Incidence of heavy metals and river restoration assessment of a major South Asian transboundary river

Hazarika, Arup Kumar; Kalita, Unmilan

doi:10.1007/s11356-020-09328-5

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Borpujari and Gogoi [12] studies the social impacts while Devi and Sharma (2019) reflected on the myriad impacts of urbanisation. Notably, an insight into the economics of Bharalu's restoration has been put forward by Hazarika and Kalita [13]. Besides, several reports of government and independent agencies exist in public domain that address the matter.…”

Section: Economics Of Restorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unveiling Bharalu River's Pollution Crisis through a Choice Experiment

Kalita¹,

Goswami²,

Hazarika³

2023

AJEE

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In recent years, there has been a growing global concern regarding environmental degradation, pollution, and climate change, which significantly impact the development of both developing and developed nations. This growing concern has piqued the interest of economists in the field of environmental economics, which focuses on understanding how economic activities of producers and consumers affect our environment. Environmental economists aim to explain policies and initiatives that can improve the quality of life for present and future generations. Environmental issues hold particular significance for developing countries, where widespread poverty exists and there is an urgent need for accelerated economic growth. One crucial aspect of environmental degradation is declining water quality, which can have various impacts on the economy. These impacts can be observed in the health sector, where labor productivity can be affected, as well as in agriculture, where both the quality and quantity of food production may decrease. Furthermore, sectors such as tourism, real estate, aquaculture/fisheries, and others that rely on environmental quality and ecosystem services can also suffer negative consequences. The Bharalu River in Guwahati, Assam, is a prime example of an essential water resource that has undergone gradual degradation over the years, transforming into an urban municipal drain. Once a river flowing with pristine water and teeming with biodiversity, it has now experienced heavy industrialization and urbanization along its course, resulting in alarming pollution levels. This study aims to analyse the economic impact of Bharalu River's pollution from the perspective of consumers. It employs a discrete choice experiment to determine people's willingness to support the ecological restoration of the river and discusses the associated issues and challenges involved in the restoration efforts.

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Section: Economics Of Restorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unveiling Bharalu River's Pollution Crisis through a Choice Experiment

Kalita¹,

Goswami²,

Hazarika³

2023

AJEE

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“…Debates have also shifted from dams as a solution to droughts and floods to the interlinking of rivers and pollution abatement in the last two decades. This reflects the politicization of the interlinking of rivers as a panacea for water security in Indiaboth for and against the agendaand the growing concern regarding water-use constraints due to river pollution (Hazarika & Kalita, 2020). According to Central Water Commission (2019), while 2,626 dams were constructed between 1971 and 1990, only 1,400 were constructed (with 411 under construction) since 1990.…”

Section: Evolving Societal Values and Priorities Of Environmental Con...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whilst scientific research outputs appear to have little influence on law-policymakers, there is some evidence that political interests may influence research. PQs regarding pollutants in the Brahmaputra River were followed by multiple studies (e.g., Hazarika & Kalita, 2020; that were not commissioned by the Government. However, understanding how science shapes public policy is a research question that requires evaluating the local contextual circumstances under which policies and laws are framed.…”

Section: Science and Perspectives Of Law-policymakersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying evolving priorities in national river governance from Parliamentary Questions

2022

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Rivers and their surrounding land provide resources and services that result in trade-offs requiring legislative and institutional interventions, for which the perspectives of law-policymakers and their societal values and political expediencies play a major role in decision-making. This study critically evaluates the evolving land–river governance in large democratically elected governments with complex developmental priorities and how law-policymakers’ recognition of emerging issues of river management influences common pool environmental resources governance. We selected an emerging economy – India – and analysed Parliamentary Questions (PQs) between 1999 and 2020 using a mixed method approach. Conflicting priorities over economic development, pollution management, socio-cultural values and inter-state–centre issues shape the evolving priorities of land–river governance. A declining focus on large-scale dams coupled with increasing attention on inter-basin water transfers, river conservation and pollution abatement, demonstrates an evolution away from the earlier narrow view of rivers for irrigation and hydropower. Our analysis demonstrates how the priorities of law-policymakers and political expedience play a critical role in river governance and thereby provide important insights into common pool environmental resources governance for sustainable development while also identifying important knowledge gaps and suggesting scopes for interdisciplinary studies.

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“…The Bharalu river is one of the tributaries of the Brahmaputra river that passes through densely populated areas of Guwahati city, Assam, India, until its confluence with the Brahmaputra at Bharalumukh. Very few studies have been reported earlier on Bharalu river water quality [ 15 , 16 ] and sediments [ 17 ] in Guwahati city. Guwahati is a city in northeast India that is rapidly expanding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heavy metals contamination in sediments of Bharalu river, Guwahati, Assam, India: A tributary of river Brahmaputra

et al. 2023

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This study aimed to assess heavy metals in the surface sediments of the Bharalu river, India. Metal concentrations ranged from 6.65−54.6 mg/kg for Ni, 25.2−250.0 mg/kg for Zn, 83.3−139.1 mg/kg for Pb, and 11940.0−31250.0 mg/kg for Fe. The level of metal contamination was assessed using sediment quality guidelines, geo-accumulation index (Igeo), enrichment factor (EF), pollution Load Index (PLI),Nemerow’s pollution index (PIN), and potential ecological risk index. Pb exceeded the sediment quality guidelines at all sites indicating a potential threat to the river ecosystem. (Igeo) and EF also showed moderate to severe enrichment for Pb. Potential ecological risk (RI) showed low risk in the sediments, and Pb is the major contributor to ecological risk. Overall, pollution indices revealed comparably higher contamination of the sediments in the downstream sites than in the upstream site. PCA and correlation matrix analysis indicated both anthropogenic and natural origins for metals. Among anthropogenic sources, urban discharges and waste dumping could be mainly attributed to metal contamination in the river sediments. These findings may aid in developing future river management methods explicitly aimed at tackling heavy metal pollution to prevent further damage to the river ecosystem.

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Incidence of heavy metals and river restoration assessment of a major South Asian transboundary river

Cited by 11 publications

References 36 publications

Unveiling Bharalu River's Pollution Crisis through a Choice Experiment

Unveiling Bharalu River's Pollution Crisis through a Choice Experiment

Identifying evolving priorities in national river governance from Parliamentary Questions

Heavy metals contamination in sediments of Bharalu river, Guwahati, Assam, India: A tributary of river Brahmaputra

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