Aboveground Biomass Stockpile of Trees in Vallanadu Blackbuck Sanctuary, Peninsular India

A forest tree inventory study was conducted in Vallanadu Black buck sanctuary, Tuticorin. The current study was conducted to assess tree density, species richness, basal area (BA) and aboveground biomass (AGB) stockpile. The study area has been classified as Southern Thorn Forest (SFT). One hundred square plots (total area 1 ha), each 10m × 10m (100 m2 each) laid randomly across study area. All live trees with ≥5 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) measured at 137 cm above the ground. As the whole, 1335 individual trees ≥5cm DBH recorded. A total number of 18 species recorded from 14 genera and 11 families in study area. The family Mimosaceae has maximum number of species (7 species) followed by Rhamnaceae (2 species), while 9 families had just single species’ each. The total basal area recorded was 22.046 m2 ha-1, while, the mean wood density (WD) of trees estimated as 0.70±0.093 g cm-3. Total amount of 50.065 Mg ha-1 present in STF. The contribution of different species in terms of total AGB varied significantly. Commiphora berryi stocked 45.13% (22.588 Mg ha-1) of AGB followed by A. planifrons (23.31%, 11.669 Mg ha-1), A. mellifera (7.233%, 3.621 Mg ha-1), whereas remaining 15 species collectively stocked 24.327% (12.187 Mg ha-1) AGB. The STF had a large number of trees compared to some dry forests within Tamil Nadu. Southern Thorn Forest endowed with a moderate number of trees species. Aboveground biomass stockpile of trees is comparable with the range recorded from Indian dry forests. The study area experiences lesser mean annual rainfall and >6 months dry season. Further, endowed with short-bole and smaller leaved trees, hence stocked a relatively lesser AGB in trees.

Corporate Environmental Disclosures of Oil and Gas Companies in India: An Analysis of Executives’ Perceptions

Environmental and sustainability issues have assumed significance, leading to social and legal pressures on the companies across the world to take steps to reduce and prevent adverse impact of their activities on the environment and to disclose this information to the concerned stakeholders. The present study aims at investigating the perceptions of executives from 26 listed Indian oil and gas companies on Corporate Environment Disclosures (CEDs)in the annual reports using a structured questionnaire.The questionnaire was constructed on the basis of eleven environmental indicators provided in international oil and gas industry guidelines for voluntary sustainability reporting framework. An attempt was made to determine whether the extent and type of environmental disclosures have correlation with executives’ position in the organization, their knowledge about the annual reports, their stock holdings in the company and the value stream to which the companies belonged. It was found thatthe responding executives were well aware of the environmental issues associated with activities across the value chain in the oil and gas industry. They agreed that these issues are material and must be disclosed in the annual reports, but had different perceptions on the importance of four environmental issues given in the questionnaire for disclosure in the reports. A significant statistical relationship was found between perceived corporate environmental disclosure index (PCEDI) and respondents’ positions in the company and their knowledge on the annual reports. It is suggested that a greater role to knowledgeable senior executives at key positions should be assigned to deal with sustainability disclosure affairs.

Soil Nutrient Evaluation and Crop Management for Sustainable Growth of PatiyaVillage Cluster in Almora, Uttarakhand

The present study deals with the assessment of soil nutrients at four adjacent villages, 15 km NE of Almora, to understand the soil fertility and suitability of crops to help rejuvenate the agricultural activities in the region which subsequently will be used as a testing ground to mitigate prevailing Human-Wildlife Conflict in the study area. Soil samples were analyzed for textural classification, power of hydrogen (pH), Electrical Conductivity (EC), Organic Carbon percentage (OC%), available Nitrogen (N), Potassium (K), Sulphur (S), Boron (B), Manganese (Mn), 0.1M Hydrochloric Acid (HCl), and Diethylene Triamine Pentaacetic Acid (DTPA) extractable, Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), and Copper (Cu) to examine the soil fertility of the area. The soils of the region vary from loam to sandy loam. The soil reaction varies from slight to extremely acidic whereas the salinity was varying from non-saline to slightly saline. Low soil fertility index of N, P, K, Zn, B, and Fe; and medium soil fertility index of S, Mn, and Cu were observed, which is suggestive of additional requirement of Farm Yard Manure (FYM) and fertilizers to make them suitable for plantation. Through this study, an attempt has been made to recommend the selection and cultivation of high yield indigenous cash crops with the support of bio-fertilizers to maximize the use and production of these fallow lands and enhance the agricultural activities in the region and provide better livelihood options. The shift from the traditional method of plowing and sowing to new basic techniques has brought about encouraging results to the extent that these fields have now become favorite destinations of wild boars and monkeys. Hence, allowing us to mitigate this problem through various means.

