Feature Article

Assam Polyester Co-operative Society Limited (APOL) is situated at Rangia, which is at a distance of about 55 km from Guwahati, Assam. The mill discharges it treated effluent to the vast open area existing in the western side of the mill. People are having agricultural activities in western side of the mill and they complain very often about decreasing production from the land after the mill started operation.

In last few years, Sonebhadra district of Uttar Pradesh has been identified as endemic fluorosis affected region where a number of such cases have been reported in 18 villages. The study was undertaken to determine the severeness of the problem, for this a dental fluorosis survey of school students, monitoring of drinking water sources and awareness programme were conducted in the Jhiragadandi Naibasti village.

The two most important hydrological extremes are floods and droughts. These events pose serious hazards to human populations in many parts of the world. These water related disasters are caused because of large diversity in climate and topography of the country. Climate change in future is expected to have severe implications on river flows in South Asia including India. Global climate change is likely to result in severe droughts and floods in India, with major impacts on human health and food supplies.

Microbial load in the groundwater and the physico-chemical characteristics of the water samples in and around the dumpsite of Dindigul town, Tamil Nadu, was studied. A microbial analysis of the leachate of the municipal solid waste, the ground water collected from the dumping yard and the ground water collected from a distance of 100 feet away from the dumping yard was also carried out to find out the effect of the municipal solid waste on the ground water quality.

The quality of water is of immense importance because poor quality ground water is not only a limiting factor in crop production but also its constant and indiscriminate use causes secondary salinization. Therefore, a qualitative water quality survey was carried out to diagnose the salinity for sodicity hazards in ground waters in relation to their suitability for irrigation in Faridkot district (Punjab) having two blocks namely Faridkot and Kotkapura.

A question that quizzes the minds of senior and field officials of Wildlife Wing of Madhya Pradesh as well as those of the knowledgeable visitors to the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary is to why tigers are mere occasional transients and are not establishing even as a small poulation to start with, given the high habitat productivity, the excellent availability of thermal and breeding shelters and the abundant prey base. July 2007

Eco-tourism is of special interest in the present day scenario for its relationship with conservation, sustainability and biological diversity and as a development tool. It is very much desirable to adopt certain firm measures to propagate good quality ecotourism without pressurizing or stressing the area. July-Dec 2007

A study was conducted to estimate the rate of solid and dissolved mass denudation from six prominent landuse systems of Bhetagad micro watershed, Gomti basin of Indian Central Himalaya. An investigation was also conducted to assess the seasonal variation in water quality parameters influenced by rainwater in the four sub-catchments of Gomti basin.

International conferences mark changes in thinking and approaches. They also set new agendas for action. The first set of international recommendations to guide environmental education were developed in Tbilisi, Georgia in 1977. The 4th International Conference on Environmental Education, held in Ahmedabad, India, in 2007 within the framework of the UN DESD, marks 30 years aftger Tbilisi. July-Dec 2007

During the earliers days, hilly villages used to have their own ponds, which served the community. The ponds were desilted by the community. But over the period of time, bond of the villagers over such common property is getting weak.