Model-based analysis of urban settlement process in eco-sensitive area of developing country: a study with special reference to hills of an Indian city

Rapid and unplanned expansion of a city into its eco-sensitive areas like hills, wetlands, and forests is becoming a major concern, particularly in developing countries. Understanding the process and causes of such unplanned urban expansion is of paramount importance for framing sustainable urban development policies. This paper presents a modelling concept that relates urban settlement in such eco-sensitive areas with potential socio-economic, demographic and geographical factors. The model is applied to an Indian city Guwahati, which is experiencing serious environmental degradation due to unplanned urban settlement in its eco-sensitive hilly areas. While topographical and settlement data were derived using satellite data in GIS platform, all other necessary data were collected from relevant government organizations. On validation of the multi-linear regression model, the coefficient of determination and the root mean square error are obtained as 0.938 and 1.7, respectively. Model results show that geographical parameters are less influencing as compared to the other socio-economic and demographic factors. Sensitivity analysis of urban settlements in hills of Guwahati city carried out with respect to the considered factors reveals that land value and free space availability in the surrounding area of a hill are the most sensitive parameters. This indicates that city development plans should give more importance to outward spatial expansion in plain areas with regulated land value and zoning scheme to minimize unauthorized settlement in eco-sensitive hilly areas of Guwahati city.     

Organochlorine Pesticide Residues in Milk and Blood of Women from Anupgarh, Rajasthan, India

Anupgarh is the most fertile area of Rajasthan state where a variety of seasonal crops are grown. The availability of three manmade canals has enhanced the agricultural activities in this area. The farmers use huge amounts of pesticides to increase the crop productivity. Exposure of humans to these hazardous chemicals occurs directly in the fields and indirectly due to consumption of contaminated diet, or by inhalation or by dermal contact. The organochlorine pesticides are reported to be lipophilic and their presence in human milk and blood has been documented in different parts of the world. Blood and milk samples were collected from lactating women who were divided into four groups on the basis of different living standards viz residence area, dietary habits, working conditions and addiction to tobacco. The level of total organochlorine pesticides in blood ranged from 3.319mg/L—6.253mg/L while in milk samples it ranged from 3.209Mdash;4.608 mg/L. The results are in concurrence with the reports from other countries.     

Assessment of metal enrichments in tsunamigenic sediments of Pichavaram mangroves, southeast coast of India

The 26 December 2004-Tsunami has deposited sediments in the Pichavaram mangrove ecosystem, east coast of India. Ten surface and three core sediment samples were collected within thirty days of the event. High concentrations of Cd, Cu, Cr, Pb, and Ni were observed in the tsunamigenic sediments. With respect to Fe, Zn, and Mn, there was little variation as compared to pre-tsunami values. The geo-accumulation index was calculated in order to assess the contamination of heavy metals in the sediments. The sediments were extremely contaminated with respect to Cd and they showed moderate to strong contamination with respect to Cr, Pb and Ni. The study highlighted the future risk of enhanced metal pollution in near future in this mangrove ecosystem.     

Characterization and Identification of the Sources of Chromium, Zinc, Lead, Cadmium, Nickel, Manganese and Iron in Pm10 Particulates at the Two Sites of Kolkata, India

