016120   Subramanian V (School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru Univ, New Delhi-110 067, Email: subra@mail.jnu.ac.in) : Nitrogen transport by rivers of South Asia. Curr Sci 2008, 94(11), 1413-18.

The South Asian rivers show a discharge weighted av-erage NO₃-N of 2 mg/1 and average sediment-bound N, that is mostly organic, of 0.2%. The reported global average for the uncontaminated river system is of the order of about 0.028 mg/1 (NO₃-N). Hence, our freshwater aquatic systems can no longer be considered natural, at least with respect to nitrogen transport. The average is still below the WHO limit of 100 1 mg/ NO₃-N for drinking water, but there are extreme variations in different rivers (Ganges, Krishna, etc.) and at different locations (Cauvery at Tiruchirapalli 29 mg/1, Ganges at Patna, 140 mg/1, etc.). Sediment-bound N is generally less than 1%, but values as high as about 3% have been reported for some rivers indicating rapid transfer of soil organic matter to rivers as particulate organic nitrogen. While the nitrogen story for various groundwater regions is well understood as representing fertilizer run-off, the riverine N is yet to be studied in detail; the link between river processes and global climate change would warrant urgent study of the river system of South Asia, that carries an annual water flux of about 2100 km³ (about 6% of global run-off) and an annual sediment flux of over one billion tons (about 10% of global flux). Rough calculations of available data indicate that the total N flux from rivers to oceans in South Asia is likely to be several factors higher than that indicated by some representative contaminated rivers of the world.

4 illus, 2 tables, 23 ref

016119   Singh R K;Khandal R K;Gurdeep Singh (NO, Shriram Institute for Industrial Research, 19, University Road, Delhi-110 007) : Radiation induced degradation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) pollutants in paint scrapings. J envir Sci Engng 2008, 51(1), 73-80.

Poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are synthetic organic chemicals which have been commercially used worldwide in many specialty applications. In paints, PCBs were used because of their unique properties such as thermal stability, flame-resistance and low volatility. However, due to their adverse effects on human health and environment, the use of PCBs has now been banned. PCBs are today considered widespread pollutants in the global system. PCBs sources still exist in various products and in waste streams such as oil, paints, rubbers etc. Various remedial technologies have been developed in the world to detoxify PCBs. Radiolysis has been investigated as a safe means to reduce or destroy PCBs. Under the study, detoxification of PCBs in paint scrapings by gamma radiation using Cobalt 60 source has been investigated. The experimental results demonstrate that the gamma radiations can be an alternative environment- friendly technology for destroying PCBs. Gamma radiations also have the potential of being a preferred tool in comparison to the most widely used incineration method for destroying PCBs. The method used was found highly effective and destruction efficiency was as high as 91%. The degradation efficiency of PCBs was dependent on absorbed radiation dose, the type of PCBs and also on the source of paint scrapings.

9 illus, 5 tables, 11 ref

016118   Shrivastava R;Dave N (MANIT, , Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh) : Kolar water resource project and environmental eco-nomical life line for remote area (tribal people) of M.P.. Ecol Envir Conserv 2007, 13(4), 713-16.

Case study of Major Water Resource Project constructed on Kolar River a major tributary of river Narmada. The Kolar Project comprised construction of 44 m. high and 1191 m. long earthen/masonry Dam, 77m long spillway and a construction of 56 km of earthen channel to irrigate 25680 ha of land, in most of the villages of Budhni and Nasrullaganj Tehsil of Sehore district of M.P. The Project is in operation since 1989. The paper critically reviews "the environmental and economical development due to this water resource project". The physical benefits anticipated in the project report are compared with the actual accruing benefits.

4 illus, 3 tables, 2 ref

016117   Shinde V D;Kadam M S;Pampatwar D V;Ambore N E (Zoology and Fishery Science Dep, Yeshwant Mahavidyalaya, Nanded-431 602) : Occurrence of fluoride in water and it's impacts at Hingoli region district Hingoli (M.S., India). Ecol Envir Conserv 2007, 13(4), 825-7.

Fluoride is an essential trace element required by human being in small quantity. The work has been carried out to study the level of fluoride content in the ground water. Thirty ground water samples were collected from Hingoli region. Concentration of fluoride in hand pumps in drinking water in Hingoli region vary between 0.2 mg/L to 2.3 mg/ L In the present paper the fluoride content in different hand pumps drinking water of Hingoli region and their effect on school going children and different age group of humans are reported.

1 illus, 1 table, 12 ref

016116   Sharmila S;Kalaichelvi K;Rajeswari M (Botany Dep, Vellalar College for Women, Erode, Tamil Nadu) : Effect of paper mill effluent on soil, growth and biochemical constituents of Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek. Asian J Bio Sci 2009, 4(1), 79-82.

Studies on the effect of different concentrations of treated paper mill effluent on soil and growth, biochemical constituents and nodulation of green gram were carried out under potted condition. The growth parameters such as shoot, root lengths and biomass were increased upto 50% concentration of the effluent, thereafter all these attributes decreased sharply. Biochemical constituents such as chlorophyll and protein exhibited a slight increase in 25 and 50% concentration. The bacterial, fungal and nodules had also increased upto 50% concentration and decreased slowly. All the above said parameters were decreased at higher concentrations (75% and 100%). The physico chemical constituents of treated paper mill effluent showed higher BOD and COD values, dissolved oxygen was nil, NPK was low while the contents of sodium, calcium, sulphate and chloride were higher.

3 tables, 23 ref

016115   Sharma S;Sharma R C;Shashi Kant (Environmental Sciences Dep, Jammu Univ, Jammu-180 006, Email: sansharman@rediffmail.com) : Assessment of biotic interference and ecological degradation in Birhum watershed, Jammu and Kashmir. Envir Ecol 2008, 26(4), 1539-44.

Study was conducted to assess various biotic disturbances and their linkages with ecological degrada-lion in Birhun watershed of Udhampur district in J & K. The various factors responsible are urban sprawl, encroachment on forest lands, loss of forest cover for non-forest uses, illicit felling, lopping for fuel wood and fodder, grazing, removal of forest floor Jitter and forest fires. The study reveals that increased population has resulted in conversion of agriculture land for residential purposes and the forests are under threat of encroachment and degradation due to anthropogenic disturbances linked with resource exploitation.

