020531   Sahoo R K;Mohanty P K;Samal R N (Marine Sciences Dep, Berhampur Univ, Berhampur-760 007, Email: pratap_mohanty@yahoo.com) : Inlet hydraulics of Chilika lagoon. Indian J Geomar Sci 2016, 45(1), 137-44.

Inlet hydraulics of Chilika Lagoon is studied using various observed inlet parameters (tide, current and morphology) and computing parameters such as hydraulic radius, inlet impedance, King's inlet frequency and friction, maximum channel velocity, phase lag and repletion coefficient during 2009 for spring and neap tide conditions. It is revealed that maximum water level variation in the lagoon occurs during May and is associated with wind -tide interaction in the absence of freshwater discharge. Results indicate ebb dominance of inlet during wet period (July to December) and flood dominance during dry period (February to May) of the lagoon. Period of maximum ebb current (July) coincides with the period of maximum fresh water discharge while period of maximum flood current (May) coincides with the period of maximum momentum input and percentage of sea distribution. Ebb dominance of the inlet is also revealed through computation and analysis of hydraulic parameters, primarily repletion values. Keeping in view the role of inlet hydraulics on the cotemporary phase of lagoon transformation, integration of inlet management into the overall ecosystem management of the lagoon is suggested.

5 illus, 2 tables, 25 ref

020530   Roy S S;Jana N C (Geography Dep, The Univ of Burdwan, West Bengal, Email: roysathisampad@yahoo.in) : Morphometric analysis of drainage basin and its impact on land use change: a case of Singaran nala in Barddhaman district. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 310-19.

In the present paper, efforts have been made to study the area with the help of some physical parameters and to find out the relationship between the physical parameters and the land use of the study area. Besides, a comparative study of land use change of two different time periods (1971 & 2001) has been done on the basis of some selected components i.e. unirrigated area, cultivable waste and area not available for cultivation. At the end it has been found that in spite of moderately suitable physical conditions the study area is almost devoid of agricultural practices and due to increasing coal mining activity the land use characteristics of the area has been drastically changed in between two different time periods (1971 & 2001).

13 illus, 8 ref

020529   Roy K (NO, , Birpara College) : Degrading scenario of infrastuctural environment in selected slums of Kolkata. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 155-9.

Slum dwellers usually have living conditions and standard of living lower than the urban cities of the country. Slums are the physical and spatial manifestation of increasing urban poverty and intra-city inequality. The continuous utilization of amenities and infrastructure beyond the capacity creates great problem. In a metropolitan city like Kolkata continuous increase of population creates a gap between demand and supply of essential services and other infrastructure. The provision, and efficient operation and maintenance, of basic municipal services are the fundamental prerequisite of good public health and the creation of a good living. The availability of an adequate quantity and quality of water and sanitation facilities for the entire urban population, and effective removal of waste water and solid waste from urban communities, has a major beneficial impact on personal health and the environment. The study mainly deals with this aspect wherein the infrastructural environment has been analysed in selected slums of Kolkata.

1 illus, 5 ref

020528   Roy A (NO, Fulmalancha Hritu Bhakat High School, South 24 parganas, West Bengal, Email: royatashi2@gmail.com) : Potentiality of tourism in Bakkhali of South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 111-17.

Tourism is recognized as a major industry and a major sector in growing economies in many countries. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), over the past six decades, tourism has experienced continued growth and diversification to become one of the largest and fastest growing economic sectors in the world. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimate that tourism contributed 9.2 per cent of global GDP and forecasts that this will continue to grow at over 4 per cent per annum during the next ten years to account for some 9.4 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (WTTC 2010). The state of West Bengal in India has immense scopes to develop its tourism resources to share the major pie of the tourism revenue. So the focus of attention should be a gradual development of the known and less known tourist spots in the line of sustainable tourism. Bakkhali is a beautiful sea beach of Bay of Bengal among several beaches of southern West Bengal. The present study of Bakkhali is an approach to assess the various aspects of feasibilities to develop it as full-fledged tourist destination.

1 illus, 8 ref

020527   Prasad R N (Centre for Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru Univ, New Delhi, India-110 067, Email: ramcsrdjnu@gmail.com) : Quantitative and spatial assessment of watershed management based on land use land cover dynamics in Western Himalaya. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2015, 5(4), 525-35.

Present study focuses on analyzing the spatial and temporal land use land cover change in a typical Himalayan mountain river basin. The land use land cover classification of Juni basin covering an area of 207.29 sq.km, has been prepared by calculating the area change of different land use land cover classes from satellite images of 1972 (MSS) and 2009 (LISS III). Here the conflict between social and natural forces has brought significant changes in the fragile mountain ecosystem. Monitoring and assessing the nature of changes brought over four decades in the basin is essential to maintain and restore the sustainable development of Juni basin. In the present study geospatial tools have been used to capture the changes brought in different land use land cover classes. The analysis of land use land cover change shows significant decrease in forest and sparse vegetation cover in the basin. Forest and sparse vegetation cover has recorded 4.12 and 2.58 percent negative growth in area over the study period. While, agricultural and built up land had experienced 28.55 and 24.81 percent positive growth in areal coverage from 1972 to 2009. The high rate and intensity of land use land cover changes from primary vegetation cover to secondary man made land cover has introduced several important changes in the local ecosystem. The growing population, expansion of agricultural land and built up land, sand mining, construction of roads and various development activities like construction of hydro project at Chachiot are the major pushing factor responsible for reduction of vegetation cover.

5 illus, 3 tables, 20 ref

020526   Pradhan J;Samanta K (School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur Univ, Jadavpur, Raja S.C. Mallick Road, Kolkata-700 032, Email: j.pradhan06@gmail.com) : Site suitability analysis using remote sensing and GIS for proper selection of solid waste disposal ground within Rajarhat Gopalpur municipal area, Kolkata, West Bengal. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2015, 5(4), 640-54.

Decadal population growth and the increasing demand of land in main city (Kolkata) have driven the population to setup Satellite Township around the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. These Satellite Townships are known as Urban Local Body (ULB) or Municipality, under Kolkata Metropolitan area, Rajarhat Gopalpur Municipality (RGM) is one of them. The municipal authority provides various facilities to its population but their sanitation and solid waste management system has not reached a satisfactory level. In present scenario urban solid waste management is considered as one of the most serious environmental problems confronting municipal authorities in urban areas. One of these impacts is due to improper location of dumping site without considering any environmental norms. This paper deals with determination of suitable site selection for disposing urban solid waste generated from Rajarhat Gopalpur Municipality area, using Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques. Multi-criteria analysis & weightage overlay analysis has been done for solid waste disposal site selection in this study. GIS can provide an opportunity to integrate field parameters with population and other relevant data with other associated features, which would in turn help in selection of suitable disposal sites.

11 illus, 7 tables, 7 ref

020525   Panda D (NO, , ) : Biodiversity prospects, problems and planning in the Rushikulya basin. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 138-48.

