Visakhapatnam Basin, located on the east coast of India adjoining the Bay of Bengal, is surrounded by hills. Groundwater in the basin is utilized for domestic, irrigational, and industrial purposes. The basin measures about 148 km('2) in which 35% of the land is utilized for irrigation, and 10% of the land for industries. However there is a rapid industrial development in the basin along with increasing population initiating the necessity to evaluate groundwater resources. The chemical quality of groundwaters available in the basin is discussed in relation to domestic, irrigational, and industrial purposes.

The effect of 50, 100, 150, and 400 mu-g sodium pentachlorophenate (Na-PCP) per gram soil was studied in nonsterile soil incubated under aerobic and anerobic conditions, and in sterilized soil inoculated with Azotobacter sp. isolated from the soil. N(,2) fixation was determined by acetylene reduction. Pentachlorophenate at a concentration of 50 mu-g/g had an inhibitory effect in nonsterile soil incubated aerobically while strong inhibition of dinitrogen fixation in nonsterile soil occurred in the presence of 100 mu-g/g and above. The EC(,50) values for the inhibition of nitrogenase activity in nonsterile soil incubated aerobically and anaerobically and in sterlilized soil inoculated with Azotobacter sp. suspensions were 49.8 +/- 1.4 mu-g Na-PCP/g, 186.8 +/- 2.8 mu-g Na-PCP/g, and 660.8 +/- 29.3 mu-g Na-PCP/g, respectively.

Bioindication of air pollution effects has received considerable attention in recent years. It has been almost entirely focused on individual species and relatively little notice has been given to ecosystem level process and function monitors. Longterm research projects in the Niepolomice Forest in southern Poland and the Colstrip area in southeast Montana, U.S.A., were analyzed for both organismic and system level indicators and monitors for SO, trace elements, and fluoride pollution originating in nearby coal-fired industrial processes. Species of lichens exhibited changes in morphology and survival and pine species exhibited pollutant accumulation in needles at both sites. Declines in Scots pine growth in Poland of up to 20% were compared with declines in western wheatgrass rhizome biomass in Montana to illustrate system wide effects on primary productivity. Directly observable declines in decomposition rate were noted for both sites at higher pollution levels and tied to system wide occurrences of nutrient deficiency and toxicant buildup in soil pools. Pollutant increases in deer antler composition, changes in grasshopper dietary patterns, and lichen density and health were postulated to have system level implications as well