The Ganges River is one of the largest river systems in the world and sustains a rich biodiversity of fish and fishers. In recent years, a decline in fish diversity and catch has become apparent due to various anthropogenic activities in the river basin. This study analyses the current fish diversity, distribution and community structure along the longitudinal gradient of the river and evaluates the ecological integrity of the riverine stretch applying a multimetric assessment approach. One hundred forty three fish species were recorded from the river and Cyprinidae was the dominant family. The middle stretch of the river exhibited dominance of small bodied erytopic, indigenous and exotic fish species with periodic and opportunistic life history strategies with significant decline of the large bodied prized Indian major carps. A tropic shift towards dominance of carnivore catfish species is evident. Non-metric multidimensional scaling revealed greater distribution and abundance of fish species with increasing river width and depth, higher sediment organic carbon, silt and clay along the river gradient. A significant change in the catches composition was evident from 1961 to 2010 in the middle stretch of the river at Allahabad. It reflected a progressive decline in proportion of Indian major carps (IMC) and the anadromous Shad Tenualosa ilisha and a significant increase in the proportion of exotic fish Cyprinus carpio and Oreochromis niloticus which represented 43–48% of the total catch. Assessment of biotic integrity showed that 28% of sample locations in the river supported fish assemblages under acceptable conditions.
In this study, toxicity equivalents and health risks, based on concentration of 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urban residential soils were estimated for the human population in Gwalior, India. Benzo(a)pyrene total potency equivalents (BaP TPE) were estimated for assessment of human health risk from direct contact with PAH-contaminated soil. Potential risk to contaminated groundwater from leaching of carcinogenic PAHs was assessed by estimating the index of additive cancer risk (IACR). On the basis of lifetime average daily intake of 16 PAHs through ingestion of PAH-contaminated soils, lifetime cancer risk to human adults and children was estimated. The concentration of probable human carcinogenic PAHs in soils accounted for 38% of 16PAHs. BaP TPE and index of additive cancer risk (IACR) were lower than guideline values of 0.6 mg kg −1 and <1, respectively. Estimated lifetime average daily intakes of PAHs via soil ingestion were lower than recommended dose. However, the ILCR for human adults was within acceptable limits recommended by regulatory agencies, but may need action for children in Gwalior, India.
The paper describes the noise monitoring data acquired from the pilot project on the establishment of National Ambient Noise Monitoring Network (NANMN) across seven major cities in India for continuous noise monitoring throughout the year. The annual average Lday (06-22 h) and Lnight (22-06 h) values observed in year 2011-2014 for the 35 locations under study in which 14 locations are in commercial zone,5 in Industrial, 7 in residential and 9 in silence zones are described. The long-term noise monitoring shows that ambient noise levels have marginally increased for 29 sites (82.9%) since past four years. The present study is focused on evaluation and analysis of environmental noise pollution at 35 noise monitoring sites in seven major cities of India and shall be instrumental in planning for the noise abatement measures for controlling the noise pollution in these sites.
Solid waste management (SWM) is one of the most challenging issues owing to lack of authentic data on different elements of SWM, namely, storage, collection, transportation, separation, processing and disposal. This study presents an assessment of existing status of SWM in conjunction with municipal solid waste (MSW) generation rates, physical and chemical characterization of MSW in high-altitude sub-tropical regions. Weighing of empty and fully loaded trucks per trip revealed total quantity of MSW collected. The average efficiency of MSW collection was 70%. From the baseline data, it is inferred that the population and MSW generation rates are not co-related. The collected MSW included biodegradables (organic wastes), paper, plastic, glass, ceramics, metals, inert materials, ash and debris. The data analysis indicated that the biodegradable components dominate the characterization at 54.83% followed by inert, ash and debris at 21.06%, paper at 8.77%, plastic at 8.18%, glass and ceramics at 4.45% and metals at 2.71%. Statistical measures were also applied and 90% confidence interval (CI) was generated for the characterization data measuring its statistical significance.
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