Biodiversity refers to the variety of living forms we see around us. It encompasses the whole range of mammals,fish,insects and other invertebrates,plants,fungi and micro-organisms such as bacteria and viruses. Conservation and sustainable use of bio-diversity is fundamental to ecologically sustainable development.Bio-diversity is part of our daily lives and livelihood, and constitutes resources upon which families,communities,nations and future generation depends.With the wanton destruction of the varied species, the human being is pushing the biodiversity -rich-state to the biodiversity-scarce-state.wit the massive destruction of the tropical forests have been lost with the extinction of thousands of plants and animals. The biodiversity of the Rushikulya basin has been studied with respect to the flora and fauna both terrestrial and aquatic.

9 ref

020524   Pal M;Jana N C (Geography Dep, The Univ of Burdwan, West Bengal, Email: manaspal07@gmail.com) : Spatio-temporal distribution and changing pattern of culturable wasteland: a case study of Khoyrasole block in Birbhum district, West Bengal. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 197-205.

The ever increasing demand for food, fodder, fuel and fibre has a paramount significance for proper land utilization. But the limited scope for the extension of net sown area has imposed the alteration of unutilised and underutilised culturable wasteland into suitable land use for their economic feasibility. Thus, it is a humble effort in the present context to identify and delineate the spatial variations and the temporal change of the culturable wastelands over the 170 villages of Khoyrasole Block in Birbhum District.

3 illus, 6 tables, 7 ref

020523   Nilawar A P;Waikar M L (Civil & Water Management Dep, SGGS Institute of Engineering and Technology, Vishnupuri, Nanded) : RS and GIS approach for prospecting various parameter of small watershed. J Indian Wat Wks Ass 2015, 47(2), 344-57.

Groundwater is an important resource contributing significantly in total annual supply. However, over-exploitation has depleted groundwater availability considerably and also led to land subsidence at some places. Assessing the potential zone of groundwater recharge is extremely important for the protection of water quality and the management of groundwater systems. Land use and land cover is an important component in identifying groundwater potential zone. Groundwater potential zones are demarked with the help of remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques. For the various geomorphic units, weight factors are decided based on their capability to store groundwater. The groundwater potential zones are classified into five categories like very poor, poor, moderate, good & excellent. This groundwater potential information will be usefulfor effective identification of suitable locations for extraction of water. Frequent drought condition of study area experienced drastic change in land use / land cover during the shorter period span. Assessing the potential zone of groundwater recharge is extremely important for the protection of water quality and the management of groundwater recharge is extremely imporant for the protection of water quality and the management of groundwater systems. Integrated use of GIS, Remote Sensing and Image processing technologies enable us to cope with the objectives of change detection. Most of the changes of land resources and ecosystems are happening in earth in the close proximity of human inhabitations. Study is carried out to analyse the land use land cover changes to detect the past and present land conditions of basin using multi temporal remote sensing data IRS-P6-LISS-III 2008 andIRS-P6-LISS-III 2011 respectively. NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) for the study area were determined which is an important indicator and were generated for both images of year 2008 and 2011 respectively. The image pair is acquired in the same season in order to minimize the impacts of seasonal differences of vegetation. Land use and land cover analysis with morphometric analysis of study would help the local people to utilize the resources for sustainable development of the basin area.

12 illus, 10 tables, 31 ref

020522   Nema M K (NO, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee-247 667) : Management of water resources during the drought conditions. Bhartiya Vaigyanik Evam Audyogik Anusandhan Patrika 2016, 24(1), 86-93.

Drought is one of the most devastating disaster among all the natural disasters, which affects all the aspects of life such as agriculture, livestock, human-life etc. Drought occur due to decrease in the availability of water caused by sub & normal rainfal, erratic rainfall distribution, more water demand or any combination of these factors. Drought can be classified into three categories, climatic hydrological and agricultural drought. When, the actual rainfall in a year is less than 25% of the average annual rainfall then the drought is marked as climatic drought. In a condition, when stream flow remains very low due to lack of surface water in rivers, it is called hydrological drought. Because of lack of soil moisture the water management strategies must be different than usual ones. The development the new strategies, technologies and skills to combat and mitigate the drought impacts with proper planning is crucial and need of the hour. Drought indices are most commonly and important criteria used to develop realistic and superficial planning for drought control and management based on various analysis in terms of decrease in precipitation, rainfall starting period, severity of the drought, rain termination sequence etc. In this paper, the definition of drought, various types of droughts and their characterization and important strategies for planning and management of water resources during the drought conditions has been elaborated.

1 table, 10 ref

020521   Narmada K;Gobinath K;Bhaskaran G (NO, , Geography Dep, Univ of Madras, Email: grbhaskaran@gmail.com) : Monitoring and evaluation of soil salinity in terms of spectral response using geoinformatics in Cuddalore environs. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2015, 5(4), 536-43.

Soil degradation is a global problem that severely hampers the production of food needed to sustain the growing population. This study is aimed at monitoring, mapping and assessing the soil degradation in the Cuddalore district. Mapping of soil degradation is instrumental in understanding the spatial extent and rate of degradation. Key soil properties, such as pH, salt content, EC and ESP determine the salinity status of soils and this reflects in the spectra of surface samples interacting with organic matter, clay content, etc. Change detection can be assessed by post-classification comparison aiming to uncover the differences between the images of three different periods. The salinity variations in the study area was done using Landsat TM and ETM+ images and the changes were quantified for the years 1977, 2000 and 2009. A computerised soil degradation severity assessment was adopted using geomatic tools to process, manage and analyse the raster and thematic datasets. The indices used in this research are: The Normalized Differential Vegetation Index "NDVI", Salinity Index, Normalised Difference Salinity Index. SAVI was found to be effective in discriminating plants under severe and moderate conditions of soil salinity and in non-saline conditions. Temporal trend analysis technique was done to detect significant changes in the soil verses vegetation conditions. The results showed a clear deterioration in vegetative cover, an increase of salinity accumulations and a decrease in soil/vegetation wetness of the total study area. Salinity had increased in the study area, with salinity increasing at a drastic rate during the past 30 years.

7 illus, 1 table, 12 ref

020520   Murthy K N;Mohanraju R;Karthick P;Ramesh C (Ocean Studies and Marine Biology Dep, Pondicherry Univ, Brookshabad, Campus, Port Blair-74412, Email: murthymarino@gmail.com) : Phenotypic and molecular characterization of epiphytic vibrios from the marine macro algae of Andaman Islands, India. Indian J Geomar Sci 2016, 45(2), 304-9.

Biotic and abiotic components in the marine environment supports the growth of several surface associated microbial communities. Present study focuses on one such microbial community, the Vibrios associated to marine macro algae of Andaman Islands. A total of 48 strains comprising 10 species of Vibrios were isolated from 10 macro algal species. All the isolates were confirmed to genus level by both phenotypic and molecular characteristics, up to species level by biochemical tests. This study showed that Vibrio alginolyticus strains were frequently isolated from almost all the macro algae revealing its role as a common epiphyte. The present study signifies the abundance of Vibrios on the surface of marine macro algae which may be attributed to their ecological role in the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients and/ or controlling the surface colonization of pathogens.

