Effect of marble dust on plants around Vishwakarma Industrial Area (VKIA) in Jaipur, India.

The paper describes the effect of marble dust on plants in and around Vishwakarma Industrial Area (VKIA) Jaipur, Rajasthan (India). Trees species growing in and around VKIA area were selected and various morphological characteristics were studied such as leaf area dry weight ratio (LADWR), Dust retaining capacity (DRC) and Chlorophyll content. In the study the effects of marble dust on selected tree species was observed. LADWR was recorded maximunm 217.90 cm2 g-1 dry wt. in Polyalthia longifolia in VKIA and minimum 98.74 cm2 g-1 dry wt. in Ficus religiosa in Nindar whereas The DRC was observed maximum 178.51 mg cm-2 in Azadirachta indica in VKIA as well as minimum recorded 66.41 mg cm-2 in Thevetie pervvianain in Vidyadher Nagar. However the Total Chlorophyll Content was also determined and it was found maximum in Bougainvillea i.e. 2.949 mg g-1 (fresh wt.) in VKIA whereas minimum for Nindar i.e. 0.784 mg g-1 (fresh wt.) in Ficus religiosa.

Study of fluoride content in groundwater of Nawa Tehsil in Nagaur, Rajasthan.

There is a severe fluoride problem in Nawa tehsil of Nagaur district. Villagers are suffering from dental fluorosis and skeletal fluorosis. So an extensive geochemical study of 27 villages of eastern, south-eastern and southern zone of Nawa tehsil was done. Total 46 ground water samples were collected and analyzed for various physicochemical parameters as well as fluoride content. The ground water samples collected in clean polyethylene plastic containers were analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved salts, calcium, magnesium, total hardness, chloride and alkalinity. The fluoride concentration in the three different zones ranged from 0.64 to 14.62 mg l-1 where 13.04% samples were found within permissible limit while 86.96% had fluoride beyond permissible limit (> 1.5 mg l-1). It was found that among the three different zones south-eastern zone was under serious fluoride contamination where fluoride concentration ranged between 1.10 to 14.62 mg l-1. In the eastern zone fluoride concentration was recorded from 1.52 to 5.13 mg l-1 whereas in the southern zone it was found between 0.64 to 3.63 mg l-1.