Impact of global-scale hydroclimatic patterns on surface water-groundwater interactions in the climatically vulnerable Ganges river delta of the Sundarbans.

The global climate patterns like El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) have impacts on surface water quality and groundwater recharge patterns. But the ENSO and IOD impacts on surface water-groundwater (SW-GW) interaction in terms of quality have not been studied. Therefore, the present study was conducted to delineate the impacts of ENSO and IOD on the SW-GW interaction process-induced groundwater quality of coastal aquifers of Sundarbans, by the application of isotopic signature, salinity content of groundwater and seawater in relation to rainfall variability. Study results revealed that the declining trend of rainfall potentially increases the seawater salinity. The rainfall pattern also positively correlates with the groundwater level (GWL) at a 5% level of significance observed from the wavelet analysis. The deficit in rainfall due to the El Niño is the possible reason for the declining GWL, which is giving rise to groundwater salinity. El Niño also affected the nearshore seawater salinity which was increased from 19 to 24 ppT. The study provides a surrogate understanding of the potential impact of El Niño in one of the most climatically vulnerable parts of the planet, while IOD impacts are not conclusive. In the scenario of depleted rainfall amount, groundwater abstraction practices need to be managed, otherwise, it could create a potential threat to the available drinking water resources in the present and future climate change scenarios.

Isolation and characterization of arsenic-resistant bacteria and possible application in bioremediation.

Ground water arsenic contamination is a widespread problem in many developing countries including Bangladesh and India. In recent years development of modern innovative technologies for the removal of arsenic from aqueous system has become an interesting topic for research. In this present study, two rod shaped Gram-positive bacteria are being reported, isolated from arsenic affected ground water of Purbasthali block of Burdwan, West Bengal, India, which can tolerate arsenate concentration up to 4500 ppm and 550 ppm of arsenite concentration. From biochemical analysis and 16S rRNA sequencing, they were identified as Bacillus sp. and Aneurinibacillus aneurinilyticus respectively. The isolates SW2 and SW4 can remove 51.45% and 51.99% of arsenite and 53.29% and 50.37% of arsenate, respectively from arsenic containing culture media. Both of the isolate can oxidize arsenite to less toxic arsenate. These two arsenic resistant bacteria can be used as a novel pathway for the bioremediation of arsenic.