1 illus, 2 tables, 33 ref

020519   Mukherjee R (NO, Geography B.H.U Dep, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, ) : River channel dynamics. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 48-60.

The present paper reviews on some of the novel research contributions in the study of river channel dynamics. In this paper we have tried to give a detail account on major outcomes, tools, techniques, and methodology used for that study. The body of available literature addresses ten major themes related to river channel dynamics. These include channel morphodynamics, channel planform dynamics, channel migration, chute channel dynamics, confluence dynamics, dynamics of river bed topography, bankline erosion and its migration, dynamics in river channel sediment transport, channel morphological response to river engineering, role of active tectonics in river channel dynamics. Research on channel dynamics has mainly attempted to explain the fluvial processes and channel morphodynamics, which results by the interaction among discharge, sediment transport, channel planform and bed morphology.

106 ref

020518   Mishra N K;Singh M B (Geography Dep, B.H.U., Varanasi) : Status of human resource development in district Saharsa (Bihar) : a geographical analysis. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 165-73.

The study of human resource development is of prime importance for developing countries as every section of society and economy is influenced by it. The present study aims at assess into the pattern of disparities in human resource development at the block level in district Saharsa of Bihar applying the human resource development indicators. An attempt has also been made to compare the levels of development among various blocks of district through choropleth maps prepared on Arc GIS. The human resource development index shows that north-eastern region of the district is far more and symmetrically developed in comparison to southern region. The study reveals that there are wide disparities existing in the level of human resource development among different blocks.

5 illus, 2 tables, 7 ref

020517   Mehta R;Vipin Kumar;Chaudhary A (NO, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee-247 667) : Estimation of potential evapotranspiration using fuzzy logic technique. Bhartiya Vaigyanik Evam Audyogik Anusandhan Patrika 2016, 24(1), 21-6.

Evapotranspiration constitutes one of the major components of the hydrological cycle and hence its accurate estimation is of vital importance to assess water availability and requirements. This study explores the utility of soft computing techniques to develop the model for evapotranspiration process. An important characteristic of these techniques are that both the model structure and coefficients are simultaneously optimized. The goal of this study is to analyze the potential evapotranspiration with changing environment using soft computing techniques. A data driven model has been developed to predict the potential evapotranspiration of Varanasi (a part of Eastern Uttar Pradesh). The Eastern part of Uttar Pradesh includes sixteen districts namely Allahabad, Azamgarh, Ballia, Chandauli, Deoria, Ghazipur, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Mau, Mirzapur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Sonbhadra and Varanasi. During this modeling, only data for Varanasi area is considered. Vapour-pressure, precipitation, cloud-cover, wet day frequency and average temperature of the region are used as the input data while potential evapotranspiration is used as output of the model. A relationship between inputs and output has been developed through the Fuzzy based soft computing modeling. This model has been developed on the basis of Fuzzy Technique which is one of the emerging techniques in the field of modeling. Grid Partitioning and Subtractive Clustering Methods in Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) have been used to develop the models. During the study, data have been taken from the website http://www.indiawaterportal.org/. After developing the models, the effects of temperature increments have been studied over potential evapotranspiration which gives the climate change in this region. Thus the effect of temperature increment (Global Warming) has been studied for the climate change.

5 illus, 5 tables, 8 ref

020516   Mathew S;Shamji V R;Vengatesan G;Arul Muthaiah M;Venkatesan R (Faculty of Maritime Studies, King Abdulaziz Univ, P.O. Box-80401 -Jeddah-21589, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) : Systematic validation of conductivity and temperature from ocean moored buoy data in the northern Indian ocean with in situ ship based measurement. Indian J Geomar Sci 2016, 45(2), 224-9.

A continuous data on the surface meteorological, surface and subsurface data on temperature, salinity and current is available online with the deployment of twelve moored buoys; Ocean Moored Network for the Northern Indian Ocean (OMNI) with seven buoys in the Bay of Bengal and five in the Arabian Sea. This network of OMNI buoys has been providing data which are of great relevance to the climate research community to constantly monitor the seasonal, intra-seasonal, annual and inter-annual variations in the northern Indian Ocean. In the long run the data accuracy is another important part of the program, to ensure the quality of the data delivered from these buoys, especially for the sub-surface data where satellite cannot reach. Conductivity-Temperature-Depth profile is done adjacent to the buoy locations during various phases of service of the buoys. This operation carried out in three phases in the Bay of Bengal has been compared with the buoy data, in order to ensure the quality of the conductivity-temperature measurements taken by the OMNI buoys. The high correlation between both the data sets ensures the quality of the data delivered by the Conductivity-Temperature sensors attached along the mooring line of the OMNI buoys.

5 illus, 1 table, 6 ref

020515   Manu A;Twumasi Y A;Lu K S;Coleman T L (Agronomy Dep, Iowa State Univ, IA 50011, USA, Email: akmanu@iastate.edu) : Predicting urban growth of a developing country city using a statistical modeling approach. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2015, 5(4), 603-13.

Rapid population growth is pushing African cities to unprecedented sizes. The negative social and environmental consequences of the uncontrolled urban expansion have been documented. The purpose of this project was to develop appropriate databases to study the temporal land use changes in urban expansion and predict future urban growth for the city of Niamey, Niger. Land use transition was obtained from satellite imagery of 1973, 1988, and 2001. Spatial layers of driving forces of urban growth were derived from a digital orthophoto and extensive GPS mapping. A multinomial binary logistic regression was used to derive urban transition probabilities and simulated maps of future urban growth were subsequently generated. This study suggests that urbanized areas of the city will increase by 65.64 km² between 1988 and 2010 and the population will increase from 397,437 to 2,063,894. The implications will include overcrowding, destruction of scarce farmlands and deforestation of the surrounding plateaus. Deforestation of the fragile uplands results in the generation of uncontrolled runoff that provokes serious erosion. Sediment carried in the runoff creates unproductive alluvial fans at the footslopes of the plateau.

3 illus, 4 tables, 24 ref

020514   Mandi S;Samanta S K (NO, , Birendranagar High School, Hugliz) : Morphometric analysis of the Chel river basin, Northern West Bengal, India. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 242-59.

The Chel river basin is a sub - basin of the mighty River Tista which is situated in Darjiling & Jalpaiguri districts of West Bengal. The basin is composed of least five rock groups dating from the very Archaean to Recent time. Thus the terrain of the basin is closely related with the lithostratigraphical characteristics for its development. Different methods of morphometric analysis have been adopted here to apprehend the unique but complex nature of the tract which covers the linear, areal, and relief aspects as a whole. The importance of the basin lies in the context of northern West Bengal as it is endowed with abundant natural as well as cultural resources which require a proper understanding of them for their greater utilization.

8 illus, 7 tables, 6 ref

020513   Mandal P K (Geography Dep, Kalyani Univ, West Bengal) : Appraisal of Patua livelihood in Naya, Paschim Medinipur-a folk tourism perspectives. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 174-80.

