003131   Nayak H;Naik A T R;Shruthisree C; Lakshmipathi M T (Aquatic Environment Management Dep, Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences Univ, College of F, Mangaluru-575 002, Email: atrnaik@rediffmail.com) : Influence of physico-chemical characteristics and dominance of phytoplankton assortment in farm ponds. J expl Zool 2016, 19(1), 1313-21.

Plankton availability and physico-chemical parameters of water play a key role in determining the productivity of aquatic environment. Farm ponds are those used for irrigation and livestock rearing. A study was conducted on the diversity of phytoplankton in relation to physico-chemical characteristics of selected farm ponds. Biological diversity of plankton was measured to forecast the productivity of four farm ponds in order to evaluate their suitability for fish seed rearing and farming.

10 ables, 76 ref

003130   Nair S A;Pai D S;Rajeevan M (NO, India Meterological Dep, Pune, Maharashtra, Email: smitha_anil@yahoo.com) : Climatology and trend of cold waves over India during 1971-2010. Mausam 2016, 67(3), 651-8.

Using Cold Wave (CW) information of 86 stations from Indian main land during the cold weather season (November to March) for the last 40 years (1971-2010), various statistical aspects of cold waves (CWs) and severe cold waves (SCWs) such as climatology and trend were examined. The link of CWs/SCWs, with ENSO phases (La Nina & El Nino) was also examined. It was observed that many stations from north, northwest', east and central India together named as core CW zone (CCZ) experienced highest number of CW/SCW waves with relatively higher frequency during January. Noticeable decrease (increase) in the frequency and spatial coverage of CW/SCW days compared to their climatological values were observed during the El Nino (La Nina) years. There were significant decreasing trends in the CW/SCW days over most of the stations from CCZ. The total number of CW/SCW days/per decade over CCZ showed noticeable decrease during the recent decades 1991-2000 and 2001-2010, which coincided with the warmest decades for the country as well as for the globe. Associated with intense and persistent CW/SCW events, large human mortality were reported during some years of the study period.

8 illus, 1 table, 11 ref

003129   Mitra D;Basu A (Marin and Atmospheric Sciences Dep, Indian of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun-248 001, Email: mitra@iirs.gov.in) : Shoreline change detection using geospatial technologies: a case study on a part of West Bengal coast, Bay of Bengal. J advd Res civil envir Engineering 2016, 3(1-2), 41-52.

The combination of multi-temporal satellite imagery and geoinformatics can provide a better insight into the coastal dynamics study. Proper monitoring of the shoreline changes is an essential component of any kind of coastal management activities. This study aims to assess the rate of shoreline change over the past twenty five years (1988-2015) in the dynamic coastal belt of West Bengal from Talshari to Rasulpur using Landsat imagery and Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS). End Point Rate (EPR) calculation of DSAS has been used for assessing the coastal erosion/ accretion based on shorelines delineated from 1988, 1996, 2003 and 2015 Landsat imageries. The year span of 1988-1996 and 2003-2015 showed an accretionary regime with about 70% of the transects having a positive EPR value. New Digha-Digha Mohona, Shankarpur-Tajpur, Junput-Rasulpur coastal belt were the dominant accretional zones during these time spans. While the year 1996-2003 reflected intensive erosional regime with about 77% of the transects showed a negative EPR value. Excessive erosion was observed in the entire coastal stretch with only 13.2 km^{2 area was under accretion and 44.8 km2 area was under erosion. The overall statistics over the period of 1988-2015 showed a positive EPR trend and over 250 transects appeared to have experienced a change in the shoreline position with the eastern portion of Mandarmani to Rasulpur belt showing dominant accretion. The study concluded that this coastal belt of Eastern coast of India is accretionary in nature though the reason behind accretion and erosion in not stated as this shoreline change assessment is purely statistical. The scope of this study can be further extended with the calculation of Linear Regression Rate (LRR) of individual transects in DSAS for future shoreline prediction.}

10 illus, 22 ref

003128   Laskar S I;Sinha V;Bhan S C (Indian Meterological Dep, , New Delhi, Email: drsebul@gmail.com) : Case study of severe thunderstorm over Delhi and surronding areas on 25th may 2011. Mausam 2016, 67(3), 709-22.

^ssc4 illus, 1 table, 17 ref

003127   Jinye Z;Xiuli Y;Chunfu C;Jinrong Z (School of Science, Hubei Univ of Technology, Wuhan, Hubei-430 068) : Retrieval of column-integrated water vapour from MODIS and analysis of its monthly and seasonal variability over several typical cities in China. Mausam 2016, 67(3), 571-6.

Column-integrated water vapour also called Precipitable Water Vapour (PWV), is one of the main parameters influencing the global climate change. Due to its high spatial and temporal variability PWV has been found to be a good tracer of atmospheric motions. Retrieving PWV from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data has the merits of high spatial resolution and low cost. In this paper, an algorithm for retrieving PWV using several MODIS near-IR channels data is first presented. Six typical cities in China with different climate are selected for study. These are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan and Lanzhou. The variations of PWV in recent 13 years (2001-2013) over six cities have been analyzed. The study brings out an increasing trend of annual average of water vapour over these cities in recent 13 years. The results also indicate that PWV reaches the highest value in summer, decreases in autumn, further decrease in spring, and is lowest in winter. PWV in summer over the six cities have been increasing in recent 13 years, but PWV in autumn and winter have been decreasing over inland cities, such as Wuhan and Beijing. Possible reasons for such observed trends are given in this paper.

6 illus, 1 table, 12 ref

003126   Hemant Kumar;Ansari G;Bano S;Qureshi S;Ajay Kumar;Arya P;Kushwaha K (Zoology Dep, Bipin Bihari P.G. College, Jhansi-282 001, Email: hemantbbcian@gmail.com) : Physico-chemical studies of Garia dam, Jhansi, India. J expl Zool 2016, 19(1), 1351-3.

Physico - chemical parameters are an important criterion for determining the suitability of water for irrigation and drinking purpose. Garia dam have been studies through monthly surveys in 6 months from August 2015 to January 2016. The water remained moderately air temperature, water temperature (31.28°C) and (27.03°C), turbidity (123.8 cm), alkaline (pH 7.5), while conductivity of water (0.395 mS/cm), TDS (237.5 mg/l), chloride (176 mg/l) and alkalinity (207.16 mg/l) showed mean values. Average dissolved oxygen level were 5.75mg/l while average nitrate and phosphates level were 3.70 mg/l and 2.79 mg/l respectively. On the basis of water quality parameters in general Garia dam was found to be eutrophic.

1 table, 19 ref

003125   Felix S;Sonia V (Aquaculture Dep, Fisheries College and Research Institute (Tamil Nadu Fisheries Univ), Ponneri, Email: felix@tnfu.ac.in) : Utilization of bio-methanated distillery effluent (spent wash) as a potential substrate in vermiculture of Eudrilus eugeniae. J expl Zool 2016, 19(1), 1245-9.

The waste water from distillery called as spent wash carry appreciable organic load, dark brown in colour, highly acidic with very offensive odour, and pose serious environmental problems. Disposal and environmental friendly management of these spent wash has become a serious global concern. A study on mass production of earthworm in vermiculture unit was conducted with distillery spent wash at Advanced Research Farm Facility (ARFF) of Tamil Nadu Fisheries University, Madhavaram campus. The study focus on the capability of utilizing spent wash as a major substrate along with other conventional substrate materials in vermiculture of Eudrilus eugeniae. The vermibeds comprised of domestic waste, Cow dung, Spent wash and a combination of the two to ascertain the growth and mass production of earthworms.Growth parameters such as biomass increase, mean individual live weight, maximum individual growth rate (mg/worm/day) and biomass production rate (BPR) (g/worm/day)were comparatively higher in vermibed composed of combined spent wash and cow dung. Survival of earthworms was comparatively better in vermibedcomposed of spentwashand cowdung. The study support the suitability of using distillery spent wash in combination with cowdung as a bulking agent for mass production of Eudrilus eugeniae.

