Diatoms of Centenary pond at Indian Institute of Science Campus

Alakananda , Supriya and Ramachandra TV
Centre for Ecological Sciences.
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012
cestvr@ces.iisc.ernet.in

Diatoms play a vital role in the food chain of an aquatic ecosystem and are used as bioindicators. A pond was created in early 2008 at Indian Institute of Science to harvest rain water optimally. This pond was studied for epiphytic and epilithic Diatom flora and water quality variables. Relationships between diatom distribution and environmental variables like pH, DO, hardness and Phosphates were also determined. A total of 11 Diatom genera were recorded and Pinnularia, Navicula and Nitzschia are the dominant in epiphytic, while Eunotia, Gomphonema and Nitzschia are prominent in epilithic habitats. All the genera recorded in this study are cosmopolitan that thrive in mesotrophic condition. The water quality of the pond is under the Indian inland water quality standards.

An Approach for Restoration of Lake Ecosystemsa Case Study of Kundawada Lake, Situated Near
Davangere in Central Part of Karnataka.

Manjappa S, Suresh S^*, Aravinda HB^**, Desai GP^***
Chemistry & Environmental Science and Technology Study Centre, Bapuji Institute of
Engineering and Technology, Davangere‐577 004, Karnataka, India.
e‐mail id: drsmdvg@yahoo.co.in
^*Department of Civil Engineering, Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology, Davangere‐
577 004, drss@yahoo.com
^**Department of Civil Engineering, Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology, Davangere‐
577 004, drhbabiet@yahoo.com
^***Department of Chemical Engineering, Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Davangere‐577 004,

Lakes are considered to be one of the most productive and biologically rich inland surface water ecosystems. Lakes and ponds are depressions containing standing water. A Lake can be defined as any large sheet of water occupying a basin, while a Pond is usually considered to be small, with standing water with rooted plants growing in it. Lakes are either naturally formed or man made. In India, even today, many people depend on lakes for drinking and irrigation purposes. Heavy dependence on ground water with an increase in population and erratic urbanization have all led to the slow disappearance of many ponds in India leading to acute ground water depletion and pollution. Hence restoration of lakes and ponds is very much essential and need of the hour. Davangere is a newly formed district with a population of around 5 Lakhs. Davangere city is situated in central part of Karnataka State located in Southern part of India. There are three major lakes in and around Davangere City. These are Bathi Lake, Kundawada Lake and Avaragere Lake. Because of entry of city sewage and agricultural run off, all of these lakes are polluted and the water has become unfit for drinking.
A study has been conducted on Kundawada Lake from April 2004 to March 2006. Detailed analysis of the lake water and the surroundings has been made. Based on the study complete procedure for restoring the lake was prepared including the detailed designs and drawings of Water treatment plant. Accordingly the lake has been restored and is being used as drinking source for Davangere City. The present paper describes details of this study at length.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Elephant Proof Measures in Keonjhar Forest Division (Territorial), Orissa, India

Mishra S¹, Mahapatra PK1^*, Palei NC², Khalid MA^3
1P.G. Department of Zoology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar – 751 004, Orissa
²North Orissa University, Takatpur, Baripada – 757 003, Orissa
³AIGWES, Amity University Campus, Sector – 125, NOIDA, U.P.
^*Corresponding author: e‐mail: mahap_pk@yahoo.com

Human‐elephant conflict is a major issue at present. A study was conducted during July to December 2007 in Keonjhar Forest Division (Territorial), Orissa, India with an objective to evaluate the effectiveness of elephant proof measures in mitigating the conflict issues. The number of human killings (77 nos.), human injuries (144 nos.), partly house damage (1503 nos.), fully house damage (310 nos.) and crop damage (2779.69 acres) during 2001 to 2007 showed a higher frequency of human elephant interface in comparison to previous years. A total of 10 nos. of electric power fences and 5 nos. of elephant proof trenches/stone walls measuring 43.5 km were mapped during the study with GCP (using Garmin 60). To evaluate the effectiveness of the elephant proof measures the people of adjacent villages were interviewed. Four electric power fences and two elephant proof trenches were effective in minimizing the conflict in 14 villages of Keonjhar Sadar Range and Ghatgaon Range area. The elephant proof measures will be more effective in mitigating the conflict issues by the community participation.