17 ref

016114   Sharma S;Kuniyal J C;Agrawal D K;Sharma J C (NO, G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development, Himachal Unit, Mohal-Kullu-175 126, Email: kuniyaljc@yahoo.com) : Role of environmental impact assessment and public involvement in sustainable development of hydropower projects in the mountains - a case of the beas valley, Himachal Pradesh, India. Indian J Pwr River Valley Dev 2008, 58(3-4), 37-47.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a tool which has widely been used to determine the impact of various developmental activities on the environment. Development of hydropower projects in the Kullu valley of the northwestern Himalaya is in a fast pace from a recent last decade. Analysing the awakening level of the local communities in regard to environmental impact assessment, public hearings and their participation in alike developmental activities have been some of the important issues that could be a part and parcel step of developmental activity. Study is carried out with a detailed perception survey of the local communities surrounding to the Parbati Stage II (800 MW) and the Parbati Stage III (520 MW) hydropower projects under constructions with a structured questionnaire to know the level of EIA awareness and public participation in decision making process in project planning, development and implementation. The study reveals that there were very few people familiar with EIA and participated in public hearings. The study clearly indicates that these projects were implemented without the participation of the affected local communities in the region. This study further reveals that sustainable development of these projects will depend much on the degree of public participation in EIA and public hearing meetings. Further, these projects improve the predictive quality of environmental assessment of a project which will help reduce conflicts between project proponents and local communities and would enable an urgency of public involvement in decision making process.

7 illus, 1 table, 35 ref

016113   Sharma C;Tiwari M K;Pathak H (NO, National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi-110 012, Email: csharma@mail.nplindia.ernet.in) : Estimates of emission and deposition of reactive nitrogenous species for India. Curr Sci 2008, 94(11), 1439-46.

Anthropogenic activities are responsible for the enhan-ced emission of reactive nitrogenous species like ni-trous oxide (N₂O), oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) and ammonia (NH₃) into, the atmosphere from the biosphere. Reviews the available estimates of emissions of these reactive nitrogenous species for India. In estimates deposi-tional fluxes of ammonia and nitrate through dry and wet precipitation over India. Agriculture soils are the largest emitter of N₂O in India due to increasing application of nitrogenous fertilizers in agriculture fields. The contributions of other sources like biomass burning and energy activities are rather small in the overall N2O emissions in India. However, total contribution of Indian agriculture to the global N₂O emissions is merely 2.7%. On the other hand, energy activities are a major source of NO_x emissions in India, which include both mobile and stationary combustion processes. The agriculture sector has a small contribution in the total NO_x emissions in India. The ammonia emissions are primarily contributed from the agriculture sector in India. The depositional fluxes of ammonia have so far been reported to be higher for sub-urban areas while the nitrate depositional fluxes have been reported to be higher over rural areas, which can have significant impacts on the agriculture productivity.

1 illus, 5 tables, 56 ref

016112   Saha P;Datta S;Sanyal S K (NO, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, West Bengal, Email: papitasaha@gmail.com) : Effect of different metals on soil liner medium. Indian Sci Cruiser 2008, 22(3), 46-53.

To protect ground water from landfill contaminants, soil liners are constructed as a simple liner which provide the final line of defuse against groundwater contamina-tion in landfill. Clay minerals' are the most important chemical weathering product of soil. The very low permeability of the clay barrier is expected to lengthen the lifetime of the landfill and slow down the consequent release of contaminants. It is observed from the experimental results that using soil as liner medium, the groundwater contamination of heavy metals like lead, cadmium, cobalt, copper can be reduced to 28 -97% depending on the metal characteristics. A mathematical expression is developed depending on the experimental conditions and it is observed that the experimental result shows satisfactory agreement with the experimental results.

5 illus, 2 tables, 22 ref

016111   Saha P;Datta S;Sanyal S K (Biotechnology Dep, ITME College, Jhinga, Diamond Harbour, Email: papitasaha@yahoo.co.in ) : Comparison of soil quality of river Ganga and river Matla in West Bengal, India. Indian Sci Cruiser 2008, 22(1), 16-21.

Soil properties of different location of Ganga and Matla are different depending on the flow of river along with its entire path. Soil and water property of both of these courses have been deteriorating due to release of agricultural run off, domestic sewage, industrial effluents. The soil receives serious polluting substances through anthropogenic activities which include organic wastes, toxic chemicals, heavy metals from industrial effluents etc. Studies different soil properties of rivers Ganga and Matla of West Bengal to verify if the soils can be used as liner materials for the hazardous waste landfill.

1 table, 7 ref

016110   Ramakrishnaiah C R;Sadashivaiah C;Ranganna G (Civil Engineering Dep, S.I.T., Tumkur-572 103, Email: rama_bmsce@yahoo.com) : Assessment of water quality index for the groundwater in Tumkur taluk, Karnataka state, India. E J Chem 2009, 6(2), 523-30.

Work is aimed at assessing the water quality index (WQI) for the groundwater of Tumkur taluk. This has been determined by collecting groundwater samples and subjecting the samples to a comprehensive physicochemical analysis. For calculating the WQI, the following 12 parameters have been considered: pH, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate, chloride, nitrate, sulphate, total dissolved solids, iron, manganese and fluorides. The WQI for these samples ranges from 89.21 to 660.56. The high value of WQI has been found to be mainly from the higher values of iron, nitrate, total dissolved solids, hardness, fluorides, bicarbonate and manganese in the groundwater. The results of analyses have been used to suggest models for predicting water quality. The analysis reveals that the groundwater of the area needs some degree of treatment before consumption, and it also needs to be protected from the perils of contamination.

3 illus, 5 tables, 14 ref

016109   Rajalakshmi R;Subhashini S;Lalitha P (Chemistry Dep, Avinashilingam Univ for Women, Coimbatore-641 043, Email: goldenlalitha@gmail.com) : Usefulness of activated carbon prepared from industrial wastes in the removal of nickel from aqueous solution. E J Chem 2009, 6(2), 361-70.

Elimination of heavy metals like nickel from waste water is an important subject in view of public health. An attempt has been made to study the applicability of industrial by-products as potential metal adsorbents to remove nickel from aqueous solutions and polluted water. A direct proportionality between the percentage of Ni(II) removal and adsorbent dosage was noted. Maximum removal / recovery of nickel was achieved at pH range of 10-12 for all adsorbents. An optimum temperature of 40 °C for efficient removal of Ni(II) was observed. The effect of nickel adsorption was affected by salinity. The adsorption isotherm data confirmed to Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms. Conformation of data to the Lagergren's rate equation indicated first order kinetics. The suitability of the industrial by-products in the successful removal of nickel from aqueous solution is quite obvious from the study.

8 tables, 14 ref

016108   Purvaja P;Ramesh R;Ray A K;Rixen T (Institute for Ocean Management, Anna Univ, Chennai-600 025, Email: rramesh_au@yahoo.com) : Nitrogen cycling: a review of the processes, transformations and fluxes in coastal ecosystems. Curr Sci 2008, 94(11), 1419-38.