2 illus, 2 tables, 13 ref

003124   Fahim A M;Runping S;Ali S M;Zhang J (NO, Nanjing Univ of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China, Email: fahimpmd@gmail.com) : Characteristics of drought variation in winter using drought indices during the period 1971-2010: A case study of Khyber Pakhtunkhwea (Pakistan). Mausam 2016, 67(3), 697-708.

Generally drought is the outcome of reduction in precipitation for a long period of time. It can happen anywhere in the world and cause harmful effect to human life and eco system. There are different drought indices, derived forlnaysis and quantification of drought. In this study monthly precipitation and temperature data was used to analyze drought situation using Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPE1) Standardized Precipitations Index (SP1) and Z-index (also known as China Z-index) for the period 1971-2010 over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK province of Pakistan for winter season (December, January & February). Analyses were performed on 3, 6 and 12 month timescale for SPE1 and SPI. Z-mdex is used to calculate drought/wet (flood) situation m winter season. Based on all indices dryness and wetness intensity varies with timescale and location. On basis of three time scale, during the year, 1971, 1988 2001 and 2002, majority of the stations of study area were under the drought conditions (of different mtensities). SPEI and SPI sometime portray contrasting results, because the later does not take into account the effect of temperature. Based on SPEI, drought frequency increases from north to south. Dera Ismatil Khan) & Koha suffered drought conditions for highest number of year, while Balakot the least. Contrary to this D. I. Khan has the number of drought years based on SPI.

8 illus, 5 tables, 24 ref

003123   Chettri N;Sharma E (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), GPO Box 3226, Kathmandu, Nepal, Email: klabya.sharma@icimod.org) : Reconciling the mountain biodiversity conservation and human wellbeing: Drivers of biodiversity loss and new approaches in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas. Proc Indian Natn Sci Acad 2016, 82(1), 53-73.

Mountains have long been admired and protected on the grounds of their wilderness,character and landscape beauty. But despite their remoteness and low human population density, many mountain ecosystems are strongly affected by drivers of global change. Mountain ecosystems in the tropical and sub-tropical regions have attracted the attention of a number of scientists, policy makers and natural resource managers because of their critical role in the supply of ecosystem services, and their vulnerability to environmental changes induced by anthropogenic and climatic factors. Adapting to and mitigating the effects of environmental change and sustaining ecosystem services in the context of a burgeoning human population is a major challenge. The Convention on Biological Diversity, Millennium Development Goals, and other international agreements explicitly connect conservation to poverty alleviation. It has become clear that nature conservation only works in practice if people's needs are also taken into account; while conservation efforts based on community participation and ownership tend to be more effective. A concerted effort is needed to develop a better scientific understanding of ecosystem structure and functioning and drivers of change as a basis for formulating comprehensive ecosystem management approaches and strategies that link to human wellbeing and poverty alleviation. This paper reviews the state of knowledge on five principle pressures, driving biodiversity loss in the HKH region, and describes evolving processes that highlight reconciliation of the conservation and development perspectives.

4 illus, 6 tables, 196 ref

003122   Chakrabarty D K;Peshin S K (NO, Physical Research Lab, Ahmedabad-380 009, Email: dkchakrabarty@rediffmail.com) : Latest seasonal trend of a aerosol, particulate matter and ozone in Delhi. Mausam 2016, 67(3), 619-24.

In this work, latest seasonal variation of aerosol, paniculate matter and ozone in Delhi has been studied. Observations show that during winter, concentration of surface O₃ is low and that of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ is high. Aerosol size and aerosol content increases during winter. Decrease in surface ozone is explainable by gas phase and heterogeneous chemistry. An interesting feature is, along with surface ozone, total ozone also shows a low value during winter. This is a characteristic of ozone in Indo-Gangetic plain. Indo-Gangetic plain is covered by mild to heavy fog during most of the days in winter. It is possible that increase in size and content of aerosol and PM particles coupled with low temperature, low solar flux and high humidity is the cause of fog formation during winter in Indo-Gangetic plain.

5 illus, 14 ref

003121   Babu A R;Reddy R G;Suresh P;Rajeswari B;Raj T S;Reddy B M;Sunitha V (Chemistry Dep, SCNR Govt. Degree College, Proddatur, YSR Kadapa District, Andhra Pradesh) : Determination of fluoride concentration in ground water by ion selective electrode method in Proddatur municipality, YSR Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Int J Res Pharm Chem 2016, 6(1), 46-9.

Fluoride concentration in ground water samples of Proddatur is determined by Ion Selective Electrode method, a total of twenty samples were collected and analysed in the study area. Fluoride ion exhibits unique properties compared to other physico-chemical parameters as its concentration in optimum dose in drinking water is advantageous to health and if the concentration exceeds the limit, affects the health. The lowest and highest fluoride levels observed are 0.469 mg/L and 1.97 mg/L respectively with an average of 1.09 mg/L. Both the minimum and maximum observed levels have slight deviation with minimum (0.5 mg/L) and maximum permissible (1.5 mg/L) limits. The overall concentration levels of fluoride in the study area are within the WHO prescribed limits.

1 illus, 1 table, 14 ref

003120   Attri S D;Soni V K;Tiwari S;Srivastava A K; Tiwari S;Taneja K (India Meterological Dep, , New Delhi, Email: sdattri@gmail.com) : High aerosol loading over mega city Delhi in the western Indo-Gangetic plain: Optical characteristics. Mausam 2016, 67(3), 609-18.

Measurements of aerosol optical properties were carried out at an urban mega city Delhi, which is situated in the western Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) region in north India using an automatic sun/sky radiometer during 2006-2008. The present study revealed high aerosol loading over the station, which could be due to its topography surrounded by different natural and anthropogenic emission sources, and may have major implications towards health, air quality and climate system. Results show a large variability in AOD during the study period, with nearly equal values during winter (0.67 ± 0.06) and summer (0.71 ± 0.11). The Angstrum exponent (AE) values were found to be relatively higher during winter (1.19 ± 0.07, suggests dominance of fine-mode aerosols) and lower during summer (0.74±0.06, suggests dominance of coarse-mode aerosols). A slight decrease in single scattering albedo (SSA) was observed during the study period, with a mean value of <126>0.9. SSA was found to be about 0.93 during post-monsoon and 0.96 during the winter period whereas during summer and monsoon, SSA was about 0.95. The estimated monthly absorption Angstrom exponent (AAE) values over the station varied from 0.11 to 1.87, which were found to be less than 1.0 by <126>55% time (mostly during winter and monsoon), and greater than 1.0 by <126>45% time (mostly during summer and post-monsoon).

6 illus, 2 tables, 62 ref

003119   Amudha B;Raj Y E A;Asokan R (India Meterological Dep, Regional Meterological Centre, Chennai, Email: amudha2308@gmail.com) : Spatial variation of clouding/rainfall over southeast Indian Peninsula and adjoining Bay of Bengal associated with active and dry spells of northeast monsoon as derived from INSAT OLR data. Mausam 2016, 67(3), 559-70.

