WATER MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT

KUSUM SAROVAR, GOVARDHAN – Study of flora and fauna

dependence on availibility of water and degradation of water
quality.

Submitted by: Vinita Kumari ( 2018MLA017)

 ABSTRACT
Kusum Sarovar is 2km away from Govardhan. Located about one and a half mile
from the Radha Kund in south west direction, there is a magnificent and massive
monumental structure at the backdrop of a huge masonry lake/Kund called Kusum
Sarovar covering an area of 3.29 acres. Kund gets recharged from the ground water
and the rainfall. Salinity of the water is very high 3.5 ppm. Dominant species found
there is mainly are invasive and hardy in nature indicates water table present in that
area is also very low. Water of the kund getting contaminated by the anthropogenic
activities. Slope is inclined towards the kund make the runoff to get collected into
the kund. Eutrofication is one of the major problem of the kund , Algae formation on
the upper surface of water specially in the corner because of the less depth of
water. Because of lack of water and high salinity other native plants are vanishing
and invasive plants and trees are overpowering the surrounding vegetation.

KEY WORDS :

Salinity, contamination, flora and fauna, anthropogenic activities, eutrophication,

desiltation.

1. INTRODUCTION:

The concept of man- made small water bodies are running dating back to the 5th to
the 15th century. These are the one of the most important source of freshwater in the
Braj region.because the average annual rainfall is 620mm in the Govardhan region
which is very low. These kunds have both social and spiritual significance. There are
more than 1000 kunds in the braj all of them were sources of freshwater in past but
with time due to urbanisation , lack of maintenance and neglected behaviour
towards these kunds more than 80 percent of kunds are vanished or silted. These
kunds are use in multipurpose ways , for drinking, irrigation and domestic uses. Most
of the kunds have a special bearing on ecology and the culture of the region where
they evolved. The meeting of Krishna and radha near the water bodies represents
the importance and significance of socio cultural fabric of society. Kusum Sarovar is
one of the water reservoir in the Braj region. Kusum Sarovar is 2km away from
Govardhan. It is located in between Radha Kund and Govardhan . Kusum Sarovar is
an impressive water body that attracts a large number of pilgrims and tourists and
forms part of Goverdhan Parikrama.

Submitted by: Vinita Kumari ( 2018MLA017)

 fig. 1: Plan (Source : google earth )

2. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Kusum Sarovar was named after the flower garden and the tank. Radha, who lived
in the neighbourhood (now known as Radha kund because of a large tank),
frequently visited the sarovar in order to gather flowers for worshipping Lord Krishna
.The Kadamba grove surrounding it had been an added attraction. In 1707-1763,
Kusum Sarovar, along with Mathura, had been conquered by the Jat Surajmal of
Bharatpur, Rajasthan. He constructed a beautiful palace with a pleasant blend of
Mughal and Rajasthani archiecture. Mughal-like domes , Rajasthani Chatris and
arches dominate the structures. Earlier the kund was kaccha In order to protect it,
pucca ghats were built using sand, stones, lime, etc.

Fig. 2: View of kund and the monumental structure from right egde of the kund (source: Author)

Submitted by: Vinita Kumari ( 2018MLA017)

There is masonry tank called Kusuma Sarovar surrounded by a series of steps on all
four sides which are leading downwards to the deep water reservoir. The paneled
and arcaded walls enclosing the tank on four sides run about 80 feet into the water.
Kusuma Sarovar is also known as Sumana Sarovar due to the fact that the lake was
formerly surrounded by the beautiful forests full of different flowering plants like beli,
champak, chameli etc.

3. CONDITION OF THE KUND :

Presently the kund is very polluted and dirty because of the local people and
ashram’s sadhus living nearby. They used to wash clothes, bath which is strictly
prohibited in the kund. Some piligrims during doing govardhan parikrama come and
put offerings as flowers, fruits etc. Due to these activities the toxicity and the organic
content of the kund increases . According to information gathered from the local
people they say kund get recharged from ground water and the runoff water during
monsoon season. The kund is said to be 80 feet deep but the actual depth nobody
knows, because the desiltation and the cleaning of kund is naver happened . When
we tried to measure the measurement cam approx. 60feet, this may be possible
because of the silt deposited at the bottom of the kund.