The coastal and marine nitrogen cycle occupies a complex, central role within the biogcochemical cycles. Human interventions in the earth system have risen to unprecedented levels, strongly influencing the global nitrogen cycle. The nitrogen cycle in the open ocean compared to coastal ecosystems appears to have remained unharmed, although recent observations have shown increasing anthropogenic influence. Projections suggest that global nitrogen cycle is being altered either directly by the continued addition of anthropo-genically created fixed nitrogen to the earth system and its cascading effects, or indirectly through an-thropogenically induced climate change. These alterations have the potential to cause positive feedbacks in the climate system, but they are neither well understood nor quantified. In the atmosphere, concentrations of the greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide and of the nitrogen-precursors of smog and acid rain are increasing. This unprecedented nitrogen loading has contributed to long-term decline in coastal fisheries. Reviews some of the major processes, transfor-mations and fluxes of nitrogen in the coastal ecosystems with reference to mangroves, occurring naturally and also due to human perturbations.

6 illus, 6 tables, 189 ref

016107   Paul Raj A;Ramachandramoorthy T;Sivasankar V (Chemistry Dep, Bishop Heber College (Autonomous), Tiruchirappalli-620 017) : Investigation of water quality index and langelier index for the ground water samples in thottiyam taluk of Tiruchirappalli district, Tamil Nadu. Asian J Chem 2007, 19(6), 4390-4.

The potable nature, corrosive nature and the correlation values for the quality parameters have been evaluated from mathematical calculations for 50 ground water samples. From the calculated values of water quality index and langelier index, about 40% of the water samples have been found to be good in their quality and 60% of the samples with mild scaling tendency. The correlation matrix for the different water parameters has also been determined to study the relationship between the parameters.

3 tables, 5 ref

016106   Panchal J;Aery N C (Laboratory of Geobotany & Biogeochemistry, Botany Dep, University College of Science, M.L. Sukhadia Univ, Udaipur-313 001, Email: p80_jay@yahoo.com) : Remediation potential of certain wild and native species for manganese and iron contaminated waste. J envir Sci Engng 2008, 51(1), 7-12.

Green house studies were carried out to test the suitability of certain plant species for the phytostabilization of manganese mine waste. A number of wild and native plants were selected and raised directly or after suitable amendments with NPK and capping with 10% soil on the manganese mine waste. Only few of the plants survived and showed a tendency to establish and stabilize the waste. In 10% soil + 2 NPK amended waste, Ziziphus mauritiana showed good growth and resulted in an increase of 1966.66% after a period of six months.

3 illus, 3 tables, 22 ref

016105   Naik P;Ushamalini D;Somashekar R K (Environmental Sciences Dep, Bangalooru Univ, Bangalooru-560 056, Email: dpnnaik@hotmail.com) : Utilization of quarry dust for the betterment of plant growth and productivity. Ecol Envir Conserv 2007, 13(4), 853-6.

Generation of quarry dust has become a major issue with respect to pollution. Study on utilization of quarry dust for the better growth and productivity has been made on Cajanus indicus L and Vigna mungo L. Experimental plants were grown on quarry dust: Garden soil mixture in the ratio of 100: 1000g;250: 1000g;500: 1000g;750: 1OO<4J;and 1000: 1000g and quarry dust alone for a period of 45 days.Agrobotonical characters such as root length, shoot length, number of nodules, fresh and dry weight of shoot and roots and biochemical composition were analyzed in control and experimental plants. Increase in quarry dust concentration in soil decreased the shoot and root lengths, fresh and dry weights and number of nodules, chlorophyll pigments, protein, total soluble sugar and nitrogen content.Amendment of 100g and 250g of quarry dust /kg of soil showed better effect in all the parameters studied.

5 tables, 5 ref

016104   Naik P;Ushamalini D;Somashekar R K (Environmental Sciences Dep, Bangalore Univ, Bangalore-560 056) : Impact of municipal solid waste dumping on ground water quality - a case study in Bangalore district. Ecol Envir Conserv 2007, 13(4), 759-60.

The study is focussed on the study of the impact of solid waste dumping on the ground water quality in selected locations in Bangalore city. Twelve water samples were collected in nearby wells and analyzed for various physico-chemical parameters. The results showed maximum contamination in the water samples analyzed upto 500 m radius from the dumping site. The water samples taken away from the dumping site were found to be safe.

^ssc1 table, 5 ref

016103   Murugesan S;Dhamotharan R;Kamaleswari J (Unit of Environmental Sciences and Algal Biotechnology, PG and Research of Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology, Pachaiyappa', Chennai-600 030, Email: murugesan50@yahoo.co.in) : Phycoremediation of oil refinery effluent using cyanobacterium. Ecol Envir Conserv 2007, 13(4), 703-8.

Petroleum refineries generate a considerable amount of wastewater and release a complex set of oxygen demanding materials into the natural environment. Phycoremediation of effluents by using cyanobacterium in the environment plays an important role in cycling and recycling of wastewater in biotechnological applications. In the study the effect of Spirulina platensis in the degradation of oil refinery effluent, has been studied and the results are discussed. This study has thus established that the cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis can be used as a bioremediation agent as it brings about reduction of pollutants like inorganic, compound.

3 illus, 1 table, 24 ref

016102   Murali Krishna M P S;Moses G S;Murali Krishna K V S G (NO, , 3-377/2, Ramakrishna Nagar, Near Balaji Pet, Rajhmundry, Andhra Pradesh-533 101, Email: andal143@gmail.com) : Water quality evaluation through application of chemometrics for Godavari river at Rajahmundry. J envir Sci Engng 2008, 51(1), 17-26.

Study presents the application of selected chemometric techniques to the pollution monitoring data set, namely, cluster analysis, principal component analysis, discriminate analysis and factorial analysis. The obtained results allowed determining natural clusters and groups of monitoring locations with similar pollution character and identifying important discriminate variables. On the basis of the chemometric approach, it was found that some locations were under high influence of municipal contamination and industrial effluents, and some other under the influence of agriculture.

15 illus, 6 tables, 12 ref

016101   Munavalli G R;Kulkarni M A (Civil Engineering Dep, Walchand College of Engineering, Sangli-416 415, Email: gurumunavalli@yahoo.co.in) : Chlorine decay studies in water supply system. J envir Sci Engng 2008, 51(1), 53-8.

Water supplied to the public through municipal water works should be qualitatively good and quantitatively sufficient. It is important that the potability of water is maintained at the consumer end. The presence of residual chlorine is invariably considered as an indicator of water quality. The chlorine consumption rate, which is categorized into bulk and wall reactions, governs the chlorine dosage given at the treatment plant. Bulk water chlorine reactions are system specific as water quality significantly affects the chlorine decay. The variability of chlorine reaction rates in different water qualities, viz. raw, sand filtered and distributed water from a real life water works, is studied in the present work. The potential applicability of two popular models, such as first order and two-component second order to represent the bulk water chlorine reactions, is evaluated. The range of reaction rate parameters involved in these models is also determined and it will help the modeller to choose appropriate values of input parameters while simulating water quality. The initial chlorine concentration also affects the reaction rates. The reaction rate parameters vary inversely with the initial chlorine concentration. Further, the repeated rechlorination studies carried out on sand filtered water show the reduction in chlorine consuming power of water.

