eChapters

Metals are toxic and non biodegradable pollutants released into the environment through effluents from agriculture waste, mining, metal processing industries, pharmaceutical industries as well as domestic and natural activities. Metallic pollutants tend to persist indefinitely and eventually get accumulated in the ecosystem. Metals especially arsenic, copper, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, nickel, selenium and silver etc. possess a risk to living systems. Conventional processes applied to remediation of metallic pollutants are often restricted due to technical and economical constraints. Particularly when the metal contamination is at very low concentration the conventional methods become inefficient. In this situation application of bioremediation techniques is a technology of choice for environmental protection and clean up.

There is no terminal of any kind of research, rather they presence a static snap of the gamut of ecological dynamics and functions.

The following scopes for future research

• To construct modelling on resilience, beyond agriculture like livestock f ishery, forestry.

• To create new Algorithm of prediction in ecological behaviour and dynamics

• Gender and economic factors in resilience study and analysis

• Ecological resilience in different agro climatic zones covering coastal ecosystem, Himalayan ecosystem red lateritic ecosystem etc

• Policy research in ensuring and intriguing ecological resilience as well as social resilience on the common platform of production behaviour

• Importance of ecological resilience in the perspective of climate change and global warming

Future Scope of the research
1. Inclusion of more number of relevant variables to generate and delineate complex interactions in the ecosystem functioning with a focus on agriculture, livestock, and forest.
2. The future research merits application of data analytics for visualization, prediction, and prescription of CA beyond time and geography
3. A robust Management Information System (MIS) needs to be the possibility of related to CA and allied natural resource management can help better and effective research interpretation and policy formulation as well,
4. Application of artificial intelligence can go immensely important in monitoring, auditing, and analyzing ecological services.
Recommendations from the study/ Area of Intervention
1. Rationalization of chemical fertilizer and pesticides in a gradual manner and for which there will an environmental policy in place,
2. A data bank needs to be created on agricultural pollution and necessary recommendation from the environment and pollution department need to be made,
3. Fragmentation has come out as one of the barrier towards the socialization of Conservation Agriculture since small farms are energy and input prodigal, so we have to go for community based farming or farm enterprise creation in state of isolated and individual endeavours,
4. Through panchayat and rural development sector policies need to be promulgated,
5. Gender issues are coming up very strong and conspicuous in Conservation Agriculture, the more is the women participation in CA, the better has been the success, hence, gender mobilization can be a program and policy of the government in making CA sustainable,

The Asia-Pacific region, particularly the rural areas within CMCs, faces severe climate change impacts, including frequent natural disasters, rising temperatures, and sea-level rise, which threaten agriculture, livelihoods, and food security. Climate- resilient rural development (CRRD) is crucial for mitigating these vulnerabilities, addressing challenges such as agricultural dependency, limited infrastructure, governance gaps, financial constraints, and socio-cultural barriers. Key approaches like climate-smart agriculture, strengthened infrastructure, innovative start-up ecosystems, enhanced access to climate information, and inclusive policies empower rural communities to adapt and thrive. Stakeholders—governments, international organizations, the private sector, and local communities—play complementary roles in driving resilience through policy, funding, technology, and grassroots innovation. Sensitising all stakeholders across countries to mainstream climate change aspects and its impact on livelihoods, among all departments and the information dissemination by these departments to the public and relevant stakeholders regarding the climate change effects needs to be a continuous process. Success stories from Bangladesh

Bhuva is a small village in north-west Gujarat – India.  My mother was born there. The loving people of Bhuva called me ‘Bhano’ (Sister’s Son / Nephew) and it was my favourite place to go as a child. I have my fondest memories of Bhuva, but could not visit for several decades, until when I was once at the Junagadh Campus of Gujarat Agricultural University, to inaugurate the International Conference on New Developments in Agriculture. Bhuva was not too far and I decided to go there. Soon as I reached, a familiar face, now aged with time, recognized me from a distance and with tears rolling from his old eyes (and mine) he hugged me, calling out “MaroBhano, MaroBhano” (My sister’s son, my sister’s son)! Now in his eighties, it was overwhelming to meet Nanji Ata, who I always remembered being wise, educated and cheerful. He was a relatively progressive farmer with about 6 to 7 acres of land, a few cows and a buffalo. Though water was scarce and saline, he managed to make a good living and was considered a well to do man.

Introduction

In India there are about 200 distillery having installed capacity 1555.5 million liters per annum out of which 50% are of 30 KL/ per day capacity about 50% of remaining distillery are of 45 to 60 KL/ per day capacity there are few distilleries which having go 120 KL/ per day capacity. Distillery waste is one of the major industrial waste having high organic and inorganic constituents in the recent past the treatment and disposal of distillery waste has become a subject of debate of each and every forum.

1.1 Man’s place in Nature

All religions of the world share the view that man is the supreme being among God’s creations. He is the only one among many creatures to enjoy nature’s beauties and bounties. Nature is given to him so as to make responsible and judicious use of it. No religion justifies the most destructive attitude the modern man has developed towards his environment. All religions urge man to treat nature as a God-given gift, stating that God is omnipresent in the manifestations of the nature. It is irreligious for man to expect miracles and exploit the environment. Man must be confronted with the reality that struggle is essential for life rather than “struggle for existence.”

