ALBERT

Description: Elizabeth Haub Prize - Marc Pallemaerts Honoured 16 IUCN World Parks Congress 2014 - Safeguarding the Planet's Natural Assets "Defining the Agenda" (Eustathia Laina and Elsa Tsioumani) 19 Content Type Journal Article Pages 16-22 Journal Environmental Policy and Law Online ISSN 1878-5395 Print ISSN 0378-777X Journal Volume Volume 45 Journal Issue Volume 45, Number 1 / 2015

Description: UNGA-69 - Resolutions on Environmental Policy and Law 2 UN Post-2015 Development Agenda - Final Round of Discussions 6 CMS/CoP-11 - A Watershed for the Conservation of Migratory Species "Bradnee Chambers" 7 UNFCCC/CoP-20 - A Draft Negotiating Text Emerges "Annalisa Savaresi" 10 IPBES - Key Policies and Issues Addressed "Elsa Tsioumani" 13 Content Type Journal Article Pages 2-15 Journal Environmental Policy and Law Online ISSN 1878-5395 Print ISSN 0378-777X Journal Volume Volume 45 Journal Issue Volume 45, Number 1 / 2015

Description: Water quality has degraded dramatically in the Krishna River (India) due to point and non-point sources. Present investigation aims to assess temporal variations of physical and chemical parameters of the river. Environmental data from rural and urban areas for the period 2007–2012 were compared. A statistical analysis was carried out with six environmental variables considering a multivariate system, analysis of variance and principal component analysis. Statistical analysis divided the river into two zones with different degrees of contamination. The most polluted zone is due to pollution inputs of municipal and industrial origin; this region showed a remarkable deterioration in water quality, mainly due to wastewater discharges. Content Type Journal Article Pages 73-80 Authors Prakash Kengnal, Department of Statistics, Karnatak Arts College, Dharwad, India M.N. Megeri, Department of Statistics, Karnatak Arts College, Dharwad, India B.S. Giriyappanavar, Department of Botany, Karnatak Science College, Dharwad, India Rahul R. Patil, Department of Botany, Karnatak Science College, Dharwad, India Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 2 / 2015

Description: Content Type Journal Article Pages 107-110 Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 2 / 2015

Description: The hydrogeochemical study of surface and sub-surface water resources of Deogarh district of Jharkhand state was undertaken to assess major ion chemistry and water quality in relation to domestic and irrigation uses. Analytical results show mildly acidic to alkaline nature of water and dominance of Ca^{2+} and Na^+ in cationic and HCO_3^- and Cl^- in anionic abundance. In general, alkaline earth elements (Ca^{2+}+Mg^{2+}) exceed alkalies (Na^++K^+) and weak acids dominate (HCO_3^-) over strong acids (SO_4^{2-}+Cl^-) in majority of water samples. Ca-Mg-HCO_3 is the dominant hydrochemical facies both in surface and groundwater of the area. Weathering of rock forming minerals and ion exchange processes mainly controlled solute chemistry with secondary contribution from anthropogenic sources. Assessments of water quality for drinking purposes pointed that majority of water samples are suitable for drinking. Concentration of TDS, TH, F^-, Cl^- and NO_3^- are exceeding desirable levels prescribed for drinking water at some sites. However, these parameters are well within the maximum permissible limit except for some cases. SAR, RSC, %Na, MH and PI values suggest that both surface and groundwater are good for irrigation uses except at some sites, where salinity, MH and PI values are higher than the prescribed levels. Content Type Journal Article Pages 43-58 Authors Abhay Kumar Singh, Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research) Barwa Road, Dhanbad – 826 015, India G.C. Mondal, Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research) Barwa Road, Dhanbad – 826 015, India Mukesh Kumar Mahato, Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research) Barwa Road, Dhanbad – 826 015, India T.B. Singh, Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research) Barwa Road, Dhanbad – 826 015, India Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 2 / 2015

Description: This investigation quantified spatial variability of heavy metals and followed methods of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to estimate the hazard indices as well as cancer risks associated with consuming fish caught in the waters of the Langat river basin area, Malaysia. The calculation of metal pollution index (MPI) was carried out to classify the study area according to the level of contamination and the order of stations from highest to lowest MPI values was Langat river 〉 Cempaka lake 〉 Engineering pond 〉 Pond B 〉 Pond A 〉 Jugra 〉 Bandar. The level of exposure due to the consumption of each chemical in Tilapia fish tissue was estimated in an average daily dose equation. The calculated HI ranging from 0.24 to 1.88 indicated 71% stations were in the risk level. Potential carcinogenic risks associated with the ingestion of heavy metals in Tilapia fish were evaluated probabilistically by performing 10,000 trials for Monte Carlo simulation. Cancer risk calculations exceeding the U.S. EPA's acceptable risk level of 1 in 1,000,000 (or 10^{-6}) included Ni (7.3 ×10^{-4}) and Cd (2.1 ×10^{-6}). However, the average carcinogenic risk (2.4 × 10^{-4}) exceeded the accepted risk level to a great extent. The recommended daily ingestion rate of Tilapia for Malaysian people inhabiting Langat river basin area was calculated considering 95th percentile TR value of 10^{-6} as an acceptable risk where it is revealed that consumption of Tilapia should be reduced about 67% from the current level to have an acceptable risk of cancer. Content Type Journal Article Pages 21-30 Authors Lubna Alam, Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI) Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, 43600, Selangor DE, Malaysia Mazlin Bin Mokhtar, Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI) Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, 43600, Selangor DE, Malaysia Md. Mahmudul Alam, Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI) Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, 43600, Selangor DE, Malaysia Md. Azizul Bari, Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI) Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, 43600, Selangor DE, Malaysia Nicholas Kathijotes, Department of Civil Engineering & Geomatics, Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus Goh Choo Ta, Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI) Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, 43600, Selangor DE, Malaysia Lee Khai Ern, Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI) Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, 43600, Selangor DE, Malaysia Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 2 / 2015

Description: Traffic police in metropolitan cities are exposed to higher level of air pollution and are suffering from respiratory symptoms. Conventional symptomatic treatment is effective to give temporary relief but the lung capacity of the subjects reduces progressively. Present study was aimed to evaluate effect of Hingu-Pippali yoga, a herbal formulation in respiratory disorders caused due to air pollution in traffic police. With a prior institutional ethical permission an open, randomised clinical study was carried out. Informed consent was taken from every subject enrolled in trial. An authenticated and standardised test drug was administered twice a day in dose of 250 mg for 28 days with honey and sugar to trial group. Lung function test with spirometer and Haemogram before starting the treatment and at the end of study was done to evaluate the results. The subjective parameters viz. cough, rhinitis and dyspnoea showed significant reduction (p 〈 0.001) in trial group. Pulmonary Function Tests-FVC, FEV1, MVV and FEF (p 〈 0.001)-showed significant results indicating the increase in lung capacity in trial group. There was significant reduction seen in eosinophil count and ESR. Hingu-pippali yoga is effective to reduce the respiratory disorders caused due to air pollution and enhances the lung capacity of subjects. Content Type Journal Article Category Short Note Pages 99-106 Authors Shilpa Bhosale, Dept. of Agadtantra and Vidhivaidyak, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University College of Ayurved, Pune-Satara Road, Pune – 411043, India Sarita Kapgate, Dept. of Agadtantra and Vidhivaidyak, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University College of Ayurved, Pune-Satara Road, Pune – 411043, India Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 2 / 2015

Description: Parks and urban green spaces can play an effective role in developing and reinforcing citizens’ place attachment because of long time usage and wide spectrum of environmental users. Bagh Mohtasham of Rasht can be indicated as one of the prominent examples of urban parks in Gilan province. Bagh Mohtasham is the oldest park in Rasht and is counted as the main choices for Rasht citizens in order to spend their leisure time. In this regard current study intends to assess the impact of Bagh Mohtasham of Rasht on the people’s place attachment to determine the solutions for increasing the place

