ANNOUNCEMENTS
The vicinity of one of the oldest Lead-Zinc mines in India located at district-Udaipur, Rajasthan was assessed to investigate the physico – chemical parameters along with toxic and heavy metals including Lead, Zinc, Cadmium, Iron, Copper, Nickel and Manganese and their contamination levels of soil, vegetables and surface water bodies and to check for bioaccumulation of these metals in tissues of aquatic organisms of the buffer area. Extraction of soil samples from river beds and stream-beds, tissues of Catla catla and Punitus sp. and other invertebrate (macroinvertebrate) sampling using 10% formalin as a fixative for these specimens was carried out along with the surface water samples; were analysed using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The field visit and sample collection was done during the month of March, 2021 during the pre-monsoon period. An ecological survey was also done to investigate the zooplankton and phytoplankton diversity of the study area under the guidance of an expert ecologist to faultlessly identify and report the planktons of the study area. The collected samples were then taken to NABL accredited Laboratory for its sampling and analysis. The Aquatic life and ecological survey at Zawar group of mines on aquatic life, water regime and sediments deposited in them, it is concluded that so far, that presence of heavy metal was only indicated in bottom sediment analysis of surrounding ponds and Nallahs whereas the aquatic life sampling and crop & vegetables sampling showed no evidence of heavy metal accumulation in them.