Comparative Status of Biodiversity and Conservation/Management Issues of Some Inland Wetlands in Gujarat

Ketan Tatu
Senior Scientist, Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation, Gandhinagar

GEER Foundation has conducted studies on some natural and man‐made inland wetlands with an aim of inventorying different forms of biodiversity (with emphasis on waterbirds and macrophytic aquatic vegetation) and assessing habitat quality that would be useful for their conservation. These include Chhari Dhandh, Nalsarovar, Thol, Khijadiya and Navatalaav wetlands that are located in different geographic regions of Gujarat state. Two of these (i.e., Nalsarovar and Chhari‐dhandh) are natural wetlands, whereas the others are the semi‐natural or man‐made reservoirs that were originally built for meeting the irrigation water requirements of local people. The major aim of these studies was to It is found that despite their different geographic regions, these wetlands support good to excellent waterbird richness and population. Moreover, natural and shallow water lakes among them support luxuriant aquatic vegetation. Decaying submerged vegetation that can form floating vegetation islands/mats can be considered a major management problem as the ‘mats’ not only deteriorate habitat quality for waterbirds preferring open water for foraging, but also cause aesthetic deterioration.

Developing waste water treatment plant using phytobiofilms in a eutrophic lake

Helen Roselene
HOD Environmental Science, Dept of Environmental Science, Mount Carmel college, Bangalore
Email helenroselene@yahoo.co.in

Bangalore city does not have any perennial river .It is dependent on river Cauvery which is about 140 km away to provide water to its residents pumping water is an expensive business as the population of Bangalore increases the demand for water increases . Eutrophication of lentic water bodies is a problem of increasing environmental and ecological concerns all over and is particularly serious when there is no perennial river My present study is on heavily polluted lake i.e., the Bellandur lake and suggestions to develop waste water treatment plant using phytobiofilms in an eutrophic lake which enables the lake to be remediate. The lake can be located at a latitude 12° ‐ 45’ ‐0”and longitude 77° ‐ 40’ ‐ 0”. Lake has a submerged area of 915.00 acres. The tank remains full throughout the year since it receives sewage water of about 160 MLD from Bangalore city in addition to its own supply of water of rainfall from its own catchment’s area. Study has shown that lake water is highly eutrophicated has DO being 0 mg/L, high phosphate content of 27mg/L. Surprisingly nitrate levels are below the permissible limitThe lead contentat the yemlur sampling site is very high(176.29mg/L)and the water quality indexis 215.7.
Phytoremediation for treatment of eutrophic lake was taken up using Vetiver and Cana which were grown in small buckets for the removal of N and P containing known concentration of phosphate and nitrate .The total phosphorous and nitrate removed were recorded .The proposed research taken could be applied to transform thepolluted lake into a waste water treatment plant using Phytoremediation .This technique plays an important role since the phyto Biofilm (Vetiver and Cana )introduced near the inlet point where the incompletely treated sewage water is discharged.The removal of high phosphate and nitrate from the system could be achieved by introducing autotrophs such as vetiver and canna which are harvestable and represent economic products.Thus ensuring sustainability the system

Ex‐situ uptake of chromium And growth curve studies of Aspergillus niger and Rhizopus sps.

Ranjini RF, Usha KJ^* and Bhuyan AD^*
Lecturer, Department of Environmental Science
Mount Carmel College (Autonomous), Bangalore
E mail ID: ranjini_rajeev@yahoo.com
^*II MSc Biotechnology
Department of Biotechnology, Mount Carmel College (Autonomous), Bangalore