Description: This study aimed to identify and select areas suitable for ecotourism. In this research, to assess the potential of ecotourism of Masal district, Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and GIS were used. For this purpose, appropriate evaluation criteria and sub-criteria were identified for determining recreational potential. Then, using AHP fuzzy, criteria and sub-criteria to determine the importance of assessing the potential recreational area prepared questionnaires and, were distributed among clinicians. Weighted criteria and sub-criteria in each questionnaire were calculated and by averaging the weights, final weight was calculated using the model. The required maps for evaluating of the recreational potential

Description: Air pollution due to the presence of particulate matter (PM) in the ambient air is assumed to be the leading cause of many diseases in different metropolitan and industrial regions throughout the world. Based on WHO’s report on the classification of different cities of the world in terms of the amount of fine particles in the air, Ahvaz is one of the most polluted cities among a sample of more than 1100 cities around the world. Heavy metals attached to the inhalable particulate matters having a size of less than 10 microns can penetrate more deeply into the lungs, form

Description: To remove chlorine from zinc electrolysis solutions, the electrochemical method was carried out in this research. Copper electrodes with a purity of 99.99% were employed as the anode and cathode. In addition, the effect of applied potential, agitation rate, and reaction temperature on the efficiency of chlorine removal was investigated and dechlorination mechanism was explored. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the evolution of the chlorine species on the anode surface. Based on the obtained results, the efficiency of dechlorination from electrolysis solution with a Cl− concentration of 295 mg.L−1 in constant values of pH =

Description: The rapid growth of urbanization has put heavy pressure on the land and its surrounding resources, reduction of vegetation cover, open spaces and serious social and environmental problems. Therefore, a basic step for managing and planning urban growth, as well as evaluating its cumulative effects, is to study and simulate the physical growth of the city. The purpose of this study is to understand the factors that influence the physical growth in Tehran on the basis of sustainable urban development in terms of environmental dimension and the preservation of environmental conditions in the next two decades. For this, using Landsat

Description: It is difficult to demonstrate air pollution spatial distribution as it is related to weather conditions, location, topography, and the area. Air pollution is studied by remote sensing techniques less than other techniques due to lack of sensors capable of detecting emissions, and hence, Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) method is used for investigation. Aerosol optical depth is a measure of the extinction of the solar beam by dust and haze. In this study, the linear regression analysis was used to develop a relationship between AOD measures by MODIS and daily air pollution (CO, O3 , NO2 , SO2 and

Description: Detection of hazardous and radioactive (HR) elements in dust is very important for environment and human health. About 70 percent of Iran’s climate is arid and semi-arid, and one of the environmental challenges that it faces includes approaching dust storms from the southern and the western countries that neighbour Iran. Therefore, to solve this problem, it seems necessary to make a portable device to detect the HR elements of dust to eliminate social anxiety. In the present study, an isotopic X-ray fluorescence (IXRF) device was optimized to identify HR elements in dust, which arrive as environmental pollutants from neighbouring countries

Description: Caspian basin is one of the main six basins of the country which is influenced by Caspian region in the north of Iran. Because of the growth of human activities and following the changes in land using over the past years, land-cover has changed greatly in this area. The purpose of the article is to study the impact of land-cover changes on the surface of runoff and the quality of water resources in years of 2001-2012, in the Caspian basin. MODIS of terra satellite images have been used to do this action. The results showed that impenetrable surfaces that

Description: Recognizing aspects involved in tourism are necessary in order to plan and manage successful tourism in a region. What that provides the possibility of comprehensive analysis of the region to the planners is taking into account all positive and negative points but sometimes keeping in mind negative and positive points cause the researchers enlarge the obstacles and barriers unintentionally and be pessimistic in providing the strategies. In the present study, attempts have been done to study the positive aspects of a tourism planning with the introduction and use of positive approach “SOAR” and to provide appropriate strategies for tourism development

Description: Land stripping due to mining activity affects the river quality located in Pomalaa. An objective in this study is to analyze a change in water quality of rivers around Pomalaa nickel mining during and post-mining activity. The water samples were taken periodically from the rivers and developed data time series. The instrument to analyze Total Suspended Solid (TSS) was gravimeter. Meanwhile, the iron (Fe) parameter was analyzed by using spectrophotometric and Cr, Cr6+ , Cd, Zn, Cu, Ni, Co and Pb analyzed via atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) method. The pH determination was based on SNI 06-6989.11-2004 for evaluating water quality

Description: Increasing the efficiency of the electric power industry is extremely important, leading to lower costs, higher profitability, possibility of proper output, efficient use of resources, reduction of pollutants and, ultimately, environmental protection. In this regard, identification of effective indicators for the sustainable operation of thermal power plants is essential, which has the largest share in the country’s electricity production and one of the most important air pollutant industries. Using the Sustainable Balanced Score Card (SBSC) technique is a powerful way to design indicators for assessing the organization’s sustainability performance (efficiency). The purpose of this research is to identify the effective

Description: Investigating geological structures plays a major role in economy of engineering projects such as petroleum and mining industries. Therefore, it is pivotal to study geological features. The study area is located in northwest of Qazvin Province and Tarom mountains. Tarom Mountains are located in Western Alborz as referred to in Iranian geological units which has a northwest-southeast trend and is located on the Upper Cretaceous-Cenozoic Magmatic belt. This volcanic-plutonic belt has a northwest to southeast trend. The volcanic and intrusive units of the region that belong to Karaj Formation is composed of two members called Amand and KordKand that are

Description: Study on maximal aerobic capacity is important to make physiological adaptation between worker and work. This study aims to investigate maximal aerobic capacity and physical work capacity of male farmers in Sistan region and determining affective factors of that on workers. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 400 male farmers of Sistan region were randomly selected and participated in this research. A questionnaire comprising two parts is used as data collection tool. The first part deals with demographic features and is completed by interview and in the second part of questionnaire parameters including age, height, weight, waist-hip ratio, BMI and number

Description: Small islands around the world encounter special challenges due to vulnerability to acute climates, human-induced activities and pollution. The challenges even become more intricate where the island is located in environmentally sensitive regions. In order to address the problems in coastal areas, Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) whose concept was born in 1992 during the Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro, has been recommended by United Nations. This paper focuses on challenges ahead of ICZM in environmentally sensitive islands through Interaction-Stakeholder and Option Matrices. Kish Island is a beautiful small island located in Persian Gulf. With regard to environmental sensitivities

Description: Qazvin plain in Iran is one of the most fertile regions for crop production, but it has been suffering from severe crises in water resources, inefficient water allocation, and improper cropping pattern due to low tariffs in recent years. One influential policy in the context of sustainable water resource management is suitable pricing. Given the legal potentials and technical conditions for the adoption of various pricing policies, the present paper addresses the effect of area, volumetric or two-part tariff pricing policies with the scenarios of pricing by water supply cost, economic value, or residual value of water on economic variables

Description: The purpose of this research is to provide ecological and chemical characterization of lakes located in the Muraviovka Park, where more than 300 species of birds nest, rest and winter. High concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water of lakes that comes with as high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5 ) indicates that reservoirs experience eutrophication. Concentration of biogenic organic substances is caused to fluctuate by seasonal changes in water temperature. The fires make the hydro-chemical indicators of wetlands change. Lead concentration in the water is high because it enters the water, moving from the surface layers of soil when natural

Description: Among the chemical pollutants, lead is one of great importance ecologically and hygienically, because it threatens the health of the communities by penetrating into the food cycle. Phytoremediation is required along with modifying chelates to improve the efficiency of metal remediation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of vermicompost and EDTA on the absorption of various Pb concentrations from the soil and determine their accumulation level in the roots and shoots of Ocimum basilicum in the form of pot experiment in a completely randomized design with three replications. We applied vermicompost 3 mg/kg soil, EDTA

