The concentration of nutrients in groundwater acts as an indicator to identify the influence of agricultural activities on the shallow subsurface environment. Hence, the present study was carried out to assess nutrient concentration (nitrate, phosphate and potassium) and understand its spatial and seasonal variations in the groundwater of Palar and Cheyyar River basin, Tamil Nadu, India. The groundwater samples collected from 43 wells were analyzed for nutrients once a month from January 1998 to June 1999. Results of the study suggested that agricultural activities, including application of fertilizers, soil mineralization processes and irrigation return flow, are major processes regulating the nutrients chemistry in the groundwater of this region. Groundwater in the sedimentary formation has comparatively higher concentration of nutrients than the groundwater in hard rock formations, which seems to be due to the adsorption of nutrients by the weathered rock materials. The seasonal water level fluctuation shows that rising water level increases nutrients concentration in groundwater due to the agriculture related activities. The results also indicate that nitrate and potassium concentrations are within the recommended drinking water limits, whereas phosphate concentration exceeds its drinking water limit and 35% of the samples are unsuitable for drinking purposes.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at 相似文献
A study of the water and sediment chemistry of the Nainital, Bhimtal, Naukuchiyatal and Sattal Lakes of Kumaun, has shown that the water of these lakes are alkaline and that electrical conductivity, total dissolved solid and bicarbonate HCO
3−
are much higher in Nainital than in the other three lakes. The weathering of limestone lithology and anthropogenic pollution, the latter due to the very high density of population in the Nainital valley, are the primary sources of enhanced parameters. The low pH of Nainital Lake water is due to low photosynthesis and enhanced respiration, increasing CO2 in the water and the consequent enhancement of Ca2+ and HCO
3−
. The dissolved oxygen in Nainital Lake is less compared to other lakes, indicating anoxic conditions developing at the mud–water interface at depth. The PO
43−
content in Nainital is higher (124 μg/l), showing an increasing trend over time leading to eutrophic conditions. The trace metals (Cu, Co, Zn, Ni, Mn, and Sr) are present in greater amounts in the water of Nainital Lake than in the other three lakes, though Fe and Cr are high in Bhimtal and Fe in Naukuchiyatal. The higher abundance is derived from the leaching of Fe–Mg from metavolcanic and metabasic rocks. Most of the heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Mn, Fe, Sr, and Zn) significantly enrich the suspended sediments of the lakes compared to the bed sediments which due to their adsorption on finer particles and owing to multiple hydroxide coating and organic content, except for Fe, which is enriched in the bed sediments. The high rate of sedimentation, 11.5 mm/year in Nainital, compared to Bhimtal with 4.70 mm/year, Naukuchiyatal with 3.72 mm/year, and Sattal with 2.99 mm/year, has resulted in shorter residence time, poor sorting of grains, and lesser adsorption of heavy metals, leading consequently, their depletion in the bed sediments of Nainital Lake. 相似文献
The Narmada River flows through the Deccan volcanics and transports water and sediments to the adjacent Arabian Sea. In a
first-ever attempt, spatial and temporal (annual, seasonal, monthly and daily) variations in water discharge and sediment
loads of Narmada River and its tributaries and the probable causes for these variations are discussed. The study has been
carried out with data from twenty-two years of daily water discharge at nineteen locations and sediment concentrations data
at fourteen locations in the entire Narmada River Basin. Water flow in the river is a major factor influencing sediment loads
in the river. The monsoon season, which accounts for 85 to 95% of total annual rainfall in the basin, is the main source of
water flow in the river. Almost 85 to 98% of annual sediment loads in the river are transported during the monsoon season
(June to November). The average annual sediment flux to the Arabian Sea at Garudeshwar (farthest downstream location) is 34.29×106 t year−1 with a water discharge of 23.57 km3 year−1. These numbers are the latest and revised estimates for Narmada River. Water flow in the river is influenced by rainfall,
catchment area and groundwater inputs, whereas rainfall intensity, geology/soil characteristics of the catchment area and
presence of reservoirs/dams play a major role in sediment discharge. The largest dam in the basin, namely Sardar Sarovar Dam,
traps almost 60–80% of sediments carried by the river before it reaches the Arabian Sea. 相似文献
Public-private partnerships in environmental policy should not simply be viewed in instrumental terms as means of providing environmental infrastructure and services, but also as sites where norms of environmental concern and political accountability are formulated and replicated. Deliberative public-private partnerships--or partnerships that allow greater public participation in the formulation of these norms--may therefore become an important new form of local environmental governance and help make partnerships more relevant to local environmental needs. This paper examines case studies of public-private partnerships in waste-to-energy projects in the Philippines and India to identify how principles of institutional design may enhance the deliberative nature of public-private partnerships in environmental policy. The paper argues that current approaches to deliberative, or cooperative environmental governance concerning public-private partnerships need to acknowledge insights from network theory concerning the communication of environmental and political norms before they can be successfully transferred to developing countries. 相似文献
Those of us living in the global north are increasingly urged to divert cast-off clothing from the local waste stream and donate it for reuse and recycling. It is argued that this is the right thing to do, since it is environmentally responsible behaviour, conserves resources, and supports charities via collection systems. Second-hand clothing is thereby culturally framed as waste, as a surplus, and as a morally-charged product that has a powerful redemptive capacity for donors, multiple recyclers and secondary consumers. Two-thirds of collected used clothing is commercially exported for reuse in developing countries, and it is as a freely-traded commodity that it is claimed to grow markets and support livelihoods in the global south, rather than a fairly-traded product. As policy-makers in Northern Europe seek to improve sustainable systems of textile reuse and recycling, ethical issues associated with distant destination markets in the global South are beginning to garner attention. Imported used clothing is ubiquitous in India despite highly restrictive tariff barriers, and the Indian market provides a thought-provoking example since in this case the trade is neither fair nor free. The paper evidences the complexity of the market as vertical hierarchies of dealers negotiate and expand the multiple spaces between legal and illegal commodity flows, and formal and informal economies, to build successful businesses. It reflects upon debates in India around democracy, development and neoliberal economics, and suggests that efforts to introduce ethical interventions in end markets will have to negotiate the nexus of power, politics and corruption. 相似文献
India's growing role in the global climate debate makes it imperative to analyse emission reduction policies and strategies across a range of GHGs, especially for under-researched non-CO2 gases. Hydrofluorocarbons' (HFCs) usage in cooling equipment and subsequent emissions are expected to increase dramatically in India with the phase-out of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) as coolants in air-conditioning equipment. We focus on the residential air-conditioning sector in India and analyse a suite of HFC and alternative coolant gas scenarios for understanding the implications for GHG emissions from this sector within an integrated assessment modelling framework. We find that, if unabated, HFC410A emissions will contribute to 36% of the total global warming impact from the residential air-conditioner sector in India in 2050, irrespective of the future economic growth trajectory, and the remaining 64% is from energy to power residential air-conditioners. A move towards more efficient, low global warming potential (GWP) alternative refrigerants will significantly reduce the cumulative global warming footprint of this sector by 37% during the period 2010–2050, due to gains both from energy efficiency as well as low GWP alternatives. Best practices for reducing direct emissions are important, but only of limited utility, and if a sustainable lifestyle is adopted by consumers with lower floorspace, low GWP refrigerants, and higher building envelope efficiencies, cumulative emissions during 2010–2050 can be reduced by 46% compared to the Reference scenario.
Policy relevance
Our analysis has important implications for Indian climate policy. We highlight that the Indian government's amendment proposal to the Montreal Protocol is a strong signal to the Indian market that the transition away from high GWP refrigerants towards low/zero GWP alternatives will happen sooner or later. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency should extend building energy conservation code policy to residential buildings immediately, and the government should mandate it. Government authorities should set guidelines and mandate reporting of data related to air-conditioner coolant recharge frequency and recovery of scrapped air-conditioner units. For contentious issues like flammability where there is no consensus within the industry, the government needs to undertake an independent technical assessment that can provide unbiased and reliable information to the market. 相似文献