Narmada river water quality assessment using benthic macro-invertebrates at Barwani, Rajghat Madhya Pradesh

River Narmada is one of the 13 prominent rivers of India, which covers 98,797 sq km of total water-shed area. Narmada is considered to be the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the most important west flowing rivers of India. The monitoring of water quality of Narmada river was carried out for one year August 2011 to July 2012. Barwani sampling stations were selected at downstream of Narmada River. The water samples collected were analyzed, as per standard methods parameters such as pH, Turbidity were measured in-situ. Raised values of physicochemical parameters indicate the pollution of riverine ecosystem due to domestic wastes, municipal sewage, industrial effluent from Security Paper Mill (SPM) and agricultural run-off that influence the water quality directly or indirectly. Statistical analysis carried out through correlation method and also evaluates Average values (AV), Standard Deviation (SD), Standard Variance (SV), Standard Error (SE) and 95% Confidence Limit (CL) to assess the pollution load assessment. The results revealed that most of the water samples were below or out of limited; according to the WHO, BIS standards.