ABSTRACT
Throughout the world, the lock-down period during COVID-19 (March 2020- July 2021) has reported an improvement in the ecological scenario with controlled anthropogenic activities. This study presents a comparative assessment of water quality of the highly polluted Khari river in Agra district (India) during the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic period of COVID-19. The result was analyzed in terms of water quality index (WQI), the most accessed tool used by various researchers to report the water quality. In addition, Aggressive index (AI) and Langelier saturation index (LSI) have also been determined. Further, multivariate analysis has been performed in terms of principal component analysis (PCA). ANOVA has been used to study the variance of the parameters. The study revealed a positive impact of pandemic on the water quality as the parameters improved during the post-pandemic period as compared to the pre-pandemic period. However, as the river was highly polluted during the pre-pandemic period, strict actions are required for further improvement in its water quality for agricultural, industrial and industrial use. © 2022 Chemical Publishing Co.. All rights reserved.