ABSTRACT
The majority of people on the earth bank largely on groundwater to quench their thirst. In the era of rapid population growth, the over-exploitation of groundwater gives rise to water scarcity, and people find themselves in distress to manage safe drinking water. In this backdrop, the present study is carried out in the terrain of Pre-Cambrian igneous and high- to low-graded metamorphic rocks, to assess the groundwater potential zones (GWPZs) and evaluation of groundwater quality. The map of GWPZ is produced employing the multi-criteria decision-making model and geospatial technology. It unveils that around 29% area of the watershed enjoys good GWPZ, whereas around 43% area experiences low GWPZ. The overall accuracy of the simulated model is 92%. The water quality index indicates that 68% of water samples belong to excellent to good water quality. A significant proportion of water samples (24%) are found to be unsuitable for drinking, which may be due to groundwater contamination by the process of leaching of mineral-rich weathered rocks. The presence of fluoride (F-) beyond the maximum permissible limit (1.5 mg L-1) of WHO is recorded among 18% samples of the watershed, where 24,963 souls including 3457 children aged between 0 and 6 years lived and might have ingested F- through drinking water. Hence, the health risk of those people is quite high. Children are at a more non-carcinogenic health risk of F- than adults. The study also confirms no statistically significant difference (p Ë 0.05) is observed between low and high GWPZ with respect to groundwater quality. The study recommends adopting a sustainable outlook to explore GWPZ, and an assessment of drinking water quality must be done before drinking.
ABSTRACT
The 2030 Agenda for sustainable development was launched to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across the globe. This paper is based on the primary database to assess the nutritional status of 5-10 years children and the incidence of deprivation in their households of a backward district (Purulia), India in the context of the first two SDGs, e.g., no poverty and zero hunger. We conclude that around 74% of children are undernourished. The proportion of households multidimensionally deprived is 90%, and the majority of them live on less than $1.25 a day. Results reveal that the BMI of mother and the education of father are the two most statistically significant predictors of child malnutrition. Purulia has long been witnessing the persistent nature of deprivation, which is well reflected in the child's health. The district is quite far from the national targets in achieving the SDGs. Government, private sector, and civil society must come together to accelerate the progress of SDGs.
ABSTRACT
A highly visible form of soil erosion is gully, a significant geomorphological feature, resulting from water erosion and causing land degradation and deterioration. In arid and semi-arid environment, gully erosion is conceived as an important source of sediment supply washing out the top fertile soil and exposing lower soil layers. The present study is conducted on the lateritic terrain of Rupai watershed of eastern plateau fringe of India, where water erosion is a serious concern. In order to prepare a gully erosion vulnerability mapping, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) model coupled with geospatial technology is adopted taking into account thirteen bio-physical factors. It is revealed that around 49% area of the watershed belongs to high to very high gully erosion vulnerability zone (GEVZ) followed by moderate risk zone of 31.64%. This model is validated performing an accuracy assessment, which is calculated to be 90.91%, and the value of Kappa co-efficient is 0.86. It is imperative to estimate the average annual soil loss alongside of delineating GEVZ; thus, the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) model is used with geospatial technology. It unveils that the average estimated soil loss of the watershed varies from < 15 to 431 t ha-1 y-1. Around 29% of the study area experiences high to very high (57 to > 147 t ha-1 y-1) soil erosion risk, where 68% area endures low level of soil erosion risk (< 15 t ha-1 y-1). The study of gully morphology depicts gully depth ranging from < 1 to 5 m (small to medium gully) with V and U shapes. Results obtained from this study may help in planning and management of land use and soil erosion conservation.
