Introduction First of all I wish all our readers a very Happy New Year 2018. Since it is my first issue after taking over as Editor-in-chief of the Current World Environment; I am grateful to all the authors, reviewers and other associated individuals and organizations for their cooperation and interest in the journal. This is indeed the journal which in true sense covers multiple aspects of environmental research. In this issue, we have papers on diversified topics including disaster managem

Introduction India have been experiencing a better fiscal growth over the last decade, accompanied by growing hunger for natural resources and rapid proliferation of infrastructure development due to industrialization, urbanization and modernization; which are yard sticks for the degree of heights of development in terms of technology and economy. Road refinement and highway development projects in India have chiefly amplified the quality of existing roads and have strengthened linkage betwee

Introduction The availability of the earth’s fresh water resources has drastically depleted or contaminated due to improper water management, leading to the vulnerable situation. On the other hand the demand for safe potable water is increasing day-by-day due to the exponential growth of population and inability of the traditional treatment.1 There are many traditional and contemporary purification techniques available or practiced for delivering safe water as per the local standard

Introduction India has a peculiar climate diversity under which nearly 80 percent of the annual precipitation is limited to a brief monsoon period generally less than 100 days. Even though the country receives an annual rainfall of 1170 mm on an average, the complex system of monsoon winds and the peculiar orientation of mountains give rise to some excessively low rainfall regions and well-diversified pockets of water scarcity in one part of the country and simultaneously the other parts of t

Introduction At the climate summit in Paris in 2015 December 196 countries pledged to reduce carbon emissions and prevent rising average temperatures more than 2°C by the end of the century. The important role in this relation is belonging to forest ecosystems, as sinks for atmospheric carbon. The ability of forests to withdraw the carbon from the atmosphere and produce organic matter is the basis of their functioning1. Currently, the world is actively being improved the technologies

Introduction Mountainous areas (MAs) provide major gathering grounds of water supplies for human and animal consumption as well as for hydroelectric power production and may also contain valuable mineral resources1. These areas may be considered as optimum recreation ones, offering visitors a wide variety of activities and being a favorite tourist destination2. Despite MAs importance and the fact that they account for 20% of the Earth’s land surface, their climatic and weather condi

Introduction So far liminological studies have been mainly aimed to focus on deterioration of the water quality due to pollution only on the part of human consideration. Now-a-days, pilgrimage ponds visited by number of pilgrims are an addition to many folds to this devastation, which has now become a cause of global concern.1 The productivity of the pond mainly depends on various abiotic and biotic components usually fluctuated by seasonal and varying degree of pollution.2 Hydro-chemistry of

Introduction Identity is seen as a fundamental need that encompasses all aspects of human life 1 in an age of increased loss of identity, as our lives and places lose their distinctiveness. In contemporary times, the need for stability is crucial for humans, who require development of emotional bonds with places. Therefore, people’s relations with places have been explored using a wide array of psychological constructs such as place identity2, place attachment 3,4, and sense of plac

Introduction Mining industry is associated with many occupational health hazards which require monitoring and evaluation. Whole-body vibration (WBV) is one such hazard known for more than a century and widely discussed in various literatures due to its probable negative health impacts on working population.1-13 In surface mining of minerals, various heavy earth-moving machines are deployed for all major operations. All these machineries are more often sophisticated and technologically advan

Introduction Mangrove forests are among the world’s most productive ecosystem. They enrich coastal waters, yield commercial forest products, protect coastlines, and support coastal fisheries. It thrives on tropical climate and on coastal waters in Asia, Africa and South America. They thrive on the harshest environments, usually waters with high salinity, extreme tides, strong winds, high temperatures, muddy and anaerobic soils.1 As of year 2011, it is estimated that the remaining ma

Introduction Waterbodies serves as habitat for a varying number of aquatic organisms ranging from microscopic plankton to large aquatic animals and macrophysics3 According to NWP (2002), supply of fresh drinking water to most of the living beings should be the first priority on any available water reservoir. The safe and reliable sources of water availability  are an essential pre-requisite for the establishment of a stable community5 There is a definite permissible limit

Introduction Morphometric studies are first attempted by Horton, Strahler, Smith, Schumm, and Miller1-5. Parallel work of basin morphometry has been carried out by Abrahams, Langbein, Leopold, and Maddock6-8. The morphometric analysis is done with linear, aerial, relief aspect, the slope, and a gradient of a channel by many researchers9,10. Basin morphometry gives the signs of an influence on river hydrology and river channel. Similar work is done by Sapkale on Tarali river with an approach o

Introduction Pedestrian bridges in urban areas should be considered more than a part of transportation network system because of the iraesthetic quality in urban areas. According to Gottemoeller there are many considerations for design and construction of a bridge such as economy, transmission of forces, constructability, durability and adjacent structures in landscape and properties, and the bridge designers areresponsible for the aesthetic apearance of the pedestrian bridges along with theo

Introduction Metal and masonry stone, building material, etc play a vital role in urbanisation1 and today’s stone mining and crushing have become the backbone of infrastructure development in India.2–4 The finished product of stone crushing units in the form of crushed stone, stone chips of various sizes; plays a crucial role as a raw material for various construction activities viz. construction of roads, highways, bridges, buildings, canals, etc.5 Considering th

Introduction The earth resources are key component in the development of a nation as well as of a region. The update information of the landscape is of great significance in the management and monitoring of an environment. LU/LC classification is one of the prime prerequisites for analyzing the information of the existing earth resources and changes occurring on the landscape pattern of an area through time. Land cover data refers to the area of a region covered under natural resources viz. f

Introduction Soil and environment are under tremendous pressure due to industrial expansion and discharge of effluents. During the past few decades industrial activities have increased greatly with rapid economic growth, this accomplished severe environmental pollution.  Textile industry is a diverse sector in terms of raw materials, processes, products and equipment and has a very complicated industrial chain. Its biggest impact on the environment is related to primary water consump

Introduction Air pollution is an inevitable harmful by product of rapid industrialization and urbanization and is responsible for variety of deleterious effects on both human and plant communities. Air quality has now become a major environmental concern since the beginning of industrialisation, resulting in a greater release of gaseous and particulate pollutants into the atmosphere1. In Asian countries including India the increasing urban population growth, industrial activities and automoti

Introduction A watershed is defined as natural Hydrologic unit that covers a precise area of land surface from which rainfall in the form of runoff flows to a definite drainage, stream or river at any point.1,14 Watersheds are hydrologic units considered to be efficient and suitable for the assessment of accessible resources within an area thus influencing subsequent planning and implementation of different development programs within that area. Hence, all the necessary natural resources insi

Introduction Fluoride (F−) is an anion of fluorine characterized by small radius having extraordinary tendency to act as a ligand and readiness to form numerous organic and inorganic compounds in soil, rocks, air, plants and animals.1 The element fluorine is present in phosphatic fertilizers, soils and plants. The concentration of this element in these resources, although variable, is of the order 3×104, 3×102 and 3×100 ppm, respectively; therefore, de