Description: It is well known that mangrove forests are enriched with a source of livelihood for coastal communities in developing countries which enhance coastal waters, yield commercial forest products, protect coastlines, and support coastal fisheries. Local communities in the coastal areas of Chittagong highly depends on fisheries and coastal resources for their livings. This study was conducted in three coastal villages, Bagachattar, Ichakhali and Kattoli, at Sitakunda-Mirsarai coast of Chittagong using Participatory rapid appraisal (PRA) tools. Participatory rapid appraisal was utilized to elucidate the mangrove related livelihood activities in the coastal communities. A total of 23,838 ha has plantation and exist

Description: Treatment of hazardous phenolic substances that are discharged to environment has a significant interest since decades. Biological treatment using freely suspended sludge is the most economical treatment method, but, is considered inactive for treatment of phenolic substances due to the complexity in their chemical structure. The degradation of phenol was experimentally investigated using separate and coupled biological and photo-catalytic processes. The degradation was carried out at different concentrations of phenol from 10 to 100 ppm. The results showed no degradation of phenol using biological treatment, and as expected, the bacterial colony growth was reduced by 50 percent due to lack

Description: Cirata is one of the three reservoirs of Citarum where its function has developed from hydroelectric power generator to aquaculture and tourism in recent times. A number of floating net cage keeps increasing and they have reached 53,031 cages, which have actually exceeded the maximum amount under local government regulation. This condition has triggered eutrophication in the form of ammonium deposited in aquatic sediments. A study with a 30-day treatment of oxidation catalysis of inorganic and organic matter by bacteria called Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology had been conducted to reduce contamination of ammonium in the water. Various treatments were

Description: Land use/land cover change dealing with the alteration of the land surface and its biotic cover is an important aspect of human-induced global environmental change. The purpose of this study is to monitor long-term changes in LU/LC in Odisha with special emphasis to the forest cover change. LU/LC maps prepared through visual interpretation, indicated a decreasing pattern in percentage forest cover area (40.0%-1996, 39.0%-2006, 37.7%-2016). Conversely, significant increase in built-up area (0.3% in 1996, 0.5% in 2006 and 0.6% in 2016) have been observed. Forest cover maps derived through NDVI thresholding revealed a fluctuating trend of change in dense forest

Description: Discharge of untreated or insufficient treated wastewater may result in water borne Cystoisospora belli outbreaks. Influent and effluent wastewater samples from two different wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were collected monthly for the detection of Cystoisospora belli using centrifugal concentration and purification by zinc sulphate floatation, followed by molecular detection using real-time PCR. Results showed that the prevalence rates of Cystoisospora belli in influents and effluents of WWTPs were 14.5% and 6.2%, respectively. The removal rates of Cystoisospora belli oocysts in WWTP (A) utilizing activated sludge and WWTP (B) using trickling filter were 66.7% and 50%, respectively.

Description: In rivers, reaeration is an important process that occurs at the air-water interface to restore dissolved oxygen (DO) equilibrium and this process is characterised by its reaeration coefficient. Existing empirical equations to predict reaeration coefficient is merely based on natural reaeration (Ku ), which refers to the oxygen transfer across the natural free surfaces while reaeration coefficient concerned with artificial reaeration caused by turbulence due to intense boat traffic (Kb ) has not been explored previously. This study investigated the influence of boating activities on DO and its associated reaeration coefficient, Kb , along the Brunei River.

Description: The purpose of this work is to determine the effect of brown bear population growth on the population of wild ungulates by the example of Amur Region and the Republic of Buryatia. Studies were conducted in spring, summer, autumn and winter by routing bear trails and natural habitat areas and collecting animal activity observations. The sizes of individual species’ habitats were determined as well as predator’s influence on wild ungulates, living on the same territories, was studied. During research studies, conducted over a period of 10 years, a direct relation between bear population growth and wild ungulates’ population decrease on

Description: Tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are designed to excavate underground spaces and widely used in tunneling, civil and mining projects. TBM performance prediction substantially deals with the evaluation of machine’s penetration rate and the number of consumed disc cutters. There are various methods and equations to predict the TBMs performance in the literature. In this paper, we predicted the penetration rate and number of consumed disc cutters in Beheshtabad water conveyance tunneling project, one of the major water conveyance tunneling projects in Iran, using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) methods. Results showed that both approaches are very

Description: Three air pollution models, namely the ‘California Line Source’ (CALINE4) model, the ‘Unique Dispersion Model’ (UDM) and the ‘Simplified Type Dispersion Model’ (STM) have been analyzed for assessing the air pollutant concentration at one of the most congested traffic road in the city of New Delhi. The latter two models have been developed using the most influential input parameters of CALINE4 namely traffic flow and wind-speed observed by both sensitivity analysis and regression analysis studies. The model performance have been estimated and compared statistically with the traffic emitted airborne carbon monoxide (CO), the prevalent meteorology and the temporal distribution of

Description: The discussion about the kitchen is tiny one but most effective. The function of a domestic kitchen is quite restless because it operates almost 365 days in a year. In India total number of domestic kitchens is quite higher than total Indian households. These kitchens are small food preparing industry where energy used in terms of kitchen fuel and matter in terms of food and industrial sewage occurs in the form of pollutants. Indian women on an average spend two hours per day and minimum 75 minutes per day in kitchen. This paper covers the most focal aspect of realistic picture of domestic kitchen air pollution in Indian middle class families. The exposure of air pollution is vast one. The preventive measure to combat air pollution in the kitchen is the first foot stepping of it. Here the effort has been made to make aware about the exposure of kitchen air pollution in India. This is just like the concept of charity begins at home. This paper depicts the clear picture of preventive measures to combat air pollution in a developing country (India) which has to be started from domestic kitchens. Content Type Journal Article Pages 93-98 Authors Malavika Sinha, Department of Geography, Chatra Ramai Pandit Mahavidyalaya, Bankura West Bengal – 722141, India. E-mail: malavikasinha@yahoo.co.in Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 2 / 2015

Description: The present study was undertaken to screen the bacterial isolates causing hemolysis present in medical gauze, used to wrap wounds. The medical gauze was obtained from medical store Anand, Gujarat, India. Isolation was done according to Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) guidelines along with 16S rDNA characterization and further PCR was performed to check the presence of hemolysin gene. In all, 10 different bacterial colonies were isolated out of which seven were found to be resistant against one or the other antibiotic. Molecular characterization of colony number 7 confirmed the presence of hemolysin gene and was found to be resistant to large number of antibiotics, identified as Enterobacter hormaechei. Enterobacter hormaechei is lesser known strain as not much has been reported in India. But this is thought to be one of the major bacteria responsible for nosocomial infection by means of various transmissions. Medical gauzes are widely used in surgeries and covering wounds. The possible presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria like this can give rise to devastating effect leading to various nosocomial outbreaks. Content Type Journal Article Pages 87-91 Authors Devjani Banerjee, Ashok & Rita Patel Institute of Integrated Study & Research in Biotechnology and Allied Sciences (Aribas), Adit Campus, New Vallabh Vidya Nagar, Gujarat, India – 388121 Affilated to Sardar Patel University Tejas Gohil, Ashok & Rita Patel Institute of Integrated Study & Research in Biotechnology and Allied Sciences (Aribas), Adit Campus, New Vallabh Vidya Nagar, Gujarat, India – 388121 Affilated to Sardar Patel University Sarika Dudhat, Ashok & Rita Patel Institute of Integrated Study & Research in Biotechnology and Allied Sciences (Aribas), Adit Campus, New Vallabh Vidya Nagar, Gujarat, India – 388121 Affilated to Sardar Patel University Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 2 / 2015