South Peninsular India (SPI) benefits largely from the rainfall (RF) realised during the North East Monsoon (NEM) season that prevails from October to December spilling over to January in some of the years. Salient aspects of clouding / RF over SPI associated with 13 NEM seasons from 2000-01 to 2012-13 have been analysed using estimates of Outgoing Long wave Radiation (OLR) at 1° x 1° resolution derived from the radiance observations in the infra-red channel onboard the geostationary operational Indian satellite (INSAT) radiometers. OLR is considered as a proxy indicator for convective activity with the value of 230 Wm^{-2 as the threshold for RF occurrence. Year-to-year mean OLR patterns of the NEM season along with the latitudinal and longitudinal variabilities were analysed for dry, light and active phases of NEM. Based on rigorous analysis of INSAT OLR data for the above 13 years, it has been shown that during the active phase of NEM, Coastal Tamil Nadu (CTN) receives more RF while over BoB the RF is lower, and decreases sharply over interior Tamil Nadu. This is a reiteration of a similar result from an earlier study based on 3 years (1996-98) OLR data from polar orbiting NOAA satellites. The spatial variation in OLR overihe latitudes of 10.5,1,12.5 and 14.5° N along the longitudes of 75.5-85.5° E has revealed the feature that north of 1(15° N, values of OLR are higher with decrease in RF from south to north. During dry phase of NEM in December and January, higher OLR is observed over northern latitudes of BoB than southern latitudes. It has been comprehended that in the southern latitudes of BoB, where higher sea surface temperatures (SST) are prevalent, more moisture is generated and pumped in to upper levels of the atmosphere leading to lower values of OLR compared to northern latitudes.}

8 illus, 4 tables, 26 ref

002118   Tilak A S;Wani S P;Patil M D;Datta A (NO, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru-502 324, Email: a.tilak@cgiar.org) : Evaluating wastewater treatment efficiency of two field scale subsurface flow constructed wetlands. Curr Sci 2016, 110(9), 1764-72.

Constructed wetlands (CWs) are human-made systems designed to treat a variety of industrial, domestic and agricultural wastewaters. We study here the efficiency of domestic wastewater treatment by two field scale subsurface flow CWs under different hydraulic loading rates (HLRs). Each CW had inlet and outlet chamber for wastewater collection with Pistia stratio-tes (water lettuce), two treatment sections consisting of sand and gravel media and four plant species Typha latifolia (Broadleaf cattail) and Cymbopogon citratus (lemon grass - first CW) and (Pennisetum purpureum schum and Pennisetum americanum L (Hybrid napier) and Urochloa mutica (Paragrass - second CW). The wastewater source was from a residential urban colony. The HLRs for the first and second CW for a three-month period averaged 4.45 cm/day and 5.77 cm/day respectively. The CW was monitored for quality of wastewater inflows and outflows and nutrient accumulation in plants and sand media. Results showed that the chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), total nitrogen and total phosphate removals in the first and second CW over a three-month period averaged 42%, 74%, 39% and 41% and 34%, 82%, 14% and 35% respectively. Both the CWs showed similar rates of TSS removal irrespective of the type of wetland plant species. Over the three-month period, average COD, total nitrogen and the phosphate removals were greater in the first CW compared to the second CW. These results confirm the efficacy of field scale subsurface flow CWs to improve the quality of domestic wastewater in rural communities of developing countries like India.

5 tables, 38 ref

002117   Sundararajan S;Karthikeyan R;Khadanga M K (Coastal and Environmental Engineering Div, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pallikaranai, Chennai-600 100, Email: srajan@niot.res.in) : Spatial distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Ennore estuary and coastal waters, Chennai, India. Asian J Chem 2016, 28(1), 35-8.

Ennore estuary is one of the major polluted area in Chennai, India due to high pollution load from domestic waste, effluents discharge from petrochemical industries and refineries wastages. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) influence due to the petrochemical industries effluent and automobile vehicle transport, movement of ship and fisherman boats. The two rivers named Korattalaiar and Kosasthalaiyar are running along the farming and urban areas carrying all the pollutants, finally entering into the Ennore estuary. Therefore a short term study was conducted to estimate the prevailing concentrations of chrysene (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) contaminants and to know the status of the pollutants. Sea water samples were collected semi-diurnally from Ennore estuary (7 sites) and Chennai Coast (6 sites) for 48 h. The collected samples were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction technique and analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector. The maximum and minimum mean concentration of chrysene in Ennore estuary during high and low tide was 8.13 and 1.43 mg L^{-1 and 10.20 and 1.45 mg L-1 respectively. The maximum and minimum mean concentration of chrysene in Chennai coastal waters during high tide and low tide was 1.49 and 0.77 mg L-1 and 2.23 and 1.11 mg L-1 respectively. A relatively high concentration of 10.20 ± 0.10 mg L-1 chrysene was observed in the Buckingham Canal south. This high concentration of chrysene reported in this site due to the discharge of industrial effluents and domestic sewage. The results are showing significant variation spatial as well as temporally.}

2 illus, 2 tables, 23 ref

002116   Solanki M K;Gupta O P (NO, , ) : Physico-chemical analysis of underground water in winter season 2014 of Rewa city (Madhya Pradesh), India. J Modern Chem chem Technol 2015, 6(1), 9-12.

This paper presents physico-chemical analysis of underground water in winter season in the year of 2014 of Rewa district, Madhya Pradesh state, India. Most of samples are within prescribed limits as suggested by World Health Organization (WHO), Indian Standard Institute (ISI) for drinking purpose and BIS desirable limit. Seasonal changes in physical and chemical parameters like colour, odour, taste, pH, total dissolved solids, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, sodium, sulphate, carbonate, bicarbonate, nitrate, total alkalinity, and chloride etc. were analyzed for a period of year 2014 in winter season. Some parameters were found in some limits.

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002115   Sinha N;Sinha P (Physics Dep, S.D. College, Muzaffarnagar) : PEFCS in surface and drinking water. J Mount Res 2014, 9(Dec), 79-82.

The growing environmental concern of Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) derivatives and related substances is due to the fact that these potential harmful compounds now are global environmental pollutants distributed in air, water, soils and biota, including in polar bears living in remote arctic areas. In addition, in many countries PFOS, PFOA and other related substances have been observed in human blood samples of the general population. The reasons for this widespread occurrence seem to be that perfluorinated substances are increasingly used and are environmentally persistent and bioaccumulative. Due to this PFOS, PFOA are potentially toxic to humans and animals. A range of polyfluorinated substances are used in numerous industrial products and consumer products because of their special chemical properties, for instance the ability to repel both water and oils.

7 ref

002114   Singh S;Kannan S;Timbadiya P V (Civil Engineering Dep, S.V. National Institute of Technology-Surat, Surat-395 007, Email: pvtimbadiya@ced.svit.ac.in) : Statistical downscaling of multisite daily percipitation for Tapi basin using Kernel regression model. Curr Sci 2016, 110(8), 1468-84.

The study presents fine resolution multisite daily precipitation projection for the Tapi basin using the kernel-regression (KR) based statistical downscaling methodology developed by Kannan and Ghosh with and without conditioned on the estimated rainfall state. The models are applied in downscaling of daily monsoon precipitation at a fine resolution of 0.25° comprising 351 grid points in and around the basin. The air temperature, specific humidity, zonal and meridional wind (at surface, 250, 500 and 850 hPa); mean sea level pressure and geopotential height at surface are utilized as predictors from five GCMs under CMIP-5 for two future scenarios, viz. RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The performance of the downscaling model examined with respect to reproduction of various statistics for training period and indicated the better performance of KR model conditioned on the rainfall state than KR model without conditioned on the rainfall state of the basin. The KR model conditioned on the rainfall state is employed for future projections from GCMs outputs. The statistically downscaled daily precipitation from GCM (MPI-M) and CORDEX (COSMO-CLM) data is compared to quantify uncertainty. The statistically downscaled daily precipitation performs better than corresponding CORDEX data for the present study area. The study also revealed a possibility of decrease in the occurrences of extreme events with an increase in the medium rainfall events in the basin for future.

15 illus, 3 tables, 41 ref

002113   Singh K K;Kalra N (Indian Meteorological Dep, Lodi Road, New Delhi-110 003, Email: kksingh2022@gmail.com) : Simulating impact of climatic variability and extreme climatic events on crop production. Mausam 2016, 67(1), 13-30.

