Water Quality Status of the Sacred ponds in the Temple town Ratanpur

Ratanpur town is popular as a religious centre and many Hindu devotees come here to offer their prayers and seek the blessings at the Mahamaya Temple. Surrounding the various temples of different era, many small and large ponds are located. That is why, the Ratanpur Nagar is popularly known as ‘Temple City’ as well as ‘City of Ponds’. However more than 150 Ponds existed during ancient period as cited in history. Out of these ponds, Dulhara, Bikma, Ved, Ratneshwar, Krishnajuni Girjabandh Jagdevban are large ponds.The present study was undertaken to study the various physicochemical parameters of pond water and its Physico-Chemical characteristics in contaminated water in Ratanpur of Chhattisgarh India. The samples were collected from each site at peripheral (about 100-150 meter) and inner (10 m from the shore) locations. Samples of surface water were collected for chemical analysis from peripheral areas, inner surface and bottom of the pond once a month. Minor ponds around some major ponds were also chosen for the present study. The status of some heavy metal ions such as cadmium, lead and zinc in certain ponds which were more frequently used for various purposes was also examined.