Description: Phosphorus and nitrogen are two important nutrients to plants. Therefore, fertilizers usually used in agricultural lands hold a significant amount of phosphorus and nitrogen. Even though these two are essential for plants, they are treated as pollutants when they are contaminated to the fresh waters. Therefore, phosphorus in stormwater runoff is a concerned topic for combined sewer overflows (CSOs). Rathnayake and Tanyimboh's optimal control model was capable of handling five different water quality parameters (chemical oxygen demand, bio-chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, total Kjeldhal nitrogen and nitrates and nitrites) in CSOs. However, the enhanced approach is capable of integrating phosphorus concentrations into the analysis of water quality from CSOs. The new optimal control model for drainage systems was run and compared against the previous work by the author. Promising findings are illustrated from the newly developed model in controlling drainage systems. Content Type Journal Article Pages 81-85 Authors Upaka Rathnayake, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Srilanka Institute of Information Technology, Malabe, Sri Lanka. E-mail: upakasanjeewa@yahoo.com Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 2 / 2015

Description: Environmental magnetic techniques have been shown to be highly useful for investigating roadside pollution in Europe, North America and Asia. However, no studies have reported such magnetic monitoring in Japan. Here we report environmental magnetic results along the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine route at the Bijyodaira area of Mt. Tateyama in Toyama, which is part of the Special Protection Zone of the Chubu Sangaku National Park. In-field susceptibility measurements from 17 sites (297 points) as well as in-laboratory susceptibility measurements from six sites (75 surface and auger core soil samples) show higher susceptibilities near the roadside and a positive correlation between the susceptibility and heavy metal contents. Also, the concentration of the magnetic minerals and associated heavy metals near the surface shows less vertical downward migration of these materials below 15 cm from surface. Rock magnetic analyses indicate that: (a) the major magnetic minerals are pseudosingle- and multi-domain magnetite and/or titanomagnetite; (b) the closer the road side, the more anthropogenic magnetite is present; and (c) most pollutants derived from the vehicles are deposited within a few metre distances from the road through the area. Overall, the results show that environmental magnetic techniques are suitable for studying pollution associated with vehicle traffic elsewhere in Japan. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-11 Authors Kazuo Kawasaki, Section of Earth and Environmental Systems, University of Toyama Toyama-shi, Toyama, Japan. 930-8555 Keiji Horikawa, Section of Earth and Environmental Systems, University of Toyama Toyama-shi, Toyama, Japan. 930-8555 Hideo Sakai, Section of Earth and Environmental Systems, University of Toyama Toyama-shi, Toyama, Japan. 930-8555 Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 2 / 2015

Description: Surface and groundwater quality of selected states within the North-Central, Nigeria were investigated to ascertain the effect of flood on water quality over a period of six months. Statistical, standardized principal component and water quality index analyses were used to interpret the results. Increase in some groundwater parameters are 198.7% for hardness, 541% for colour, 169.8% for iron, 200% for chromium and 117.6% for calcium. The increase in some surface water quality parameters after the flood is as follows: colour (316.76%), turbidity (171%), total suspended solids (156.65%), conductivity (180.5%), chromium (300%) and sulphate (121.2%). Overall groundwater quality decreased from a fair status (69.1%) before the flood to a marginal status (55.3%) after the flood. In the same vein surface water quality decreased from a fair status (72.53%) before the flood to a marginal status (55.1%). There was a 27% reduction in surface water quality and 20.4% reduction in groundwater quality. Content Type Journal Article Pages 59-71 Authors Joseph Terlumun Utsev, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria Chidozie Charles Nnaji, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria Mama Cordelia Nnennaya, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 2 / 2015

Description: The toxic metal absorption in radish crop and soil treated with sewage sludge in research plot in Allahabad Agricultural Institute -Deemed University, Allahabad have been studied to evaluate the absorption of toxic metal. Sewage sludge used in this study has high contents of both organic matter and nutrients (N, P and K) and none of the heavy metals were found over the maximum established limits. This soil is suitable for growing crops as none of the metals were absorbed above permissible limit. When the sludge was added to the soil, some of the physico-chemical parameters are modified which affects the absorption of toxic metals. When the sewage sludge was used with fertilizers it has given good response in respect of nutrient content and production. There was no phytotoxicity level on the plant growth treated with municipal sewage sludge, due to cumulative accumulation and also high bioavailability of metals; plant metal content exceeds safety food metal limits. It can be seen that heavy metals could be passed to higher levels in the course of time by successive applications of municipal sewage sludge of agronomic rates and thus it could be inevitable to suffer the irreversible problems of cumulative loading of trace elements and in any type of soil in long term effect. However, the agricultural use of this sludge should be well controlled, bearing in mind environmental criteria, because of the persistence of metals in the soil. Content Type Journal Article Pages 13-19 Authors B.K. Mishra, Department of Environmental Sci. & Engg., Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad – 826004, India Manisha, Department of Environmental Sci. & Engg., Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad – 826004, India Rashi Gupta, Department of Environmental Sci., SHIATS, Allahabad – 211007, India Alok Sinha, Department of Environmental Sci. & Engg., Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad – 826004, India Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 2 / 2015

Description: LARS-WG (Long Ashton Research Station-Weather Generator) model was used to predict future climate change scenario over the Gujarat region. For this purpose, three locations of the region namely Ahmedabad, Deesa and Vadodara for which long period daily weather data (1969–2013) are available were chosen. The results indicated that LARS-WG model adequately predicted monthly rainfall means and standard deviations and they were in agreement with the observed series as reflected in the t and f-tests at 5% probability. The agreement was even better for maximum and minimum air temperatures at all the three locations of the Gujarat region. LARS-WG-predicted climate change scenario indicated an increasing trend in annual and seasonal rainfall at Ahmedabad and it would increase by 6.7% i.e. 54.3 mm (in 2020) to 18.2% i.e. 147.4 mm (in 2060) against the base period normal rainfall of 807.5 mm. Seasonal rainfall (monsoon) a lso has shown an increasing trend and it would increase by 5% (38.0 mm) in 2020 to 14.5% (110.8 mm) in 2060 against the average seasonal rainfall of 766.4 mm for the base period. At Deesa and Vadodara no trend has been observed in the annual and seasonal rainfall scenario. Standard weekly rainfall during the monsoon season has been found to increase at the start as well as in the middle of the season during 2014 to 2063 compared to the base period (1969–2013) at Deesa and Vadodara; however, no such changes have been observed for Ahmedabad. For all the three locations no trend has been observed in the annual average minimum and maximum temperature as well as in the summer maximum and winter minimum temperature. Content Type Journal Article Pages 31-41 Authors Jayanta Sarkar, India Meteorological Department, Ahmedabad, Gujarat – 382475, India J.R. Chicholikar, India Meteorological Department, Ahmedabad, Gujarat – 382475, India Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 2 / 2015

Description: In developing countries like India, common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) are often suggested as cost-effective options for centralized treatment of effluents emerging from separate waste-streams. The treatment/operation cost of CETPs is met by individual waste generators in proportion to the strength of the waste generated by them. This necessitates the regular determination of parameters such as BOD, which often is cost intensive, requires specialized lab personnel, and is time consuming (3-5 days minimum). Approximation of BOD, therefore, presents a relevant strategy which can save upon cost, effort and time. This paper presents a framework that employs Artificial Neural Network (ANN) technique to approximate influent and effluent BOD for common effluent treatment process. The framework is applied to the case of a CETP at Bhopal city, India. In the present work, a three-layered feed forward ANN that compares two different learning algorithms has been applied, and suitable architecture of the neural network models has been ascertained after several steps of training and testing of the models. The results indicate accuracy above 90%, thereby ANN proves to be a promising tool in the field of modelling. Content Type Journal Article Category Short Note Pages 81-89 Authors Monika Vyas, Department of Civil Engineering, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, India Bharat Modhera, Department of Chemical Engineering, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, India Anil Sharma, Department of Civil Engineering, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, India Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 1 / 2015

