competed them.
However, this trend was reversed with the
Advantages & Constrains of Control Methods: reduction of water hyacinth population due to
biological control. Macrophytes such as Salvinia
The strengths and weaknesses of above methods Molesta quickly increased in population in the
used for the control of water hyacinth are entire lake. Water hyacinth ‘hot-spot’ areas have
summarized in Table No. 5. been observed in the lake and unless
environmental degradation around the lake is
reduced, the weed is expected to persist and

1055
dominate these areas. Water hyacinth is without services, laboratory analysis work, contributions
any doubt the major aquatic weed problem all over towards data and information.
the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. The Trustees of K.I.T. College were always a
Its incidence in water bodies causes enormous source of firm, inspiring and encouraging support
problems to the economies and the environment of for us in the whole course of assignment from its
the countries. Therefore, technically sound conception to completion. We are extremely
integrated programs of control of the weed should thankful to them!
be rationally developed and implemented. If by some mischance we have failed to
acknowledge, where we should have done so, we
RECOMMENDATIONS: hope those concerned will accept our apologies.

• Prevention of pollutant inflows into the REFERENCES:

lake
• Removal of floating and submerged APHA, AWWA and [Link] Methods For
aquatic weeds from the Rankala lake the Examination of Water and Wastewater.
American Public Health Association, Washington;
• Revival of Rankala lake water body and DC 20036.
ecosystem of the lake (Phosphorus Salim Ali. 13th Revised Edition, 2002. Book Of Indian
inactivation and Bio-remediation of Birds. Bombay Natural History Society, Oxford.
bottom sediments) De A.K.2002. Environmental Chemistry. New Age
• Catchment treatment plan International (P) Ltd., New Delhi-110 002.
Goel [Link] Pollution: Causes. Effects and
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Control. New Age International (P) Ltd., New
Delhi-110 002.
Metcalf and Eddy, Inc.1985. Waste Water Engineering :
We are very much grateful to the ‘Kolhapur
Treatment, Disposal, [Link] McGraw-Hill
Municipal Corporation (KMC); Kolhapur’ for Publishing Company Ltd. New Delhi.
entrusting an assignment of preparing the Project Sawyer and [Link] For
Report for conservation of the ‘Rankala Lake’ Environmental Engineering. McGraw-Hill,Inc.
under ‘National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP)’ Abbasi, S. A. 1987. Aquatic Plant Based Water
by the ‘Ministry of Environment & Forests Hyacinth Treatment Systems in Asia. Aquatic
(MoEF); New Delhi, Govt. of India’. Plants For Water Treatment And Resource
We are thankful to ‘The Commissioner; KMC’ for Recovery Edited By K. R. Reddy And W. H.
his valuable support and guidance in the entire Smith. P. 175-198.
Brij Gopal and K. P. Sharma. 1981. Water Hyacinth
course of work w.r.t. the ‘Detailed Project Report
(Eichharnia Crassipes) The Most Trouble –Some
(DPR)’ of ‘Rankala Lake’. ‘The Hydraulic Weed of the World. Hindasia Publishers, D-35, C.
Engineer; KMC’ also extended a helpful hand for C. Colony, Delhi – 110 007 (India).
various technical aspects of the Lake for which we Danawade, L. N. 1988. Ph. D. Thesis. Studies In
remain thankful to him. Moreover, we wish to Aquatic Plants and Their Utilization For Pollution
express here our sincere thanks to all the Removal, Energy Generation And Manuring.
concerned Officers & Staff of KMC who, from Joglekar, V. R. and Sonar, V. G. 1987. Application Of
time to time, rendered us valuable support and Water Hyacinth For Treatment Of Domestic
assistance. Waste-Water, Generation Of Biogas And Organic
Manure. In K. R. Reddy And W. H. Smith (Ed.)
The acknowledgement cannot be complete
Aquatic Plants For Water Treatment And
without expressing our deep gratitude towards the Resource Recovery. Magnolia Publishing, Inc.,
encouragement and support by Mayor, Standing Orlando, Fl.
Committee Chairman and Corporators of the John, C. K. 1984. Treatment of Agro-Industrial Wastes
KMC! Using Water Hyacinth. Wat. Sci. Tech. 17: 781-
A report of this magnitude could not have 790.
been prepared without the assistance and co- Kruzic, A. P. 1979. Water Hyacinth Waste - Water
operation of numerous Organizations as well as Treatment System At Disney World Id. P. 257-
Individuals. The various important aspects of work 271. In R.K. Bastion And [Link] (Ed.)
Aquaculture System For Waste-Water Treatment.
already done in connection with the Rankala Lake
Seminar Proceedings And Engineering
was a great source of data and valuable Assessment. U. S. Environment Protection
information. We must thank all those who have Agency. Epa 430 / 9- 80-006.
taken painstaking efforts in diverse aspects w.r.t. Pieterse, A. H. 1978. The Water Hyacinth (Eichharnia
the Lake. Crassipes)- A Review. Department Of
We wish to express our deep sense of Agricultureal Research, Royal Tropical Institute,
gratitude to the MPCB, Shivaji University, Amsterdam.
Rajaram College, SIBER, Horizon Services; Pune Wolverton, B. C., and R.C. Mcdonald. 1976. Don’t
for their active help and involvement in technical Waste Water Weeds, New Scientistist. 71: 318-
320.

1056
 Samant, Jay. S. (2002). A Brief Report on The G. Dennis Cooke, Eugene B. Welch, Spencer A.
Environment Protection Of Rankala Tank Peterson, Stanley a Nichols Restoration and
Kolhapur. Department of Environmental Science, management of lake and reservoirs
Shivaji University, Kolhapur Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hydrabad.
Bombay Natural History Society 2002. “Biodiversity Biological Control of Water hyacinth at Rankala
Status Of Rankala Lake, Kolhapur – A Report”. Lake ,
Kadam, S.D. 1999. “Eco – Physiological Study of Lake
Rankala”.

1057

View publication stats