India is home of 16.7 % of the world population living in just 2.4 % of the worlds total land area. The decennial increase in population (1991-2001) has been 18.1 equivalents to the total population of Canada, France and Germany. The population in this century has 1.6 billion by 1960.

14.1 What is Education

Education is a systematic attempt towards human learning. All learning is subjective and self related. It is neither literacy nor information. Knowledge can never be learned. Knowledge is the fruit of experience and experience is the sensation of the individual. Individual experience is the internal function and is the function of awareness and understanding. And, one of the processes of knowledge and raising awareness is to be able to identify and clarify our values. Now values in education are essential to help each one of us directly so that we may order our relationships to the environment that lies outside us. Once we are clear about values, we shall be better able to shift and control information of the natural world, make wise choices and decisions, and be creative in our mental processes.

Tools of Public Awareness

The public awareness and awakening can be created among people through various means and ways. In this age of computers and communication, science and technology, information and advertisements there are several quick and effective means of spreading news. The electronic media, the press, education institution, religious, adult education, moral education, spiritual education, religious discourse etc. all are essentially complementary to each other. The governments and the policy makers can only work forwards environmental preservation on political basis. The media, if work passively on pro environmental issues, awareness can be effectively generated among people.

The Indian Himalayan region is a well known abode to numerous plants of medicinal significance. The Western Himalayan ranges are home to a diverse flora of variety of endemic medicinal plants making it a biodiversity-rich region (Samant et al., 1998).  The ancient system of traditional medicines has been using these endemic medicinal plants since time immemorial. Of late the resurgence of herbal system of medication has led to an unprecedented rise in extraction of such plants from the wild for medical preparations. Most of the times the plant collection is unscientific and unthoughtful of ecological status of the medicinal plant, especially herbs. As a result, unplanned collection and other human interferences have brought a threat to survival of several important medicinal plants of the IHR an  example being  Brahmakamal.

Review of the state of art of Drought on impact assessment, monitoring and management with special reference to agricultural production has revealed that Drought is still a complex natural disaster and difficult to forewarn in spite of advancements in atmospheric sciences and computational procedures. It is realized only after it is set in and is not known when it is likely to withdraw. A long way one has to travel to predict its occurrence, spread and its continuation to the next season over a region. The existing net work of observational set up in developing countries in Africa, Asia and in South America need to be strengthened further for effective monitoring of significant weather events at regional and micro regional level. With the rapid expansion of communication system over the past two decades, establishment of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) at as many locations as possible even in remote regions should be taken up on priority basis and funding may be provided by the respective governments or by the International Organizations where ever necessary. Nations with limited resources may also be convinced to strengthen their weather observational net work in view of the increased occurrences of climate extremes and changing climate. Drought vulnerability regions over the globe were delineated based on sparse historical weather data which do not match with real surface conditions. Now, with the availability of weather data from more number of stations both temporally and spatially, drought prone regions over the world may be re-delineated. This would help the planners to allocate funds rationally to the affected regions. Globally every year, some regions or others may be experiencing droughts and more so in drought prone regions.

The Tuppa area, which is located 10-12 km away from Nanded city, and covers an area of about 66 km² was blessed with good , quality of water before industrialisation in this area. With the advent of industries more and more people from this region started complaining about the bad taste & quality of drinking water from dug and bore wells. From 1997 to1999 there was continuous increase in the lateral extent of pollution, with deeper bore wells more contaminated than the dug wells (Kaplay, et al. 2004).

Introduction

A society constitutes of several social system and institution such as family, school, religion etc. Every activity of these social systems and institution affect our environment in some way of other. There are various factor bring changes in the society. They are biology, environment, psychology, culture, demography and technology. All these factors collectively contribute to the changes in our society.

Auguste Gomte the father of sociology - defined sociology as the science of society. Sociologist believes that one can study society and understand the laws of society by applying the tools of natural sciences. We need to understand the nature as environment, its nature of work and our interaction with it, to understand and improve the efficiency of working with the nature. The Global deterioration the humanity is facing today is unprecedented in the annals of human history. We are already facing grave, water crisis disasters of all kinds, food, energy and ethical crisis etc. The solution is not visible and may not be visible in near future too. Environmental pollution means contamination in water, air, and land due to the various human activities. Man exploits natural resources to earn more and more profits. Forest is being cut down, the land is spoiled, and the air is becoming fuel and water being polluted. So nature has lost its balance such a situation has leaded us to what can be called as Environmental crisis. The changing lifestyle of our society is one of the main reasons for this crisis.

But unplanned execution of work and excessive industrialization and many other human activities has brought us to an alarming stage. In the face to live a luxurious life style we have been destroying the natural ecological balance.

