Groundwater constitutes a significant component of freshwater resources in India being vital for its economy and domestic water security. The quantity, quality and accessibility of water resources forms the basis of balanced socio-economic development and its optimum utilization cannot be sustained unless its quality is assessed. The current study tries to access the quality and suitability of groundwater for drinking purposes in western drier parts of India in the state of Rajasthan. Based on collected data, selected hydro-geochemical parameters, the quality of water has been determined and Water Quality Index (WQI) have been prepared using GIS applications. Applying the Inverse Distance Weighting method, WQI values for 89 villages in the area have been computed, which ranged between 71.23 and 447.39. While 68% of the region had “poor water quality”, only 32% is sustained as ‘good water’ for consumption. The fluoride content ranging between 1.66 and 8.60 mg/L and TDS > 1000 mg/L with average pH levels > 7 (8–9 pH) were found to be very high amongst all the 12 water quality parameters taken for the study. The northeastern region with a WQI value of >250 had the worst water quality. Furthermore, the existing water quality is also examined for influencing two water borne diseases, i.e., gastroenteritis and fluorosis in the region. The study thus establishes that the majority of groundwater in the region is beyond the permissible safer consumption limits, and a large population of the region, which is directly dependent on groundwater sources, is prone to water borne health hazards. A significantly high correlation was observed between Specific Water Quality Parameters in the region and prevalence of gastroenteritis (and fluorosis diseases with R2 = 0.530 and R2 = 0.813, respectively).
Migration is one of the important dimensions in constructing population dynamics in any region. Migration is often the outcome of numerous multidimensional factors. They might be physical, economic, socio-cultural political factors or blend of one or more. In the present time economic factors are main responsible factors behind the migration in the developing and under developed countries. Migration has a direct impact on the population size of areas of origin and destination (Goldscheider, 1987). The entire Himalayan region is completely affected by migration and the state of Uttarakhand is no excetion to this, which has shown a constant increasing trend in intra rural urban migration since its formation in 2000. The Rudraprayag region in Uttarakhand is one of the rugged terrain areas with harsh climatic conditions and limited employment opportunities. Therefore, the study tries to analyses the migration trend in the area based on the primary survey of 16 villages. The maximum share of migrants is due to job and employment which makes up to 13.58% in the region. Education is the second most important region with 11.13% due to which people tend to migrate in the region especially the younger population. The migration condition of Rudraprayag district is presented in this paper.
India with 4% of fresh water resources is facing a dual challenge of water scarcity and pollution. Several rivers in India originate from Himalayan systems and forms the basis of Indias Economy. River contamination and diminishing water quality is reducing populations accessibility to clean and safe drinking Water. As one of the significant perennial tributaries of The Ganga Water systems, River Yamuna passes through the heartlands of thegreat North India Plains sustaining cities, feeding millions. Since Yamuna passes through major urban settlement it is heavily polluted with untreated industrial waste, sewage, domestic waste making its way into the river. The study presents a comprehensive reviewof the water quality assessmentsof theriver Yamuna with special reference to Water Quality Index based on severalhydrological parameters. Based on the levels of contamination the whole stretch of Yamuna from its source (at Uttarakhand) till its confluence with Ganga (at Allahabad) has been divided into 5 segments. While all the lower stretches depict high to very high pollution levels, the upper segment of the river in the Himalayas show good water quality. Water quality parameters of river Yamuna depict that BOD, DO and COD levels are not in range of permissible limits in Delhi segment but it falls under permissible limits range in Himalayan segment. Other than these parameters, ammonia, TKN and other organic and inorganic matters fall under the desired standards in Himalayan region of Yamuna.
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