Assessment of Bacterial Population of River Barak and Its Tributaries, Assam, India.

Rabiul Alam^1,2 and Dr. Piyush Pandey²

¹Department of Microbiology, Raiganj College (University College), West Bengal (India).

²Department of Microbiology, Assam University, Silchar (India).

*Corresponding author’s Email: alam.rabiul@ymail.com;

Tel:+918900043436.

Accepted 12 August, 2014

Abstract

The present work was undertaken with the objective to isolate bacteria from the aquatic fresh water ecosystem of Barak River and its tributaries and to assess the microbial contamination due to human activity. Water samples were collected from 14 different sites and analyzed for physicochemical and bacteriological parameters. On the basis of their morphological and physiological characteristics, a total of 23 bacterial isolates belonging to 8 genera were identified which include 26.09% Pseudomonas, 21.74% Staphylococcus, 13.04% Escherichia coli, 13.04% Sarcina, 8.69% Enterobacter, 8.69% Shigella, 4.35% Serretia, and 4.35% Klebsiella. The water of river Barak and its tributaries had been found to be largely polluted due to domestic and agricultural waste disposal, discharge from sewage and industrial effluents, animal defecation and waddling, bathing and washing, fishing and swimming etc. Mass awareness program on water resource conservation and water borne disease as well as eco-friendly agricultural practices should be carried out in the Barak Valley region. Also, initiative should be taken to facilitate potable drinking water to the people residing in river catchments.

Keywords: North-east India, Barak River, fresh water habitats, microbial diversity, coliforms.