Wide range of inter-annual climatic variability and frequent occurrence of extreme climatic events in Indian context is a great concern. There is a need to assess the impact of these events on agriculture production as well suggest the agri-management options for sustenance. The appropriate region specific agro-advisory needs to be established for the farmers and other stake holders. Crop simulation models are effective tools fpr assessing the crops' response to these climate related events and for suggesting suitable adaptation procedures for ensuring higher agricultural production. Remote sensing and CIS are effective tools in this regard to prepare the regional based agro-advisories, by linking with the crop simulation models and relational database layers of bio-physical and socio-economic aspects. For effective agro-advisory services, there is a need to link the other biotic and abiotic stresses for accurate estimates and generating window of suitable agri-management options. Crop simulation models can effectively integrate these stresses for crop and soil processes understanding and ultimate yield formation. In this review article, we have discussed about the inter-annual/ seasonal climatic variability and occurrence of extreme climatic events in India and demonstrated the potential of crop models viz., INFOCROP, WTGROWS, DSSAT to assess the impact of these events (also including climate change) on growth and yield of crops and cropping systems and thereby suggesting appropriate adaptation strategies for sustenance. The potential of remote sensing for crop condition assessment and regional/national yield forecast has been demonstrated. Crop simulation tools coupled with remote sensing inputs through GIS can play an important role in evolving this unique operational platform of designing weather based agro-advisory services for India.

15 illus, 17 ref

002112   Showell J O;Eze E B;Ama-Abasi D E (NO, Calabar Univ, Institute of Oceanography, Calabar, Nigeria) : Effect of tidal regimes on the recreational water quality of Calabar river estuary. Indian J envir Prot 2015, 35(8), 634-43.

The investigation concerned bacterial parameters of total coliform, fecal coliform and intestinal Enterococci. Five stations were established along the river spanning the near-shore and the estuarine areas. Stations 1, 2, 3 were near-shore while stations 4 and 5 were in the estuary. Sampling was twice daily, during ebb and flood tides. The highest and lowest total coliform count were (1900 colony forming units/100 mL) recorded during flood tide in July at station 3 and 163 colony forming units/100 ml recorded in November at station 2 during ebb tide, respectively. Similarly, the highest and lowest count of fecal coliform were 250 colony forming units/100 mL recorded at station 3 in July during flood tide and 27 colony forming units/mL recorded at station 2 in February during ebb tide, respectively. The lowest 95th percentile value of intestinal Enterococci (14 colony forming units/100 mL) was recorded during ebb tide at station 2 in November. On the other hand, the highest 95th percentile value (190 colony forming unit/100 ml) was recorded during flood tide at station 3 in July. A two-way analysis of variance in microbial water quality with respect to sampling stations and tides, however, indicated that there was no significant difference in microbial water quality in relation to sampling stations and tides. All the sampled stations met the World Health Organization (WHO), European Union (ED) and German guidelines for safe recreational waters with regards to intestinal Enterococci, total coliform and fecal coliform.

6 illus, 7 tables, 10 ref

002111   Sharma G;Mishra A (Zoological Survey of India, Bahadurpur Housing Colony, Patna-800 026) : Avian diversity of gogabeel lake in Katihar, Bihar. Bionotes 2016, 18(1), 10-13.

8 ref

002110   Shah P B;Utkarsh (Space applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Ahmedabad, Email: pushpa@sac.isro.gov.in) : ISRO's geostationary data products archival & dissemination - retrospect and prospect. Mausam 2016, 67(1), 105-12.

Natural extreme weather events have been causing excessive damage to life and property across the globe since time immemorial. Space based techniques and instruments have been improvised and utilised over the years to generate and collect earth observations data. Although a significant amount of research has led to meaningful forecasts of extreme weather events leading to minimising of the loss of life and property, the analytical approaches in this field need to be further studied and explored. Also, since every instance of earth observation is significant in multiple time domains (current as well as past which is required for climatology studies), it needs to be archived and disseminated in an organised and holistic manner. For long time preservation, modern infrastructure and underlying cutting edge technologies need to be adapted. With missions like GISAT, where the volume of data handled per day will be around 200 Mega bytes per second, multi level strategic approach for archival and high speed bandwidth for near real time data dissemination on public networks should be complemented with data broadcast to strategic users, using satellite communications. This paper describes the current infrastructure established for archival and dissemination and archival of ISRO's Met-Ocean data observations and the future road map in the area of instantaneous data and weather alerts dissemination through an Indian broadcasting system (METCAST). This is to ensure timely delivery of satellite data to end users to facilitate near real time analysis of weather events.

2 illus, 2 tables, 9 ref

002109   Sarkar S (NO, , ) : Godavari rier highly polluted. Bionotes 2016, 18(1), 9.

002108   Ramarao M V S;Sanjay J;Krishnan R (Centre for Climate Change Research, Indian Institute of Tropical Meterology, Pune) : Modulation of summer monsoon sub-seasonal surface air temperature over India by soil moisture-temperature coupling. Mausam 2016, 67(1), 53-66.

The influence of soil moisture on the sub-seasonal warmer surface air temperature anomalies during drier soil conditions associated with break spells in the Indian summer monsoon precipitation is explored using observations. The multi-model analysis of land surface states and fluxes available from the Second Global Soil Wetness Project (GSWP-2) are found useful in understanding the mechanism for this soil moisture-temperature coupling on sub-seasonal timescales. The analysis uses a soil moisture-temperature coupling diagnostic computed based on linear correlations of daily fields. It is shown that the summer surface air temperature variations are linked to intraseasonal variations of the Indian monsoon precipitation, which control the land-climate coupling by modulating the soil moisture variations. Strong coupling mainly occurs during dry soil states within the summer monsoon season over the transition zones between wet and dry climates of central to north-west India. In contrast, the coupling is weak for constantly wet and energy-limited evaporative regimes over eastern India during the entire summer monsoon season. This observational based analysis provided a better understanding of the linkages between the sub-seasonal dry soil states and warm conditions during the Indian summer monsoon season. A proper representation of these aspects of land-atmosphere interactions in weather and climate models used for sub-seasonal and seasonal monsoon forecasting could be critical for several applications, in particular agriculture. The soil moisture-temperature coupling diagnostic used in this study will be a useful metric for evaluating the performance of weather and climate models.

8 illus, 30 ref

002107   Raj K D;Mathews G;Bharath M S;Edward J K P (NO, Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute, 44-Beach Road, Tuticorin-328 001, Email: diraviyam_raj@yahoo.co.in) : Mass mortality of Montipora digitata (Scleractinia) in vaan island, Gulf of Mannar, Southeast India. Curr Sci 2016, 110(8), 1407-8.

2 illus, 21 ref

002106   Pathak V;Kushwaha R;Kushwaha B P (GMR Chhattisgarh Energy Ltd., Environment Health and Safety Dep, , Raipur) : Study on water quality of chosen few water bodies of New Raipur area. Indian J envir Prot 2015, 35(8), 660-5.

To carryout surface water quality of the area, samples from 4 different ponds were taken during monsoon season, post-monsoon, winter season and pre-monsoon in year 2012-13. The studied water bodies (ponds) are located near about an integrated steel and power plant in new Raipur area. Chhattisgarh. The water quality parameters, like pH, TDS, total hardness, alkalinity, chloride, fluoride, sulphate, nitrate, calcium, magnesium and iron were analyzed in the present study. The pH, TDS, total hardness, alkalinity, chloride, sulphate, nitrate, calcium and magnesium were analysed in the the prescribed norms. Fluoride concentration in sample SW1, SW2 and SW4 found slightly higher than desired limit but under permissible limit as prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standard (2012). Iron was found in range between 0.54 to 1.24 mg/L which is higher than permissible limit in all the samples. The higher concentration of iron may be due to deposition of iron mixed suspended particu-late matter from atmosphere to surface, that is emitted from nearest an integrated steel and power plant. Maximum iron concentration found in the sample SW1 (Serikheri pond) which is located in the downwind direction with respect to the plant where dispersion of air pollutants may be greater than other location.