The word 'Pat' is derived from the word 'Patta' means cloth and the word 'Chitra' means painting. The artists are popularly known as 'Patuas' or 'Chitrakars'. The artists generally use 'Chitrakar' as their surname. Traditionally they are painters. The eco-friendly natural substances like leaves, fruits, flowers, plants, trees and other sources to make different colours are used for their painting. The scroll paintings make by them is so unique in nature as every 'Pat' bears a theme of story or issues. The illustration procedure of the 'Pats' by singing is their traditional folk art culture. This is the basic livelihood option and also the prior folk tourism resource. The economic condition of the community is too poor. But now the conditions have slightly changed with the cooperation of some Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Governmental also. Now the basic challenge is to preserve the cultural identity and create platforms to ensure their social and economic development. The present paper is an attempt to introduce sustainable folk tourism for the development of the Patua community socially as well as economically and to preserve their cultural identity and explore the traditional folk art worldwide.

8 illus, 11 ref

020512   Mandal J;Sengupta P (Geography Dep, P.K.H.N. Mahavidyalaya, Howrah, West Bengal) : The impact of tourism on livelihood and environment in West Sikkim; a case study of Pelling. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 190-6.

The heavy influx of tourist in Pelling, West Sikkim replaces natural forests by concrete jungle through increasing the number of hotels. Approximately 1.7 lakhs tourists, both domestic and international, visit Pelling each year creating a congestion of life in a peak season resulting into some prolonged implications on the infrastructure, environment, natural resources, and culture of the state as a whole. So tourism development and environmental management should be integrated to develop the tourism policy of Sikkim, which will lead towards the sustainable environment for better future.

5 illus, 10 ref

020511   Malhotra J;Arora M;Rakesh Kumar;Naresh Kumar (NO, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee-247 667) : Analysis of unusual meterological conditions responsible for flash flood occurred in Bhagirathi basin during 2013. Bhartiya Vaigyanik Evam Audyogik Anusandhan Patrika 2016, 24(1), 60-5.

The Bhagirathi River that originates from the snout of Gangotri glacier at an elevation of about 4000 m is traditionally considered as the source of Ganga River. In June 2013, a multi-day cloudburst centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand caused devastating floods and landslides which resulted unmassive loss of lives and property. This unusual rain event occurred during the tourist season in June, consequently trapping a large number of tourists and vendors in this area. Sudden release of stored water generated floods that created havoc downstream of the most of the rivers in this area. This paper presents description of meteorological conditions which led to catastrophic hydrological situation and flash flood as experienced in the large part of Bhagirathi basin in June 2013. The hydro & meteorological and discharge data for 14 June 2013 to 18 June 2013 collected at an observatory near the snout of the Gangotri glacier has been analyzed. This area normally receives less rainfall and the maximum monthly rainfall of the month for June during previous years hardly exceeded100 mm, while total rainfall during this 5-day storm was 178 mm. Sudden increase of water discharge in the river resulted in flooding downstream. Flows at the gauging site peaked at 163 m^m /s on 16th June 2013. It is observed that the mean runoff depths of June varied between 12-14 mm whereas runoff depths recorded up to the site was highest on 16th June 2013.

7 illus, 1 table, 11 ref

020510   Mageswaran T;Ram Mohan V;Chenthamil Selvan S; Arumugam T;Tune Usha;Kankara R S (Geology Dep, Univ of Madras, Chennai-600 025, Email: magesh.presidency@gmail.com) : Assessment of shoreline changes along Nagapattinam coast using geospatial techniques. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2015, 5(4), 555-63.

Coastal erosion is one of the major issues in world coastline. Its impact has adversely affects the livelihood of the coastal community. The coastal zone of India is experiencing a wide range of natural and anthropogenic pressure. This study was carried out along the Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu, India using multi-temporal satellite images from 1978 to 2013. The long-term coastal erosion and accretion rates have been calculated using Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS). Linear regression rate (LRR) statistical method is applied to estimate the shoreline change rate. The results of the analysis shows that erosion is dominant in Sirkali, Tharangambadi, Karaikal (Puducherry State) and Nagapattinam taluks, while Thiruthuraipundi taluk is undergoing accretion. Both natural and anthropogenic processes along the coast control the erosion and accretion activities of the coastal zones. The present study demonstrates that combined use of satellite imagery and statistical methods can be a reliable method for shoreline change analysis.

3 illus, 4 tables, 21 ref

020509   Lv D;Feng T;Li Z;Liu H;Yong P;Yang Q (Shandong Provincial Key Lab of Depositional Mineralization and Sedime, College of Geological Science and Engineering, Shandong Univ of Science and Technology, Qingdao-266 590, China, Email: lvdawei95@126.com) : Sedimentary characteristics of clay deposits associated with coal beds and their geological implications for the Eastern Yanzhou coalfield, North China. Indian J Geomar Sci 2016, 45(1), 5-15.

Coal geology, sedimentology, sequence stratigraphy, and geochemistry were used to study the depositional environment, formative mechanisms, and clay layers' distribution of the Eastern Yanzhou Coalfield. The 3rd coal bed and its floor (roof) clay layer were formed in the inter- distributary settings of a river-dominated shallow-water delta system. Clay deposits under 16-1st and 16-2nd coal beds were formed during the transgressive process, whereas clay deposit under the 17th coal bed was formed in event transgression. Through chemical analysis, the clay stone under the 3rd coal bed was demonstrated to be influenced by the brackish water, differently, the clay stones under the 16-1st, 16-2nd, and 17th coal beds were influenced by sea water. The clay stone under the 3rd coal bed was affected by sea water longer than the clay stones of the 16-1st, 16-2nd or 17th coal beds. Also, the exposure time before the peat swamp of the 17th coal bed was longer than that under the 16-1st and 16-2nd coal beds. 3rd coal bed and clay layer were found to have the same distribution rule. Thicker beds were distributed in the south. In the north, the beds getting thinner indicated that the clay stone was formed in active depositional systems. 16-lst coal bed and its floor clay layer distribution reflected that transgression happened from south to north. The l6-2nd coal bed and its floor clay layer distribution indicated that transgression happened from the northwest to southeast, and the 17th coal bed and its clay floor layer distributions demonstrated that the transgression happened in the event transgression.

7 illus, 3 tables, 21 ref

020508   Lohani A K;Jain S K (NO, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee-247 667) : Analysis of glacier lake outburst floods. Bhartiya Vaigyanik Evam Audyogik Anusandhan Patrika 2016, 24(1), 55-9.

The life cycle of glaciers in the Himalayas in India is affected due to climate change in the last few decades. Due to temperature rise, the rate of glacial melting has increased and this has increased water level in some of the glacial lakes. In Himlaya many thousand lakes are present and few of them are catergarised as vulnerable lakes. Sudden outburst of these glacial lakes causes heavy flood water and debris flows in the rivers. Lakes formed at the mouth of the glacier are formed behind the debris left by the glacier. These lakes are dangerous due to their large water-holding capacity. Due to outburst of these lakes a large amount of water flows downstream areas suddenly for a very small duration. Flash floods due to lake outburst is many times greater than the normal foods is known as glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF). Consideration of potential glacier lake outburst floods (GLOF) is essential for the design of river engineering structures located downstream of hazardous glacier lakes. Computation of design flood is must for the designing of hydropower schemes in the river valley. Due to impact of climate change it is now necessary to consider the impact of GLOF on design flood estimation. In National Institute of Hydrology, a number of GLOF studies have been carried out for the hydropower projects planned at India and Bhutan. In the present paper, methodology for simulation of glacier lake outburst floods has been discussed with a case study.

