Over the past decades, the Gujarat state of India experienced intensive agricultural and industri... more Over the past decades, the Gujarat state of India experienced intensive agricultural and industrial activities, fertilizer consumption and abstraction of groundwater, which in turn has degraded the ground water quality. Protection of aquifers from nitrate pollution is a matter of prime concern for the planners and decision-makers. The present study assessed the spatial and temporal variation of groundwater nitrate levels in areas with different land use/ land cover activities for both pre-and post-monsoon period. The pre-monsoon nitrate level (1.6-630.7 mg/L) in groundwater was observed to be higher as compared to the post-monsoon level (2.7-131.7 mg/L), possibly due to insufficient recharge and evaporation induced enrichment of agrichemical salts in groundwater. High HCO 3-(200-1,000 mg/L) as well as SO 4 2-/Cl-(0.111-0.992) in post-monsoon period provides a favourable environment for denitrification, and lower the NO 3 levels during the post-monsoon period. The K vs NO 3 scatter plot suggests a common source of these ions when the concentration is \5 mg/L, the relationships between different pollutants and nitrate also suggest that fertilizers and other sources, such as, animal waste, crop residue, septic tanks and effluents from different food processing units present in the area can be attributed to higher nitrate levels in the groundwater. Appropriate agronomic practices such as application of fertilizers based on calibrated soil tests and proper irrigation with respect to crop can minimize the requirement for inorganic fertilizers, which can bring down the cost of cultivation considerably, and also protect groundwater from further degradation.
Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the aquatic environment pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic has been ... more Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the aquatic environment pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic has been a global concern. Though SARS-CoV-2 is known as a respiratory virus, its detection in faecal matter and wastewater demonstrates its enteric involvement resulting in vulnerable aquatic environment. Here, we provide the latest updates on wastewater-based epidemiology, which is gaining interest in the current situation as a unique tool of surveillance and monitoring of the disease. Transport pathways with its migration through wastewater to surface and subsurface waters, probability of infectivity and ways of inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 are discussed in detail. Epidemiological models, especially compartmental projections, have been explained with an emphasis on its limitation and the assumptions on which the future predictions of disease propagation are based. Besides, this review covers various predictive models to track and project disease spread in the future and gives an insight into the probability of a future outbreak of the disease.
The lower reaches of the Sabarmati River Basin in Gujarat have intense agricultural and industria... more The lower reaches of the Sabarmati River Basin in Gujarat have intense agricultural and industrial activities and this part is affected by problems of groundwater salinity. Here we attempt to assess the processes governing the causes of groundwater salinity in the coastal alluvial aquifer, employing δ 18 O and δ D isotopes in integration with ionic ratio. The different hydrochemical facies such Na-Mg-HCO 3 -Cl, Na-Cl-SO 4 , Na-Mg-Cl-HCO 3 -SO 4 and Na-Cl of groundwater show the occurrence of complex geochemical phenomenon in the study area. Ionic ratio (such as Mg 2+ /Ca 2+ , Na + /Cl -, SO 2
The groundwater resource is a multidimensional concept; it is defined by its location, its occurr... more The groundwater resource is a multidimensional concept; it is defined by its location, its occurrence over time, its size, properties, conditions of accessibility, the effort required to mobilize it and therefore, all of which are to be considered in the context of demand. Groundwater, a renewable and finite natural resource, vital for man’s life, social and economic development and a valuable component of the ecosystem, is vulnerable to natural and human impacts. There is a great need for the assessment and monitoring of quality and quantity of groundwater resource required at local level to develop an exact scenario of watershed. In this study qualitative assessment of groundwater was done and a ground water quality index criterion was used to understand the suitability of groundwater for irrigation and drinking purpose in the study area. A GIS based multicriteria analysis was done by assigning weight to different water quality parameters. The water quality was grouped into six classes from very good to unfit for drinking. It was found that the in most part of the study area the water quality varied from moderate to good except in some areas where it is poor to unfit. An assessment of change in landuse and landcover was done from the year 1989 using Landsat data to year 2006 using LISS III satellite data. The change in LULC was correlated with water quality data and it was found that the areas around which rapid urbanisation as well as industrialisation is taking place showed poor to unfit groundwater in terms of quality.