11 illus, 20 ref

002105   Parihar J S (Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Ahmedabad-380 015, Email: jsparihar@yaho.com) : FASAL concept in meeting the requirments of assessment and forecasting crop production affected by extreme weather events. Mausam 2016, 67(1), 93-104.

The research in remote sensing application in India started first in agriculture way back in 1969. With the improvement in satellite sensors, data processing algorithms, models and computational power over time, this research culminated into development of operational projects of CAPE and FASAL. tackling an important issue of operationally providing pre-harvest crop production forecast to stakeholders. This review paper details the sequential developments in the use of remote sensing data for crop production forecasting. The scientific developments in the use of single and multi-temporal optical and microwave satellite images for crop identification and yield estimation in India have been reviewed. The case studies on use of remote sensing data for crop assessment under extreme weather events are also presented. These include the assessment of crop damage due to extreme weather events of floods, drought, and hailstorm. Examples on use of remote sensing for crop damage assessment due to pest and diseases and forecasting their incidence using satellite derived weather parameters are reviewed.

12 illus, 45 ref

002104   Pandey J;Dheeraj Kumar;Singh V K;Mohalik N K (Mine Fire Div, CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad-826 015, Email: jitu.cimfr@gmail.com) : Environmental and socio-economic impacts of fire in Jharia coalfield, Jharkhand, India: an appraisal. Curr Sci 2016, 110(9), 1639-50.

Phenomenon of coal mine fire has a long history on international magnitude in the destruction of valuable natural resources. It dominantly contributes towards adverse impact on environment. Societal influence in terms of health and life hazard is one of the key factors in mine fire areas. This paper focused on socio-economic and environmental impacts of fire in Jharia coalfield (JCF), Jharkhand, India. Issue related to mine fire in various legislations (Mines Act 1952, Coal Mine Regulation 1957, etc.) has been discussed with a view to overcome such situations. A few mitigative measures and proper management of coal mine fire has also been suggested.

10 illus, 3 tables, 108 ref

002103   Murali M (Civil Engineering Dep, Aditya Institute of Technology and Management, Tekkali, Srikakulam-532 201) : Impact of on site sanitation systems on ground water quality-a case study through water quality index. Indian J envir Prot 2015, 35(8), 617-33.

In the present study, an attempt has been made to investigate the degree of pollution of ground water due to on site sanitation in Arilova slum area of Visakhapatnam of Andhra Pradesh. Surveys were conducted physically for selection of sampling sites in study area. Ground water samples exposed to leachate of on-site sanitation system collected seasonally for analysis. The water samples were analyzed for physico-chemical characteristics, such as pH, EC, nitrates, chloride. The data obtained were subjected to correlation analysis for statistical treatments. Water quality indices for ground water samples of study area were calculated to assess its potability and to summarize large amount of water quality data into simple terms.

7 tables, 15 ref

002102   Manoj Kumar;Padhy P K;Chaudhury S (Environmental Studies Dep, Visva-Bharati Univ, Institute of Science, Santiniketan-731 235) : Distribution pattern analysis of six trace element and development of trace element pollution index for a Peninsular river basin, Chottanagpur plateau. Indian J envir Prot 2015, 35(8), 666-79.

The objective of the study was to investigate the distribution pattern of some trace elements in the Subarnarekha river basin, Jharkhand State and consequently to develop trace element pollution index (TEPI) for the basin. Water samples collected from 17 locations along the river course and its tributaries, were analysed for 6 element, namely iron, zinc, copper, lead, cadmium and manganese. The concentration of elements showed considerable spatial variations along the Subarnarekha basin and their contents were noticeably higher at the sites adjoining profound human-induced developmental activities, such as industrial, mining and urban regions. Based on the concentration range and abundance, the elements ranked as iron <62> copper <62> manganese <62> zinc <62> lead <62> cadmium. The content of iron crossed recommended desirable limit (0.3 ppm) in all water samples, while copper was over the desirable limit (0.05 ppm) in 24% samples. Although overall TEPI (59.11) indicated that the Subamarekha basin was not critically polluted (100 is taken as the critical pollution index); some of the sites displayed remarkably much higher TEPI values; which ranged from 90.08 to 98.38. The highest TEPI (112.88), which was over the critical pollution load value, was obtained at the suburb of the Jamshedpur city.

8 illus, 3 tables, 38 ref

002101   Kundu A;Nag S K (Geological Sciences Dep, Jadavpur Univ, Kolkata-700 032) : Assessment of groundwater quality for drinking and irrigation purposes in Chhatna block, Bankura district. Indian J envir Prot 2015, 35(8), 644-59.

Groundwater is an essential and vital component of any life support system. It is not only the basic need for human existence but also a vita! input for all development activities. The present hydrogeochemical study was confined to the Chhatna Block of Bankura district. West Bengal. The Chhatna block is one of the western blocks of Bankura district and is about 280 km far from Kolkata. It falls between latitude 23°20' N-23°30' N and longitude 86°45' E - 86°55' E. In order to evaluate the quality of groundwater in study area, 21 groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for various parameters. Physical and chemical parameters of groundwater, such as pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solid, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cl, HCO₃', SO₄ and F were determined. Sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), soluble sodium percentage (SSP), residual sodium bicarbonate (RSBC), magnesium adsorption ratio (MAR), total hardness (TH) and permeability index (PI) were calculated as derived parameters, to investigate the ionic toxicity. Based on the analytical results, ground-water in the area is generally fresh and hard to very hard. The abundance of the major ions is as follows: HCO₃<62> Cl <62> SO₄ and Ca <62> Mg <62> Na <62> K <62> Fe. Results also show that bicarbonate ions (HC0₃^{-) dominate the other anions (Cl- and SO₄2-). According to Gibbs diagrams samples fall in the rock dominance field and the chemical quality of groundwater is related to the lithology of the area. Assessment of water samples from various methods indicated that groundwater in study area is chemically suitable for drinking and agricultural uses. Fluoride is within the permissible limits for human consumption as per the WHO and Bureau of Indian standards.}

7 illus, 3 tables, 62 ref

002100   Kiran Kumar A S (Indian Space Research Organisation, Antariksh Bhavan, New BEL Road, Bengaluru-560 231, Email: kiran@sac.isro.gov.in) : Tools from the Indian space proramme for observing and forecasting extreme weather events - retrospect and prospect. Mausam 2016, 67(1), 77-92.

Extreme weather events (EWEs) cause hardship, economic loss and have severp socio-economic consequences. It is necessary to develop forecast capability for such events so as to minimise losses and take appropriate measures for combating. Methods relying on only ground based weather observation networks are not adequate. Observations from space platforms offer regular and frequent measurements over a wide area. Observations from geostationary platforms provide information on atmospheric parameters and processes, while low earth orbiting platforms provide global observations at higher spatial resolutions. This paper describes the evolution of space programme in India, consisting of the space segment, data processing and products, and science and applications for observing and monitoring weather systems. Emphasis is on developing end-to-end capacity in weather monitoring. Forecasting of EWEs is illustrated with a few case studies. With the integration of space technology inputs, it is expected that forecast skill and lead time of the forecast will improve. Some of the future Indian space missions planned to enhance the capacity are also described. A multidisciplinary approach comprising the use of space technology, ground based measurement network and high speed computing power, can form a backbone for observing and forecasting EWEs.

9 illus, 6 tables, 30 ref

002099   Kaushal M;Wani S P;Patil M D;Datta A (ICRISAT Development Center, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru-502 324, Email: m.kaushal@cgiar.org ) : Monitoring efficacy of constructed wetland for treating domestic effluent- microbiological approach. Curr Sci 2016, 110(9), 1710-5.