Sustainability Contested: Analysis of Stakeholders Participation in Municipal Solid Waste Management - A Case Study

Waste has always been a part of human life settlement and we have been either very careless with our waste by discarding it into the streets, the air, water, and in our backyards, or consciously dumping it close to those least powerful segments of the society at all times. Waste has been a problem for human beings and people have been least concerned about its eco-friendly disposal. Developed countries came up with many programmes, regulations and policies to address the municipal solid waste crisis, but still it is an unresolved problem. Municipal solid waste management is still a complex issue everywhere in the globalized and techno scientific world due to the carefree mindset, rapid urbanization process, unscientific development process and lack of social responsibility. In these circumstances, municipal solid waste managementcannot be addressed by mere technological innovations or adoptions. Moreover, the responsibility of municipal solid waste managementcannot be left to the Government alone. Instead, participation of various stakeholders needs to be ensured and coordinated for achieving sustainability. Taking Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation in the state of Kerala, India as a case, this paper discusses the extent and ways in which various stakeholders engage in the two main approaches for municipal solid waste management, namely- centralized approach and decentralized approach. The research study was conducted during the period June, 2020 to December, 2020.

Morphometric and Sub-Watershed Analysis of Taraka Watershed, H.D. Kote Taluk, Mysuru District, Karnataka, India using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques

The current research work is an attempt to study of drainage area covering 429 sqkms comprising of 10 sub-watersheds they are namely Heggadadevanakote, Budanuru, Kodasige, Yedenhundi, Sunkadakatte, Nagarahole, Muruganahalli, Heggadapura, Kalhalla, Sarathihole. The research area has strong structural control shows that the 10 sub-basins named as the normal category. Different parameters of morphometric were used, Arc-Info and Arc -View GIS software was used to analysis the morphometric parameters and drainage characteristics, Sub-basin have been delineated by drainage pattern. The drainage pattern suggesting very coarse to coarse texture and the density explains the texture of drainage is related to coarse as geomorphic development their late youth stage and values suggest that Form factor, Circulatory ratio, Sub-basins are circular to elongated in shape.

Land Use/Land Cover (LU/LC) Changes and its impact on Soil Organic Carbon Stock in Killiar River Basin, Kerala, India: A Geospatial Approach

The changes in the pattern of land use and land cover (LU/LC) have remarkable consequences on ecosystem functioning and natural resources dynamics. The present study analyzes the spatial pattern of LU/LC change detection along the Killiar River Basin (KRB), a major tributary of Karamana river in Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala (India), over a period of 64 years (1957-2021) through Remote Sensing and GIS approach. The rationale of the study is to identify and classify LU/LC changes in KRB using the Survey of India (SOI) toposheet (1:50,000) of 1957, LISS-III imagery of 2005, Landsat 8 OLI & TIRS imagery of 2021 and further to scrutinize the impact of LU/LC conversion on Soil Organic Carbon stock in the study area. Five major LU/LC classes, viz., agriculture land, built-up, forest, wasteland and water bodies were characterized from available data. Within the study period, built-up area and wastelands showed a substantial increase of 51.51% and 15.67% respectively. Thus, the general trend followed is the increase in built-up and wastelands area which results in the decrease of all other LU/LC classes. Based on IPCC guidelines, total soil organic carbon (SOC) stock of different land-use types was estimated and was 1292.72 Mt C in 1957, 562.65 Mt C in 2005 and it reduced to 152.86 Mt C in 2021. This decrease is mainly due to various anthropogenic activities, mainly built-up activities. This conversion for built-up is at par with the rising population, and over-exploitation of natural and agricultural resources is increasing every year.

