Flood hazards vulnerability and risk of food security in Bait community flood-prone areas of Punjab Pakistan: In SDGs achievement threat

Climate change in the global perspective has increased the occurrence of natural disasters, which subsequently decreased agricultural production and intensified the issue of food security. Developing countries, such as Pakistan, are facing severe food security issues, where most of the population still experiences poverty and hunger in their daily lives. Flood disasters ruin valuable land, cause agricultural production losses, and interrupt livelihood routines as expected household livelihood becomes more vulnerable. This research work focused on investigating the flood hazards vulnerability and risk of food security in the Bait community flood-prone areas of Punjab, Pakistan, with a broader aspect in contrast to previous research work. A constructed food security index composed of several IPCC and FAO factors with correlated dimensions of food security was used for the empirical estimation in this study. A composite food security index was developed through polychoric principal component analysis. To estimate the influence on the overall food security condition in the study area, a food security index was regressed on various independent variables. Estimates of the study indicated that three-fourths of household respondents in the study area are confronted with the issue of food security with changeable scale. Financing schemes, physical assets, and family type illustrated the positive influence on respondents’ food security level, whereas respondents suffering property losses owing to floods had a negative influence. The study findings suggested integrated strategies must be adopted to effectively deal with issues of food security in the scenario of increasing severity of flood disasters. Policymakers and disaster-concerned institutions need to develop disaster risk mitigation strategies by constructing new water reserves and clearing river encroachments to deal with flood disasters. Agricultural research and development authorities need to provide climate friendly seed varieties and promote particular food crops for flood prone areas to ensure food security and reduce livelihood vulnerability, specifically for the flood-prone communities.

     

Study of water quality of Hudiara drain, India-Pakistan

This paper examines the extent of pollution in Hudiara drain water due to untreated industrial and sewage waste of India and Pakistan. Ninety-nine surface water samples from the Pakistani side of the Hudiara drain were collected during September 1997, and April and June 1998. The analytical results of the Hudiara drain samples point out the industrial and sewage inputs from India and Pakistan. Higher values of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand(COD), total organic carbon(TOC), and trace metals in drain samples from the Indo-Pak border clearly indicate the Indian industrial and sewage pollution. Large variations in the levels of various measured parameters (COD, BOD, TOC, pH, total soluble substances, and trace metals) were observed along the Hudiara drain in the Pakistani vicinity. These variations were due to different types of industrial effluents and small village drains. The study showed that suspended solids(SS), COD, and fecal coliform (FC) were the major pollutants. Accordingly, the most feasible alternative is to convert the drainage network to a sedimentation and temporary storage reservoir. If disinfected, the runoff water can be used for restricted irrigation. Groundwater samples taken from the drain's surrounding area have also been analyzed. Thirty percent of the samples are not fit for drinking purposes due to NO3-N, Se and FC counts as prescribed by World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. A trilinear diagram clearly indicates the influence of surface water of the Hudiara drain on ground water; moreover, higher values of nitrate and FC clearly indicate the seepage from the Hudiara drain.     

Synthesis of linear low-density polyethylene-g-poly (acrylic acid)-co-starch/organo-montmorillonite hydrogel composite as an adsorbent for removal of Pb(Ⅱ) from aqueous solutions

The purpose of this work is to remove Pb(II) from the aqueous solution using a type of hydrogel composite. A hydrogel composite consisting of waste linear low density polyethylene, acrylic acid, starch, and organo-montmorillonite was prepared through emulsion polymerization method. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Solid carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (CNMR)), silicon^-29 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (Si NMR)), and X-ray diffraction spectroscope ((XRD) were applied to characterize the hydrogel composite. The hydrogel composite was then employed as an adsorbent for the removal of Pb(II) from the aqueous solution. The Pb(II)-loaded hydrogel composite was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)), scanning electron microscopy (SEM)), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy ((XPS)). From XPS results, it was found that the carboxyl and hydroxyl groups of the hydrogel composite participated in the removal of Pb(II). Kinetic studies indicated that the adsorption of Pb(II) followed the pseudo-second-order equation. It was also found that the Langmuir model described the adsorption isotherm better than the Freundlich isotherm. The maximum removal capacity of the hydrogel composite for Pb(II) ions was 430 mg/g. Thus, the waste linear low-density polyethylene-g-poly (acrylic acid)-co-starch/organo-montmorillonite hydrogel composite could be a promising Pb(II) adsorbent.     

Landfill site selection by integrating fuzzy logic,AHP, and WLC method based on multi-criteria decision analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Rapid population growth integrated with poor governance and urban planning is highly challenging resulting key for the selection of unsuitable...     

The impacts of economic and environmental factors on sustainable mega project development: role of community satisfaction and social media

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study examines the impacts of different economic, environmental, and social factors on sustainable China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)...     

Global drought monitoring with big geospatial datasets using Google Earth Engine

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Drought or dryness occurs due to the accumulative effect of certain climatological and hydrological variables over a certain period. Droughts are...     

First report on chemometric modeling of hydrolysis half-lives of organic chemicals

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Hydrolysis is one of the most important processes of transformation of organic chemicals in water. The rates of reactions, final chemical entities of...