5 illus, 3 tables, 15 ref

016100   Mukhopadhyay S;Maiti S K (NO, Durgapur College of Commerce & Science, Rajbandh, Durgapur-713 212, Email: Subodh_maiti@yahoo.com) : Identification of sustainable indicators to assess the health of restored mine degraded land. Envir Ecol 2008, 26(4), 1453-61.

To evaluate the reclamation success of the mine degraded restored land, identification of indicator parameters are essential which will be used to determine quantitatively the health of the restored land. Attempts have been made to identify sustainable soil indicators that reflect the structure and function of ecological processes and respond to changes in soil conditions. This paper reviews the development of sustainable soil faunal and microbial indicators to assess the health of the mine degraded land. Under soil faunal components earthworms, nematodes, protozoans and arthropods are considered while under soil microbial components inportance of biomass, microbial diversity, enzyme activity, soil respiration, litter decomposition and mycrorrhiza are reviewed.

^iia2 illus, 3 tables, 35 ref

016099   Modi H A;Modi A H;Bhatt S A (Life Sciences Dep, Gujarat Univ, Alunedabad-380 009) : Decolorization of textile dyes by fenton reagent. Ecol Envir Conserv 2007, 13(4), 837-40.

All the seven textile dyes used in the study were decolorized by non-enzymatic classical Fenton reagent, Fe(ll) and hydrogen peroxide. Remazol magenta HB(69.6%), Remazol red H8B (85.5%), Reactive orange 13 (74.9%), Reactive black 5(90.6%) and Remazol brilliant blue R (92.9%) were intensively decolorized by Fenton reagent within 30 minutes. Decolorization of Reactive blue 21 and Reactive brown 18 was achieved only to 50% by Fenton reagent.The use of hydroxyl radical scavenger completely inhibited decolorization confirming the involvement of hydroxyl radical in de-colorization reaction by Fenton reagent.

1 illus, 1 table, 11 ref

016098   Mishra B P;Kiruba S;Jeeva S;Venugopal N;Das S S M;Laloo R C (Ecology Research Laboratory, Botany Dep, Shillong-793 022, Email: rclaloo4@yahoo.com) : Assessment of the impact of tsunami on status of water quality of Manakudy estuary. Ecol Envir Conserv 2007, 13(4), 731-3.

Reports that was direct impact of tsunami on nutrient estuary content and water. Major changes in water quality were observed.

2 illus, 3 ref

016097   Malkanna;Paul R;Patil C (Post Graduate Studies and Research in Zoology, Gulbarga Univ, Gulbarga, Karnataka, Email: malkanna_g@yahoo.com) : Wet land avifauna of Raichur in North Karnataka. Ecol Envir Conserv 2007, 13(4), 687-96.

Raichur town is located between two major river systems of peninsular south India namely, Krishna and Tungabhadra. This area presents a unique climate of semiarid type, typical of this region.Apart from the two major lotic ecosystems, Raichur area presents a number of lentic water bodies, which support a large diversity of avifauna. The present study incorporates the survey of bird species supported by the four major wetland areas, which can be classified as large ponds, namely Manchalapur, Merchad, Samundar talab and Aam talab. Productivity studies of the water body and survey of wetland avifauna was undertaken during pre-monsoon, monsoon and post monsoon seasons of one annual cycle. The survey depicts that 39 species of birds belonging to 12 families frequent these water bodies. The abundance of avifauna is reported to be due to the productivity of these wetlands, which is ascertained by statistical analysis.

10 illus, 6 tables, 16 ref

016096   Kumar G (Geology Dep, B.I.T., Sindri) : Ecological impact of roadway coal transportation in coal mining areas. Indian Min Engng J 2008, 47(4), 23-7.

Power generation in India has increased from 1362 MW in 1947 to about 105,000 MWs as on March 2002 out of which about 62,000 MWs is from coal based power stations. Over 100,000 MWs additional generation capacity needs to be added by 2012 to bridge the gap between demand and supply of power. Coal would continue to be the prime source of energy in India in foreseeable future. The coal demand is stated to grow from over 512 mt in 2003 - 04 to 557 mt in 2006-07 and 712 mt in 2011-12. Use of coal brings own share of problems. The impact of coal mining on environment and ecology can be extensive over surface, hydroshere and biosphere with surface mining while it would be limited in case of underground mining. Land system around coal mining areas experiences significant impact due to coal mining and coal transportation. In coal mining areas, coal mines and coal based industries are situated at distant places. Due to increasing trend in coal production per year and in order to cater the need of coal washeries, coke oven plants and other coal based industries, heavy increases in transportation of coal is recorded through roadways from the loading point. As a consequence, this particular area is affected by all types of environmental pollution such as noise, dust and water pollution. Main problem encountered with coal transportation is spilling of coal fragments from the heavy vehicles and their subsequent crushing. The pulverized coal particles sometimes become air borne. Some of these powdered coal particles are being taken into nearby drainage system and agricultural fields. Since almost all roads in the district, whether urban or rural are being utilized for coal transportation, the ecological impact is very severe. In the present paper an attempt has been made to discuss the status of coal transportation pollution in the Dhanbad - Jharia mining area (within the district of Dhanbad, Jharkhand) and also to suggest mitigation measures.

3 tables, 10 ref

016095   Khedkar G D (Aquaculture Research Laboratory, Zoology Dep, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada Univ, Aurangabad, Email: aaggkk@rediffmail.com) : Pesticide residues in relation to bird habitat studies from Nathsagar bird sanctuary, region Paithan, dist Aurangabad, Maharashtra. Ecol Envir Conserv 2007, 13(4), 861-8.

Nathsagar is one of the largest shallow wetland habitats of India, which was traced by the migratory birds 10-12 years ago. Now due to favorable environmental factors, ample food and safeness, this habitat is at the peak in fetching millions of the birds from November to February every year. Recorded bird diversity of this habitat is around 69 different species all around the world. In auditing the safeness of this habitat for the migratory birds, study was undertaken for analysing the pesticide residues from water samples, sediment samples and small fish (the food for birds) samples.This study was undertaken for the yaer 2003-2004. Potential dangers and possible efficts of pesticides on birds were discussed in accordance with the obtained results.

2 illus, 2 tables, 49 ref

016094   Kamaleswari J;Murugesan S;Sivasubramanian V (PG and Research Dep of Botany, Unit of Environmental Sciences and Alga, Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai-600 030, Email: murugesan5@yahoo.com) : Screening of freshwater algae for phycoremediation potentialities of industrial effluents and waste water. Ecol Envir Conserv 2007, 13(4), 697-701.

