Abstract

POLLUTION TOLERANT PLANTS FROM SALIM ALI LAKE, AURANGABAD, MAHARASHTRA.

*Sangeeta Ahuja and Narayan Pandhure

ABSTRACT

One of the most important environmental areas is the quality of life giving water. Knowledge of the qualitative and quantitative composition of water is the first step to reveal the nature of the particular environmental problem. The present paper deals with the identification of pollution tolerant aquatic plants growing in the water environment of Salim Ali Lake, Aurangabad. During the investigations it was observed that 42 aquatic plants species, out of which 22 species belonged to Dicotyledons and 12 plant species of monocotyledons representing 24 families. Dicot dominates over monocot in the ratio of 5: 3. The Collected species have been documented and arranged in alphabetical order according to local names, Latin names, family, flowering periods, dominance and distributional pattern and medicinal use. The following species were recorded in this locality, e.g. Ceratophyllum demersum, Hydrilla verticillata, Leersia hexandra, Nymphaea mouchali, Nymphoides cristatum, N. indicum, Pistia stratiotes, Vallisneria spiralis and different species of Cyperus. Plants like Pistia stratiotes, and Hydrilla verticillata have already proved to be as Hg (II) and Cr (VI) accumulators. These plants can be utilized for removal of the heavy metal pollutants from the polluted water bodies without endangering the lives of other flora and fauna. It may be concluded that these aquatic plants, which employ solar energy, can be utilized for the scavenging of heavy metals from waste water for water purification.

Keywords: Pollution tolerant plant species, Salim Ali Lake, Aquatic Plants.