2 illus, 3 tables, 7 ref

020507   Lingadevaru D C;Govindaraju;Jayakumar P D (Applied Geology Dep, Kuvempu Univ, Shnakraghatta-577 451, Email: lingadevaru.dc@gmail.com) : Flood induced land use and land cover change detection using remote sensing and GIS- a study of Dhadesugur and Siraguppa subwaterheds in lower Tungabhadra catchment, Karnataka. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2015, 5(4), 573-8.

Information on land use/land cover and its changes is very essential for effective management of natural resources. Satellite data provides immense potential for timely information on land use and natural calamities like floods. Floods have become a frequent event in the state of Karnataka, during 2009 there were torrential rainfall over a short period of time due to low atmospheric pressure in Bay of Bengal and vast areas were flooded. A large area remained under water for long period of time which resulted in heavy loss of agricultural crops, damages to the properties and also to the human beings. The study reveals the adverse affects of flood on land use/land cover using multi-temporal remote sensing data of IRS P6 LISS-IV (Before Flood - 10Sep2009), and IRS P6 LISS -III (After Flood - 02Nov2009). The change detection of land use/land cover is carried out using before and after flood satellite images. The major portion of land use class in the study area are crop land, it has been converted to current fallow. The agricultural crop land before flood was 9751.27 hectares and noticed after flood event was 2413.49 hectares. The result shows 7337.78 hectares of agricultural crops was affected due to inundation. The impact of flood was not only changes the land use, it also affects on the community.

3 illus, 2 tables, 7 ref

020506   Lama T D;Singh R K;Saikia U S;Satapathy K K (Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, P.O. Jakhini, Varanasi-221 305, Email: tashiodorjee@yahoo.com) : Geomorphometric analysis of a hilly watershed in north east India. Int J Agric Envir Biotechnol 2015, 8(1), 29-36.

Morphometric analysis of a hilly watershed was carried out using GIS. The drainage map generated from the Survey of India toposheets was used for morphometric analysis of the watershed in terms of stream order, stream length, bifurcation ratio, relief ratio, drainage density, stream frequency, drainage texture, form factor, circulatory ratio, elongation ratio, infiltration number and ruggedness number. The Um Shipra watershed is a fifth order watershed having dendritic drainage pattern with high drainage density (6.22 km.km^-2). The logarithmic plot of the stream length versus stream order showed a linear relationship indicating the watershed has developed over a homogeneous rock material. The mean bifurcation ratio of 1.71 indicated absence of strong structural control on the drainage pattern and that the watershed was structurally less disturbed. The number of streams belonging to the order I, II, III, IV and V were found to be 327, 147, 78, 45 and 46 respectively. Lower values of form factor (0.19), circularity ratio (0.29) and elongation ratio (0.49) suggested that the watershed has elongated shape with lower peak flows for longer duration. The ruggedness number having relatively higher value implied that the area has rugged topography which is prone to soil erosion. Higher values of stream frequency and drainage density indicated that the watershed has high runoff potential despite having lower peak flow creating a good scope for surface water resource development. The results obtained can serve as a useful input for developing soil and water resources conservation and management plan on a watershed basis.

2 illus, 2 tables, 23 ref

020505   Laha C (Science & Technology Dep, Government of West Bengal, West Bengal, Email: chalantikal@gmail.com) : Oscillation of meandering Bhagirathi on the alluvial flood plain of Bengal basin, India; as controlled by the palaeo-geomorphic architecture. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2015, 5(4), 564-72.

The channel morphometry depends on its planform geometry and the processes operating within its meander belt area. In the wide young alluvial tracts, it oscillates laterally getting supported by variability of water discharge, sediment load, bedrock outcrops, ground slopes, human activities and tectonic influence. Bhagirathi-Hooghly River system is an essential lifeline for the people of southern West Bengal, India, which provides perpetual supply of water for irrigation and human and industry consumption. Although total river reach is experiencing a huge morphometric change followed by lateral shift and bank erosion; the channel stretch that has been taken in this study, has the highest sinuosity and parcels of acute meandering along with the palaeo-channel formations existed on its younger flood plain. The palaeo-channel formations support the fact of Indian plate tilting in the south-eastward direction. The elevation as depicted in the cross-profile made on Digital Elevation Model is casting the sequential changes in the channel path followed by the formation of palaeogeomorphic architecture. This can indicate potential zones for ground water. Analysis of fluvio-geomorphic scenario can assist trend analysis, so that, this can be taken under consideration while occurring any human intervention in natural free flow.

7 illus, 7 tables

020504   Kongeswaran T;Karikalan R (Oceanography and Coastal area Studies Dep, Alagappa Univ, Thondi Campus, Email: _kongesgeo@gmail.com) : Remotesensing and geographical information system applications on coastal geomorphological landforms from Portonova to Coleroon river mouth, South Arcot, Tamilnadu, East coast of India. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2015, 5(4), 544-54.

Now days, the world scientific community is focusing their attention towards coastal area due to warming provided by the scientists involved in global warming studies, much research works are emerging in this aspect mainly to protect coastal environment and to mitigate coastal hazards. Coastal area is facing serious threads from both manmade and natural disturbances. coastal erosion, sea level variation and cyclones are the major factors that alert the coastal geomorphology the impact of the natural disturbance can be reduced by the protecting the coastal vegetation. The aim of this study is to bring out coastal geomorphological landforms from Portonoa to Coleroon river mouth, using remote sensing, GIS and field information. It is in the survey of India Toposheet No.58M/15. The study area contains three types of coastal geomorphological landforms; they are depositional, erosional and other features. The depositional features like, beach, beach ridges, cheniers, paleo barres, paleo - tidal flats, mudflats. The erosional features like Sea cliffs and other features like back waters and mangroves, creeks and deltas. A GIS database was developed and updated in order to provide access for future use and computer analysis.

12 illus, 20 ref

020503   Keremane G B;McKay J (Centre for Comparative Water Policies and Laws, City West Campus, Univ of South Australia, Adelaide-5001, Email: keremane@unisa.edu.au) : Water transitions and urban wastewater reuse in Australia: Lessons for developing countries. Int J Envir Dev 2015, 12(2), 189-206.

