River Tawi is one of the most important sources of drinking water for the people of Jammu city as about 26 mgd (million gallons per day) water from three water treatment plants Sitlee (20mgd), Dhountli (4mgd) and Boria (2mgd) is pumped from the river to cater to the needs of drinking water in Jammu. Not only this, recently it has become the focus of water infrastructure development scheme of J&K state Govt. As suggested by various studies, structures such as dams, barrages, weirs etc. change the ecological scenario of a water body in long or short term as they wholly or partially convert a lotic system to a lentic one. A similar project has been started on river Tawi, as a barrage is being constructed on the river which will convert a part of river to an artificial lake. This pondage cum lake is proposed as an integrated tourism project which further will be used for various purposes. Water from the reservoir will be used to augment the Ranbir irrigation canal (source of water River Chenab) during the dry period, serve as a source of attraction for birds, also thought to help in bringing down the temperature of the city to some extent and also help in recharging ground waters. Along with these agricultural and ecological roles, the project will also act as a tourist spot as it will provide the recreational facilities like fishing, boating, water sports etc. Anthropogenic stress is already piling on the river as reported by Jammu and Kashmir State Pollution Control Board (JKSPCB), nearly 18 sewage channels keep on dumping filth, polythene, other waste and polluted water of the city, into the Tawi. Along with this waste from the Gujjar Nagar (Jogi Gate crematorium), agricultural discharges from the catchment areas, religious waste and encroachment on the banks have further worsened the problem. In view of this, a study was conducted on the impact of anthropogenic stress on the river in view of ongoing construction of barrage on the river. Four stations were selected on the river two upstream Gujjar Nagar bridge (Station-I) & Near Mosque (Station-II), one on the site of barrage (Station-III) and one downstream the barrage ahead of Bhagwati Nagar bridge (Station-IV) and impacts were expressed in terms of qualitative and quantitative trends in the distribution of macrobenthic invertebrates which are one of the most important tools in assessing riverine ecosystem health.
