Assessment of soil properties from catchment areas of Ravi and Beas rivers: a review

ABSTRACT Soil is a substantive environmental medium that is subjected to various physiochemical challenges derived by natural, as well as human activities. The present review attempts to summarize the pollution status of soil from the catchments areas of Beas and Ravi Rivers in Punjab, India, as reported by different workers. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that anthropogenic activities and lithogenic factors are the major sources of metals. The average values of heavy metals of Beas River for heavy metals, Cr, Cu, Co, and Cd, were lower than the values suggested by Awasthi, European Union, and Ewers. The average values of C (0.29%), P (0.05 mg/g), and N (0.13 mg/g) were found for the Beas River, whereas for Ravi River the average values recorded were C (0.32%), P (0.01 mg/g), and N (0.16 mg/g). The results of contamination factor (CF) indicate that soil of Beas River is less contaminated by the metals. The results of ecological risk index indicate that metals showed low ecological risk in the soils of Beas River