Monitoring of ambient PM₁₀ (particulate matter which passes through a size selective impactor inlet with a 50% efficiency cut-off at 10 μm aerodynamic diameter) has been done at residential (Kasba) and industrial (Cossipore) sites of an urban region of Kolkata during November 2003 to November 2004. These sites were selected depending on the dominant anthropogenic activities. Metal constituents of atmospheric PM₁₀ deposited on glass fibre filter paper were estimated using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometer (ICP-AES). Chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) are the seven toxic trace metals quantified from the measured PM₁₀ concentrations. The 24 h average concentrations of Cr, Zn, Pb, Cd, Ni, Mn and Fe from ninety PM₁₀ particulate samples of Kolkata were found to be 6.9, 506.1, 79.1, 3.3, 7.4, 2.4 and 103.6 ng/m³, respectively. The 24 h average PM₁₀ concentration exceeded national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) as specified by central pollution control board, India at both residential (Kasba) and industrial (Cossipore) areas with mean concentration of 140.1 and 196.6 μg/m³, respectively. A simultaneous meteorology study was performed to assess the influence of air masses by wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, relative humidity and temperature. The measured toxic trace metals generally showed inverse relationship with wind speed, relative humidity and temperature. Factor analysis, a receptor modeling technique has been used for identification of the possible sources contributing to the PM₁₀. Varimax rotated factor analysis identified four possible sources of measured trace metals comprising solid waste dumping, vehicular traffic with the influence of road dust, road dust and soil dust at residential site (Kasba), while vehicular traffic with the influence of soil dust, road dust, galvanizing and electroplating industry, and tanning industry at industrial site (Cossipore).     

Magnetic mapping of fly-ash pollution and heavy metals from soil samples around a point source in a dry tropical environment

The Singrauli region in the southeastern part of Uttar Pradesh, India is one of the most polluted industrial sites of Asia. It encompasses 11 open cast coalmines and six thermal power stations that generate about 7,500 MW (about 10% of India’s installed generation capacity) electricity. Thermal power plants represent the main source of pollution in this region, emitting six million tonnes of fly-ash per annum. Fly-ash is deposited on soils over a large area surrounding thermal power plants. Fly-ashes have high surface concentrations of several toxic elements (heavy metals) and high atmospheric mobility. Fly ash is produced through high-temperature combustion of fossil fuel rich in ferromagnetic minerals. These contaminants can be identified using rock-magnetic methods. Magnetic susceptibility is directly linked to the concentration of ferromagnetic minerals, primarily high values of magnetite. In this study, magnetic susceptibility of top soil samples collected from surrounding areas of a bituminous-coal-fired power plant were measured to identify areas of high emission levels and to chart the spatial distribution of airborne solid particles. Sites close to the power plant have shown higher values of susceptibility that decreases with increasing distance from the source. A significant correlation between magnetic susceptibility and heavy metal content in soils is found. A comparison of the spatial distribution of magnetic susceptibility with heavy-metal concentrations in soil samples suggests that magnetic measurements can be used as a rapid and inexpensive method for proxy mapping of air borne pollution due to industrial activity.     

Emission of isoprene from common Indian plant species and its implications for regional air quality

Isoprene is most dominant volatile organic compounds (VOC) emitted by many plants. In this study 40 common Indian plant species were examined for isoprene emission using dynamic flow through enclosure chamber technique. Isoprene emission rates of plants species were found to vary from undetectable to 69.5 microg g(-1) h(-1) (Madhuca latifolia). Besides, an attempt has been made to evaluate suitability of 80 common Indian plant species for planting programmes. Out of 80 species, 29 species were moderate to high emitters (10 to < or =25 microg g(-1) h(-1)), 12 species were low emitter emitters (1 to < or =10 microg g(-1) h(-1)) and remaining 39 species were found to be negligible or non emitters (<1 microg g(-1) h(-1)) of isoprene. About 50% plant species selected for planting programmes in India were found to be moderate to high emitters of isoprene.     

GIS-based mapping of water-level fluctuations (WLF) and its impact on groundwater in an Agrarian District in Tamil Nadu,India

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This study describes the results of groundwater table variation in Thanjavur District before and after the monsoon seasons. Groundwater-level data...     

Distribution of suspended particulate matter with trace element composition and apportionment of possible sources in the Raniganj coalfield,India

Ambient air monitoring for suspended particulate matter was carried over a period of one year in some coal mining areas of the Raniganj coalfield. Concentrations of seven elements in suspended particulate matter were determined. The set of data obtained was analysed to determine the sources of trace elements by factor analysis. The data could be interpreted on the basis of five factors. These factors are attributed to various sources of particulate matter by noting the dependence of factors on the elements.