Water scarcity and elevated potential in wastewater treatment in the last decades raise attention towards constructed wetlands (CWs), The present study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of CW for faecal coliform (FC) expulsion and to isolate and characterize the microbial communities. Significant differences were observed between influent and effluent microbial counts of vegetated and control cells (without vegetation) of wetland. FC reduction ranged from 64% to 81%; however, total bacterial, fungal and actinomy-cetes average poll ranged from 66.67 x 10^{5 cfu/g to 142.67 x 105 cfu/g, 1.67 x 102 efu/g to 10.33 x 102 cfu/g and 16.00 x 103 cfu/g to 53.33 x 103 cfu/g respectively, isolated from vegetated and control cells. Results further irfdicated that bacteria were most abundant, followed by actinomycetes, whereas the number of fungi was least among three groups of microbes, which could be attributed to wide tolerance to the properties of CW. Removal of FC was less apparent initially compared to the later stages of operation, which is of concern for long-term efficiency and stability of wetland. Also, diversity of identified bacterial strains is beneficial for growth and yield enhancement of agriculture crops. The results also demonstrate that CWs are the key habitats for bioactive actinomycetes with paramount medical, scientific and economic potential significance globally in general and developing countries like India in particular. Overall, backwash imparts the baseline compilation of CWs for its management for sustainable agriculture.}

4 illus, 1 table, 23 ref

002098   Kamble R K (Environmental Science Dep, Sardar Patel College, Chandrapur-442 402) : Validation of two analytical method to measure fluoride concentration in groundwater in Chandrapur district, Central India. Indian J envir Prot 2015, 35(8), 689-95.

Fluoride is ubiquitous in natural water sources used around the world for drinking and cooking. The health impacts of chronic exposure to fluoride through water, which in ground-water sources can reach well above the WHO (1984) defined limit of 1.0-1.5 mg/L, is well understood. As fluoride is a 2 edge sword its precise concentration in groundwater should be known. To quantify the impact of consumption of fluoride in groundwater on human health, it is important to accurately assess naturally occurring exposure levels among population. In this study, the validity of fluoride concentration in groundwater was evaluated by using 2 analytical methods: SPANDS method (spectrophotometer) and HiMedia Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., Fluoride Test Kit (visual method). Total 36 groundwater samples from dug wells and handpumps in Chandrapur district were assessed for post monsoon season in 2013 (October) for fluoride concentration by these 2 analytical methods. Results of the study suggested that SPANDS method delivers more accurate point-of-use results across a wide range of fluoride concentrations under challenging filed conditions as compared with HiMedia Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., Fluoride Test-Kit.

2 illus, 3 tables, 5 ref

002097   Jayalakshmi S;Velappan E (NO, Anna Univ, Institute of Remote Sensing, Chennai-600 025) : Assessment of water quality index in the St. Thomas mount block using GIS and remote sensing. Indian J envir Prot 2015, 35(8), 680-8.

Groundwater is an essential natural resource for securing drinking water and plays a significant role in human wellbeing. However, in recent times the pressure on groundwater has increased both quantitatively iand qualitatively. The drinking water sources are threatened by contamination through human exploitation. The objective of this study is to assess and map the spatial distribution of groundwater quality in the St. Thomas Mount Block of Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu using geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS). This Block has been experiencing rapid industrialization and urbanization and this has made people in the area to depend on groundwater resources. The suitability of water for drinking purposes in the study area is calculated using water quality index (WQI), considering landuse changes. WQI is calculated by using standards of drinking water quality recommended by the Bureau of Indian Standards 10500:1993 (BIS) and the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR). In the present study, 9 water quality parameters were considered for computing WQI. Inverse distance weighted (IDW) spatial interpolation technique was used to estimate the spatial distribution of groundwater parameters and WQI. It was observed from the WQI map that around 76.5% of the total area is unfit for drinking.

6 illus, 3 tables, 8 ref

002096   Gulati K;Thakur S;Kumar A;Ranjan A;Hameed S A;Jindal T (NO, Amity Univ, Amity Institute of Environmental Toxicology, Safety and Ma, Noida-201 303) : Lysimeter study to access the risk of chlorpyrifos contraminated groundwater in a sandy loam soil with different pH. Indian J envir Prot 2015, 35(8), 696-703.

Lysimetric studies were conducted in order to determine the leaching potential of the organophosphorus pesticide, chlorpyrifos in groundwater. In India, farmers in agricultural practices use chlorpyrifos capriciously beyond the prescribed dosages out of their ignorance or considering that the pesticide formulations are adulterated and does not have the mentioned active ingredient. The study has been performed to determine the leachability of chlorpyrifos in soils of different pH. Two way ANOVA and least significant difference of the data revealed statistical difference to the results. Average recovery of chlorpyrifos from the leachate samples ranged from 49.2-98.0% with RSD's ranging from 1.1-5.7%. Generally, the leachability of chlorpyrifos was found to be higher for the double dose treatment in contrast to the single dose.

3 illus, 6 tables, 27 ref

002095   Ghude S D;Jena C K;Beig G;Rajesh Kumar; Kulkarni S H;Chate D M (Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Homi Bhabha Road, Pune-411 008, Email: sachinghude@tropmet.res.in) : Impact of emission mitigation on ozone-induced wheat and rice damage in India. Curr Sci 2016, 110(8), 1453-8.

In this study, we evaluate the potential impact of ground level ozone (O₃) on rice and wheat yield in top 10 states in India during 2005, This study is based on simulated hourly O₃ concentration from the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem), district-wise seasonal crop production datasets and accumulated daytime hourly O₃ concentration over a threshold of 40 ppbv (AOT40) indices to estimate crop yield damage resulting from ambient O₃ exposure. The response of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) mitigation action is evaluated based on ground level O₃ simulations with individual reduction in anthropogenic NO_x and VOC emissions over the Indian domain. The total loss of wheat and rice from top 10 producing states in India is estimated to be 2.2 million tonnes (3.3%) and 2.05 million tonnes (2.5%) respectively. Sensitivity model study reveals relatively 93% decrease in O₃-induced crop yield losses in response to anthropogenic NO_x emission mitigation. The response of VOC mitigation action results in relatively small changes of about 24% decrease in O₃-induced crop yield losses, suggesting NO_x as a key pollutant for mitigation. VOC also contribute to crop yield reduction but their effects are a distant second compared to NO_x effects.

5 illus, 35 ref

002094   Gajendra Kumar;Kundu S K;Baxla A K (India Meteorological Dep, , New Delhi-110 003, Email: gkumarimd@gmail.com ) : In-situ obsercational network for extreme weather events in India. Mausam 2016, 67(1), 167-70.

Extreme weather events, interacting with vulnerable human and natural systems, can lead to disasters, especially in absence of responsive social system. Accurate and timely monitoring and forecast of heavy rains, tropical cyclones, thunderstorms, hailstorms, cloudburst, drought, heat and cold waves, etc. arc required to respond effectively to such events. Due to extreme weather events, crops over large parts of the country are adversely affected reducing production of total food grains, fodder, cash crops, vegetables and fruits which in turn affect the earnings and livelihood of individual farmers as well as the economy of the country. In situ observational network are the vital component for skilful prediction of extreme weather events. Current observational requirements for extreme weather prediction are met, to varying degrees by a range of in-situ observing systems and space-based systems. The augmentation of in-situ observational network is continuously progressing. IMD now has a network of Doppler Weather Radars (DWRs), Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs), Agro AWSs, Automatic Rain Gauges (ARGs), GPS upper air systems etc. These observations along with non-conventional (satellite) data are now being used to run its global and regional numerical prediction models on High Performance Computing Systems (HPCS). This has improved rnonitoring and forecasting capabilities for extreme weather events like cyclones, severe thunderstorm, heavy rainfall and' floods in a significant manner. This paper provides an overview of the role of in-situ observational network for extreme weather events in India, framework for further augmentation to the network and other requirements to further enhance capabilities for high impact & extreme weather events and natural hazards.

