Planning of Cost Effective Water Harvesting in a Sub Basin of the Subarnarekha River in the State of West Bengal, India

Development and judicious management of available water resources play a key role for economic upliftment of any region. The agricultural pattern and social and demographic status in the upper basin of the Dulung Nala Stream （a tributary of the Subarnarekha River） in the western part of the State of West Bengal, India, reveals growing demand of water in the basin. The paper reports different management plans involving different types of water harvesting structures （and associated different types of water distribution systems） and different crop combinations and with benefit/cost ratios varying from 1.3 to 11.2 for the basin. The study points out that the judicious choice of both the water harvesting structure as well as the water distribution system is important. Proper planning of crop pattern is also to be emphasized for reaping maximum benefit. It further emphasizes that cost- benefit ratio cannot solely govern the choice of structure and that maximum utilization of catchmental water and thus enhancement of agricultural output （and also economic return from the catchment） i.e. quantum of benefit is also important. The water harvesting structures proposed in this study can be implemented in other semi-arid regions of India having almost the same climatic and socio-economic conditions.

Circulation characteristics of horseshoe vortex in scour region around circular piers

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the circulation of the horseshoe vortex system within the equilibrium scour hole at a circular pier, with the data measured by an acoustic Doppler velocimeter （ADV）. Velocity vector plots and vorticity contours of the flow field on the upstream plane of symmetry （y = 0 cm） and on the planes ：e3 cm away from the plane of symmetry Cv = ~3 cm） are presented. The vorticity and circulation of the horseshoe vortices were determined using the forward difference technique and Stokes theorem, respectively. The results show that the magnitudes of circulations are similar on the planes y = 3 cm and y = -3 cm, which are less than those on the plane y = 0 cm. The circulation decreases with the increase of flow shallowness, and increases with the densimetric Froude number. It also increases with the pier Reynolds number at a constant densimetric Froude number, or at a constant flow shallowness. The relative vortex strength （dimensionless circulation） decreases with the increase of the pier Reynolds number. Some empirical equations are proposed based on the results. The predicted circulation values with these equations match the measured data, which indicates that these equations can be used to estimate the circulation in future studies.

Human wetland dependency and socio-economic evaluation of wetland functions through participatory approach in rural India

Wetlands are an important source of natural resources upon which rural economies depend. They have increasingly been valuable for their goods and services, and the intrinsic ecological value they provide to local populations, as well as people living outside the periphery of the wetlands. Stakeholders＇ participation is essential to the protection and preservation of wetlands because it plays a very important role economically as well as ecologically in the wetland system. The objective of this study was to determine whether gender, educational status, mouzas （which are constituents of a block according to the land reform of the West Bengal Government in India）, and wetland functions have any influence on the annual income of the local community. Considering a floodplain wetland in rural India, the focus was extended to recognize the pattern of wetland functions according to the nature of people＇s involvement through cluster analysis of the male and female populations. Using the statistical software R-2.8.1, an ANOVA （analysis of variance） table was constructed. Since the p value （significance level） was lower than 0.05 for each case, it can be concluded that gender, educational status, mouzas, and wetland functions have a significant influence on annual income. However, S-PLUS-2000 was applied to obtain a complete scenario of the pattern of wetland functions, in terms of involvement of males and females, through cluster analysis. The main conclusion is that gender, educational status, mouzas, and wetland functions have significant impacts on annual income, while the pattern of occupation of the local community based on wetland functions is completely different for the male and female populations.

Identifying and Ranking Dangerous Road Segments a Case of Hawassa-Shashemene-Bulbula Two-Lane Two-Way Rural Highway, Ethiopia

According to the study made by United Nation Economic Commission for Africa, Ethiopia stands as one of the worst countries with respect to road safety performance in terms of traffic accident fatalities per 10,000 vehicles (i.e. 95 in 2007/8). Road safety generally depends on humans, vehicles, and highway conditions. These factors influence road safety separately or in combination. One of the basic means to improve road safety is to reduce hazardous conditions of roads. The main objective of this study is to identify and rank hazardous locations and propose appropriate simple and inexpensive countermeasures along Hawassa-Shashemene-Bulbula main two-lane rural road. Accordingly, the road and traffic data were collected from field investigation and Ethiopian Road Authority and accident data were gathered from police stations. Then, the study road equally divided into short sections of 1.5 km and traffic volume and accident frequencies assigned for each road site to predict theoretical frequencies of accident. Empirical Bayes method and Safety Performance Function have been used to estimate an index known as Potential for Safety Improvement (PSI) for each site of the study area to identify and rank road sites. The result showed that out of 43 road segments 22 of them were identified as dangerous road segments. Moreover, based on further criterion established for screening the ranked road sections 8 road segments were found the most dangerous road segments as they have contributed 76% of total PSI values. The degree of haphazardness of a given road segment in the study area has directly associated with the availability of risk indicating road and traffic factors. Finally, it recommends that regulatory body of road safety in the study area should give high priority and immediate response for the improvement of most dangerous road segments.

Appraisal of pollution and health risks associated with coal mine contaminated soil using multimodal statistical and Fuzzy-TOPSIS approaches

The present study assesses the concentration,probabilistic risk,source classification,and dietary risk arising from heavy metal(HMs)pollution in agricultural soils affected by coal mining in eastern part of India.Analyses of soil and rice plant indicated significantly elevated levels of HMs beyond the permissible limit in the contaminated zones(zone 1:PbSoil:108.24±72.97,CuSoil:57.26±23.91,CdSoil:8.44±2.76,CrSoil:180.05±46.90,NiSoil:70.79±25.06 mg/kg;PbGrain:0.96±0.8,CuGrain:8.6±5.1,CdGrain:0.65±0.42,CrGrain:4.78±1.89,NiGrain:11.74±4.38 mg/kg.zone 2:PbSoil:139.56±69.46,CuSoil:69.89±19.86,CdSoil:8.95±2.57,CrSoil:245.46±70.66,NiSoil:95.46±22.89 mg/kg;PbGrain:1.27±0.84,CuGrain:7.9±4.57,CdGrain:0.76±0.43,CrGrain:8.6±1.58,NiGrain:11.50±2.46 mg/kg)compared to the uncontaminated zone(zone 3).Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks were computed based on the HMs concentration in the soil and rice grain,with Pb,Cr,and Ni identified as posing a high risk to human health.Monte Carlo simulation,the solubility-free ion activity model(FIAM),and severity adjusted margin of exposure(SAMOE)were employed to predict health risk.FIAM hazard quotient(HQ)values for Ni,Cr,Cd,and Pb were>1,indicating a significant non-carcinogenic risk.SAMOE(risk thermometer)results for contaminated zones ranged from low to moderate risk(CrSAMOE:0.05,and NiSAMOE:0.03).Fuzzy-TOPSIS and variable importance plots(from random forest)showed that Ni and Cr were mostly responsible for the toxicity in the rice plant,respectively.A self-organizing map for source classification revealed common origin for the studied HMs with zone 2 exhibiting the highest contamination.The positive matrix factorization model for the source apportionment identified coal mining and transportation as the predominant sources of HMs.Spatial distribution analysis indicated higher contamination near mining sites as compared to distant sampling sites.Consequently,this study will aid environmental scientists and policymakers controlling HM pollution in agricultural soils near coal mines.