The present study was conducted to assess the impact of touristic activities at Lidder stream in Pahalgam, (J&K), India. The main reasons for the deterioration of the water quality of Lidder stream are increase in tourist flow, which increases the concentration of nutrients due to sewage disposal, bathing and washing in the vicinity of the stream. The physico-chemical analysis shows variations in most of the water quality parameters such as pH changes gradually, whereas EC, F.CO2, BOD, Cl- , NO3 -N, NH4 +N, OPP, TA and TP increased, while DO decreased. The water of Lidder stream serves domestic, agriculture, irrigation and other commercial sectors (including hotels at Pahalgam), which have a directly impact on the water quality of Lidder stream. It is contingent from the present study that pollution load due to tourism increased.

Field experiments were conducted during the 2012 and 2013 cropping seasons at the University of Maiduguri to compared the efficacies of selected aqueous plant extracts on the management of the population of eggplant leaf roller (Eublemma olivacea Wlk.) infesting eggplant (Solanum melongena L.). The extracts were from neem leaf; bitter melon; black current; ginger rhizome and wild onion. They were compared with a conventional insecticide, Lambdacot 500EC and the absolute control. Extracts were applied at 5 % w/v while Lambdacot was applied at 1.5 g a.i/ha. The results indicated that the mean number of leaf rollers in treated plots were significantly (P< 0.05) lower than the control. The highest mean number of leaf rollers was 3.01 and 3.93. Lambdacot 500 EC had the lowest eggplant leaf roller counts per plant followed by neem, ginger rhizome and wild onion. The mean number of leaves damaged per plant followed similar trend. There was significantly (P< 0.05) higher number of eggplant fruits/plant, fruit weight and fruit yield in the decreasing order of Lambdacot 500 EC, neem, wild onion, bitter melon and black current. The absolute control had the fewest number of eggplant fruits/plant, fruit weight and fruit yield. These aqueous extracts should be adopted by eggplant farmers as they are cost effective and friendly to the environment. However, the actual quantities of these extracts to be applied per plant depending on the variety of eggplant, season and weather condition of the cropping season and canopy architecture remain to be critically explored.

The present study focused on the groundwater in Dehradun city to assess the quality of groundwater for determining its suitability for drinking and agricultural purposes. Groundwater samples were collected monthly from four sites of Dehradun city. Comparison of physic-chemical parameters with WHO (world health organization) and I.S (Indian Standards) revealed that, the status of groundwater is better for drinking purposes. Results indicate that physico-chemical parameters such as Temperature, EC, TDS, BOD, COD, Total Alkalinity, Total Hardness, Chloride, Sodium and Potassium were slightly increased at Site III and IV, while pH and DO were decreased. Correlation coefficient value indicates high positive and negative relationships (p<0.05 level) and also show significant positive and negative relationship between the GW quality parameters and different sites. The present study revealed water quality of all the four sites (I-IV) were better and safe and monitoring of ground water quality periodically, prevent further contamination.

Essential oils are greatly strenuous aromatic materials having various constituents. They are used in the preparation of various precious substances like making perfumes, medicines, cleaning agent, and aromatic treatment etc. The purpose of the present investigation was to identify the major and minor chemical constituent in eighteen essential oils viz., amyris, basil, black pepper, camphor, catnip, chamomile, cinnamon, citronella, dill, frankincense, galbanum, jasmine, juniper, lavender, peppermint, rosemary, tagetes and thyme with the help of gas chromatography /mass spectrometry (GC/MS). In eighteen essential oils the identified compounds studied by GC-MS contain various types of high and low molecular weights of chemical ingredients. Therefore, GC/MS efficiently and speedily screened all the volatile elements present in the essential oils for the quantitative use of these identified chemical constituents for various reasons.

Experiments for the comparative assessment of phytoremediation feasibility of water caltrop (Trapa natans L.) and water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes Solms.) using paper mill effluent were carried out for 60 days. The results revealed that the pulp and paper mill effluent was varied in characteristics and highly loaded with TDS, EC, BOD5, COD, TKN, PO4 3- , Na+ , K+ , Ca2+, Mg2+, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, SPC and MPN. It was observed that and both the plant species T. natansand E. crassipes significantly (P<0.05/P<0.01/P<0.001) reduced the contents of TDS, EC, BOD, COD, TKN, PO4 3- , Na+ , K+ , Ca2+, Mg2+, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, SPC and MPN of pulp and paper mill effluent after phytoremediation experiments. Albeit, the maximum removal of these parameters were obtained at 60 days of the phytoremediation experiments but the removal rate of these parameters were gradually increased from 15 days to 45 days and it was decreased at 60 days. The most contents of Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn was translocated in the leaves of T. natans and E. crassipes during the phytoremediation experiments whereas, the least contents of Cr, Ni and Pb was translocated in the leaves of T. natans and E. crassipes. Among both the macrophytic species (i.e. T. natans and E. crassipes) used for the phytoremediation, E. crassipes was found to be more effective for the removal of different parameters of pulp and paper mill effluent in comparison to T. natans. Therefore, T. natans and E. crassipes can be used effectively to reduce the pollution load of pulp and paper mill effluent.

This paper is aimed at examining the relevance and impact of Jabi Lake in urban development and sustainable environmental change management. It uses a 2km radius buffer of remotely sensed satellite data from Landsat to examine the landuse/land cover dynamics within Jabi Lake and its environs in FCT-Abuja, Nigeria. Using maximum likelihood algorithm in ERDAS Imagine software, the supervised classification result shows that the lake water body decreased from 4.1 % in 1987 to 3.1% in 2006 and later increased to 4.0% in 2014. Built up experienced the highest landuse/land cover change from 3.17% in 1987 to 33.4% in 2006 and 37.5% in 2014. Light and dense vegetation reduced the most, while bare surface also showed an increase due to rapid urban development around the lake in the last 27 years. The focused group discussion (FGD) reveals that the conversion of previous agricultural land use and unplanned land uses to residential land use was due to high demand for residential housing around the lake. The perceived ambience scenery and accessible good road network were ranked as the first and second major positive centripetal forces of attraction to building near the lake while expensive land purchase and high rent were ranked first and second as the most negative centrifugal impacts of the lake on the environment. In conclusion, there is the need to monitor the progression of urban development so as to safeguard the lake for aquatic agriculture and it’s immediate environment from further deterioration.