National Conference on

National Conference on Environment and Biodiversity of India 30th - 31st December 2011, New Delhi www.ebi2011.in

Keibul Lamjao National Park, Manipur, the world’s only floating national park and overlooking hill ranges

ABSTRACT BOOK Organised by North East Centre for Environmental Education and Research (NECEER)

Imphal, Manipur (India)

Website: www.neceer.org.in

:: Patron :: RK (O) Sanahanbi Devi, NECEER, Imphal :: Advisory Committee :: Shri Th. Ibobi, Loktak Development Authority, Manipur Dr. Vishwas Chavan, GBIF, Denmark Prof. D.K. Sharma, Gauhati University, Guwahati Dr. Sunitibala, IBSD, Imphal Dr. H. Narendra Singh, IITM, Pune Prof. N.P. Todaria, HNB Garhwal University, Uttarakhand :: NECEER Team :: Mehnaz Nasreen, Mohd. Sajid Idrisi, G. Marangmei, Gunadhor Thongam, Bobbymoore Konsam, Marry Thangjam, Kiranjit Yumnam, Gaitri Thangjam, Rajkumari Jashmi, Anurag Maloo, Santosh Kumar, Dilip Swami, Rajkumari Khrideshori, Mayank Bohra, Prasanta Aheibam, Johnny Meitei, Atom Rajiv Singh, Deepak Huidrom, Rajkumari Khedasana and Khuraijam Jibankumar Singh :: EBI Volunteers :: Apoorva Vikram, Stuti Agrawal, Kishore Kumar EBI2011 is the first conference of the EBI series which will be organised every year. It is also part of the North East Centre for Environmental Education and Research, Imphal's preparation for a triennial International Conference series which will start in 2014. EBI is outcome of the successful NECEER’s Enviro Lecture Series

Edited by Khuraijam Jibankumar Singh and Rajkumari Khedasana Managing Trustees, NECEER, Imphal

© 2011. National Conference on Environment and Biodiversity of India Published by North East Centre for Environmental Education and Research (NECEER), Imphal www.neceer.org.in

National Conference

Environment and Biodiversity of India 30th – 31st December 2011, New Delhi

National Conference on

Environment and Biodiversity of India 30th – 31st December 2011 Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi www.ebi2011.in

Organised by North East Centre for Environmental Education and Research (NECEER) Imphal, Manipur (India) in collaboration with

© 2011. National Conference on Environment and Biodiversity of India Published by North East Centre for Environmental Education and Research (NECEER), Imphal

National Conference


EBI 2011: KNOWLEDGE PARTNERS IUCN CEESP Youth Leadership Team (YLT) Centre for North East Studies, Jamia Millia Isalmia, New Delhi World Institute of Nature (WIN), Pune Department of Botany, Mizoram University ARCH, Dehradun ENVIRON, Guwahati SPONSOR: Web2Source

© 2011. National Conference on Environment and Biodiversity of India Published by North East Centre for Environmental Education and Research, Imphal

No reproduction or translation of this book or part thereof in any form, except brief quotations and citing abstract, should be made without the written permission of the publisher.

Citation: Vishwas Chavan (2011). Biodiversity Informatics and Sustainable Development in 21st century, in National Conference on Environment and Biodiversity of India. 30-31 December 2011, New Delhi, 9. North East Centre for Environmental Education and Research (NECEER), Imphal.


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A-3, M.S. Flats, B.K.S. Marg New Delhi – 110 001 Phone: 011-23711696 ______

DR. THOKCHOM MEINYA M.Sc. LLB. M.Phil, PhD Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) Former Minister (Hr. & Tech. Edn.) Manipur

Joypurkhul, Khumbong Bazar P.O. Langjing, Imphal West Manipur – 795 113 Phones : 0385-2051306/2569205

MESSAGE The 21st December 2011 I am glad to learn that a National Conference on Environment and Biodiversity of India is being organised by North East Centre for Environmental Education and Research (NECEER), Imphal. The conference is an important event for sharing of ideas and research results among researchers, academicians and students. Certainly the conference will provide unique opportunity to the distinguished delegates to deliberate upon the vital and key issues pertaining to environment and biodiversity of the country. I wish the conference all the success.