Phycoremediation is proving to be an efficient and cost effective method to remediate wastewater with high levels of contaminants and low levels of solids. In the present study different types of industrial effluents were collected from in and around Chennai. Their physico-chemical parameters were analysed. Algae collected from different freshwater sources were cultured in the Pachaiyappa's college algal culture laboratory and their pure cultures were maintained in different growth media. Algae belonging to Cyanophyta and Chlorophyta were inoculated to the effluents both individually and as a mixture. Some of the genera from both the divisions responded very well in certain effluents within a short period of time by increasing the pH and reducing the conductivity. Based on the results suitable algal species are recommended for treating various effluents.

2 tables, 4 ref

016093   Jyothi N;Umamaheswara Rao V (Microbiology Dep, Acharya Nagarjuna Univ, Nagrjunanagar, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh) : Plasmid incidence and utilization of kerosene by hydrocarbonoclastic fluorescent pseudomonada isolated from local soil. Asian J Bio Sci 2009, 4(1), 24-8.

Environmental concerns have led to the need of sustainable use of natural resources. It is important to use natural bacterial population for environmental cleaner techniques. One of those strategies is biodegradation of natural or man made xenobiotic compounds. The investigation is on isolation of hydrocarbon utilizing pseudomonads from local red soil. The isolates were identified to species level by performing biochemical and physiological tests as P. aeruginosa, P. aureofaciens, P. putida and P. fluorescens. The isolates were screened for the utilization of petroleum hydrocarbon (kerosene) and the conditions (temp and pH) optimum for its utilization. The isolates were screened for their ability to utilize petroleum hydrocarbon (kerosene) as their sole source of carbon and energy. Biodegradation results revealed that, the highest growth was showed by P. putida followed by P. fluorescens, P. aureofaciens and P. aeruginosa. The results evidenced that, all the four isolates harbored two low molecular weight plasmids one with 3Kb and the other with 10 kb to 12 kb.

3 tables, 3 illus, 19 ref

016092   Joseph C G;Abdul Aziz F H;Zain H F M;Dek S F (Industrial Chemistry Program, School of Science & Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 88999 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Email: collin@ums.edu.my) : Treatment of landfill leachate in Kayu madang, Sabah porosity and adsorption studies (part 2). Asian Chem Lett 2006, 10(3-4), 89-94.

Landfill leachate is a highly complex polluted wastewater created from the physical, chemical and biological breakdown of solid waste. Activated carbons, prepared from oil palm shells (OPS) and coconut husks (CH) were used to adsorb selected heavy metal ions i.e., Fe³⁺ and Pb²⁺ from raw leachate. Is it found that the OPS prepared with the KOH impregnation ratio of 25%, which was mainly microporous and CH prepared with the similar impregnation ratio, which was mainly mesoporous, had different adsorption patterns and capacity of the selected metal ions. The ionic radius of the selected heavy metal ions, larger pore size and porosity of the CH prepared carbons played a major role in the uptake of the Pb²⁺ as compared to the OPS prepared carbons, whereas chemically activated carbon had better adsorption capacity of Fe³⁺ compared to physically activated carbons.

4 illus, 1 table, 14 ref

016091   Hosseini V;Azizi P (Soil Science Dep, Guilan Univ, Rasht, Iran, Email: pirouz_azizi@yahoo.com) : Determination of the rate of litter decomposition and dynamic of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus of Fagus orientalis in Asalem and Vaz regions. Asian J Chem 2007, 19(6), 4341-6.

In order to determine the rate of litter decomposition of Fagus orientalis at two beech stands, litters from Vaz and Asalem with different parent material were collected in autumn. Litters of each region, put in four vases for 357 d in laboratory conditions. Sampling was taken within 21 d. The nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus were measured in each interval. On the first day, the amount of N was 0.73% and 0.81% and phosphorous was 817.5 mg/kg and 420 mg/kg in litter of Vaz and Asalem respectively. The amount of C was 43.4% in Vaz and 41.6% in Asalem. Rate of carbon variation showed no significant difference in two regions. Rate of nitrogen and phosphorus variation showed significant difference in two regions. C/N of litter reduced from 59.95 to 32.8 and from 47.7 to 28.7, C/P of litter reduced from 531 to 355 and from 989 to 479 in Vaz and Asalem, respectively.

5 illus, 20 ref

016090   Gupta V;Dutta S (Environmental Studies Dep, Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati Univ, Ajmer-305 001) : Physico-chemical characteristics of groundwater of Ajmer city and its neighbouring areas during premonsoon season. Ecol Envir Conserv 2007, 13(4), 821-3.

Clean water is absolutely essential for healthy living. Polluted water causes problems of health and leads to water borne diseases, which can be prevented by taking suitable measures. The study area, i.e. Ajmer city is the fourth largest city of Rajasthan and has a population of 485575 according to 2001 census. Area covered by Ajmer city is 241.50 sq.km. and lies between 26°20'N to 26°33' N Latitude and 74°35' E to 74°43' E Longitude. Thirty-five ground water samples from the most preferred drinking water sources were collected from Ajmer City and its neighbouring areas and were analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity.TDS, total hardness, calcium hardness, magnesium hardness, total alkalinity, sodium, potassium, fluoride, sulphate and nitrate. The minimum and maximum values of concentration of various parameters are found to be high. The analysis also indicated that water at most of the places like.Tabijii, Ajesar, khanpura etc. is slightly hard, contaminated and hence unsuitable for drinking purpose. Level of fluoride is found to be high in areas like Makadwali, Chaursiyawas etc. It may have adverse effect on health of people residing in the study area, thus suggesting an urgent need for proper remedial measures.

1 table, 3 ref

016089   Gupta S K;Gupta R C;Chhabra S K;Eskiocak S; Gupta A B;Gupta R (Environmental Medicine Dep, Krishna Ram Ayurvigyan Shodh Sansthan, Jaipur-302 015, Email: krass@sancharnet.in) : Health issues related to N pollution in water and air. Curr Sci 2008, 94(11), 1469-77.

Nitrates enter human body through drinking water, food and air. Ingested nitrates converted to nitrite by microflora lead to methaemoglobinemia. increased free oxide radicals that predispose cells to irreversible damage and effects like cancer, increased infant mortality, abortions, birth defects, recurrent diarrhoea, recurrent stomatitis, histopathological changes in cardiac muscles, alveoli of lungs and adrenal glands, deterioration of immune system of the body. When inhaled, NO_x can cause unconsciousness, vomiting, mental confusion, congestion and inflammation of the respiratory tract, pulmonary oedema, genetic mutations, and adversely affect development of the foetus and decrease fertility.

1 illus, 79 ref

016088   Giriraj A;Irfan-Ullah M;Ramesh B R; Karunakaran P V;Jentsch A;Murthy M S R (Disturbance Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Dep, Bayreuth Univ, 95440 Bayreuth and UFZ-Centre for Environmental Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany, Email: gudugiri@yahoo.com) : Mapping the potential distribution of Rhododendron arboreum Sm. ssp. nilagiricum (Zenker) Tagg (Ericaceae), an endemic plant using ecological niche modelling. Curr Sci 2008, 94(12), 1605-12.

