India

The Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) of the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission (RGNDWM), Govt of India was launched to cover all households with water and sanitation facilities and promote hygiene behaviour for overall improvement of health of the rural population. Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) were involved in scaling up the TSC to promote large scale social mobilisation to bring about behavioural change.

The report deals with the hydrological aspects of flood disaster management, a multi-disciplinary field that endeavors to enhance the total productivity of the flood plains wherein losses are only a part of it. There are climatological and part-climatological causes of flooding and basin conditions, channel conditions and network conditions intensify floods.

The report is set in the context of the growing application of computers in the field of hydrology, and the consequent development of large number of softwares for hydrological and allied applications. The report is structured as a Directory and presents brief details about softwares for hydrological and general purpose application available with the National Institute of Hydrology.

Fundamentals of Environmental Pollution and Control is a course offered by NPTEL under Mining Engineering, and is structured into 28 video lectures along the following topics:

• State of the Environment
• Environmental Movement
• Definitions of Environmental Terms

The report gives a reviewed summary of various developments in the field of artificial recharge of groundwater at national and international levels. Different methods of recharging have been discussed in detail with reference to their design criteria, application and economic feasibility. The report also provides the details of field application.

The report presents regional flood frequency curves developed by fitting L-moment based GEV distribution to annual maximum peak flood data of small to medium sized catchments of the seven hydrometeorological sub-zones of zone 3 and combined zone 3 of India. The effect of regional heterogeneity is studied by comparing the growth factors of various sub-zones and combined zone 3. The flood frequency curves based on probability weighted moment (PWM) approach have been compared with the flood frequency curves based on L moment approach.

The study attempts to develop an in-depth understanding of the behavior of open wells in the region through sensitivity analysis of the aquifer parameters and its method of pumping test design. The estimation of groundwater balance and flow paths requires appropriate aquifer parameters, representing the study domain.

WASSAN (Watershed Support Services and Activities Network)

Location:         Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Last Date:                15^th July 2010

Sustainability – this word has assumed tremendous importance today, in the context of “development”. The advancement of human civilization in terms of technology, economics and life-style is turning out to be lop-sided. It is being realized that the sheer amount of wastes generated by the present population, is becoming more and more unmanageable with each passing day.

The study attempts to compile and evaluate the status of metal pollution assessment through aquatic sediments in rivers and lakes. The introduction of metallic pollutants into a river, whether it is natural (erosion from its drainage basin) or artificial (anthropogenic), can occur in dissolved or particulate form.