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<p>Over the past three decades, the Ganga river has experienced serious water quality deterioration due to unchecked industrial effluents, domestic sewage and other anthropogenic inputs. However, in this study, we investigated the impact of mass bathing event (<i>Mauni Amavasya</i>) on the physico-chemical parameters, microbial diversity and overall water quality of the Ganga, Yamuna and their confluence (<i>Sangam</i>: revered as holy bathing site). Metagenomic analyses revealed that bacterial reads dominated the microbial community, accounting for 82–86% of the total, followed by archaea (3–4%), viruses (2–7%) and eukaryotes (1–2%), at non-bathing sites. A striking 130-fold increase in bacterial load during the <i>Mauni Amavasya</i> indicated strong anthropogenic influence, accompanied by an increase in human associated pathogens such as <i>Vibrio cholerae</i>, <i>Escherichia coli</i>, <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> and <i>Pseudomonas spp.</i> Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) for <i>Mycobacterium</i> increased nearly five-fold compared to non-bathing sites. Archaeal communities also shifted, with notable enrichment in <i>Euryarchaeota</i> and ammonia-oxidizing phylum like <i>Thaumarchaeota</i>. While, viral diversity also surged significantly during mass bathing, particularly among bacteriophages, with Myoviridae OTUs dominating (~ 37%). Concurrently, fungal diversity was notably affected, with a rise in opportunistic pathogenic genera like <i>Fusarium</i>, <i>Candida</i>, and <i>Pyricularia</i> at <i>Sangam</i>. However, <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> declined. Physico-chemical analysis showed increased concentrations of PO<sub>4</sub><sup>3−</sup>, SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2−</sup>, NO<sub>3</sub><sup>−</sup> and toxic metals such as Pb, Cd, and Ni, sharply elevating the Water Quality Index (WQI = 350) and Metal Index (MI = 11.30), respectively. Thus, this study underscores the significant ecological disturbances caused by mass bathing events in river systems and highlights the urgent need for sustainable management strategies to preserve the ecological integrity of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers.</p>

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Impact of Religious Mass Gathering on Water Quality and Metagenomic Profiles at the Confluence of Ganga and Yamuna rivers

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年10月3日

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  • Ruchi Agnihotri,
  • Sanjay Dwivedi,
  • Ravi Kumar Tiwari,
  • Seema Mishra,
  • Vishnu Kumar,
  • Pragya Sharma,
  • Sarvesh Kumar,
  • Tuhina Verma

摘要

Over the past three decades, the Ganga river has experienced serious water quality deterioration due to unchecked industrial effluents, domestic sewage and other anthropogenic inputs. However, in this study, we investigated the impact of mass bathing event (Mauni Amavasya) on the physico-chemical parameters, microbial diversity and overall water quality of the Ganga, Yamuna and their confluence (Sangam: revered as holy bathing site). Metagenomic analyses revealed that bacterial reads dominated the microbial community, accounting for 82–86% of the total, followed by archaea (3–4%), viruses (2–7%) and eukaryotes (1–2%), at non-bathing sites. A striking 130-fold increase in bacterial load during the Mauni Amavasya indicated strong anthropogenic influence, accompanied by an increase in human associated pathogens such as Vibrio cholerae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas spp. Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) for Mycobacterium increased nearly five-fold compared to non-bathing sites. Archaeal communities also shifted, with notable enrichment in Euryarchaeota and ammonia-oxidizing phylum like Thaumarchaeota. While, viral diversity also surged significantly during mass bathing, particularly among bacteriophages, with Myoviridae OTUs dominating (~ 37%). Concurrently, fungal diversity was notably affected, with a rise in opportunistic pathogenic genera like Fusarium, Candida, and Pyricularia at Sangam. However, Aspergillus fumigatus declined. Physico-chemical analysis showed increased concentrations of PO43−, SO42−, NO3− and toxic metals such as Pb, Cd, and Ni, sharply elevating the Water Quality Index (WQI = 350) and Metal Index (MI = 11.30), respectively. Thus, this study underscores the significant ecological disturbances caused by mass bathing events in river systems and highlights the urgent need for sustainable management strategies to preserve the ecological integrity of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers.