Prospects and problems of afforestation of wastelands in India: A synthesis of macro- and micro-perspectives

There are large tracts of wastelands in India, which have been lying almost barren for decades. Wasteland afforestation is found to be a financially viable and environmentally sound use of most of those lands. In addition, tree planting on wastelands is emerging as a potent tool for arresting the increasing misuse and over-exploitation of these lands and environmental degradation in India. This paper presents an overview of afforestation programmes in India undertaken by various agencies, then examines the prospects of increasing the pace of afforestation and identifies various policy and institutional issues that impede the pace of wastelands afforestation. This is done by adopting a two-pronged methodology comprising a review of literature available on the subject (a macro-perspective) and case studies (a micro-perspective). The results of this study show that there is inadequate investment in the forestry sector as a whole and there are several policy and institutional obstacles to promoting wastelands afforestation in India.     

Generic precursors to coastal earthquakes: Inferences from Denali fault earthquake

Recent research has shown evidence of strong coupling between the atmosphere and lithosphere in coastal regions, associating abnormal atmospheric phenomena to the occurrence of strong earthquakes. Surface latent heat flux (SLHF), total column water vapor (CWV), relative humidity (RH) and total ozone column (TOC), analyzed over the epicentral region of the Denali fault earthquake of November 3, 2002, exhibit anomalous behavior that could be related to the earthquake preparatory process and its occurrence. The complementary nature of the parameters provides strong support that the anomalous values were driven by lithospheric processes, rather than other atmospheric phenomena. Due to the wide availability of remote sensing observations of atmospheric parameters, the detection of anomalies can be used to mitigate the earthquake risks.     

Application of the time-predictable model in Peninsular India for future seismic hazard assessment

It has been the belief among Earth scientists that the Peninsular Shield is aseismic, as the region attained stability long ago. However, the earthquake at Koyna (10 December 1967), Bhadrachalam (13 April 1969), Broach (23 March 1970), Hyderabad (30 June 1983), Khillari (30 September 1993), Jabalpur (22 May 1997), Gujarat (26 January 2001), and additional ones of smaller magnitudes, altered this concept. This area has experienced many widely distributed shallow earthquakes, some of them having large magnitudes. It is now widely accepted that seismic activity still continues with moderate events. Therefore, a need has arisen to take into consideration recent seismological data to assess the future seismic status of Peninsular India. Earthquake generation model has been studied to develop the statistical relations with surface wave magnitude (M _S ≥ 4.5). Five seismogenic sources showing clustering of earthquakes and including at least three main shocks of magnitude 4.5 ≤ M _S ≤ 6.5 giving two repeat times, have been identified. It is mainly based on the so-called “regional time-predictable model”. For the considered region it is observed that the time interval between two consecutive main shocks depends on the preceding main shock magnitude (M _p ) not on the following main shocks magnitude M _f suggesting the validity of time predictable model in the region.     

Secular pilgrimages and sacred tourism in the Indian Himalayas

Assuming the above quote as a true portrayal of pilgrims, this article attempts to describe the prototypical pilgrim from amongst the wide array of contemporary religious and secular tourists. To achieve this end, two approaches have been adopted. Firstly, the phenomenon/concept of pilgrimages have been discussed, so to distinguish it from the tourism phenomenon and; Secondly, the geographical notion of genus loci has been employed to exemplify the fundamental quest for ‘geopiety’ attained through the unification of the pilgrim’s intrinsic belief with its external location. The second part of the article illustrates the forgoing through an exploration of Himalayan pilgrimages. This has been achieved with a discussion of the emerging practices and recent trends in Himalayan pilgrimology. This appraisal alludes to Cohen’s quest for a ‘Theology of Tourism.’ The article concludes with an examination of a specific genre of contemporary tourists in the Indian Himalayas, who have been identified as ‘environmental pilgrims.’

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