Introduction

Present work report the study on Jakekur dam situated 4 km. from Omerga

The degradation of dam has occurred not only due to influents inflow but also by sanitation, domestic sewage, agricultural waste, and other activities around the dam like washing cloths, cattle, vehicles, and dumping of solid waste. Apart from it a large number of heavy metals is contributed by corrosion of metal pipe, runoff water from surrounding area during rainy season discharge of decorative paints in water bodies.

Geographical and morphological features of Jakekur dam.

Catchments area : 2110 hector

Gross storage : 10.17 TM C

Full reservoir level : 10 meter.

Length of the dam : 21.25 km.

Height of the dam : 14.80 meter.

8.1 Recommendations

The specific recommendation for NAZ in promoting CA are

• Since fragmentation has come out as a barrier to CA, the community based CA entrepreneurship will be more successful to make CA ecologically resilient, economically viable and socially adoptable.
• Crop residues are viable source for soil nutrients including organic carbon replenishment, but unfortunately left over crop residues are either burnt out or wrongly used. So, a community bank on crop residues in the form of bio-parks on a commercial basis can be a dependable source of organic manure for being blended into the farm soil. Auditing on volume of disposable CR and its proper application can help in making operating farm more resilient and productive.
• Since CA farmers have to go through a minimum gestation period and they are expected to contribute to the ecological resilience and carbon sequestration, economic incentives must be extended for their productive as well as stewardship function. A policy promulgation is the need of the hour to support their contribution
• Since fragmentation of holding poses a potential threat to resource energy biodiversity and economic conservation, so a strong land and farm policy needs to be there to abate disintegration and fragmentation of holding

Any perturbation and chaos in ecological setting and its functioning will lead to serious disruptions disruption in both resilience and livelihood. This is exactly what is being confronted by Indian Agriculture upfront. Our soils are brutally extorted to accept the harsh reality that close to 70 per cent of our cultivable land is starving of organic carbon. The ground water depletion in the name of modern agriculture has been another testimony of our ruthlessly prodigal agriculture amounting to serious water crisis. Every five seconds equivalent to a football ground, the golden acres, are vanishing with fertile soil from the chest of the planet. Thus, soil erosion amounting to almost 15 tons per hectare per year in Indian agriculture is not only alarming but also humongous. The losses of biodiversities including floral and faunal counts are adding blistering blistering barrier for our food production system. In the name of green revolution, we turned wrongly illusioned with the ability of so called high yielding varieties and have driven out our valuable landraces to invite gene myopia and gene erosion. This has got a catastrophic consequence. The stagnation of production and productivity in food sector is going to be the bleak indicator of our fragile and frail ecological resilience in the entire production system. But the down to earth reality is that apart from experts, most of our farmers are not aware of this threat, sensitized either. The book has assimilated the data in a delving manner, and real time fact of ground reality that reveals an interesting interpretation of farmers' perception on the rhetoric’s of ecological resilience in India.

The magnitude and trajectory of changes in ecosystem services and functioning have been as conspicuous as has never been until before 1980’s in this subcontinent. Both the services and resilience of agro-ecosystem, the pivotal for agricultural production and security have been disrupted in the name of modernization of agriculture as well as commercialization.
The impact of green revolution in India, that look place during 1960’s and 1970’s have started eroding very fast and as the consequence of this green revolution, the ground water depletion has gone to the worst, it is contaminated either. 40 % of ground water in Punjab has been moderately or severely contaminated leaving agriculture a coercive proposition both from economic and ecological perspective. 10-15 tonnes of top soil are being eroded per hectare per year in its wrong welcoming to farm mechanization process. Most of the highly yielding varieties which did the ‘magic revolution’ now has been fatigued or segregated either. The social-ecological impacts on agriculture perhaps have been both disruptive and deleterious. Due to unabated fragmentation of holding which again is tiny in size, has initiated another problem of resource and energy wastage, bad enough to add to an ecological disruptions.
With a non-denial to the gleaming success of green revolution, which ensured us with much awaited food security and self-reliance, has its intrinsic weakness and coercion as well.

As we draw the threads of “Droughts through the Ages” together, we are left with a profound understanding of the cyclical yet evolving nature of drought. From the earliest whispers of human history to the stark realities of our modern world, the absence of life-sustaining water has cast a long shadow, shaping civilizations, sparking innovation, and at times, triggering societal upheaval. This book has journeyed through millennia, examining the historical accounts, scientific understandings, and societal responses to these arid interludes. Yet, the true value of this historical lens lies not merely in recounting the past, but in illuminating a path towards a more resilient future. • The preceding chapters have underscored several crucial insights. We have witnessed the devastating impacts of prolonged dry spells on ancient empires, the ingenuity displayed in developing early irrigation systems, and the growing scientific understanding of the complex interplay between atmospheric conditions, land surface processes, and human activities in driving

Introduction

Environmental problems have come to the forefront as one of the most important issues in transport policy. For a number of pollutants the road transport sector is one of the most significant contributors to environmental pollution. Vehicular emissions have been identified as one of the major contributors in deteriorating air quality in the urban centers. The problem has further been compounded by the concentration of large number of vehicles and comparatively high motor vehicle/population ratios in these cities. Substantial SPM, RSPM CO₂ and No_x are emitted. The problem of air pollution has assumed serious proportion in some of the major metropolitan cities of India. Therefore, CPCB has 296 monitoring stations all over India covering major cities.

