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Biological Water Quality Monitoring: Insights and Opportunities !!

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India is considered as a land of rivers. Civilizations from ancient to modern era have thrived on the banks of rivers. Himalayan and Peninsular are the two river systems prevailing in India. Apart from capping the needs of human society, rivers have an important role in religious, cultural and metaphysical aspects. Unfortunately in present age, rapid increase in industrialization has put tremendous pressure on aquatic ecosystems both in terms of usage and waste water discharges. Uncontrolled usage of pesticides, chemicals fertilizers, industrial and urban discharges leads to rise in harmful algal blooms in the water body that depletes the oxygen level making it inhabitable for fresh water species. On the other hand the toxic chemical substances accumulate in the body tissues leading to bioaccumulation of pollutants in the species that reaches higher trophic levels upon consumption. Traditional physico-chemical water quality monitoring techniques (simply performance based) just determin...
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Soil Pollution: A covered reality

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  “The Nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself” . This famous quote by Franklin D Roosevelt, US president is now becoming a reality in our country. India being an agrarian economy is totally dependent on its soil. Agriculture in India contributes more than 18% of the GDP and provides employment to more than 50% of its population who are directly or indirectly linked with agriculture. In accordance with a report of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 95% of our food comes from the soil.     Soil pollution is the degradation of soil due to the presence of chemical substances at a higher concentration. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the complete ecosystem all are affected by soil pollution. So, what’s contributes the soil pollution? Any idea?? Noo !! Dumping of solid and hazardous wastes, discharging of industrial effluents, excessive uses of pesticides are some of the major contributors to soil pollution.   One cannot deny ...
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Indoor Air Pollution: Management and Way forward

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I ndoor Air Quality (IAQ) as defined by USEPA refers to the air quality within and around buildings directly related to the health and comfort of the occupants. Indoor Air Pollution is the degradation of IAQ by harmful chemicals. According to some of the scientific literature, IAQ can be up to 10 times worse than outdoor air. Primarily Indoor air pollution is caused by incomplete combustion, building materials, and bioaerosols. Some other indoor air pollutants may include Volatile organic Matter, smoke from tobacco, cow dung cake, fumes from paints, polishes, household cleaning products, and some cosmetic materials. Inadequate or insufficient ventilation in the houses builds up the level of pollutants as they don’t allow the fresh air to pass that dilutes the level of the pollutants during normal air movement.  Occasionally, many of us have been to such a place (hotels, lodge, and even quarters) that even don’t have a single window or skylight for ventilation. So, what needs to...
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Location: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
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EIA Draft 2020: Time to change !!

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       Since the beginning of the Year 2020, it has been devastating. Global Healthcare facilities, food control systems, economy are buckling beneath the strain of Novel Corona Virus (nCoV) or COVID-19. Every nation is trying its best possible measures to overcome the pandemic. Climate change on the other hand is not lagging far behind, causing catastrophic effects. Accounting forest fire, drought, heavy rain, cloud bursting leading to flash floods and landslides in several regions of India depicts a clear picture of uncontrolled and unplanned developments in these regions. All these natural hazards are interlinked with the changing climatic conditions which are the impact of ongoing anthropogenic activities in an uncontrolled manner.        These disastrous events raise question on the working ability of the policymakers, the regulatory framework up to the topmost ministerial level from where the laws are being framed and passed on. A recent e...
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Location: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
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