Rhododendron arboreum Sm. ssp. nilagiricum (Zenker) Tagg, a tree species endemic to the southern Western Ghats of peninsular India, is restricted to a narrow topographic and bioclimatic niche. Since information on ecological and geographic extent of the species is lacking, we used Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Prediction (GARP), an ecological niche modelling (ENM) method to model its spatial distribution. The model is developed based on its occurrence in the Western Ghats, in relation to topographic and environmental variables. Prediction of R. arboreum ssp. nilagiricum in the Western Ghats is strongly related to local climatic conditions in terms of annual temperature, precipitation and diurnal temperature ranges and not so much dependent on altitudinal variations. The numerous bioclimatic, topographic and anthropogenic factors have led to the formation of islands of species distribution, restricted to the Nilgiri, Anamalai, Palni and Meghamalai hills of the Western Ghats. Predictions allow identification of key areas for in situ conservation of the species and prioritize areas falling in the ecological extent of the species for conservation.

3 illus, 2 tables, 45 ref

016087   Galloway J;Raghuram N;Abrol Y P (Environmental Sciences Dep, Virginia Univ, P.O. Box 400123, Charlottesville VA 22904, USA, Email: jng@virginia.edu) : Perspective on reactive nitrogen in a global, Asian and Indian context. Curr Sci 2008, 94(11), 1375-81.

Reactive nitrogen (Nr) includes the inorganic (NH₃, NH₄⁺, NO_x, HNO₃, N₂O, NO₃^-) and organic forms (urea, amines, proteins, nucleic acids) that readily participate in various reactions of the global N cycle. Over the last half a century, anthropogenic perturbations of the natural N cycle have led to the increasing accumulation of inorganic Nr in the soil, water and air, intentionally through agriculture and unintentionally through fossil-fuel consumption and other activities, adversely affecting human health, biodiversity, environment and climate change. One of the major emerging challenges of this century will be to ensure adequate availability of Nr inputs for agriculture and other activities, while preventing their unwanted accumulation. Provides an overall perspective of the emerging issues related to Nr in the global, Asian and Indian contexts.

3 illus, 25 ref

016086   Deshmukh B S;Pingle S D (Arts, Comm. and D.R. Science College, Akole-422 601, Email: babadesh2004@yahoo.co.in) : Hydrobiological study of Wilson dam water, District Ahmednagar (MS), India. Ecol Envir Conserv 2007, 13(4), 709-12.

Investigation was undertaken to study the physicochemical and biological characteristics of Wilson dam water. Seasonal variations in water temperature, pH, DO, free CO₂, BOD, chloride, calcium, magnesium, nitrate, phosphate were studied during the period of 2003-2005. Algal taxa belonging to Cyanophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Euglenophyceae and Dianophyceae were identified. Total of 115 sps belonging to 54 genera were reported. Percentage composition and seasonal percentage value of five groups were calculated.

4 illus, 3 tables, 12 ref

016085   Chougule V V;Deshmukh A M (Microbiology Dep, Miraj Mahavidyalaya, Miraj-416 410) : Biodiversity of actinomycetes in deep and partial saline soils of Sangli District, Maharashtra, India. Ecol Envir Conserv 2007, 13(4), 887-90.

Three hundred ninety nine actinomycetes were isolated from deep and partial saline soils of Sangli District. One hundred and twenty four were obtained from Deep Saline Soils (DSS) and 195 were obtained from Partial Saline Soils (PSS). They were belonging to genera Streptomyces, Sreptovertidillium,Streptosporangium, Micromonospora, Nocordiopsis, Nocardia, Nocardioides, Thermoactinomycetes, Dactylosporangium.Actinoplanes, Thermomonospora, Actinopolyspora and Saccharopolyspora Streptomyces was dominant genus found in both soil types. Out of 195 partial saline soil isolates all were identified up to generic level and only 143 were identified up to the species level. Out of 124 deep saline soil isolates all were identified up to generic level and only 70 were identified up to the species level.

2 tables, 33 ref

016084   Chanakya H N;Sharatchandra H C (Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute Science, Bangalore-560 012, Email: chanakya@astra.iisc.ernet.in) : Nitrogen pool, flows, impact and sustainability issues of human waste management in the city of Bangalore. Curr Sci 2008, 94(11), 1447-54.

Cities in the developing countries have multiple modes of human and animal waste treatment and disposal that finally decide the overall impact on the urban ecosystem, and these have been studied for the city of Bangalore. Four modes are found, namely underground sewage systems, decentralized soak pits and septic tanks, open defecation and a miniscule effort at composting. The extent of N released per unit area is high, ranging between 0.44 and 1.4 t ha^-1 of the urban landscape. In study the N release and outflow have been estimated. The N entering or flowing in the litho-sphere, hydrosphere and in wastewater streams forms the major component. The pool size has first been determined. The size and movement through these pools were estimated with a view to determine the state of the N cycle and if there is a cause for alarm in similar cities in other developing countries. N contribution from human waste (excreta and urine) forms the single largest influx and sewage flowing out of the city forms the single largest efflux of N pool. Owing to a seemingly large use of soak pits and open conveyance of sewage in some parts of the city, coliforms and NO₃-N have seeped into shallow and deep-ground aquifers and show up in ground- and sub-soil waters in the city. The level of N in these waters at a few places is slightly higher than the permissible limits. This suggests that there is a need to find alternatives to modes like the ubiquitous soak pit, such that pollution of shallow and deep aquifers is avoided in the future. Currently, there is little effort in stripping the waste water off N. Also, there is no significant effort in recovery and reuse of nutrients, and this is required to increase the sustainability levels.

2 illus, 3 tables, 29 ref

016083   Buragohain M;Bhuyan B;Sarma H P (Environmental Sciences Dep, Gauhati, Univ, Guwahati-781 014, Email: hpsarma@sify.com) : Drinking water quality with respect to fluoride, nitrate, arsenic and iron content in Dhemaji district, Assam. Ecol Envir Conserv 2007, 13(4), 795-8.

When water is unfit for its intended use, it is considered polluted. In order to combat water pollution, we must understand the problems and become part of the solution. There is no earlier data available for various water quality parameters in Dhemaji district of Assam, India. The research is undertaken with a specific view to strengthen the national and local water quality database.Twenty five water samples were analysed for pH, total hardness, fluoride, nitrate, arsenic and iron contents by adopting standard methods (APHA-AWWA-WPCF, 1995). The results were evaluated in accordance with the W.H.O Standards. The variation of pH was narrow in the study area. Water was fairly hard for maximum part of the study and had crossed the maximum limit prescribed by W.H.O (250mg/L) for potability purposes.The values for fluoride in water ranged from 0.53mg/L to 0.83 mg/L Most of the water samples in the present study meets or falls below the current W.H.O standard for arsenic and nitrate. Iron concentration in water exceeds the W.H.O guide line value of 0.3 mg/L in all the cases.The iron contents of tube well waters need immediate attention.