Description: The Green Revolution has transformed India to a food grain surplus country from a deficit one. No other activity has such immense impact on the socio-economic development of the people as the Green Revolution. Intensification of agriculture over the years has led to overall degradation of the fragile agro-ecosystem. High cost of production and diminishing economic returns from agricultural practices are affecting the socio-economic condition of farmers. Loss of soil fertility, erosion of soil, soil toxicity, diminishing water resources, pollution of underground water, salinity of underground water, increased incidence of human and livestock diseases and global warming are some of the negative impacts of over adoption of agricultural technologies by the farmers to make the Green Revolution successful. Indiscriminate and disproportionate use of chemicals pollutes the soil, air and water and feed and fodders offered to animals. This may be one of the important etiologies of increased productive and reproductive health problems of livestock. Various scientific studies and surveys conducted on fertilizer and pesticide residues during last 45 years indicate the presence of residues of fertilizers and pesticides like nitrates, organochlorines, organophosphates, synthetic pyrethroids and carbamates at higher level than permissible limit in milk, dairy products, water, fodder, livestock feeds and other food products. As urea, a nitrogen-rich fertilizer is used much more than the recommended 4-to-1 ratio to potassium; it is contributing to the global warming. The extent of systematic damages caused in the process of Green Revolution to the soil, groundwater, and ecosystem needs to be quantified. It could lead to irreversible consequence to the life of the people who are benefited once if the timely, adequate and sustainable measures are not taken up to mitigate the harm done by the Green Revolution. Content Type Journal Article Category Short Note Pages 75-80 Authors Saidur Rahman, Department of Veterinary & Animal Husbandry Extension Education College of Veterinary Sciences & Animal Husbandry, Central Agricultural University Selesih, Aizawl, Mizoram, India. E-mail: saidur14@rediffmail.com Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 1 / 2015

Description: A total of 177 species were recorded from all the three sites of the landfill/study area of Doon valley; cultivated species outnumbered the natural species in landfill sites and periphery. Dicots contributed 76.28% of the total vegetation. Herbs were dominating growth form. TWINSPAN classified the herbaceous vegetation of landfill site into five groups in rainy season, four groups in winter season and four groups in summer season. The high moisture content in the landfill site with high organic matter and other similar habitat parameters have clustered the vegetation of landfill sites and periphery. The results of a study indicating the great influence of soil parameters on the diversity and composition of vegetation are presented. Content Type Journal Article Pages 61-68 Authors Seema Manwal, Ecology Research Laboratory, Botany Deptt., D.A.V. (P.G.) College Dehradun - 248001, Uttarakhand, India S.P. Joshi, Ecology Research Laboratory, Botany Deptt., D.A.V. (P.G.) College Dehradun - 248001, Uttarakhand, India Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 1 / 2015

Description: A two-dimensional steady-state solute transport model is developed to simulate movement of non-point sources of pollution in anisotropic porous media. The migration of chemicals dissolved in groundwater is governed by advective-dispersive processes which are also affected by the velocity of the flowing groundwater. Therefore, groundwater flow equation is solved for hydraulic gradient and hydraulic conductivity to approximate the average linear velocity of the fluid. The advection-dispersion is used to approximate the spatial and temporal distribution of non-reactive dissolved chemical in a flowing groundwater. A computer code is developed in MATLAB to solve the groundwater flow and solute transports equations by finite difference methods. The developed program is verified with soil-tank experimental data. The solute transport model is used to simulate non-point source of nitrate pollution in an agriculture-intensive region. Finally, the model outputs are analyzed to understand the factors that influence the pollution transport in the study area. Content Type Journal Article Pages 45-52 Authors Morteza Mohsenipour, Department of Hydraulics and Hydrology, Faculty of Civil Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai 81310, Johor, Malaysia Hamid Asgari, Department of Hydraulics and Hydrology, Faculty of Civil Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai 81310, Johor, Malaysia Shamsuddin Shahid, Department of Hydraulics and Hydrology, Faculty of Civil Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai 81310, Johor, Malaysia Sahar Hadipuor, Department of Hydraulics and Hydrology, Faculty of Civil Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai 81310, Johor, Malaysia Peiman Roushenas, Department of Hydraulics and Hydrology, Faculty of Civil Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai 81310, Johor, Malaysia Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 1 / 2015

Description: Antibacterial-resistant pathogens are serious threat worldwide. The presence of drug-resistant bacteria in environmental samples has important implications for people living in the area who are reliant on public water and sanitation facilities. Detection of faecal indicator bacteria in water provides a very sensitive method of quality assessment. This study was designed to compare the prevalence of gram-negative bacteria circulating in sewer lines of Aligarh region at an interval of every four to five years. This study was conducted in the department of Microbiology, JN Medical College and Hospital over a period of fourteen years. Trends of antimicrobial susceptibility were assessed over this period. Isolates resistant to any of the 3rd generation cephalosporins were also evaluated for the presence of extended spectrum β-lactamases, Amp-C and metallo-β-lactamases. Escherichia coli was the commonest coliform isolated throughout the 14-year study period. Polymicrobial growth was more common in 2005 and 2013. Increase in the antimicrobial resistance was noted among the bacterial strains isolated in the last eight years of study. Isolation of ESBL and Amp-C producing bacterial isolates in sewage waters was the most alarming finding. Circulation of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in the environment is an alarming indicator of the rampant use of antibiotics. It is suggested that periodic surveys should be done to study the prevalence and susceptibility pattern of environmental water samples. Content Type Journal Article Pages 69-74 Authors Arshi Malik, Dept. of Biochemistry, King Khalid University, Abha, KSA Fatima Khan, Dept. of Microbiology, JNMC, AMU, Aligarh Meher Rizvi, Dept. of Microbiology, JNMC, AMU, Aligarh Indu Shukla, Dept. of Microbiology, JNMC, AMU, Aligarh Sarah Afaq, Dept. of Biochemistry, King Khalid University, Abha, KSA Asfia Sultan, Dept. of Biochemistry, King Khalid University, Abha, KSA Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 1 / 2015

Description: The removal of ethyl benzene in a laboratory scale biofilter was investigated using a mixed microbial culture immobilized on a tree bark and proflex media based biofilter. The effect of operating variables namely inlet VOC concentration and flow rate were studied in the range of 1.0-4.0 g/m^3 and 0.25-1.0 m^3/h. The maximum removal efficiency of ethyl benzene attained was 98% with an initial concentration of 1.0 g/m^3 and Empty Bed Residence Time of 282 s. Increasing the inlet ethyl benzene concentration and the air flow rate reduced the removal performance of the biofilter. A maximum elimination capacity of 130.5 g/m^3/h was achieved under optimal conditions. Temperature variation of approximately 4.4°C was observed during the entire biofiltration period confirming the exothermic nature of bio-reaction. Maximum carbon dioxide production of 310.1 g/m^3/h was recorded when the maximum elimination capacity was achieved. Content Type Journal Article Pages 29-35 Authors Rajamohan Natarajan, Faculty of Engineering, Sohar University, Sohar, Oman Jamila Al-Sinani, Faculty of Engineering, Sohar University, Sohar, Oman Saravanan Viswanathan, Department of Chemical Engineering, Annamalai University, India Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 1 / 2015

Description: The upstream of Ciliwung watershed has a very important role for the economic development in the downstream area (Jakarta as the capital of the country). One of the main functions is as water catchment areas and water reserves, as well as water management. The rapid population growth has encouraged the growth of settlements in the upstream of Ciliwung watershed, which causes the decrement of vegetation space, resulting in increment of surface water flows in the rain as potential causes of flooding in Jakarta. This study aims to evaluate the suitability of settlements in the upstream of Ciliwung watershed area by using GIS (Geographical Information System) with over-lay system through Arc View GIS 3.3 software with geo-processing facilities. The analysis showed that the development of existing settlements tend to be out of control, because it is not only in the corresponding region but also has entered a permanent settlement that is not suitable for residence. The area of suitable land for settlements in the upstream of Ciliwung watershed is only 19.89% but the existing settlements have reached 22.65% and even about 10-13% is in the area prone to a very dangerous landslide. Content Type Journal Article Pages 11-19 Authors Kholil, Faculty of Environment, Sahid University, Jakarta, Indonesia Indarti Komala Dewi, Faculty of Environment, Pakuan University, Bogor, Indonesia Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 1 / 2015