Urban wastewater reuse is believed to be the best way of satisfying less critical uses, to allow higher quality water to be reserved for domestic supply. Despite the huge potential this resource offers to replace freshwater supplies, successful integration of water recycling into water management plans face barriers: public acceptance and participation, environmental and health issues, technology to treat water to an appropriate standard, costs compared to other water sources, and private sector involvement. Therefore, successful implementation of new approaches to wastewater management is a multifaceted challenge requiring inputs beyond mere technical. This paper discusses the institutional changes within the Australian water economy and the current regulatory regimes for urban wastewater reuse in Australia and thus elicits that an enabling regulatory and policy regime can be instrumental in achieving sustainable water and wastewater management.

2 illus, 3 tables, 58 ref

020502   Jain S K;Agarwal P K (NO, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee-247 667) : Utility of dams in India. Bhartiya Vaigyanik Evam Audyogik Anusandhan Patrika 2016, 24(1), 94-101.

Reservoir helps to transform the available resource into utilizable. Water stored in the reservoirs can be used for hydroelectric generation, irrigation, domestic use, navigation etc. Thus it is of paramount importance for India to create needed storage space so that adequate quantity of water can be stored and converted to utilizable resource. Based on available records with Central Water Commission, out of total constructed and under construction dams available in the country the age of about 50 dams is more than 100 years. In India, most of the water receives in four rainy months between June to September. The principal function of a reservoir is regulation of natural streamflow by storing surplus water in the high flow season to control floods and releasing the stored water in the dry season to meet various demands. Considering the availability of water resources and growth in population with consequent escalation of demands for food grain production, the country needs many more dams for harnessing the water resources. Generally, the major annual discharge available in the river receives in monsoon months only, therefore it is essential to store the excess water in the rainy months so that it can be used when the natural stream flow is not sufficient to meet the demand. Further, it is also essential to develop the optimum regulation policies for all the reservoirs in the country. In the present paper, need of storage dams, availability of large dams and their comparison for importance with small dams have been discussed. In addition, gains from optimum regulation of reservoirs have also been discussed in the paper.

2 illus, 4 tables, 6 ref

020501   Hashemi S A (Forestry Dep, College of Natural Resources, Lahijan Branch, Islamic Azad Univ, Lahijan, Iran, Email: sahashemi1980@yahoo.com) : New study on the variations of landover type area using satellite data under management area near Caspian sea. Indian J Geomar Sci 2016, 45(1), 123-8.

Present study is to prepare the forest vegetation map using remote sensing techniques and the images of ETM⁺ sensor of 2000 and LandSat and related to 2013. Results of numeral classification of picture of studied area to develop the land use map using maximum like hood classifier by contributing various bands set indicated that in the best case, general accuracy of image classification in the images of 2000 and 2013 was 0.95 and 0.85, respectively and kappa statistics was 0.86 and 0.84, respectively. Further, study results indicated that forest vegetation reduction rate was 635.319 hectares.

7 illus, 3 tables, 14 ref

020500   Haque M T (Commerce Dep, Katwa College, West Bengal) : "Transportation-a basic need for rural upliftment"- a case study of Burdwan district in the state of West Bengal. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 206-12.

Roads are the arteries of a nation. For our social and economic upliftment, "one thing to which we must give top priority is roads" opined our Late Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. What he said of roads in general for a country is particularly true in a predominantly agricultural country like India, which has more than 63% of the population living in villages. In a vast country like India which is known for its long distances and for variety of its terrain and modes of transport, roads constitute one of the important means of communications and the society derives the maximum benefit from the road and road transport and is therefore, rightly called an agent of democratization.

6 ref

020499   Gyan Prakash;Jha R K (School of Economics, Devi Ahilya Univ, Indore, Email: gyan_kalpana@rediffmail.com) : Land use pattern and ecological implications: A comparative study of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Int J Envir Dev 2015, 12(1), 49-56.

Land resource is important natural wealth of the nation and its proper utilization is a matter of concern. Its improper use leads to progressive deterioration and create ecological imbalances. The changes in land use pattern affect eco system in terms of vegetation, local climate, land quality, quality of life and water table. An attempt has been made in this paper to examine comparative analysis of the land use pattern and its ecological implications by using the land use changes in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for the period from 1990-91 to 2001-02. The study reveals that the substantial land shifts have taken place from the undesirable ecological sector (Barren land) E₂ to other sectors across the states. This trend is highly appreciable, favourable and positive but the depletion of desirable ecological sector (forest + Permanent Pasture + Miscellaneous trees and groves) E₁ has been observed across the states (Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh). It is a serious concern for economic growth. It seems, a part of this sectoral land use has shifted towards the non-agricultural sector due to urbanization and industrialization besides these some part of lands have shifted for the development of rural infrastructure etc. In the light of present analysis of land use, government should formulate a policy so that economic growth process may make least harm to environment.

3 tables, 4 ref

020498   Guha S (Geography Dep, Dinabandhu Andrews College, Kolkata) : Use of CI test in change detection analysis. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 280-6.

Bayesian network approach is a recent and sophisticated method used in the processing of remote sensing data. In the present study, this approach based on Conditional independence (CI) test algorithm has been applied significantly to detect land use changes in two multi date satellite image for a part of Dehradun area. The experimental classification results with an overall accuracy of 90% establish that Bayesian network is a very effective approach for change detection analysis.

5 illus, 2 tables, 10 ref

020497   Ghosh R;Samanta S K (NO, Geography Dep, Barrackpore, N 24 Parganas, West Bengal) : Basin characteristics in the upper Rammam river, Sikkim-Darjiling Himalaya. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 16-22.

The Rammam Basin is a very important geomorphic unit in the Eastern Himalayan Range associated with unique basin characteristics of its own. The basin is located on the boundary of Darjiling District, West Bengal and Sikkim State, covering an area of more than 200 sq km. Since the last two decades of 19th century the tract has been attracting many field workers in various fields such as Geology, Geomorphology, Meteorology, Botany, Zoology, etc... At the end of the first decades of the present century the terrain reveals a completely changed landscape than that of before. The present paper, therefore, is trying to express some of major features, especially related with denudational process undergone through changes in briefly, but with precision.

3 illus, 2 tables, 13 ref

020496   Ghosh P;Ghosh R (Geography Dep, Polba Mahavidyalaya, Polba, Hooghly) : Mass wasting processes and its impact: a case study of chompi village, Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 61-5.

Mass wasting is the detachment and downslope movement of surface materials under the influence of gravity. The sliding or flowing of these materials is due to their unstable position and to gravitational forces, but mass movement is accelerated by the presence of water. Chompi is a village included in a Mandalam of three unique villages namely Kothavalasa, Pappudavalasa and Chompi itself. Being a part of Eastern Ghat region, it is mostly affected by cyclonic storms occurred seasonally which influence the rate of mass movement by adding heavy rainwater. Our present paper is discussing on these processes of mass wasting, causes of its accelerating rates, magnitude and intensity of events, and the adverse effects on local environs along with some mitigation techniques to control the hazards.

1 illus, 5 ref

020495   Ghosh A K (NO, , Centre for Environment & Development, Email: cedkolkata@yahoo.com) : Natural disaster, climate change and human migration from Indian Sundarbans delta. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 5-10.