1 illus, 6 tables

016082   Benturki O S;Addoun F (Laboratoire d'etude physico-chimique des materiaux et application a l', Faculte de Chimie, USTHB Bp 32 El-Alias, 16111, Bab Ezzouar, Algiers, Algeria) : Use of activated carbons for treatment of water polluted by the phenolic substances. Asian J Chem 2007, 19(6), 4523-32.

The activated carbons of different structures were prepared from a drift lignocellulosic of an Algerian jujube shells. The used precursors were heated at 475, 650 and 800°C, in presence of an activating chemical agent. The porosity characterization of the activated carbons obtained, was investigated by BET method. Their application to the environment was studied for the treatment of polluted water by the phenol and the p-cresol. The influence of various parameters such as agitation time, phenolics concentrations, pH and temperature was studied. The Langmuir model was used to describe the experimental results. The results show the role, of the activating chemical agent in the porosity development of materials, by increase of their power adsorbent. It was found that more than 90% of the phenolic products used in water as pollutants were eliminated by activated carbons. The adsorption was maximum in the pH range 6.2-6.8. The negative values of AH confirm the exothermic nature of adsorption.

6 illus, 5 tables, 12 ref

016081   Banerjee K;Ghosh R;Mitra A (Marine Science Dep, Calcutta Univ, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata-700 019) : Oil spill: a potential threat to marine and estuarine compartments. Indian Sci Cruiser 2008, 22(1), 11-15.

The marine and estuarine compartments are important components of our future generations. The biological productivity, taxonomic diversity and aesthetic beauty of this aquatic resource area of the planet Earth needs to be preserved for rational exploitation and sustainable use of its biotic and abiotic components. With the advent of civilization, the pace of industrialization and urbanization has increased exponentially which has posed a significant negative impact on the positive health of the marine and estuarine compartments. The spillage of oil in the aquatic phase of such compartments is a matter of great concern, as the entire food chain may get disturbed depending on the magnitude, nature and residence time of the spilled oil. Study highlights this important issue through some relevant studies.

2 illus, 3 tables, 7 ref

016080   Bably Prasad;Mondal K K (NO, Central Mining Research Institute, Barwa Road, Dhanbad-826 001) : Environmental impact of manganese due to its leaching from coal fly ash. J envir Sci Engng 2008, 51(1), 27-32.

Short term and long term leaching studies have been carried out on fly ash, bottom ash, pond ash ana weathered ash of Chandrapura thermal power plant, Bokaro, Jharkhand and Ramagundam thermal power plant, Ramagundam, Andhra Pradesh. The amount of manganese released in different experiments has been evaluated. The leachate of Chandrapura fly ash has more manganese concentration (0.2001 mg/L) than the leachate of bottom ash, pond ash and weathered ash. A field investigation at Damoda abandoned open cast mine, filled with pond ash of Chandrapura thermal power plant revealed that concentration of manganese in ground water beneath the ash filled mine has been found very high (maximum up to 6.0 mg/L). But its migration to a long distance has not been seen. Remedial measures for coal ash disposal have also been formulated.

4 illus, 2 tables, 16 ref

015087   Verma N (Chemistry Dep, Government Girls P.G. College, Barkatullah University, Bhopal, M.P, Email: neelamverma.chem@gmail.com) : Restoration of urban lakes through aeration (a case study of Bhopal lakes). Int J appl envir Sci 2008, 3(1), 11-30.

Bhopal is popularly known as the city of lakes because of innumerable water resources. The Upper and Lower lakes are the urban lakes together known as Bhoj Wetland. The Upper lake is an elongated water body, constructed by Raja Bhoj in 11th century whereas Lower lake was constructed by Nawab Chhote Khan in 1794 A.D. Upper Lake is mainly used for the potable water supply while the Lower Lake water is used for secondary purposes. A comprehensive project called the Bhoj Wetland Project had been implemented for conservation and management of these twin Lakes. So many conservation measures done under this project, one the most important measure was installation of aeration units in these twin Lakes. The installation of aeration units improves water quality by increasing dissolved oxygen concentration consequently reduction of biochemical oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand. At the same time bacterial population also decreased.

11 illus, 1 table, 63 ref

015086   Varma S;Ye Htut U;Uga U (Asian Elephant Research and Conservation Centre, Asian Nature Conserva, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560 012, Email: varma@ces.iisc.ernet.in) : Population estimation of the Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Bago Yoma, central Myanmar. Int J Ecol envir Sci 2008, 34(2), 175-9.

A status survey, population evaluation and preparation of a conservation action plan for the Asian elephant in Bago Yoma, Myanmar was initiated. Line transects of indefinite width were used for estimating dung density in five forest reserves such as South Zamari, North Zamari, Yenwe, ldokan and Okkan in Bago Yoma. Free ranging captive elephants were selected for defaecation study. For estimating daily rate of decomposition of the dung piles, fresh dung piles were monitored. A dung encounter rate of 2.42 km^-01 was estimated, it varied across the regions from 0.8 to 4.2 km^-1 and it was higher in south Zamari 1 than in north Zamari, The mean defaecation rate for the region was 20.02 d^-1 and overall decay rate was 0.072^-1. The elephant density varied from 0.4 to 5 elephants km^-2 and the average density of elephant for Bogo was 1.6 animals km^-2, In relation to a specific usage zone for all the regions surveyed, south Zamari appears to more used and though North Zamari has relatively larger area than the other regions surveyed, it is less used by elephants, In the low utilization zone the near-absence of elephants was attributed to disturbance from logging operations.

1 illus, 2 tables, 7 ref

015085   Varma S;Htut U Y;Uga U (Asian Elephant Research and Conservation Centre (A Division of Asian N, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560 012, Email: varma@ces.iisc.ernet.in) : Population status of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) in the Rakhine Yoma, Myanmar. Int J Ecol envir Sci 2008, 34(2), 187-91.

Myanmar perhaps supports the second largest remaining populations of Asian elephant in the world. The current survey was carried out in seven forest reserves of the Rakhine Yoma, using indirect method of estimating elephant density. In addition to this, village surveys were carried out to obtain information on the extent of human-elephant conflict. A total of 148 transects covering 296 km was surveyed and the encountered rate of dung piles varied from 0.4 to 2.9 km^-1 with a total dung encounter rate of 1.19 km^-1. The defaecation rate was 19.04 and overall decay rate for 100 fresh dung piles was 0.0057 d^-1, The density estimates for different regions in Rakhine varied from 0.008 to 0.2 km^-2 with an average density of elephants for all the regions surveyed being 0.05 elephants km'2 Of the 44 villages visited during the survey, 47 % villages had problems with elephant depredation. Although the habitat is disturbed by logging and other means, relatively low human population density, inaccessibility, and large and contiguous forest cover have some hope for the conservation and management of elephants in Rakhine.