Description: Russia - Ecotourism Development (Aleksey Pavlovich Anisimov and Anatoliy Jakovlevich Ryzhenkov) 545 Brazil - The Role of Regulatory Agencies (Vladimir Passos de Freitas) 552 Philippines - Wetlands-Dependent Displaced Persons "Prospects for a Law" (Amado S. Tolentino, Jr) 561 Content Type Journal Article Pages 545-565 Journal Environmental Policy and Law Online ISSN 1878-5395 Print ISSN 0378-777X Journal Volume Volume 44 Journal Issue Volume 44, Number 6 / 2014

Description: Lignin phenol and stable isotope have been used as a biomarker to trace the sources of sedimentary organic matter (SOM), reconstruction of paleovegetation and climate changes without considering the possible occurrence of fossil pollen grain in sedimentary matrix. Lignin phenol analysis of modern pollen showed that both gymnosperm and angiosperm pollen yielded very high concentration of cinnamyl (C) phenols as compared to that of vanillyl (V) and syringyl (S) phenols (C/V=3.05–23.67) with variation in isotopic compositions (δ^{13}=−20.2 to −28.3‰ and δ^{15}N =−9.2 to 1.7‰). Therefore the isotopic and lignin phenol signatures in SOM might be distorted to some extent by fossil pollen. This was especially true in the sediments of low altitude and latitude continental lakes and coastal areas where significant amount of fossil pollen might be deposited. Therefore, before using lignin phenol as a biomarker, one should consider a possible distortion derived from lignin of fossil pollen in sedimentary matrix. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-9 Authors Shafi M. Tareq, School of Bioscience, the University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia and Department of Environmental Sciences, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh Keiichi Ohta, School of Environmental Science, The University of Shiga Prefecture, 2500 Hassaka-cho Hikone, Shiga Pref. 522-8533, Japan Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 1 / 2015

Description: Content Type Journal Article Pages 91-96 Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 1 / 2015

Description: Plants take heavy metals from soil through different reactions. In the present study, heavy metals concentration in leaves and soil of few common plants like Bougainvillea glabra, Delonix regia and Azadirachta indica in mining and non-mining area has been determined. Effect of air pollution and metal content in soil on metal uptake by plant leaves has been done. Metals are present at higher concentration level in soil and leaves of mining area as compared to non-mining area. Metals are present well within the normal range in leaves of the three plants of non-mining area. Cr concentration in leaves of plants in mining area has been found above the normal range. Cu and Pb concentration in leaves of Gulmohar and Neem has also been found above the normal range in mining area. But the high concentration of metals did not show any symptoms of phytotoxicity in plants of mining area. Content Type Journal Article Pages 53-59 Authors Bably Prasad, CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad, Jharkhand Dhiraj Kumar, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, Jharkhand Priyanka Sinha, Jayoti Vidyapeeth Women's University, Jaipur Rashmi Kumari, Jayoti Vidyapeeth Women's University, Jaipur Sadhna Singh, Jayoti Vidyapeeth Women's University, Jaipur Shilpi Swati, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Jharkhand Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 1 / 2015

Description: Lead (Pb), zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) are ubiquitous in the environment as a result of anthropogenic and geogenic processes. The fate of these metals in the environment is largely governed by their speciation, which is influenced by sediment properties. Therefore present study focusses on the distribution of Pb, Zn and Cu in different chemical forms in core sediments. Four sediment cores were collected from upstream to downstream of the Brahmaputra river. Metal speciation study revealed that most of the heavy metals were associated with the residual fraction. Among non-residual fraction Zn and Pb were mainly associated with reducible fraction while Cu was associated with oxidisable fraction. The bioavailable fractions for Pb are found to be comparatively higher. Correlation analysis was carried out among different geochemical fractions of heavy metals and sediment properties. It was found that most of the non-residual fraction of heavy metals is significantly correlated with grain size, pH and organic matter. Significant correlation was found between metals (Pb, Cu and Zn) in oxidisable fraction and organic matter. The risk assessment code suggests low to medium risk for all heavy metals. Content Type Journal Article Pages 21-28 Authors Pallavi Das, Department of Environmental Science, Tezpur University, Napaam – 784028, Assam Kali Prasad Sarma, Department of Environmental Science, Tezpur University, Napaam – 784028, Assam Manish Kumar, Department of Environmental Science, Tezpur University, Napaam – 784028, Assam Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 1 / 2015

Description: A laboratory experiment was conducted to examine Cr^{+3} and Cr^{+6} uptake capacity of Scirpus mucronatus. The selected macrophytes were transferred to the laboratory containing nutrient solution enriched separately with 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 8.0 and 16 mg/L of K_2Cr_2O_7 and Cr(NO_3)_3 and were separately harvested after 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 days. The bioaccumulation study showed a linear relationship between chromium uptake with the exposure time (2-10 days). The calculated linear regression coefficients (R^2) between uptake and exposure time were found to be in the range of 0.577-0.800 and 0.972-0.994 for Cr^{+6} and Cr^{+3} respectively. In both the experiments, the concentration of chromium was found to be higher in the roots than the shoots of S. mucronatus. The maximum accumulation, bioconcentration factor (BCF) and translocation factor (TF) value were calculated at 2343.6 μg/g dry weight, 489 and 0.33 for Cr^{+3} and 1044 μg/g dry weight, 1034 and 0.68 for Cr^{+6}, respectively. S. mucronatus has the ability to accumulate Cr^{+6} from the surrounding water with a BCF value 〉10^2 but poorly translocate Cr^{+3} and Cr^{+6} (TF 〈 1) to the aerial parts. Content Type Journal Article Pages 37-43 Authors Donboklang Marbaniang, Department of Environmental Studies North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong – 793022 S.S. Chaturvedi, Department of Environmental Studies North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong – 793022 Journal Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution Online ISSN 1875-8568 Print ISSN 0972-9860 Journal Volume Volume 12 Journal Issue Volume 12, Number 1 / 2015

Description: We are always exposed to a significant amount of microwave energy emitted by the wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), television broadcasting, and different wireless communication systems which has many adverse effects. However, by harvesting the microwave energy from the surrounding, the microwave pollution can be reduced as well as the microwave energy can be effectively utilized. Rectenna is an electronic device which is used to harvest the microwave pollution. In this paper, the design procedure of a rectenna system is described and the key design challenges are highlighted for wireless energy harvesting. The key design parameters include harmonic suppression, the design of

Description: There is a rapid expansion of energy demand in India. Hydropower as a renewable energy source has the potential to fulfill the demand to quite an extent. Hydropower development has economic, environmental and social impact on society. The sustainability assessment of power projects mostly considers power generation whereas hydropower sustainability depends on social and environmental factors too. In this paper, an attempt is made to evaluate the sustainability of Indian hydropower projects using the weighted sum method and fuzzy logic. The methodology is based on three dimensional criteria i.e. economic, social and environmental considering that all three indicators have an

Description: Renewable energy systems particularly consisting of hydropower, wind and solar have became an integral part of power industry owing to their benefits over conventional resources. These resources are not only environmental friendly but also lead to more sustainable progress in developing nations especially South Asian countries. In this paper, a reliability criterion has been developed and explained to decide the best configuration for renewable energy systems (consisting of hydropower/wind/solar etc.) during the planning stage. Two different configurations of renewable energy systems have been analyzed for maximum reliability. Logic diagram approach has been used to represent the systems under consideration. Reliability

Description: Use of conventional energy sources causes enormous amount of pollution leading to the problem of global warming. Most of the countries in Asia are facing the problem of pollution leading to lots of health problems. To curb these problems, renewable energy sources play a very important role. Sentiment analysis is used to analyze opinions of the user for decision making with the help of natural language processing techniques. Opinions are the sentiment or emotions about a subject that is expressed by a user. To study about the emotions of people about alternate energy sources we have carried out comparative sentiment