The GBM Delta formed through a process of silt deposition flowing with the three major rivers, is now regarded as the largest in the world and is also well known in harbouring the largest mangrove forest, shared between India and Bangladesh. The region is well known for facing severe weather conditions, storm surges, cyclones and floods. An account of 400 years of record show that there have been at least more than 20 such disaster for 100 years. The livelihood of the people living in 50 islands in Indian Sundarbans Delta, mainly centres around agriculture and capture fisheries. The area remains largely without electricity and offer no scope for industrial development. However, it has been marked as one of the most vulnerable regions in the world in the era of Climate Change and it is now predicted that between 2020 and 2050, more than one million people have to migrate from the region. The present paper has critically analysed the past trend as also the presently available data on human emigration and stressed on the urgent need for skill development to empower the vulnerable people, to be more productively employed in their receiving areas. The absence of any such plan and budgetary allocation, both in the National Action Plan on Climate Change in 2008, as well as in the West Bengal State Action Plan on Climate Change, 2012 has also been focused in the paper.

3 illus, 3 tables, 14 ref

020494   Elhag M (Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Faculty of Meterology, Environment & Arid Land Agriculture, King Abdul, Jeddah, 21589, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Email: melhag@kau.edu.sa) : Detection of temporal changes of Eastern coast of Saudi Arabia for better natural resources management. Indian J Geomar Sci 2016, 45(1), 29-37.

Three different data sets of images used to obtain the land cover changes in this study: Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS) acquired in 1973, Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) acquired in 1990 and Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) acquired 2013 consequently. For each data set, three Landsat scenes mosaicked to cover the whole study area. Supervised classification implemented to classify the area into six major land cover classes using two different classification algorithms. A total number of 400 points evenly distributed over the designated study area used in classification accuracy assessment. Kappa statistics obtained to specify the most appropriate classification algorithms in term of accuracy assessments. The results indicated that the rapid imbalance changes occurred among three land's cover classes urban area, surrounding desert and sedimentation. Human impacts in the form of sedimentation process practiced constantly on the Eastern Coast of Saudi Arabia, besides the loss of vegetation cover over the last four decades.

11 illus, 2 tables, 40 ref

020493   Dolai D K (NO, Anantapur Siddheswari High School (H.S.) Howrah, West Bengal) : Coastal erosion at Sagar island. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 320-5.

Sagar Island is situated at the head of Bay of Bengal. It is one of the important coastal geomorphological features at the northern extent of the Bay of Bengal. The island is also vulnerable to the tidal effects. The present study has analyzed the erosional changes in and around the Sagar Island using a series of satellite images. The Changes in environmental conditions are changing the map of the southwestern corner of the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta at a rapid pace. Due to rapid environmental changes this island got eroded. Sagar's southern strand is open to the Bay of Bengal. The most important environmental problem faced by the inhabitants of the study area. The inhabitants of the surveyed hamlets had to be relocated/through of moving out of the region and settling elsewhere. They are deprived from all the basis amenities. And evaluation has been done to check the success of the rehabilitation programme along with the problems that the inhabitants/ people are undergoing in this island. Possible solutions are marked so that the concerned authorities or Govt. can come up and take suitable measures for the benefit of these initiatives or events can adequately reach the local inhabitants.

6 illus, 5 tables, 4 ref

020492   Dhanasekarapandian M;Selvan P;Chandran S; Chandramohan K (Research Scholar, Civil Engineering Dep, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai-625 015, Email: dhanasekarapandian@rediffmail.com) : Land use and land cover dynamic analysis using satellite remote sensing and GIS techniques- A case study of Girudhumal river sub basin, Tamilnadu, India. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2015, 5(4), 579-91.

The study aims to affect of land use and land cover changes is the quantitative method to expound the impact of land use and land cover in Girudhumal river sub basin, Tamilnadu, India over twenty years period(1990 to 2010). The study has been done through Remote Sensing approach using Survey of India(1982) toposheet and Land sat imageries of May 1990, June 2000 and May 2010 MSS. Land use changes have been detected by image processing method in ERDAS imagine 8.5 and Arc GIS 9.3. Thirteen land use classes have been identified and Ground truth observation was also performed to check the accuracy of the classification. The present study has brought to light that the agricultural land that occupied about 29.86% of basin area in 1990 and was decreased to 18.13% of basin area in 2010 and settlement increased 9.8% of total area of basin in 2010. This paper highlights the land use/land cover types, the change over the years and the causes for the change. The importance of remote sensing and GIS technique in mapping and change detection was also highlighted.

5 illus, 4 tables, 21 ref

020491   Deb P;Nandi P (Geography Dep, Salesian College, Siliguri, West Bengal) : Quality of life among the major tribes of Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 32-9.

The paper has tried to assess the quality of life among the major tribes in Jalpaiguri District of West Bengal. In this district the three major tribes are Oraon, Munda and Santal (according to 2001 census). Most of them are wage labourers of tea gardens. Except two villages the whole study is based in tea garden based villages. The study is based on the objective dimension of Quality of Life which is assessed on the basis of socio-economic indicators of the households. Total 650 household were chosen to conduct the survey. The result has been discussed both block wise and tribe wise. The variation within the tribes is not as prominent as like within the blocks.

2 illus, 5 tables, 14 ref

020490   Das M;Mukhopadhyay S (Geography Dep, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal, India-731 235) : Number, size, distribution and status of ponds in Kopai river basin, Eastern India. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2015, 5(4), 499-509.

Ponds are standing body of water having a seasonal fluctuation, basically excavated or embanked in nature, formed by natural or manmade processes. Historical evidences have proved that ponds have been excavated for the holistic development of an area. But it is the common feature throughout the world that these ponds are getting negligency in maintenance, conservation and also in research purposes especially in the developing countries. But this small unit has immense role in maintaining the balanced condition between the hydrological and ecological parameters of its surroundings. An investigation has made on the changing trend of the pond status in the Kopai river basin area of West Bengal. Normalize Difference Water Index (NDWI) have used to determine the changing trends of the pond in the study area, by ERDAS 9.2 and ArcGIS 10 Software. This index value has varied from +1 to -1 and is helpful to detect the small water body easily from the satellite images. Field surveys proved that number of ponds is being reduced in the urban areas but at the same time there is slow increase in the rural area. So the actual environmental crisis regarding pond is the deterioration of the water quality and the dearth of maintenance considering its impact on neighbouring society.

6 illus, 6 tables, 19 ref

020489   Das B (Geography Dep, Pakuahat Degree College, Pakuahat, Malda, West Bengal, Email: dasbarnali362@gmail.com) : Planning of heritage tourism in Malda district, West Bengal. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 118-25.

The forgotten ancient capital cities of Bengal throughout medieval time are Gour and Hazrat Pandua which are situated in mango city Malda district. In the past these cities were very powerful and prosperous, so that, Humayun described Gour as 'Jannatabad' (city of paradise). Freak of nature has turned these two most popular and splendid capitals into places of wildness forsaken by human footprints. In present day, only a few picturesque monuments are still pronouncing their ancient glorious history. The chief objective of present paper is to focus on the essential strategies for the development of heritage tourism in this area.