2 tables, 8 ref

015084   Varma S (Asian Elephant Research and Conservation Centre (A Division of Asian N, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560 012, Email: varma@ces.iisc.ernet.in) : Population status and conservation of wild and captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park, Myanmar. Int J Ecol envir Sci 2008, 34(2), 181-6.

Investigation on the status and conservation of both wild and captive Asian elephant was carried out in Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park (AKNP). Population status of wild elephant was done through indirect method of estimating population number and the survey on human-elephant conflict was through visiting villages located within and around the park. The status of captive elephants was assessed through recoding the morphological measurements and relating its influence on overall body condition of the captive elephants managed there. The results showed a dung encounter rate of 0.85 km^-1 for the park and it indicated that the elephants were found to be using only the southwest regions of the park (3 dung piles km^-1) and other routes encountered no dung piles. A mean dung density of 1633.85-km^-2 was estimated resulting in a mean elephant density of 0.64-elephants km^-2 for the park. The human- elephant conflict was nil and no human casualty or household property damage has been reported. It was found for most of the elephants in the camp that the measurements of height and neck girth were identical and that relationship is possible only if the elephants are in good condition.

3 illus, 2 tables, 10 ref

015083   Tyagi B;Gakkhar S;Bhargava D (NO, Galgotia College of Engineering and Technology, Greater NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh) : Modified scheme for one-dimensional BOD-DO models. J envir Sci Engng 2009, 51(2), 145-50.

Alternative numerical scheme for predicting the BOD variation with time at various successive distances from a wastewater outfall in a stream, is presented. The presented scheme (for the solution of differential equations incorporating the advection, dispersion, and biochemical decay) removes unnecessary restrictions imposed on the grid size ax and at in the existing MAD scheme. The concept of numerical dispersion is exploited to model the physical dispersion process, and the presented scheme manifests explicity and stability. The robustness of the presented scheme in real life situations is demonstrated through an illustrative example based on hypothetical but rational and realistic data.

3 illus, 6 ref

015082   Takele S;Bekele A;Belay G;Balakrishnan M (Biology Dep, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Email: balak212@yahoo.com) : Pest status of rodents in Wonji sugarcane plantation, Ethiopia. Int J Ecol envir Sci 2008, 34(2), 157-63.

An ecological study on pest status of rodents was carried out in Wonji Sugarcane Plantation during August 2005 ªMarch 2006. To determine the damages made by rodents during different growth stages, three trapping grids were selected from immature sugarcane plantations (ISP), young sugarcane plantations (YSP) and old sugarcane plantations (OSP) randomly. A total of 285 captures was made in 2205 trap nights. These constituted eight species of rodents and two species of insectivores. The overall trap success was 12.9%. Variations in trap success at different growth stages of the sugarcane plantations and seasons were significant. The pest status of rodents in the sugarcane plantation was assessed at different seasons. The highest damage was recorded in YSP during wet season. The average damage caused by rodents in the plantation was 4.0%. Analysis of the stomach contents of snap trapped rodents showed presence of sugarcane fibers confirming the pest status of rodents in the sugarcane plantation.

3 illus, 3 tables, 24 ref

015081   Suneethi S;Joseph K (Centre for Environmental Studies, Anna University, Chennai-600 025, Email: sundar.suneethi@gmail.com) : Degradation of carbofuran by ozonation. J envir Sci Engng 2009, 51(2), 127-32.

Degradation of commercial grade carbofuran (2, 3 dihydro - 2, 2 - dimethyl- 7 benzo furanyl - N - methyl carbamate) in aqueous solution by ozone oxidation was investigated using bench scale experiments. The degradation rate was strongly influenced by the ozone dosage, pH, initial concentration of carbofuran and contact time of ozonation. Carbofuran solution of 200 ppm concentration was degraded by 79% within 10 minutes consuming 87 mg of ozone at pH 4. The associated TOC reduction was observed to be 53%. Ammonium (20 mg/L) and nitrate (30 mg/L) ions were detected in the effluent as degradation products of ozonation. The results support the effectiveness of ozonation for degradation of organic pesticides such as carbofuran.

6 illus, 1 table, 14 ref

015080   Singh A K;Anita Singh;Gewali L P (Hotel Management Dep, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154) : Spatial population partitioning using Voronoi diagrams for environmental data analysis. Int J appl envir Sci 2008, 3(1), 75-96.

Kriging is the most commonly used geostatistical method for site characterization of a contaminated site if there is adequate spatial coverage by the samples collected from the site. Contaminant concentration data from the site are first used to estimate the variogram model, which in turn is used to compute the best linear unbiased estimates (BLUEs) of the contaminant concentrations at unsampled locations of the site. There are, however, situations when the data do not seem to be spatially correlated resulting in poor variogram model(s). There are also cases in which the presence of a few hospots (outliers) gives the appearance of good spatial correlations in the data. Just like all other classical statistical results, the variogram model, and the corresponding kriged estimates also get distorted by outliers. Provides an alternative geostatistical method to handle such situations. The proposed method uses Q-Q plots for testing normality to partition the data into several normally distributed subsets. The Voronoi diagrams from computational geometry are then used for spatial visualization of the data set. This spatial partitioning of the data can be used for site remediation.

15 illus, 20 ref

015079   Shetty N J;Zin T;Myin Zu Minn;Madhyastha A D;Ghosh C;Hariprasad T P N;Chandrakala B N (Centre for Applied Genetics, Bangalore Univ, Jnanabharathi Campus, Bangalore-560 056, Email: shetty_nj@yahoo.co.in) : Mosquito biodiversity and distribution in Mandya district, Karnataka state, India. Entomon 2007, 32(4), 263-8.

Mosquito borne diseases, especially malaria and Japanese encephalitis, are major public health problems in Mandya district of Karnataka state. We studied the species composition, seasonal prevalence, and distribution of mosquitoes in the said district. A total of 143 collection sites covering seven taluks of Mandya district were randomly sampled. The larvae, pupae and adults of different species were collected. The data of both larvae and adults of all collection sites for a particular species were pooled to determine the seasonal prevalence and distribution. Twenty-five species of mosquitoes (both vectors and non-vectors) belonging to five genera, Anopheles (13), Culex (5), Aedes (3), Mansonia (3) and Armigeres (1) were recorded. The recorded species included vectors of malaria, Bancroftian filariasis, Japanese encephalitis, dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever. Anopheles culicifacies, An. subpictus, An. vagus, Culex quinquefasciatus and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus were found in all seasons of the year in all taluks of the district. Other species recorded were sparsely distributed.

2 tables