Description: A country like India has great potential for the conversion of waste heat into power through Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). This paper focuses on the design feasibility of a method to produce combined power and cooling effect through ORC, which is environment friendly as it adds no emission for the environment. The organic fluid R123 has been selected for organic Rankine cycle. The working fluid R123 has very low ODP (ozone depletion potential of 0.02) and GWP (global warming potential of 77). The electrical power output and power output of expander are 5 kW and 5.26 kW respectively. The source

Description: Over the last decade, the invasion of haze to the southwest of Iran and Sistan region has seriously threatened the health of the residents in this region, leading to a lot of financial and human losses. Some of the health-relevant effects of this phenomenon include the aggravation of respiratory, psychological, cardiovascular, ocular and skin diseases. Hence it seems of necessity to conduct some research to investigate the effects of haze on individuals’ health. To this end, the present study aimed to examine the effects of haze on the general health of women employed in Zabol University of Medical Sciences. This

Description: In this paper, the competitive swarm optimization (CSO) algorithm is applied for handling the economical load dispatch problem. The CSO algorithm is fundamentally encouraged by the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, but it does not memorize the personal best and global best to update the swarms. Rather in CSO algorithm, a pairwise competitive scenario was presented, where the loser particle is updated from the winner particle and the winner particles are directly accepted to the next population. The algorithm has been performed to find the generations of different units in a plant to reduce the entire fuel price and to

Description: NPB of many binary mixtures has been studied earlier like methanol-water, ethanol-water, methanol-benzene, acetone-water and isopropanol-water etc. This area of research has been on the rise in the last few years due to its various applications like separation of mixture, chemical engineering and refrigeration etc. This process is used in various industries to increase the energy efficiency which leads to reduction in environmental pollution. Pool boiling of binary mixtures is more complex than boiling of an individual liquid component since it involves mass transfer along with heat transfer. The boiling of binary mixture is immanently complex due to non-uniqueness of

Description: Every year a seasonable snow cover is formed in Russia. The accumulation of snow in urban areas creates the problem of clearing and storage of large amounts of snow. When the snow melts, the entire mass of contaminated substances together with the land runoff enters the surface water bodies. This is the issue of the day for the city of Ufa. The article deals with the problem of environmental pollution resulting from the storage of large amounts of snow masses scavenged from the territory of Ufa every year. The sampling technique was to mark out the sample area 10

Description: EU - Trade v. Environmental Law "The Fable of the Earthen Pot and the Iron Pot" (Nicolas de Sadeleer) 23 UNECE / Aarhus Convention - Parties Adopt Maastricht Declaration "Elsa Tsioumani" 27 Content Type Journal Article Pages 23-31 Journal Environmental Policy and Law Online ISSN 1878-5395 Print ISSN 0378-777X Journal Volume Volume 45 Journal Issue Volume 45, Number 1 / 2015

Description: India - State Minister Jailed "Illegal Mining in Bellari" (Armin Rosencranz and Titus James) 31 Hong Kong - Polluter-pays Principle "Policy Implementation" (Ling Zhu and Yachao Zhao) 34 Viet Nam - Improved Air Quality "Willingness to Pay" (Nguyen Thi Ngoc, Takenaka Norimichi and To Thi Hien) 40 Content Type Journal Article Pages 31-45 Journal Environmental Policy and Law Online ISSN 1878-5395 Print ISSN 0378-777X Journal Volume Volume 45 Journal Issue Volume 45, Number 1 / 2015

Description: Content Type Journal Article Pages 45-47 Journal Environmental Policy and Law Online ISSN 1878-5395 Print ISSN 0378-777X Journal Volume Volume 45 Journal Issue Volume 45, Number 1 / 2015

Description: The potential of scaling and corrosion in wells (Bahar plain, Iran) was studied during the years from 2004 to 2014. This study used the Langelier Saturation Index, Ryznar Stability Index and Puckorius Scaling Index to get the corrosion and scaling potential of water wells in Bahar plain for drinking, agricultural, industrial consumption, urban conveyance, and distribution pipes and used the Wilcox, Schoeller and Piper diagram for classifying the quality of water. Based on WHO guidelines the water samples were at the permissible limit for drinking water. The results of the Piper diagram showed that the water samples were classified into

Description: This paper deals with the study of the co-existence of the chemical compounds CO2 and NO3 in substantial amounts over a long period of time for a wide range of atmospheric conditions. Using the presence of chemical compounds in the nature, the mathematical model for the behaviour is modelled. Lyapunov Characteristic Exponents (LCE) along with the indicators i.e., Small Alignment Index (SALI), Fast Lyapunov Indicator (FLI) and Dynamic Lyapunov Indicator (DLI) are applied to make a distinction concerning ordered/unordered trajectories of the dynamics for these chemical compounds. DLI indicator gives the largest of the eigenvalues of the Jacobian

Description: The industrial and transport effect on the environment is distinguished most significantly by the formation of technogeneous geochemical anomalies in the urban landscape. This study was conducted within the boundaries of urban agglomeration (Penza city) for two years (2014 and 2015) during the summer (June to August). To determine the effect that the distance from road and the amount of heavy metal emissions have, samples were extracted at a distance of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 metres from the roadway. There were three sampling points at each sampling line, with a 3 to 4-metre space between them. The

Description: A runoff is a multi-factor phenomenon being of great importance in the life of humans, animals and plants. Rivers are known to meet the needs of biota and economic activity in fresh water. A channel runoff represents constantly replenished resources of self-purification capacity. This makes it almost the only source that provides the needs of industry, agriculture as well as housing and public utility sector in water of the required quality. The ecological situation of the territory and the extent to which natural complexes are changed due to the increased technogenic processes resulting in the depletion of the channel runoff

Description: Struvite precipitation (MAP, MgNH4PO4 ·6H2 O) is a common method for the treatment of ammonium-nitrogen (NH4 -N) in wastewater. Landfill leachate, one of the most hazardous waste streams, contains different pollutants (e.g. potassium (K)) that could affect the process of MAP recovery. This study investigated the effect of K on NH4 -N recovery by struvite precipitation from landfill leachate. Bench-scale experiments were carried out using synthetic landfill leachate, by varying N:K molar ratio from 0.0 to 1.0, in which the results illustrated that increasing the molar ratio of K:N from 0.0 to 1.0 lowered the recovery of NH4 -N from

Description: Group C rotavirus (RVC) has been identified as important enteric pathogen associated with acute gastroenteritis in human, especially in outbreaks. To evaluate the presence of RVC in environmental samples, one-year study was performed in Giza, Egypt. A total of 64 sewage (raw and treated) with 32 sewage sludge samples from Zenin wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and 72 drainage water with 24 sediment samples from El-Rahawy drain which receives the sewage effluent of Zenin WWTP were collected. After concentration of the collected samples, semi-nested RT-PCR using specific primers was used for amplification of the RVC VP7 gene. The overall detection rates

Description: A good part of the forest that survived active logging during the previous period of industrialization is now in remote areas: on steep slopes, in waterlogged or permafrost areas. There, especially on the slopes, the use of land disproportionately affects ecological processes, specifically hydrological (e.g., peak waves, suspended load, etc.). Organizing off-trail transport of log timber under such conditions is a challenge associated with specific difficulties. Almost any cutting area has sites of different capacity (stand volume per ha), which require the use of high flotation machines and have habitats that cannot be disturbed. The frequency of trips to cutting

Description: Benthic communities are important to any aquatic ecosystem and form important food source for most organisms especially fish. The study about macro benthos was carried out in a canal of south-eastern coast of Bangladesh with some physico-chemical parameters of water and soil during post and pre-monsoon seasons. The canal originates from hilly areas and opens into the Bay of Bengal. Polychaetes were the most abundant group followed by Oligocheates Bivalves crabs during post-monsoon. Oligocheates were the most abundant group followed by Polychaetes, Bivalves during pre-monsoon. Salinity showed positive significant relationship with the Polycheates and as well as Phosphate-Phosphorus. A negative