The air pollution situation in most of the cities is still far from satisfactory. In India the major air pollution reason is automotive smoke and smoke from industries. New channels are also publishing pollution levels in selected metropolitan cities. The most polluted city in Asia is Pune. The SPM and RSPM levels are displayed at various squares to create awareness among the masses.

Smaller cities like Nanded, Parbhani and Yavatmal are not covered under National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring (NAAQM) scheme of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The National Ambient Air Quality Standards for suspended particulate matters (SPM) are based on gravimetric measurement. Standards for Respirable suspended particulate matters (RSPM) are also based on gravimetric measurement. The development in terms of number of vehicles and building construction has also reached at the doors of these cities and towns. Nanded city having population of 5.5 lakhs has total number of Auto rickshaws more than 5,000. In the present study, Nanded city has been selected to check particulate matters and gaseous pollutants. Since, the city is one of the important Pilgrimage and commercial centre.

It has been repeatedly proving that Science& Technology that is close and in harmony with nature is proving winner in the long run. If the past 60 years led to the Green Revolution in agriculture which often became Greed Revolution, the next 60 year should be the emergence of love for nature, diversity and Sustainable Green Revolution. The two goals – Sustainability and Productivity are inter-related.

It is also said that the main difference between the past and today is that our problems are truly global. We are also aware that globally and nationally the rich-poor divide is growing and though world produces enough food, nearly 800 million people remain food insecure. Among 8 millennium goals, eradication of poverty and hunger and environmental sustainability are perhaps the most prominent and complimentary.

Higher Farm Production with Lower Input Cost

There is a great need to reduce the input costs and at the same time improve the farm productivity in a sustainable manner. A model has been worked out based on a number of field demonstration studies in different parts of India, Africa and Far Eastern countries. A model in which input cost can be reduced by nearly 20 percent and at the same time the crop production can be enhanced upto 20 percent is possible and can be a boon to farmers in most parts of the world. This is the model, which can be easily adopted in an evolutionary way. As suggested by Jonathan Foley (BOX – 1), use of high-tech, precision farming systems, as well as approaches borrows from organic farming, we can boost farm productivity substantially.

"Where is your Dhoti, Dr. Mehta ?” Dr. Varghese Kurien surprised me as I entered his office at IRMA (Institute of Rural Management Anand). That was April 2000, soon after I had taken over as the Vice Chancellor of the erstwhile Gujarat Agricultural University (GAU) and had decided to call on him during my visit to the Anand Campus. (At that time GAU was the largest University in the Asia with four main campuses – Dantiwada, Anand, Junagadh and Navsari and about 65 experimental farms / stations spreaded all over).

In contrast to the traditional universities, agricultural universities have been entrusted with the Herculean task of technology dissemination at the grass root level such that the package of practices evolved by the agricultural scientists should reach out the end-users, viz. farmers , for adopting in the field, with consequent increment in the farm productivity and farmer’s income.

This unique mandate has been assigned to agricultural universities on the pattern of land grant colleges of the United States. Such vision and trust, envisaged by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and his devout lieutenants, herald creation of state agricultural universities (SAUs) in the early 1960s. The key role played by SAUs in the first green revolution and agricultural human resources development have been regarded as the milestones in the history of India post-independence, that made the country self-sufficient in food production and, in turn, to self reliance in milk, vegetables, fruits and inland fish production.

5.1 Concept of Ecosystem

Ecosystem is the basic functional unit in ecology, since it includes both biotic and abiotic environments influencing each other for maintenance of life.

A.G. Tansky in 1935 first proposed the term ecosystem. According to him, it is defined as the system resulting from the integration of all the living and non-living factors of the environment. In a simplest form, an ecosystem can be defined as a self-sustained community of plants and animals existing in its own environment. The term ecosystem is composed of two terms, “eco” means environment and “system” means an interacting and interdependent complex. It is otherwise known as bio system.

9.1 What are Natural Disasters?

The natural disasters are earthquakes, floods, droughts, famines, heat waves, cyclones, wild fire, volcanic, aerosols (small particles), and landslides.

9.2 Disaster Management

Both physical solutions and institutional strategies should be developed to manage natural disasters. For flood disaster control the water flow should be checked. Institutional strategies do not rely on physical barriers and include flood plain management, flood and disaster warning systems, education and preparedness programmes.

Introduction

Soil organisms contribute to the maintenance of soil quality in that they control the decomposition of plant and animal materials, biogeochemical cycling of elements, including nitrogen fixation; the formation of soil structure and the fate of organics and inorganics applied to soils. Soils and their biodiversity thus play a critical role in maintaining soil health. Non-return or diminished return of organic matter and residues deprive the soil biota of their food with loss of soil health and fertility. A large, diverse, and active population of soil organisms is the most important indicator of a healthy soil. The effects of physical and chemical degradation of soils are obvious. But the effects of biological degradation which is caused due to loss of specific soil organic matter (SOM) fractions (and consequently the loss of microbial species/communities dependent on them for nutrition) as well as and specific toxicity influences on soil flora and fauna are insidious. Proper management of soil biodiversity will help in sustainable agriculture and reduce the cost of external inputs especially for nutrient supply and crop protection.

