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Receiving water quality impairment due to nonpoint sources of pollution is one of the
major challenges in water quality management faced by developing countries like India.
Surface runoff, especially during the `first flush' conditions is an important source of
nonpoint source pollution. Runoff from different land use may be enriched with different types
of contaminants. The loadings and concentration of suspended solids, nutrients and
other contaminants are much higher in urban stormwater runoff than in runoff from
unimpaired and rural areas (Sartor and Boyd, 1972; Chiew et al., 1997; Vaze and Chiew, 2004; and Sansalone, 2005). Significant quantities of suspended and dissolved solids and heavy
metals are reported in urban road runoff (Sansalone and Buchberger, 1997; Wu et al., 1998; and Tong and Chen, 2002). Gburek and Folmar (1999) and Chatopadhyaya et al. (2005) reported a strong relationship between different types of land use and quality and quantity of
runoff water in a drainage area. Traffic and land use are considered as the major contributors
to this nonpoint source pollution (Yousef, 1985; Kayhanian et al., 2003; and Mimi, 2009).
The management of stormwater has not been properly addressed in India. Several
studies on road runoff and its pollution potential have been reported from the US and
Europe (Sansalone and Buchberger, 1997; Kayhanian et al., 2003; McPherson et al., 2005; and
May and Shivakumar, 2009). The information with respect to quality of stormwater under
Indian conditions is scarce.
Chandigarh, the beautiful city, is fast emerging as one of the most advanced cities
of India. It is located in the Shivalik Foot Hills at
76°-42´ to 76°-51´ Longitude and
30°-40´ to 30°-46´ Latitude. It is surrounded by Patiala Ki Rao on North-West and Sukhna
Choe on the North-East direction and is spread over an area of 114 sq km in the Ghaggar
river basin (Figure 1). The city had a population of around 1 million in 2001 and is expected
to grow in the year 2020 to 1.5 million. |
