Biodiversity of Narmada River

System

Lovedeep Sharma
FSM-2018-50-02
• Introduction
• Biodiversity status
• Major threats
• Conservation
• Literature cited
 Introduction
• Origin: Amarkantak in the Maikala Hills in Anuppur District of
Madhya Pradesh
• Joins the Arabian Sea at about 10 km north of Bharuch via the Gulf
of Cambay
• Narmada river basin is situated: 72°32′ E and 81°45′ E longitudes
21°20′ N and 23°45′ N latitudes
• The river basin drains an area- 98,796 km2
• Total length of this river - 1,312 km
• Catchment area extends to: Madhya Pradesh(86.18%),
Gujarat (11.6%) Maharashtra (1.5%)

and Chattisgarh States (0.72%)

• Narmada River has 41tributaries - 22 are on the left and 19 on right
bank
• The basin is characterized by humid tropical climate with an average
annual rainfall of 1,178 mm.
 Biodiversity Of Narmada River
• Phytoplankton - Green algae (Chlorophyceae) - 23 genera
Diatoms (Bacillariophyceae) - 7 genera
BGA (Myxophyceae) - 10 genera
• More dominant forms are: - Zygnema, Eudorina spp, Chlosterium

spp., Spirogyra,Pediastrum simplex,

Pediastrum duplex and Chlorella

• In Narmada river the temporal succession of phytoplankton groups:

Chlorophyceae > Cyanophyceae > Bacillariophyceae

• Zooplankton - Copepoda , Cladocera, Protozoa and Rotifera.

 Macrophytes:
• Free Floating - Azolla pinnata, Eichhornia crassipes, Vallisneria
spiralis , Spirogyra
• Submerged - Potamogeton crispus, Hydrilla verticillata, Najas
graminea
• Emergent - Polygonum glabrum Typha domingensis, Cyperus
amabilis, Sagittaria
• Most common - Polygonum glabrum (dominant), Ipomea fistula,
Najas sps. & Hydrilla
Molluscs - 8 species of Gastropoda
8 species of Pelecypoda
 Finfish Diversity of Narmada River System
• Very first record of fish diversity of Narmada was on the hill stream
of Satpura ranges (Hora and Nair 1941) – 40 species recorded.
• Major families: Cyprinidae (dominant), Cobitidae, Ophiocephalidae,
Gobiidae, Heteropneustidae, Siluridae, Ambassidae, Bagridae etc.
• Important species : Tor spp, Labeo fimbriatus, Macrobrachium
rosenbergii.
• Recorded decline in Mahseer fishery as compared to the earlier
times.
• Rasbora daniconius – available in higher numbers.
• Major gears: gill nets, cast nets, hook and line & other local nets
Bag net is a common traditional gear - during winter month
 Biodiversity Records
• Rao et al. (1991) reported 84 fish species from Narmada, Madhya
Pradesh
• Vyas et al. (2006) reported 47 fish species belonging to 29 genera,
15 families and six orders in River Narmada.
• Singh (2009) thoroughly studied finfish diversity of whole Narmada
River and reported 61 fish species from its lower stretch.
• Das et al. (2013) reported the availability of 90 fish species from the
Narmada river.
• Pathak et al. (2014) reported 58 species in western segment of
Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh.
• 85 species of fishes belonging to 12 orders, 35 families and 65
genera were recorded from 72 km stretch of Narmada estuarine
region.
• Overall observations show that Narmada is highly diverse river
system.
 Narmada Estuary
• The largest estuary of the west coast of India – 30,000 ha area.
• Fish diversity: Tenualosa ilisha, Otolithoides pama, Rhinomugil
corsula, Arius arius, Cynoglossus cynoglossus, Lates calcarifer, Wallago
attu, Harpadon nehereus and Mugil cephalus.
• Hilsa catch was recorded 5180 ton in 2006–07 that reduced to only 419
ton in 2014–15.
• Cause: Sardar Sarovar dam
• Impact: Less fresh water availability, sand bars near estuary mouth, loss
of breeding, nursery and feeding grounds, over fishing.
• Octopus in Narmada estuary for the first time: Bag Net catch during
the routine survey (3-5 December 2018) by the research team from
ICAR-CIFRI,Vadodara. 
• Cistopus indicus (Rapp, 1835), commonly known as old woman octopus
 Major Projects on Narmada River
S.No. Dams/Projects Year
1. Sardar Sarovar Dam 1961(foundation)
2017 (Inaugurated)
2. Indira Sagar Dam 1984 (foundation)
3. Omkareshwar Dam 2003-2007
4. Bargi Dam 1988
5. Tawa Dam 1978
6. Narmada Canal 2008

There are about 30 major dams on Narmada River Basin.

 Major Threats

River pollution

Destruction of
Dams drainage basin

River regulation,
lift irrigation and
water allocation
 Impact of Dams

Hydro-ecology Dams Biodiversity

Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save

the Narmada Movement) has
documented that 45,000 dam-
affected families - Sardar Sarovar
Dam
 Status of Mahseer: Then & Now
“A Note on the Food and Feeding Habits of Tor Mahseer, Tor tor
(Hamilton) from River Narmada, 1968. journal, Bombay Natural Hist.
Society, Vol. 65 (2)”
• Tor tor Ham.– first rank in commercial catches
• 28% of total landing

• Karamchandani et al. (1967) reported the production of the species to

fluctuate between 5.7 and 9.6 metric tons, sharing 25.5–29.6% of the
total catch during 1958–1966 at a landing station (Shahganj) in
Madhya Pradesh.
• Mahseer production in the Narmada River also dropped to a low of 53 t
in 1996–1997 from 330 t recorded in 1992–1993 (Govt.info. Madhya
Pradesh).
• But in recent years, decline was recorded and also it is considered as
endangered species (Bhaumik et al., 2017).
 Reasons of Decline

• Physical barriers (Dams)- restricted the breeding movements

to the hilly terrains
• Disappearance of natural feeding grounds downstream
• Egg production potential – suffered significantly
{Unni (1996) mentioned the Narmada river as the only
natural source of Mahseer eggs}
 Stock
improve
-ment

Conserva- Conserva-
tion of fish tion of the
stocks resources

Conservation

Environ- Awareness
mental develop-
protection ment
 Narmada: Before 2000
1998

Hora, S.L., Nair, K.K., 1941. Fishes of

the Satpura range, Hoshangabad
district, Central Provinces. Rec.
Indian Mus. 43 (3), 361– 375.
Narmada- 2000-2019