11 illus, 7 ref

002093   Datta A;Wani S P;Patil M D;Tilak A S (NO, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropicsm, Patancheru-502 324, Email: a.datta@cgiar.org) : Field scale evaluation of seasonal wastewater treatment efficiencies of free surface- constructed wetlands in ICRISAT, India. Curr Sci 2016, 110(9), 1756-63.

The disparity between volume of wastewater generated and treated has resulted in severe water pollution and eutrophication of the water bodies in most Indian cities. Constructed wetlands (CWs) present a low-cost wastewater treatment option; however, field scale studies with real life wastewater are limited. Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth), Typha latifolia (Typha) and Pistia stratiotes (water lettuce) grow abundantly in eutrophicated water bodies, and are known for their nutrient uptake ability. In the present study, the waste-water of a nearby urban residential colony was treated by two-field scale free water surface CWs operating under identical hydraulic loading. The first treatment cells, in each of these two CWs were vegetated with Typha. T|¯e second treatment cells were vegetated with water hyacinth (CW-1) in one of the CWs and with water lettuce (CW-2) in the other. Wastewater treatment efficiencies of these free water surface CWs were evaluated, in terms of the removal efficiencies for key parameters, viz. chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammoniacal and nitrate nitrogen, phosphate, sulphate and total suspended solids (TSS). The CW-1 showed greater seasonal variation in performance. A steady removal efficiency of 35-40% was observed for ammoniacal nitrogen in both the free water surface CWs throughout the year, though removal efficiency of nitrate nitrogen reduced significantly during the winter. Plant sample analysis showed that the N, P and K uptake capacities of water lettuce were 1.53, 1.55 and 1.34 times higher than that of water hyacinth, for identical wastewater loading. The dry weight of the harvested biomass for water lettuce, during summer months, was much higher at 5.63 g/m^{2/d compared to 3.8 g/m2/d for water hyacinth.}

5 illus, 4 tables, 39 ref

002092   Chattopadhyay N;Ghosh K;Chandras S V (India Meteorological Dep, , Pune-411 005) : Agrometerological advisory to assist the farmers in meeting the challenges of extreme weather events. Mausam 2016, 67(1), 277-88.

In recent past extreme weather events are causing great concern in different sectors contributing to the Indian economy. Among other, agricultural sectors are badly affected by the extreme weather events. Weather and climate information play a great role in minimizing the loss of crops. India Meteorological Department is doing yeomen's service by providing advance information including monitoring of the extreme weather events along with the proper advisories to the farming community by using state of art instruments & technology through efficient delivering mechanism of the information and ultimately help the farmers from incurring great loss. Satellite information is also used for preparation of the accurate crop and location specific Agromet Advisories. Under Public Private Partnership, today it is possible to send the weather forecast and advisories within short time to large number of farmers in the country before the occurrence of extreme weather events and ultimately possible to improve the economic condition of small and marginal farmers by increasing the productivity of crops.

10 illus, 13 ref

002091   Bhavya P S;Sanjeev Kumar;Gupta G V M; Sudharma K V;Sudheesh V;Dhanya K R (Physical Researh Lab, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380 009, Email: bhavya@prl.res.in) : Carbon isotopic composition of suspended particulate matter and dissolved inorganic carbon in the Cochin estuary during post-monsoon. Curr Sci 2016, 110(8), 1539-43.

Detailed measurements of carbon (C) isotopic compo-sition in dissolved inorganic (δC_DIC) and particulate organic (δ^{13C_POC) fractions were conducted at 18 stations in the Cochin estuary during the post-monsoon season. In general, C biogeochemistry of different re-gions of the Cochin estuary appears to be regulated by different sources and processes. The northern zone of the estuary appears to be influenced primarily by mixing of sea water enriched in 13C_POC and 13C_DIC, and river run-off depleted in the same. In contrast, the southern zone of the estuary was found to be greatly influenced by local terrestrial sources. Relatively depleted 13C_POC in the freshwater Vembanad lake compared to the main estuary suggests inputs from terrestrial sources along with in situ productivity.}

3 illus, 1 table, 41 ref

002090   Akhtar P;Ahmed Y;Islam F;Alam K;Mary M;Islam M Z;Mosharef M;Bhuiyan H;Yaakob Z (Chemical and Process Engineering Dep, Faculty of Engineering and Built, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor 43600, Malaysia) : Efficiency of effluent treatment plants and threat to human health and aquatic environment in Bangladesh. Asian J Chem 2016, 28(1), 60-8.

Bangladesh is a low-lying riverine country. It has about 230 small and large rivers and a large portion of the country's 140 million people depends on them for a living and for transportation. Most of the rivers and canals are becoming increasingly polluted from industrial wastewater dumped by factories, many of them in the textile, leather tanneries, pulp and paper, pharmaceutical, engineering workshops as well as chemicals and pesticide industry. Nonetheless, the wastewaters discharged from them are harshly ruinous to the environment, contains various kinds of contaminant which contaminate the water bodies, aquatic sediments, soil and ultimately incorporated into the muscles of fish, vegetables, etc. Many researchers have tried to find out the percentages of a contaminant available in different rivers and their effect on agriculture, environment and human health. Some of their research on discharging industrial wastewater quality, but none of them find out, the effectiveness of industrial effluent treatment plants. The emphasis of this research is to give a detail indication of the discharging contaminants from the five experimental industries and their effluent treatment plants (ETP). Most of our experimental industrial effluent treatment plants were able to reduce their physical parameter (BOD, COD, TSS, TDS, TS, turbidity, pH and EC) in moderate stages and two or three industry effluents were below the standard discharge limit prescribed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Bangladesh and their effluents were unsuitable for discharging into water bodies, but these are not fulfilled the US EPA guideline ranges. Whereas most of our experimental industries effluent treatment plants reduce small or less portions of metal content from their effluent which were not follow the EPA, Bangladesh and US EPA guideline ranges. They discharge their effluents into water bodies because of the lacking of a very efficient and economic treatment system.

5 illus, 20 ref

001076   Yadav A S;Sawant P T (Dr. J.J. Magdum College of Engineering, , Jaysingpur-416 101, Email: drasyadav2000@gmail.com) : Groundwater pollution in Sheri nala basin, Sangli district, Maharashtra, India and its impact on health-A case study. J appl Geochem 2016, 18(1), 76-89.

The area covered by the present investigation is a basin (lat.16° 50' 05" N to 16° 54' 45" N and long.74° 33' 20" E to 74° 38' 30" E) included in SOI toposheet no. 47 L/9. In total, 50 bore-well and 25 dug-well samples were collected and analyzed to understand the impact of groundwater pollution on the health of the people in the area. These samples were collected from five sub-basins of Sheri Nala. They are viz; Madhavnagar, Kupwad, Budhgaon, Sangli City and Padmale. For the present investigation, TH, TDS, Cl values and their impact on health of the people in the area has been studied. The observed values were compared with the standards. It has been observed that the values are higher in both pre-monsoon and post- monsoon periods. The higher values are mainly due to the industrial pollution in Madhavnagar and Kupwad sub-basins. Whereas, the values are higher in Budhgaon, Sangli City and Padmale sub-basins is due to improper maintenance of sewerage and septic tanks. To understand the effect of toxicity on the health of the public, 70 representative household samples were collected. It has been observed that 9% households are suffering from cholera, 13% from jaundice, 64% from gastroenteritis and 14% from typhoid diseases.

5 illus, 5 tables, 24 ref

001075   Suthari S;Kandagatla R;Ragan A;Raju V S (Plant Systematics Laboratory, Botany Dep, Kakatiya Univ, Warangal-506 009, Email: rajuvastavaya@gmail.com) : Incidence of alien asteraceae in Telangana and residual Andhra Pradesh and possible ecological implications. Curr Sci 2016, 110(7), 1337-43.