Introduction

Soil biology is the study of the complex system of interrelationships existing among living organisms and their abiotic (physical and chemical) and biotic (living) environments and themselves. The abiotic factors in the environment determine the ability of organisms to live and reproduce. The chemical and physical sampling and analyses provide a broad picture of the parameters that define the aquatic environment. Biological investigation of soil can determine the extent of soil function and activity. To address environmental issues and increase land’s productive potential, we must now go beyond erosion control, soil fertility enhancement and management for soil quality.

We let you know that the type of people in a given region is closely linked to the kind of resources found in the concerned region; and which are necessary for human beings to survive.

In fact, more than 100 countries possess arid lands, where more than 40% of the global population lives. The soils of these regions present too much fragility and they are too degraded that they can’t allow people to survive.

Let’s emphasize that in Africa, two third of the total area are arid zones. Thus, for Africans, the type of their struggle for adaptation to the context of their land, illustrates their ingenious capacity to model their hostile surroundings and to leave marks of their cultures all over prehistory and history.

Social organizations in those arid areas are closely linked to modes of exploitation and valuation of resources (water and land). However, human productions in those areas are doubly menaced; on one side by the action of humans who exploit resources for their immediate needs, and on the other side, by climate adverse effects during long periods of drought. It means that climate change and violent meteorological phenomenon worsen circumstances. That leads to environmental degradation and biodiversity reduction; alarming deterioration of vital conditions; and intensification of poverty, both in rural and urban areas; particularly among women and young. Consequently, there are non durable (viable) agricultural practices, overexploitation, overgrazing, excessive and illegal forestry exploitation; destruction of forests and bushes by non-controlled fires, pillages and conflicts with weapons; reduction of vegetation, due to the scarcity of rain; of water in general and menaces of heaps of sands.

Introduction

The town Paithan is famous by it’s name Dakshin Kashi. Godavari river has pristine glory and great significance for Hindus.

Nath temple is situated on the bank of Godavari river. It is a holy place and that’s why it becomes a place of public gathering on Ekadashi, Aashadi Ekadashi, Poornima, Deepawali, Dasera etc. Every year during Chaitra lakhs of people gather.

But at the time of Sheshti, which occurs once in a year is a special event. Hence many fold increase of congregation compared to other melas. The particular small stretch of river near temple was highly polluted, due to mass bathing and other polluting activities. The warm weather shall alter the photosynthesis rates, biodegradation and affect BOD, DO, pH etc. Recent Nath Sheshti at Paithan during 20^th March to 22^nd March 2006, drew about one lakh of pilgrims and had a few special aspects of interests from an environmental point of view.

Considering all the above aspects, it was decided to assess the changes in quality of river Godavari during Nath Sheshti.

Introduction

India is having very rich sources of inland water bodies in the form of river, lakes and reservoirs. The reservoirs are constructed by impounding the river system. The reservoirs are constructed for effective utilisation of water for irrigation, power generation and flood control. Reservoir fishery in India is also important from socio-economic point of view as it has the potential of providing employment to about two million people, Kaushal and Sharma (2001). Total area under the reservoirs in India is 3:1 million ha and it is expected to double by 2020. This includes 19,000 small reservoirs with a total water surface area of 14,85,557 ha and about 180 medium and 56 large reservoirs of 5,27,541 and 11,40, 268 ha area respectively.

The Maharashtra is endowed with an area of 1,79,430 ha under reservoir and the Maharashtra produces 516 tonnes of fish through reservoirs. The state fisheries corporation was operating in 6,272 ha of reservoirs and marketing the catches.

Introduction

Disaster is defined as a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses, which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources (ISDR 2002).

Disaster in Global context - The impact of natural disasters in terms of human and economic losses has risen in recent years, society in general has become more vulnerable to natural disasters. Those usually most affected by natural and other disasters are the poor and socially disadvantaged groups in developing countries as they are least equipped to cope with them (IFRC 2001).

Landscaping is both science and art and is an aspect of the environmental impact of a hotel that needs to be addressed. Understanding and blending the elements of both nature and construction is effective landscaping. Whether Landscaping is extensive or small consumes a large amount of water, fertilizers and herbicides and generates solid waste.

Ecogreen’s Greenscaping Operation provides cost-efficient and environmentally friendly solutions for landscaping. Greenscaping operation deals with two aspects:

1. Solid Waste Management, and

2. Water Conservation

Trees are major capital assets in cities Just as streets, sidewalks, public buildings and recreational facilities are a part of a community’s infrastructure, so are publicly owned trees. Trees — and, collectively, the urban forest — are important assets that require care and maintenance the same as other public property. Trees are on the job 24 hours every day working for all of us to improve our environment and quality of life. Urban forest provides many environmental benefits to our community. Aside from the obvious aesthetic benefits, trees within our urban forest improve our air, protect our water, save energy, and improve economic sustainability.