8 ref

020488   Da L;Guo W;Li W (Navigation Observation Dep, Navy Submarine Academy of Chinese People's Liberation Army, Qingdao-266 071, China, Email: guowuhongcn@163.com) : Numerical approach for understanding the temporal and spatial correlation scales of sound velocity in long term: a case study for the source and surrounding region of the Kuroshio current. Indian J Geomar Sci 2016, 45(2), 261-8.

To accurately understand the temporal and spatial distributions of sound velocity fields and their relevant characteristics, numerically investigated the sound velocity auto-correlation index at the source and adjacent region of the Kuroshio Current using 1911-2001 observation data. Auto-correlation index was fitted using a Gaussian function for the temporal and spatial scales of the investigated regions. The correlation scales in time and spatial domain in spring, summer, fall, and winter were 14.2/145.3, 14.2/135.9, 13.5/133.8, and 13.7/143.3 days/km, respectively. These scales are applied to the reconstructed sound velocity model in terms of empirical orthogonal functions. The error of the sound velocity constructed was minimal (3 m/s) compared with those constructed using other methods (up to 4.3 m/s). This method improves the precision of the sound velocity reconstruction compared with that based on monthly data. The use of temporal and spatial scales enhances the accuracy of sound velocity reconstruction.

9 illus, 3 tables, 25 ref

020487   Chaudhary P;Goyal M;Garg P (NO, G.B. Pant Engineering College, Pauri, Uttarkhand) : Wetlands conservation-A burning issue. Bhartiya Vaigyanik Evam Audyogik Anusandhan Patrika 2016, 24(1), 81-5.

In the country wetlands are found in both the forms i.e. natural & un-natural. Wetlands are of many types. They have environmental & economic importance. Growing populations, urbanization, agriculture, land fill of solid waste, industrialisation are responsible for degradation of wetlands. Now-a-days the national importance of Wetlands are being recognized due to the multi-dimensional efforts of ministry of Environment & Forest. So that wetlands can be conserved naturally & managed properly. Wetlands are one of the most productive eco-system of the earth. The Scientists are making efforts to save them, but due to lack of awareness, only some efforts have been made in this direction It is unfortunate that now-a-days besides the conserved & other marked wetlands, unmarked wetlands are degrading very fast. In this paper the importance, profits and methods to conserve wetlands have been highlighted.

3 illus, 1 table, 6 ref

020486   Chatterjee M (Geography Dep, Lady Brabourne College, Kolkata 700017) : Population growth in Haldia urban area (1971-2011). Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 160-4.

The urban population in 2014 is accounted for 54 per cent of the total global population, up from 34 per cent in 1960 and continues to grow (Global Health Observatory Report, 2014). During the last decade (2001-2011), the number of urban areas (areas of continuous urban development) in India raised by one half, from 34 to 51. West Bengal is regarded as one of the most urbanised states in India with 28 per cent of the population lives in the urban areas. Haldia municipality was established in 1997. With the establishment of Haldia port, Haldia experiences an unprecedented rate of economic growth. Such economic growth has generally attributed to the setting and expansion of manufacturing industries. Accelerated economic development enhances population growth in the town. From 2001 to 2011, Haldia's population grew 17.63%, compared to 7% growth rate in previous periods and the area of municipality expands by 51% in 2001 compared to 1991. This paper describes the rapid demographic transformation of Haldia urban area with highlighting some major features associated with such change.

4 illus, 2 tables, 7 ref

020485   Chakraborty S (NO, , Howrah Jogesh, Chandra Girls School, Howrah, West Bengal) : Effect of excessive overburden dump in sonepur-bazari combined opencast project. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 231-6.

3 ref

020484   Bhattacharya J (Geography Dep, Memari College, Memari, Barddhaman) : Prospects of Barddhaman development authority as a planning area. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 149-54.

The Barddhaman Development Authority comprises Barddhaman town and the surroundings including the Barddhaman town itself and 52 villages of Barddhaman Block 1 & 2. There is a great disparity in the development between Barddhaman town and its surrounding rural areas. For this reason there is increasing dependency on urban areas (Barddhaman town) by a group of rural people of the surrounding area for livelihood, shelter and for better urban amenities which create influx of population and congestion in the Barddhaman town. This problem is also associated with other problems like garbage and drainage, incompatible land use, generation of mixed traffic, development of slums. In such a situation proper planning is necessary to reduce excessive congestion in the town area by reducing the differences in development between Barddhaman town and its surrounding rural areas. In spite of these problems the area under consideration has great potentialities for development. This paper tries to present a comprehensive planning proposal for overall development of the area.

11 ref

020483   Bhattacharjee D (Geography Dep, F.C. College Diamond Harbour, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal) : Major geomorphic hazards of Uttarakhand with special reference to glacio fluvial hazards of Kedarnath region. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 331-6.

Uttarakhand, is commonly known as the "Dev Bhumi" or Land of the Gods for its spiritual identity. The Garhwal region of Uttarakhand is the catchment area of Ganga and Yamuna rivers. Several Hindu pilgrimage centers are spreading in this region. Among all the pilgrimages of Uttarakhand the Chardham (four holy pilgrimages); Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri are famous not only for spiritual identity but also their panoramic beauty. In every summer this part of the state always remains crowded with pilgrims and tourists. Initially the economy of the state was traditionally depended on agriculture and religious tourism. After the separation from Uttar Pradesh (9th November 2000), the State Authorities started to emphases on industrialization, mining and mass tourism. Once, the spiritual land of India has been started to transform into the land of dams and jungle of concretes. Due to the urge of rapid infrastructural and economic development, the environment of Uttarakhand has been degraded up to extreme limit. The purity and spirituality of this holy land has been polluted with ruthless economic desire. In June 2013, a multi-day cloudburst centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand caused devastating floods and landslides in the country's worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami. From 14 to 16 June 2013, Uttarakhand and adjoining area experienced heavy rainfall, which was about 325 mm rainfall at the base of the glaciers (Chorabari Glaciers) in two days. This caused burst of Gandhi Sarovar (Chorabari Lake) and it destroyed the entire township around Kedarnath temple and eruption of the Mandakini River which led to heavy floods near Gobindghat, Kedar Dome, Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand and adjacent areas. However, excessive human interference to the natural environment of this hilly tract leads it to not only a quasi-natural hazard but also a remarkable disaster of human history.

20 ref

020482   Bhadra D (Geography Dep, Lady Brabourne College, West Bengal, Email: debasree.bhadra@yahoo.co.in) : Spatial analysis for understanding regional disparities in educational facilities of Birbhum district. Indian J Landsc Syst ecol Stud 2015, 38(1), 186-9.

Education is considered as the most important social function required to satisfy the social demand. Its availability and distribution plays a key role in the socio-economic development of a region or country. The present paper portrays the spatial disparity and variation in the availability of existing educational institutions in Birbhum district on block level. Such work is designed to expose the disparity in distribution of the educational institutions and to locate the gap areas where there is deficiency in the availability of educational institutions.

1 illus, 2 tables, 4 ref