Comparative Assessment of Limnochemistry of Dal Lake in Kashmir

A comparative assessment of different water quality parameters of Dal Lake, Kashmir was carried out during 2005 and 2015 in order to assess the changes that have occurred over time. The data was collected from five stations of the Lake during both the years. The results obtained indicate that the water quality of Dal Lake has significantly deteriorated. The different water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen, chloride, NH4 -N, NO3 -N and total phosphorus showed marked variation from 2005 to 2015 with One Sample t-test showing significant differences (p=0.000) over this period. The NSFWQI ranges from 25-50 for both the years indicating the high pollution level and bad water quality of the Lake. The results of the present comparative investigation reflected increasing nutrient load in the Dal Lake which needs to be monitored for the conservation of Lake ecology.