In other words, since most trees have been planted much of the tree cover is in urban areas as opposed to “natural lands”. Therefore, estimated pollutant uptake rates are higher for residential compared to natural or unmanaged lands. Possible management implications of these estimates are that air pollutant uptake benefits from tree planting may be optimized by planting in areas where air pollutant concentrations are elevated and where relatively high planting densities can be achieved thereby enhancing the health of urban dwellers.

1.1 Background

The aftermath of Green Revolution has contributed to both coercions and pollution, albeit, it saved human civilization from hunger, malnutrition and impoverishment. The beginning of GR era, with the prevailing objective and condition, has got less but few choices to go for intensive cultivation that invited chemical fertilizer, assured irrigation and farm mechanizations to make the 'magic gene' revolutionizing the production, productivity and livelihood security in agriculture as well.

The welcome of exotic genes into Indian agriculture has also triggered the silent oftraditional cultivars. Nevertheless, the quantum jump of an agriculture with a production of 55 million tons to 120 million tons during 70s, has contributed to make India self-reliant in food and we have been able to earn a new esteem in the global geo-political scenario by throwing away the 'begging bowl' called PL480.

7.1. Summary
The planet rise at this moment cannot endure and conjure up any further stress and distress created by un-mindful modernization of agriculture. This situation has gone further complex with the unabated rate of urbanization. The natural resources which looked plenty some 50 years back, now is coming up something scant and degraded. We have to protect this planet; hence, we have to protect our agriculture by placing ecological resilience with its perfect balance and dynamics. In doing so, we need to manage and recycle energy, water, and biodiversity in such a way that the operating agro-ecosystem can perform for another centuries. This is a herculean task, it will only be possible when farmers and other citizens are participating elegantly and equally into the process, because farmers are not producing food for their own, rather they are feeding the entire civilization. Every year 15-20 tonnes of top soils are being eroded, the highest anytime; the sea level is rising at the rate 5-10 mm again it has become highest over the last decades and the prediction for rate of changes in rainfall and temperature contributing to global warming has been accelerate like anything. In addition to this, we need to feed 950 crores of population by 2050, while lands are getting fragmented, resources are fragile, and water is getting increasingly contaminated. Thus, CA is the only option to create a perfect balance between productivity with increase of ecological resilience, even within the cropping system by introducing crop diversification with leguminous crops and this is specially so when the biodiversity is also getting eroded. Water harvesting is the need of the hour as we can make our farm more energy parsimonious, we have direct whatever crop residues are produced in the soil echelon and making this concept a revolution into a reality we have to go in a massive way with bring awareness, creating policies, and mobilizing community to make our agriculture ever- green and ever- resilient.
On this context the present research has been conducted with the following objectives:

Introduction 
SDG 3 emphasizes good health and well-being for people globally. In this chapter, we will focuses on the health and well-being of the Indigenous Khasi Tribe living in Meghalaya, India. The Khasi Tribe comprises 7 sub-tribes, commonly known as ‘Seven Huts’ or ‘HynniewTrep, HyniewSkum’ in the Khasi language. The 7 sub tribes are Khynriam, Pnar, Bhoi, War, Maram, Lyngngam and Dikko. Although the culture, tradition, and beliefs are shared among all subtribes, earning them the common name Khasi Tribe, there are slight differences in terms of topography. Some sub-tribes live in sloping or steep mountainous areas, engaging primarily in forestry and horticulture, while others reside in plain areas, where they cultivate agricultural crops. As an indigenous group, the Khasi community follows certain beliefs and practices related to health and well-being. The Khasi tribe is a matrilineal society where women hold great responsibility at home and in the community. Some researchers have acknowledged that the Khasi tribe is one of the tribes in India with a better status in terms of literacy rates and nutritional status. (D Agrahar- Murugkar, 2004). Approximately 83% of the Khasi tribe are agrarian. The main food items that boost their immune system and make them strong and healthy include rice, dal, potato, tomato, bamboo shoot, pumpkin, green vegetables, citrus fruits, and meat (beef, pork, fish, eggs, and dry fish), which they cook in their own indigenous style. The majority of them are non-vegetarian. A common stimulant is betel nut, which has been used since ancient times as a social mediator to connect with others and form friendships. The Khasi people are hardworking; enjoy games and sports, and traditional music. In terms of social well-being, the Khasi tribe has a strong sense of “we feeling”, supporting one another, following ethical and moral instincts, and respecting one another. They believe in the spirits of Mother Nature (ki blei, ki basa). To maintain strong bonding and enhance Khasi Tribe sentiments, various festivals are celebrated every year, such as Shad Suk Mynsiem, Shad Nongkrem, Seng Kut Snem, Pom Blang, and Beh Diengkhlam. They also pay homage to freedom fighters who have died for the Khasi land, such as Tirot Sing, Kiang Nongbah, and Phan Nonglait. Following the legacy of these freedom fighters, various leaders are heading civil groups that monitor the performance of government administration and other welfare states for common social well-being.