Description: Dyes used in textile industries are considered to be toxic and create pollution problems when released to the environment without proper treatments. Biological effluent decolourization techniques can be suggested as a remediation for this pollution problem. In the present study, a bacterial strain was isolated from an effluent treatment plant of a textile industry. This strain was able to decolourize 50 ppm dye solutions of Sumifix Supra Yellow EXF, Sumifix Supra Red EXF, Sumifix Supra Blue EXF and Cibacron Black WNN up to 96%, 94%, 83% and 95% respectively under static conditions at 35°C within 72 h of treatment. Further,

Description: Pathogenic parasites are considered as the main health risk when wastewater is reused for irrigation, and one of the most targeted agents in treatment processes. The present study assessed the occurrence and fate of pathogenic helminths and protozoa in constructed reed beds under arid climate. The studied system was made of four length different beds (20-50 m) and was operated at a flow rate of 864 m3 d-1 with 1-4 hours retention time. The reed beds were found to be effective in the removal of pathogenic parasites from wastewater with rates up to 98.4% for protozoan cysts and

Description: Content Type Journal Article Pages 536-544 Authors Journal Environmental Policy and Law Online ISSN 1878-5395 Print ISSN 0378-777X Journal Volume Volume 44 Journal Issue Volume 44, Number 6 / 2014

Description: UNCLOS/ Maritime Boundary Delimitation - A Normative Standard? "Part II: Is It Still Insufficiently Addressed?" (Emdadul Haque and Daud Hassan) 517 US and China - Joint Announcement of Carbon Reductions 530 IWC 65th meeting - Dealing with Different Tasks (Anastasia Galilaiou) 531 Content Type Journal Article Pages 517-535 Journal Environmental Policy and Law Online ISSN 1878-5395 Print ISSN 0378-777X Journal Volume Volume 44 Journal Issue Volume 44, Number 6 / 2014

Description: ILC - Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts (Amanda Kron) 490 UNFCCC - Ad Hoc WG on the Durban Platform (Annalisa Savaresi) 492 IPCC - Working Group Contributions to AR5 (Deborah Davenport and María Gutiérrez, Elena Kosolapova, Leila Mead, Hugh S. Wilkins and Yulia Yamineva) 494 IPCC - Ozone Layer on Track to Recovery "A Success Story to Encourage Climate Action" 502 IPCC - CBD CoP-12 "Long-term Progress Assessment" 503 Cartagena Protocol CoP/MoP-7 - Reassessing Progress 510 Nagoya Protocol CoP/MoP-1 - Entry Into Force and Compliance Procedures (Elsa Tsioumani) 513 Content Type Journal Article Pages 490-516 Journal Environmental Policy and Law Online ISSN 1878-5395 Print ISSN 0378-777X Journal Volume Volume 44 Journal Issue Volume 44, Number 6 / 2014

Description: Content Type Journal Article Pages 565-566 Journal Environmental Policy and Law Online ISSN 1878-5395 Print ISSN 0378-777X Journal Volume Volume 44 Journal Issue Volume 44, Number 6 / 2014

Description: Environmental bacteria have an important role in the removal and improvement of metals from polluted area. Metal–microbe interactions as a form of detoxification of metal have been developed. In this study, we investigated the ability of Tabrizicola aquatica RCRI19T , a novel environmental bacterium isolated from deepwater from Qurugöl Lake nearby Tabriz city, Iran, to Fe(III)-reduction as an electron acceptor in minimal essential elements condition. Subsequently, bioabsorption behaviour of heavy metals (Ni2+ , Co2+ , pb2+ ) by strain RCRI19T has been demonstrated. Our results showed that strain RCRI19T can reduce 20mM ferric-citrate particularly in anaerobic condition,

Description: The Arabian Gulf is increasingly subjected to habitat alteration due to dredging, reclamation activities, and pollution from various anthropogenic sources, including industrial and domestic effluents and oil spills. These activities can affect the naturally stressed marine ecosystems. Genotoxicity and cytotoxicity biomarkers are widely recognized as an important tool to assess the biological response of organisms exposed to a variety of contaminants. This study investigated the genotoxic and cytotoxic effects in bivalves influenced by marine pollution in Bahrain. The results revealed that high percentage of abnormal cells (45.57%) was associated with a shallow bay influenced by elevated levels of nutrients from

Description: Rising atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases has been increasing with its negative effects on climatic system. Forests absorb and store a huge amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide (one of the major greenhouse gases) as tree biomass. Because of such capacity of forests which is called carbon sequestration, it has received much attention due to the concerns of global climate change. The research question is whether forest carbon sequestration could potentially reduce emissions in a cost effective way or not. Therefore, this article reviews and summarises emission reduction potential and cost savings through forest carbon sequestration. However, tropical forests have the

Description: Solid waste is becoming a major problem day-by-day. Fruit waste is a significant organic fraction of municipal solid waste and has high moisture content and high volatile solids concentration or organic content. Due to this, it easily degrades in the environment and releases nuisance gases like CH4 , H2 S, CO2 , NH3 , etc. A possible method for treating fruit waste is composting. The composting rate depends on the nature of the biodegradable materials, so the main objective of this paper was to characterize mixed fruit waste and determine the biodegradable fractions of this waste and the corresponding rate

Description: A nano-scale iron oxide (Fe2 O3 /Fe3 O4 ) heterogeneous Fenton catalyst was synthesized for aqueous heavy metals remediation and was utilized to degrade organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), namely, alpha-, and delta-hexachlorocyclohexane (α-HCH and δ-HCH) as well as heptachlor epoxide (HE), in Byramangala lake water sample. Nano-scale Fe2 O3 /Fe3 O4 was synthesized via Solution Combustion Synthesis (SCS), with glycine as fuel and iron oxide separated from raw laterite soil sample (RL) as oxidizer for the reaction. Based on detailed characterization, it was found that iron oxide constituted 34.31% of the RL sample. Later, detection of hematite (Fe2 O3 ),

Description: The present study has made an attempt to investigate and estimate the relationship of water quality and health of the inhabitants living in the iron-ore mining region of Odisha. For this, the study has used a comparative analysis (with and without mining) and techniques like t-test, Principal Component Analysis and Regression analysis. It has been found that mining activities have deteriorated the water quality (both surface and ground water) in the region. Even the occurrence of water-borne diseases is positively and significantly related to water parameter index for water-borne disease in the mining region. Similarly, number of persons suffering from

Description: The process of deforestation is exacerbated by uncontrolled logging around the world. The forest is valuable, it is uttered everywhere and it seems obvious that the loss of the forest will mean large material losses. This value is largely hidden, that is, many take the forest for granted and realize the size of the loss only in the context of the loss of a significant area of forest plantations. That is why we believe that the economic forest exploitation is of particular importance; it will not only lead to product extraction, but also bring the importance of the forest to

Description: Recently, nanotechnology has been utilized in more or less all fields, such as physics, chemistry, materials science, biology, medicine, etc. In this relation, nanotechnology is also applied in the removal of various impurities/pollutants including pathogenic bacteria and virus from water and other water bodies. Among the various methods used for wastewater treatment, adsorption is found to be one of the better methods because of its low-cost and simplicity of operation. Recently, nanoadsorbents have been explored for the removal of various pollutants from waste water. In this paper, the utilization of nanomaterials, as an effective adsorbent for the removal of heavy

Description: Assessing quality of water resources and having accurate quality information are required for their management. The Chahnimeh reservoirs are the major source of drinking and agricultural water in southeast of Iran, and evaluation of their water quality is necessary. The water quality index (WQI) is the most important indicator expressing the qualitative condition of water in simple terms, without mathematical or statistical complexity. Therefore it was used in this descriptive, cross-sectional study of the first Chahnimeh reservoir based on sampling during the four seasons in 2016. Eight sampling stations were selected in the reservoir to determine six variables (nitrate, nitrite,