Abstract:
Global scarcity of freshwater has been gearing
towards an unsustainable river basin management
and corresponding services to the humans. It needs a
holistic approach, which exclusively focuses on effective
river water quality monitoring and quantification
and identification of pollutant sources, in order to address
the issue of sustainability. These days, rivers are
heavily contaminated due to the presence of organic and
metallic pollutants released from several anthropogenic
sources, such as industrial effluents, domestic sewage,
and agricultural runoff. It is astonishing to note that even
in many developing countries, most of these contaminants
are carried through open drains, which enter river
premises without proper treatment. Such practice not
only devastates riverine ecosystem but also gives rise
to deadly diseases, such as minimata and cancer in
humans. Considering these issues, the present study
develops a novel approach towards simultaneous identification
of major sources of pollution in the rivers,