(Dr Thokchom Meinya)

Member, Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Petroleum & Natural Gas; Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs & Member, NEHU Court; Convener, West Bengal & North Eastern States (except Assam), Congress Parliamentary Party


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NECEER, Imphal is official partner of United Nations Decade of Biodiversity


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18 December 2011 MESSAGE Namaste, Greetings, I am very pleased to be able to support the North East Centre for Environmental Education and Research (NECEER) based in Imphal, India in their organising of the National Conference on Environment and Biodiversity of India, that is being held on the 30th and 31st December 2011 at New Delhi. India, as one of the world’s biodiversity rich countries is playing an important leadership role in a range of environmental concerns. I hope this conference will provide an excellent platform to interact and exchange knowledge amongst researchers, academicians, students and stakeholders and that it may lead to the formulation of strategies and policies for the sustainable use of natural resources and for a clean environment. I am particularly glad to know that Young Leadership Team of IUCN-CEESP is also one of the knowledge partners of the conference. I wish the organising team and all the participating delegates every success as this conference.

Aroha Te Pareake Mead Chair IUCN Commission on Environmental Economic & Social Policy (CEESP)


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Loktak Lake is the largest fresh water lake in Northeast India. It is located in the state of Manipur. Loktak Lake is known as the only floating lake in the world due to the floating phoomdis on it. It has an area of 300sq km and has been recognised as Ramsar site in 1990. The lake is referred to as the “lifeline of Manipur” because the lake is highly productive and many lives depend on the lake for endurance. The lake is also an Important Bird Area as it’s a potential breeding site for waterfowl and is a staging site for migratory birds. There are varied types of habitat supported by lake due to which the lake is blessed with rich diversity flora and fauna. Etymology of Loktak: Lok = "stream" and tak = "the end". The place where streams end. Keibul Lamjao National Park, located at the south western part of Loktak Lake is the world's only floating national park. It is home to the endangered Manipur brow antlered deer ‘Sangai’ – Cervus eldi eldi. ECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE The thick band of phoomdis towards north of Loktak Lake maintains the water quality and also acts as sink for important nutrients like N, P, K and for carbon sequestration. The floating wetland is the most productive ecosystems as it provides source of living to people. The lake is also potential breeding site of many birds, fishes, amphibians and Sangai. The phoomdis are vital habitats for Sangai whose hooves are adapted to move over phoomdis. The lake also regulates the local climate of the state, apart from this it recharges ground water, retains storm water, dilutes the pollutants for maintaining the water quality. The Loktak Lake is highly productive aquatic ecosystem known for its biodiversity and habitat diversity. There are varied types of habitat supported by lake as phoomdis which is heterogeneous mass of soil, vegetation and organic matter, rooted floating plants which is today threatened by proliferation of phoomdis, open water habitat which is also threatened by phoomdis, shallow water areas, peripheral dyke fish-farming areas and these varied habitats provide services to local people.


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Dr. Asad Rahmani Director Bombay Natural History Society

17th December 2011

MESSAGE I am delighted to know that North East Centre for Environmental Education and Research (NECEER), Imphal is organizing a National Conference on Environment and Biodiversity of India at New Delhi. I sincerely hope that the participants of the conference will share their experiences and useful findings for mutual benefits that will paved the path for conservation of rich biodiversity oF the country. I wish organizers and participants for a fruitful conference.

Asad R. Rahmani


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Publish book with Us

NECEER PUBLICATIONS www.neceerpublications.net


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Keynote Address

Biodiversity Informatics and Sustainable Development in 21st century Vishwas Chavan Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Copenhagen, Denmark Email: [email protected] and [email protected] ABSTRACT Development and conservation are highly dependent on accessibility appropriate, adequate, up-to-date and authentic data and information. However, in majority of the situations such a data, especially that dealing with biotic diversity is not easily accessible. Biodiversity Informatics is a science that deals with collation, management, analysis and interpretation of such data dealing with the sate of the affairs of our natural resources. Biodiversity information infrastructure is essential for nations progress on the principles of sustainability. In my talk I will take an account of the global progress in biodiversity informatics, especially during last 10 years. I will discuss the challenges that currently impedes the homogenous progress in biodiversity informatics. I will also discuss the significance of biodiversity informatics for an emerging world power like India which is regarded as developing nation which is bestowed with vast biotic diversity. I will conclude with putting forth the possible action plan that includes development of 'National Biodiversity Information Outlook (NBIO)'.