This study has utilized two important and commonly found fungi, both in water and soil – Aspergillus niger. and Rhizopus sps., to study the ex-situ (laboratory) uptake of chromium by the organisms. The growth curve study of Aspergillus niger shows that, for a concentration of 20 µg / 100 ml of media, the maximum uptake of chromium is within the first 4 hours of inoculation (when the addition of metal is simultaneous with inoculation of fungus). There is a steep decrease from 4-8 hours, further increasing between 8-12 hours. Between 12-24 hours there is negligible to nil uptake. Uptake resumes after 24 hours and is completed by 48 hours. From 0-4 hours, pH drops from 5.91 to 5.6, and further increases. This indicates a negative correlation between absorption of chromium and pH. The maximum concentration of chromium that Aspergillus niger can tolerate indicates that upto 960 µg / 100 ml of media, there is complete uptake, then it reduces upto 2000 µg / 100 ml of media and beyond that, peaks at 4000 µg / 100 ml of media, further decreasing upto 5000 µg / 100 ml of media.
The growth curve of Rhizopus sps., for a low concentration of 20 µg/ 100 ml of media, (when inoculation of fungus and addition of metal is simultaneous) shows that the uptake of chromium starts at 2 hours following inoculation and continues till 4 hours, dropping to nil by 6 hours. It further resumes after 6 hours and is completed by 12 hours. When addition of metal is done 10 hours after inoculation, uptake starts immediately and is completed between 11-12 hours.  However, when the concentration is increased to 200 µg/ 100 ml of media, uptake occurs till 12 hours, further decreases between 12-20 hours, and then increases. The pH increases from 5.32 at inoculation to 6.4 at 10 hours, and further decreases to 5.5 at 18 hours. This indicates a positive correlation between absorption of chromium and pH. At a concentration of 600 µg/ 100 ml of media, uptake starts at 12 hours, thereafter fluctuating and peaking at 18 and 22 hours. The maximum concentration of chromium that Rhizopus sps. can tolerate shows there is complete uptake upto 600 µg/ 100 ml of media, further it reduces marginally till 650 µg/ 100 ml of media and again peaks at 1280 µg/ 100 ml of media.
The study forms a basis for further bioremediation studies of utilizing common soil and aquatic fungi for treatment of electroplating and other chromium-containing industrial wastes.

Impact of Electricity Industry on Environment: Issues and Remedies

Shankar Sharma
Consultant to electricity Industry, Thirthahally

Electricity Industry has the potential to become the biggest polluter of environment, if not managed carefully. An objective review of the electric power sector in our country and of various energy options available to us will reveal that it is techno‐economically feasible to meet the legitimate demand for electricity without having to compromise on environmental and social aspects. The results on a pilot study on Karnataka clearly demonstrate this conclusion.

Ecosystem Health‐Approach to Restoration of Wetland Resources of Lakshmital Lake

Pallavee Tyagi¹ and Surya Prakash Singh^*
1Lecturer (M.Tech., Ph.D.), Raj Kumar Goel Institute of Technology, Ghaziabad
^*Assoc. Professor, National Institute of Disaster Management, MoHF, Govt. of India, Delhi.

Ecosystem health assessment of an aquatic body is the base to develop scientific management strategy and ecological restoration techniques. In the present study of Lakshmital, four important indicators; water quality assessment, metal analysis, vegetation and socio‐economic conditions prevailing in periphery of the lake were selected for its health assessment. The results showed deterioration in water quality since some of the physico‐chemical parameters have crossed the permissible limits recommended for a healthy fresh water body, presence of manganese and zinc metals in water and sediment samples in highest concentration, invasion of four aquatic weed species; Potamogeton zosteriformis, Phalaris arundinacea, Eichhornia crassipes and Elatine triandra and unhealthy socio‐economic conditions.
On the basis of conclusions drawn from the present study; recommendations for management and ecological restoration were proposed accompanying two major techniques; Structural technique for lake management and watershed management and Non‐structural technique for future management and maintenance of the lake.

Approaches & Components of Restoration of Riparian Zones: Lessons from Central Western
Ghats in Peninsular India

Korse KH and Sunil Thomas PJ
Dept. of Pharmacognosy & Biotechnology
SDM College, Ujire, Karnataka ‐ 574240

Riparian zone is the river corridor region found all along the river course that forms niche habitat by having unique physicochemical & biological properties. The conservation of these habitats has assumed much significance in recent time as they are undergoing sever degradation, mainly due to anthropogenic pressures. Such conservation efforts, especially in the evergreen forest river valley systems in the Western Ghats region, become furthermore important due to their high biodiversity value and vital ecological services. Designing & implementing restoration works in riparian ecosystems demand constant inputs from field experiments, as conservation strategies need to be evolved through constant midcourse corrections. This paper has specific inputs for riparian zone restoration programmes on the issues like the choice of implementation strategy through right institutional approaches, the resource utilization modes and the field techniques on ecosystem based approaches to be adopted.