摘要：In last few decades, due to the rapid increase in the population, industrialization and newer agriculturalpractices, the aquatic resources of India have been deteriorating. The pollution of aquatic ecosystems byheavy metals is of a great concern due to their persistence, toxicity and accumulative behaviour. The heavymetals can change the trophic status of aquatic ecosystems and make them unsuitable for various purposes.They also pose a serious threat to human health. This paper reviews the heavy metal contamination ofsediments of Indian inland water bodies. It also discusses the possible sources of pollution. Different standardsfor sediment pollution which are in use have also been discussed. It showed that environmental degradationhas become a major societal issue in India due to uncontrolled anthropogenic activities, besides naturalfactors. There is an urgent need of creating awareness amongst the public of these problems and findpreventive and remedial solutions for management. Expensive high-tech remedial measures are not suitablefor the country, and hence emphasis has to be given on prevention. Indigenous research towards mitigationand remediation has to be encouraged, keeping in mind India’s unique problems of poverty, crowding andmalnutrition.