Table 1: Water quality (source : Hydrology group of Braj analysis, Design studio-II, Master of Landscape
Architecture.)

Higher TDS levels indicates presence of iron, manganese and sulphate due to
excessive dissolved solids. Higher turbidity levels shows the presence of suspended
particles (eg silt and clay) and inorganic particles (eg plant debries). Higher
conductivity indicates presence of inorganic materials such as alkalies, chlorides,
sulphides and carbonate compounds. The salinity of the water is also very high,
which makes difficult surviving condition for some aquatic animals.

The area around the kund is densely vegetated by invasive plants and trees, mostly
Prosipus juliflora. As we know long back this place was very beautiful and had so
many fruiting and flowering trees ( kadamb, Mango, neem,varieties of jasmine,
harsringar etc) but due to invasive species those plants and trees are vanished . It is
hard to find any of them on the site . As the salt content in the water present there is
very high , Juliflrora is a saline tolerant plant and also hardy in nature , which
indicates that the presence of watrer table is also very low. There are some saline
tolerant trees which are still surviving are Salvadora persica, Acacia nilotica.

Submitted by: Vinita Kumari ( 2018MLA017)

 Table 2 : Soil quality ( source : soil and geology group of braj analysis, Design studio-II, Master of Landscape
Architecture)

Higher nitrogen levels indicates overuse of fertilizers leading to eutrophication in still

water of the kund.

There are forests of Juliflora (fig. with some other species in the back and the left
sides of the kund and agricultural fields on the right side where local people grow
crops ( jwar -bajra, rice, vegetatbles etc). Jwar bajra is the main crop cultivated by
nearby people because it needs less water and also a saline tolerant crop. Due to
water scarcity in the region the irrigation is met by both water sources ( ground
water and rainfall)

Fig. 3 : Prosopis juliflora forest (Source :author )

There are two wells behind the monumental structure at the both sides entrance
gates but they are of no use because of two reasons first, they are contaminated
and clogged by plastics trashes thrown by the prople visiting there and the salinity.
Even if the well will v cleaned due to salinity people won’t be able to drink it. For the

Submitted by: Vinita Kumari ( 2018MLA017)

irrigation of crops farmers use borewells because saline water will affect the yield of
crops.

The whole site is also very fauna rich, we can easily find monkeys, cows, peacocks,
ducks, sparrows and so many other birds. There are two ramps constructed on the
right most corner of the kund and one is on the left most corner . these ramps are
made for animals to drink water from the kund . the depth of the kund is also very
less at the foot of the ramps. From observation we conclude that the whole fauna is
totally dependent on the kund for water but the degraded condition and the
contaminated water quality is very harmful for animals and birds who drinks water
from it. Due to eutrophication the aquatic life also gets hampered, it has serious
effects like algal blooms that block light from getting into the water and harm the
plants and animals that need it. We can see algal growth near the edges of the
kund .

Fig. 4 : Ramp for the animals to drink water from the kund ( Source: author)

4. OBSERVATIONS:

The intent of writing this paper is to find out the most possible reasons for the
degradation and contamination of the water of kund and how it is affecting the life
of people living nearby , flora -fauna, the quality of soil etc. and what can be the
possible and suitable measures can be taken which will stop or control the rate of
contamination of the water. Due to the siltation the natural aquifires possibley be
closed and not recharging the kund because it is happening for 450 years
continuously, so the desiltation and cleaing of water is much needed which will
allow aquifers to recharge the kund with sweet and potable water that will be very
suitable for the fauna which are totally dependent on the kund. and the silt
obtained from desiltation can be used in farms for improving the crop yields which

Submitted by: Vinita Kumari ( 2018MLA017)

will lead to less use of fertilizers in the feilds and hence it will help in reducing
eutrophication in the kund.

5. REFERENCES:

www.brajdarshan.in/kusum-sarovar
https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/travel-tourism/kusum-sarovar-and-raja-suraj-mals-chattris-
another-reason-to-visit-govardhan-and-mathura/1547066/

Google earth

Hydrology group of Braj analysis ( Design studio) Master of Landscape Architecture.

Soil and geology group of braj analysis, Design studio-II, Master of Landscape Architecture

Submitted by: Vinita Kumari ( 2018MLA017)