Flood Hazard Modelling in Upper Mandakini Basin of Uttarakhand

Floods in Himalayan region raise serious concerns regarding ongoing path of development as recent manifestations of catastrophic events establish link between climate changes and risk to anthropogenic activities in mountainous regions. Scientists predict frequent occurrence of such disasters wherein rapid glacial melting; incidents of glacial lake outburst and weather extremes may trigger floods in the Himalayan mountains. This paper examined flood risk in Upper Mandakini basin through GIS based flood simulationto highlight flood potential and risk associated with such hazard in the study area.It is observed that floods in study area display hazardous interplay of natural terrain gradient, high kinetic energy of streams, and intense rainfall. The upper sections of basin that includes Kali Ganga, Mandani Ganga, Madhyamaheshwar and Mandakini rivers shows high flood susceptibility with greatest risk in the latter. Such hazardousness is likely to be intensified by ongoing anthropogenic activities in the basin.

Decadal Study of Changing Frequency and Intensity of Rainfall for Selected Locations of Tamil Nadu

Understanding the pattern of regional climatic extremes is essential for creating an important adaptation measure to safeguard farmers from monsoon tantrums. This paper focuses on the rainfall variability and intensity for spatially different locations of Tamil Nadu. The daily rainfall data over a period of 30 years (1990-2019) for the study locations were collected from the constituent research centres of TNAU. The results indicated that an increasing trend in SWM rainfall was observed in Coimbatore (209.3 to 300.6mm), Ooty (681.4 to 703.1mm), Aduthurai (227.8 to 320.6mm), Kovilpatti (132.8 to 141.3 mm) while the decreasing trend was observed in rest of the places. A decreasing trend was reported in general for all the places during NEM. The decreasing trend in the number of rainy days was registered in Kovilpatti, Virudhunagar and Killikulam that exhibits an alert in modifying the crop planning programme in those areas. The frequency of rainfall intensity revealed that except Ooty, the number of Heavy Rain (HR) to VHR(VHR) was found to be meagre to absent in most of the study locations.

Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soils of National Capital Region, Delhi: Levels and Ecological Risk

This study was conducted to assess heavy metals concentrations in agricultural soils in the National Capital Region, Delhi. A total of 84 soil samples were collected from selected agricultural areas located near industries, national highways, state highways, Yamuna floodplain, residential complexes, and wastewater irrigated soils. Heavy metal concentrations, pH, and organic carbon (%) were analyzed in the collected soil samples. The average value of pH, and organic carbon (%) in the soil samples were 7.79±0.49 and 0.53±0.17 percent respectively. Average concentrations of heavy metals (mg kg-1) in the agricultural soils were found in the order of Fe > Al > Mn > Zn > Ni > Cr > Cu > Pb > Co > Cd with value as 14916.92, 13538.87, 277.16, 74.53, 35.34, 33.68, 22.94, 18.45, 1.88, and 0.92 . The concentrations of Zn, Ni, and Mn reported in the present study were several times higher than their concentration in Indian natural background soils. A significant potential ecological risk has been noticed in nearly all the agricultural soil samples except for the samples collected nearby residential areas. The contamination factor has shown that most of the soil samples were moderately contaminated with Mn, Ni, Fe, and Cr and some soil samples were considerably to strongly contaminated with Zn, Pb, Cd, and Ni. Wastewater irrigated soils showed a moderate to a strong degree of accumulation of Zn, Cd, and Ni.

Sand Auditing for Sustainable River Sand Miningin Kerala, India– An Overview

Sand Auditing is the process that evaluates the health status of rivers subjected to sand mining. This study reviews the river sand audit methodology applied in Kerala, India, from 2011 to 2019 in terms of geographical coverage, results, and applications. It demonstrates the sand audit methodology, the agencies and authorities involved in implementation, and the current status of the State’s sand audit implementation. The current regulatory framework of Kerala that ensures sustainable sand mining and prevents illegal sand mining is also demonstrated. In total, 21 of the 44 Kerala’s rivers have been surveyed during 2011-2019, and the State’s agencies have hence acquired great experience and expertise in sand auditing. A major outcome of Kerala’s sand auditing is the collection of large datasets of river cross-sectional information that can be used, inter alia, in flood modeling studies to formulate sustainable river basin management strategies in Kerala.