Introduction 
NEP was announced by Sri Narendra Modi, the PM of India on July 29,2020. The system was introduced after the debates by experts from various fields. The earlier education system was 10+2+3 which changed to 5+3+3+4.The NEP 2020 have less curriculum contents and increases learning, reasoning and logical skills. After the completion of UG courses in the higher education they may opt for the Research Methodology. The 5+3+3+4 design is equivalent to the age groups 3-8 years, the foundational stage which is mainly based on play or activity based learning, 8-11 years, the preparatory stage which is based on play, discovery, activity based and interactive classroom learning, 11-14 years, the middle stage is based on experiential learning in Science, Mathematics, Arts, Social Science and Humanities and 15-18 years, the secondary stage emphasized on multidisciplinary study, greater critical thinking, flexibility, student choice of subjects. Government will constitute a Gender Composition plan to provide equal and standard education to all girls and third gender learners. 10th and 12th standard students are no longer to sit for board exams which will be accessible to test core competencies rather than memorised facts with all students allowed to take the exam twice. Internships will be started from 6th standard. The teaching upto 5th standard will be in regional languages and mother tongue. The assessment covers reforms with 360 degrees overall progress report tracking the progress for achieving learning outcomes. Within 2030, the B.Ed degree duration will be 4 years. The holistic U.G education will be having several exit options and certification will be provided.

Drought, characterized by prolonged periods of abnormally low rainfall, is a recurring and devastating natural phenomenon with profound implications for global agriculture. Among the sectors most vulnerable to the adverse impacts of drought is livestock production. This chapter, “Droughts and Livestock Production,” delves into the intricate relationship between these two critical elements, exploring the multifaceted challenges and consequences that drought poses to livestock farming across diverse geographical contexts The chapter will examine how water scarcity, a hallmark of drought, disrupts the delicate balance of feed availability, animal health, and overall productivity within livestock systems. It will further analyze the varied impacts of drought on different livestock species, considering their unique physiological needs and vulnerabilities. Beyond the immediate 

Introduction

Water is one of the most complex natural resources demanding a comprehensive understanding of its inherent features in occurrence and distribution for an integrated planning aimed at optimum development for agriculture, health, industry, power, etc. The well being and development of our society is dependent on the availability of water. An increase in groundwater development and utilization for industries and urban water supply has created improper disposal of liquid waste. Defective well constructions, sewage and waste disposal in man made lakes within city, open quarries with water and failure to seal the abandoned wells in city area have provided possible openings for downward movement of polluted water into subsurface formations without undergoing the process of natural filtration.

Introduction

In addition to role of iron oxidation in commercial point of view there are certain implication of iron oxidation on environment. Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) is one of the example of environmental pollution. Coal and various metal ores are enclosed in geological formation of reduced nature. Coal, is often associated with pyrite (FeS₂).When mining activities expose this material to atmospheric oxygen, a combination of auto oxidation and microbial iron and sulfur oxidation produces large amounts of acids. The iron-rich acidic mine drainage kills aquatic life and renders the contaminated stream unsuitable as a water supply or for recreational use.

Introduction

It has been observed that the surface waters are getting polluted due to improper disposal of domestic and industrial wastewaters. Most of the River basins which are major supply of water for human activities are polluted. Even the groundwater in not spared because of the incessant growth of the population in India. In Maharashtra the number of bore wells has been increased to 5 Lakhs from 1 Lakhs from few decades only. Out of total area of Maharashtra, 82% is covered by the basaltic rocks made up of lava. That’s why the quantity of the groundwater is comparatively less than the Indo-gangetic plane.

Groundwater in the north region of the Tapi River is found to be hard, unfit for the human consumption. The residences of district like Buldhana, Jalgaon and Dhule have to use hard water for consumption. Rampant extraction of the groundwater for agriculture might have caused alternation in chemical qualities of the groundwater. It has been also well documented that in Marathwada region, groundwater content higher concentration of fluoride and total Hardness.

Fluorine the most electro-negative element is of great interest and importance to human health because of its curative and harmful effects. Fluorides are released by various natural sources and anthropogenic activities into the aquatic environment (that is surface as well as groundwater). Fluoride can enter the human body through drinking water, food, toothpaste, mouth rinses and other dental products, drugs and fluoride containing salts and hydrofluoric acid. It may cause Fluorosis – a crippling and painful disease such as dental fluorosis, skeletal fluorosis and non-skeletal fluorosis.

Industrial revolution took place in England during the period of 1760-1830. Accordingly, the production prior to demand was introduced. Many countries all over the world adopted industrial policies favouring industrial sector to achieve the fast development of the nation. Government of India also contributed its efforts in the same direction and issued the industrial policy of 1948, 1956, 1977 and so on making several financial and non financial facilities available to have substantial growth and development of industries in particular and nation in general.