Over the past decades, the Gujarat state of India experienced intensive agricultural and industri... more Over the past decades, the Gujarat state of India experienced intensive agricultural and industrial activities, fertilizer consumption and abstraction of groundwater, which in turn has degraded the ground water quality. Protection of aquifers from nitrate pollution is a matter of prime concern for the planners and decision-makers. The present study assessed the spatial and temporal variation of groundwater nitrate levels in areas with different land use/ land cover activities for both pre-and post-monsoon period. The pre-monsoon nitrate level (1.6-630.7 mg/L) in groundwater was observed to be higher as compared to the post-monsoon level (2.7-131.7 mg/L), possibly due to insufficient recharge and evaporation induced enrichment of agrichemical salts in groundwater. High HCO 3-(200-1,000 mg/L) as well as SO 4 2-/Cl-(0.111-0.992) in post-monsoon period provides a favourable environment for denitrification, and lower the NO 3 levels during the post-monsoon period. The K vs NO 3 scatter plot suggests a common source of these ions when the concentration is \5 mg/L, the relationships between different pollutants and nitrate also suggest that fertilizers and other sources, such as, animal waste, crop residue, septic tanks and effluents from different food processing units present in the area can be attributed to higher nitrate levels in the groundwater. Appropriate agronomic practices such as application of fertilizers based on calibrated soil tests and proper irrigation with respect to crop can minimize the requirement for inorganic fertilizers, which can bring down the cost of cultivation considerably, and also protect groundwater from further degradation.
Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the aquatic environment pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic has been ... more Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the aquatic environment pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic has been a global concern. Though SARS-CoV-2 is known as a respiratory virus, its detection in faecal matter and wastewater demonstrates its enteric involvement resulting in vulnerable aquatic environment. Here, we provide the latest updates on wastewater-based epidemiology, which is gaining interest in the current situation as a unique tool of surveillance and monitoring of the disease. Transport pathways with its migration through wastewater to surface and subsurface waters, probability of infectivity and ways of inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 are discussed in detail. Epidemiological models, especially compartmental projections, have been explained with an emphasis on its limitation and the assumptions on which the future predictions of disease propagation are based. Besides, this review covers various predictive models to track and project disease spread in the future and gives an insight into the probability of a future outbreak of the disease.
The lower reaches of the Sabarmati River Basin in Gujarat have intense agricultural and industria... more The lower reaches of the Sabarmati River Basin in Gujarat have intense agricultural and industrial activities and this part is affected by problems of groundwater salinity. Here we attempt to assess the processes governing the causes of groundwater salinity in the coastal alluvial aquifer, employing δ 18 O and δ D isotopes in integration with ionic ratio. The different hydrochemical facies such Na-Mg-HCO 3 -Cl, Na-Cl-SO 4 , Na-Mg-Cl-HCO 3 -SO 4 and Na-Cl of groundwater show the occurrence of complex geochemical phenomenon in the study area. Ionic ratio (such as Mg 2+ /Ca 2+ , Na + /Cl -, SO 2
The groundwater resource is a multidimensional concept; it is defined by its location, its occurr... more The groundwater resource is a multidimensional concept; it is defined by its location, its occurrence over time, its size, properties, conditions of accessibility, the effort required to mobilize it and therefore, all of which are to be considered in the context of demand. Groundwater, a renewable and finite natural resource, vital for man’s life, social and economic development and a valuable component of the ecosystem, is vulnerable to natural and human impacts. There is a great need for the assessment and monitoring of quality and quantity of groundwater resource required at local level to develop an exact scenario of watershed. In this study qualitative assessment of groundwater was done and a ground water quality index criterion was used to understand the suitability of groundwater for irrigation and drinking purpose in the study area. A GIS based multicriteria analysis was done by assigning weight to different water quality parameters. The water quality was grouped into six classes from very good to unfit for drinking. It was found that the in most part of the study area the water quality varied from moderate to good except in some areas where it is poor to unfit. An assessment of change in landuse and landcover was done from the year 1989 using Landsat data to year 2006 using LISS III satellite data. The change in LULC was correlated with water quality data and it was found that the areas around which rapid urbanisation as well as industrialisation is taking place showed poor to unfit groundwater in terms of quality.
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