The introduction of alien Asteraceae into the states of Telangana and residual Andhra Pradesh is described based on extensive field studies, together with screening available herbarium specimens, fk.ras and taxo-nomic reports. The centres of origin, growth and life-form nature, habit, habitats they occupy, year of first report, minimum residence time, and district-wise occurrence are compiled. Possible ecological implications of the incidence of these alien species are discussed.

1 table, 44 ref

001074   Suja S;Kessarkar P M;Rao V P;Fernandes L L (NO, CSIR-National Institute of Oeanography, ona Paula, Goa-403 004, Email: pratimak@nio.org) : Spatial distribution of suspended particulate matter in the Mandovi and Zuari estuaries: inferences on the estuarine turbidity maximum. Curr Sci 2016, 110(7), 1165-8.

3 illus, 20 ref

001073   Sharma K;Gupta N;Johnson J A;Sivakumar K (Kartikeya Sharma is at Sinola House, Village and P.O. Sinola, Dehradun-248 003, Email: nishikantgupta@live.in) : 'Fish festival' in the Garhwal Himalaya: conservation options amidst age-old practices. Curr Sci 2016, 110(7), 1155-6.

Rivers provide ecological and socio-economic benefits despite being highly threatened ecosystems. They continue to face anthropogenic and natural stresses. The Aglar in the Indian Himalaya is an important tributary of the Yamuna River, and hosts the annual 'fish festival' of the region. Field studies have revealed that this festival could harm endemic/threatened fish species of the Aglar. Lethal methods such as the use of bleaching powder and electricity should be banned; instead angling and cast netting in a regulated way could be promoted.

11 ref

001072   Saxena A;Guneralp B;Bailis R;Yohe G;Oliver C (NO, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven CT-06511, USA, Email: alark.saxena@yale.edu) : Evaluating the resilience of forest dependent communities in Central India by combining the sustainable livelihoods framework and the cross scale resilience analysis. Curr Sci 2016, 110(7), 1195-1206.

Resilience has moved from being a peripheral ecologi-cal concept to a central goal, in the development dis-course. While the concept has become popular, operationalizing resilience has been difficult. Many frameworks have been proposed to operationalize re-silience but no common framework has been agreed upon. The present article demonstrates a step by step method to operationalize livelihood resilience analysis, for communities that are affected by climate change by taking the case of rural household livelihoods in villages around Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary in Central India. The article combines the Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF) with the Cross Scale Resilience Analysis (CSRA), as a way to operationalize resilience. The CSRA is found to be simple, systematic and appli-cable in diverse contexts. The systematic and holistic asset, process and institution-based analysis under the SLF, supports the CSRA by defining the system and identifying associated important shocks that affect the system. Through the analysis, it was realized that the impact of shifts in government policies on rural liveli-hoods is much greater than the impacts of climate change. The livelihood is worst affected when the shift in government policies coincides with impacts of cli-mate change. The article argues that combining the SLF with the CSRA can provide a standardized method for livelihood resilience analysis of poor natu-ral-resource dependent communities in developing countries. Handling the dynamic nature of these com-plex adaptive social-ecological systems in the resilience analysis should be the next goal to tackle.

3 illus, 6 tables, 66 ref

001071   Pramanik S;Kuity D P (SoS in Geography, Pt. R. S. Univ, Raipur, Email: pramaniksanjib15@yahoo.in) : Relation between depth and quality of groundwater sources, Raipur (C.G.). J appl Geochem 2016, 18(1), 90-6.

Underground water is one of the major sources of fresh water. 9.86% fresh water is found from 0.8 km. depth, 12.35% from 0.8 km. to 4 km. and rest below the earth surface. The source of underground water is the infiltration from surface water. Primary sources for TDS, Salinity and Conductivity etc. of underground water is receiving from agricultural and residential runoff, also point source water pollution discharge from industrial or sewage treatment plants. Geogenic causes are responsible for quality of underground water (e.g. leaching of soil contamination). The study area of Raipur extends from 21°13' N to 21°18' N Latitude and 81°31'E to 81°39' E Longitude. Geologically lime stone and shale of Raipur belong to Chandi Formation of Chhattisgarh Supergroup and occupies the study area. This study is based on the relationship between depths of ground water sources and it's quality. 3 different types of places (e.g. Urla Industrial Area, Bhatagaon Agricultural Area and Tatibandh Agglomeration Area) of Raipur have been considered to ameliorate the understanding of the impact of these 3 types of environment on the groundwater sources. 15 Groundwater samples from each type of area (Total 45 samples) having different depths were collected. TDS, Salinity and Conductivity show mutual sympathetic relations except in Bhatagaon Agricultural Areas, where it shows relatively higher Salinity in comparison to TDS and Conductivity. Except Salinity of the Bhatagaon at all the places (three areas) TDS, Salinity and Conductivity shows concordant relationship. Water of the study area is feebly acidic to alkaline nature (pH 5.3 to 8.09). Total Dissolved Solids do not show any logical relation with the depth of the bore well, however in residential area the TDS remain within 0.5 ppt., in Bhatagaon Agricultural Area TDS is below 1.0 ppt. and in Urla Industrial Area with a much higher TDS 1.5 ppt. This variation may be due to the geogenic and anthropogenic activities. The ground water from these 3 areas is suitable for drinking purpose.

3 illus, 3 tables, 12 ref

001070   Prabhakar G;Padmavathi K;Reddy K S (Geology Dep, Univ College of Science, Saifabad, Osmania Univ, Hyderabad, Telangana State, Email: gfgfproject_prabhakar@yahoo-co-in) : Assessment of drinking water quality of Munneru river water at Narsampet area, Warangal district, Telangana state, India. Envir Ecol 2016, 34(1), 92-6.

The present day's concern is the environmental pollution in general and water pollution in particular. Most of the drinking water sources are lacated on the rivers being polluted with point and non-point sources. The present investigation is concerned to study the various parameters, which are causing pollution of Munneru river water at Narsampet area of Warangal district. The samples were collected from different critical points along the river. These samples were analyzed for assessing the level of pollution of various water quality parameters concentrations like pH, IDS, BOD. COD, DO, fluorides, chlorides, nitrates. APHA standard methods were adopted for the analysis of the water samples. The results are physico-chemical parameters concentrations were satisfied and within the desirable limit of the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) standards, only the bacteriologi cal analysis results were identified water contain a pathogenic Eschericlria coli (2400^{+ MPN/100 ml) therefore it is indicating the water is contaminated for drinking purposes. It is above results are concluded that the must be a regular monitoring is needed for physico-chemical and bacteriological quality of Munneru river water.}

1 illus, 3 tables, 6 ref

001069   Pandey A;Verma O P (Molecular and Cellular Engineering Dep, Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, Email: avantika.alld1@gmail.com) : Incidence of resistance plasmid in thermotolerant bacterial indicators isolated from various sites of Ganges and Yamuna rivers, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. Asian J Bio Sci 2016, 11(1), 85-90.

In this study the thermotolerant bacterial indicators E. coli and Klebsiella were isolated from the water samples of rivers Ganges and Yamuna from various sampling stations. Antibiotic susceptibility revealed the MDR among most of the thermotolerant bacterial species. In case of metal tolerance the thermotolerant species were found to be highly tolerant towards most of the metals tested. The curing pattern for the resistance traits were tested and found that the curing effect was observed in thermotolerant species. The resistant traits were found to be plasmid borne and were able to transfer their resistance to the sensitive ones. Presence of plasmid DNA was also observed in resistant strains of thermotolerant species which were found to be cured. The plasmids were of small to medium size. All the strains possess only one plasmid. The study demonstrates that the resistance to antibiotic and metal ions were found to be generally associated with transmissible R-plasmid.

2 illus, 5 tables, 23 ref