Under the name of globalization and making the economy internationally competent, India took a revolutionary decision to follow new industrial policy 1991 opening the doors for investment from foreign countries and private sector even. In addition to this economic reforms have been adopted and advocated for the sake of national development. Three ‘D’ programme consisting of devaluation, decontrol and disinvestment, were also put on the national agenda, to achieve the set targets.

Introduction

Earthquakes are the most destructive among all the natural hazards. Most of the time, they occur without any warning, which makes them most feared and unpredictable natural phenomena. Globally, on an average two earthquakes of magnitude 8 are known to occur every year. Some of the countries like Japan, China and United States have suffered several damaging earthquakes in the past. India has also experienced a number of high intensity earthquakes in the recent past and more than 650 earthquakes of magnitude >5.0 have been reported in India since 1890. Sixty-nine earthquakes in Delaware (U.S.A.) have been documented or suspected since 1871. Refer to Baxter (2000) for more details about the DGS Seismic Network and for documentation of earthquakes. In the 1930s Charles Richter developed a magnitude scale (Richter scale) which was an objective way of discriminating between large and small shocks using the seismic wave amplitude recorded by seismographs (Richter, 1958).

In his classic book ‘The Ascent of Man’, Bronowski has written, “When I was a young man, we all thought that mastery came from man’s domination of his physical environment. Now we have learned that real mastery comes from understanding and moulding the living environment.” Our Biosphere, the living environment that supports us all, has problems and we humans are mainly responsible. We do not live ‘gently’ on the earth. The seven billion of us require air, water, food, energy, housing and amenities and we have developed the earth to provide them and have also created problems. That the problems exist are serious is the bad news. That we are recognizing them and that man has shown ability to organize and grow in ascending order from time to time is the good news.

Reducing the input costs in farming, especially agrochemicals and improving the yields of farm products in environmentally sustainable way, is one of the most important challenges. World over, the understanding of alternative eco-friendly inputs and intelligent integration of such products with the farming practices are the areas which need to be emphasized, understood and demonstrated. Our experience of working with farmers in different regions has convinced us that they all are looking for alternative, eco-friendly and cost effective inputs and the only way to convince them is practical demonstrations. 
Eco safe farming is a global challenge and needs combined efforts of NGO_s and farmers bodies, private and public sector industries and scientists in the institutions and universities. There are many challenges and many success stories and some typical once are listed here.

Indian Government has several developmental programmes to promote agriculture and rural sector. It includes Drought Prone Area Program, Antodaya Programme, Integrated Rural Development Programme, Hill Area Development Programme, Desert Development Programme, Intensive Jawahar Rojgar Yojna and Employment Assurance Scheme, Indira AwaasYojna, Integrated Waste Land Development Programme, National Food Security Mission, National Horticulture Mission, etc. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has the main focus to provide guaranteed employment for 100 days in a year to every rural household. Since 2014, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has been a major initiative by the Government of India.

Normally we associate our agriculture and food supply with farms and villages. The new trends of greener cities and urban and peri urban horticulture (UPH) are emerging very fast. Towns and cities in the world’s developing countries are growing at great speed. Ten years ago, an estimated 40 percent of the developing world’s population or 2 billion people lived in urban areas. Since then, their numbers have expanded twice as fast as total population growth, to more than 2.5 billion. By 2025, more than half the developing world’s population of 3.5 billion will be urban. Again most of the world’s fastest growing cities are in Asia and Africa with young population.

Since many decades environmentalists have warned of perils of chemicalised sports grounds, golf courses and cricket fields. They warn that our health is inextricably linked to the widespread use of toxic chemicals and also complain about the non-availability of safe alternatives.
Eco-sustainable sports fields must use the methods : 
    ·    That do not pollute
    ·    That are environment-friendly and effective
    ·    That economize on the use of water and energy

The Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is described as a great patriot, visionary leader and the 11th President of India ( 2002 – 2007 ). The country would have celebrated his 84th birth day on 15th October 2015. To many like me, he was the most ideal role model that the youth of India needed, in recent time. He emerged as a complete human-being who touched the lives of people.

My first meeting with him was when he visited IPCL in eighties - as the DRDO Chief to discuss about Carbon Fiber and Composites. I was heading GSFC’s R&D Centre and other facilities like engineering plastic Nylon – 6 and their Composites and hence was invited to join the discussions. That interaction left a strong impression in my mind. Later when I became Vice Chancellor of Gujarat Agricultural University, I had many more opportunities to meet him and was often surprised at his deep rooted interest and knowledge in every sphere of Science & Technology. Subsequently, to my delight, I received an invitation from his office on the eve of 26th January evening - at home with the President and later was given more time for a one-to-one meeting the next day. Walking across the corridors of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan, the atmosphere looked rather formal and uneasy for me, but, as I was ushered into his room, I saw Dr. Kalam wearing his favourite blue shirt and smiling. He moved forward and greeted me with the same friendliness and warmth. As we started talking about Agriculture scenario, the work I was planning and the future prospects, I marveled at his understanding and insight and left the room truly inspired.