Research Papers

This study by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute published in Current Science was carried out to identify Pteris vitta and test its hyper-accumulating properties. The plant is commonly known as the Ladder brake fern or Chinese brake fern plant in India, and had been reported elsewhere as an arsenic hyper-accumulator.

.The remediation of arsenic and chromium contaminated soil and water has become an important environmental issue. It is in this context that the discovery of hyper-accumulator plant species, which have the unusual ability of accumulating metals such as arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni) and copper (Cu) to very high concentrations, has further boosted technologies based on this property.

This is the first report of characterization of arsenic accumulation in an Indian ecotype (plant), which also shows chromium hyperaccumulation in addition to arsenic. Intact plantlets were grown in 20 per cent Hoagland solution amended with up to 200 mg arsenic or chromium medium. Plants absorbed and accumulated a significant amount of arsenic and chromium in their biomass with high bio-enrichment factor. Arsenic and chromium tolerance by spores and gametophytes under in-vitro was also assessed.

Here the yields of crops grown by low-cost inputs including plant biomass are compared with chemical fertiliser-induced production.

The study was conducted over 1999-2004, and the findings conclude that the yields of low intensive biological farming are as good, if not better than chemical fertiliser intensive farming.

 Plasmid-encoding Carbapenemase-resistant Metallo-B-Lactamase (PCM or NDM-1) is an enzyme that makes bacteria resistant, not only to a broad range of antibiotics such as carbapenems and other β-lactam, but also to multiple other antibiotic classes, leaving very few treatment options available, when a person gets infected with such bacteria.

After 3 decades of relentless fighting for rehabilitation, 113 tribal families displaced by Sardar Sarovar Dam on the River Narmada in India’s Madhya Pradesh have finally had their demand fulfilled. The families have received land on which they can now build their homes again. Rakesh says that the development has raised the hopes of thousands of others like him who are still awaiting resettlement.

This paper discusses the need to shift from chemical intensive agriculture to organic farming. The authors in their vision for a chemical-free agriculture also stress that organic agriculture is a way to achieve food security.

The authors begin with the current crisis in Indian agriculture. Stating that though the Green Revolution made India self-sufficient in food production in the shortest time it also resulted in a host of problems. The indiscriminate use of fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides and herbicides has created problems of decline in the soil fertility, pollution of water resources, and chemical contamination of food grains, amongst the many similar issues now linked to the Green Revolution.

These two reports discuss the dependency of agriculture on phosphorous and the ways to mitigate the problem.

The first report looks at agricultural dependence of chemical nutrients on a global scale and even discusses the potential international political fallout of a reduction in phosphorous. The second report is focused on ways to tackle the dependency on this mineral, in the Indian context. However, both speak of the need for finding alternatives to the current methods of obtaining phosphorous, which is largely through mining.

India is the largest user of groundwater resources in the world. It is estimated that approximately 230 cubic kilometers per year is used annually, this is more than a quarter of the total world consumption from this resource.

It is in this context that this World Bank report looks at the reasons for this quantum of groundwater usage.

The report delves into socio-economic and political reasons and looks at policies which inadvertently promote so much extraction. The report also analyses various attempts to manage this resource. These attempts range from government and international agency efforts directed to grassroots mobilisations. Finally the report comes out with suggestions to deal with this crisis.

This Current Science paper uses secondary data to discuss the disappearance of the river Saraswati. The enigma that was the disappearance of this river, which according to the author once upon a time greened Rajasthan and had nurtured civilizations on its shore, brought archaeologists, geologists, geophysicists, and climatologists to find answers. The author uses the body of work created by these scientists to solve the puzzle of the disappearance of the Saraswati.

Aurangabad, a city in central Maharashtra is in a drought prone region, and being a rapidly urbanising town, is facing a lot of pressure on ots water resources. Besides importing water there has been an increasing trend of ground water extraction.

In this context, a survey of groundwater use was conducted as part of a World Bank study on Indian groundwater management. The study was a collaboration between GW MATE(Groundwater Management Advisory Team) and GRASP (Grass Roots Action for Social Participation), an Aurangabad-based civil society organization working on community-based natural resource management.

It examines its evolution from the 1970s onwards and focuses, in particular, on the reforms of the past decade, looking more specifically at the Swajaldhara Guidelines. These reforms are of capital importance because they seek to completely change the rural drinking water supply policy framework.