www.vishwaschavan.in


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[AB1] Pesticides uses in environment and their impacts: A Review Sachin Kumar and Anil K. Sharma Division of Parasitology, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar – 243122, Uttar Pradesh, India ABSTRACT Generally pesticides are used in three sectors viz. agriculture, public health and consumer use. Pests and parasites of agricultural and veterinary importance are chiefly controlled by chemical pesticides. Indiscriminate and repeated application of pesticides leads to loss of biodiversity, pestresistance and other ecological imbalance. Many pesticides are not easily degradable, they persist in soil, leach to groundwater and surface water and contaminate wide environment. Depending on their chemical properties, they can enter the organism, bio-accumulate in food chains and consequently influence human health. The persistence nature of pesticides led to their accumulation in animal tissues and subsequently causes human dietary exposure to these pesticides through consumption of animal products viz. meat, milk, eggs and sea foods. Scientific evidence suggests that even low dose and long term exposure can cause serious health hazards to human health and environment as well. The reports on occurrence of pesticides residues in animal products manufactured in India are fragmentary, but provide confirmation to the fact the consumers do get dietary exposure to these pesticides. Thus, the intensive pesticide application results in several adverse effects in the environment and human health that cannot be ignored. [AB2] Decolourization studies on textile wastewater by the help of fungi Phanerochaete chrysosporium - an eco saving study Amrendar Kumar and Abhilasha Singh Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Lucknow, India. ABSTRACT In textile production, opportunities exist for the release of potentially hazardous compounds at various stages of the operation into the ecosystem. These pollutants are produced in an effort to improve human standard of living and fashion but ironically, their unplanned intrusion into the environment can reverse the same standard of living by impacting negatively on the environment. Enormous volumes of effluent are generated at different stages of textile manufacturing, as a result of the use of copious amounts of chemicals and dyes. Effluent derived from the textile and dyestuff activities can provoke serious environmental impact in the neighboring receptor water bodies because of the presence of toxic reactive dyes, chlorolignin residues and dark coloration. The discharges of these waste residues into the environment eventually poison or affect bioresources in the environment, with resultant changes in the ecological balance. The biological breakdown of the chlorolignin residues and the chromophoric groups responsible for the dark coloration of the textile effluent can be accomplished by the use of enzymes from the white rot fungus, Phanerochaete chrysosporium. The siderophores detected from the culture of the organism have been found useful in the decolourization and remediation of the effluent. P. chrysosporium RP78 can efficiently decolorize a wide range of textile azo dyes under optimized conditions; further studies on scaling up and using this fungus for treatment of textile waste water are suggested. This fungus can effectively solve the problem of the pollution of some important rivers in India such as Ganges, Yamuna etc. Nowadays, the textile effluents are dispatched into the rivers directly without treatment. We can change this situation in large scale by treating the waste water with the above mentioned fungus. We can all contribute towards making our country and this world pollution free and make it a better place to live. Keywords: Textile, Environment, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, azo dyes


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[AB3] Does Climate Change have an impact on National Security? A perspective from the Indian Subcontinent Aishwarya Padmanabhan WB National University of Juridical Sciences (WB NUJS), Kolkata ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to discuss in detail the impact of climate change could have on the Indian subcontinent. Apart from the physical change in agriculture, weather and occurrence of natural disasters, it has been studied that there are serious security risks associated with climate change since it would accelerate the incidence of massive influxes of climate refugees and mass migrations. This paper attempts to study these implications for India since it has very porous borders with its neighbouring countries including Bangladesh (which is slated to be most affected by the incidence of climate change and global warming since it is a low-lying deltaic area), Nepal, Pakistan and China. As sea levels rise due to climate change, there is an imminent threat of not only an refugees but also a rise in terrorist activities which could threaten the geo-political stability of the sub-continent. This paper endeavours to understand these serious repercussions on national security interests in the Indian subcontinent caused due to climate change. Keywords: Climate change, security, IPCC, migration, natural disasters [AB4] Study on the impact of textile-industry effluent on the growth and fecundity of earthworm – Eudrilus eugeniae S Senthil Kumar, MS Mohamed Jaabir and S Kannan Department of Biotechnology, National College (Autonomous), Tiruchirappalli - 620 001 ABSTRACT An experiment was carried out for a period of eight weeks to assess the impact of the textileindustry effluent on the earthworm. For this, the growth and fecundity of Eudrilus eugeniae was studied in the presence of textile effluent following standard growth conditions in a perforated basket classified into four groups such as the Control (Group I) receiving only tap water, Group II: receiving raw effluent, Group III receiving the chemically treated effluent and Group IV receiving the biologically treated effluent for a period of first ten days, followed by the tap water. Viability of the worms, cocoon production, hatchlings and weight of the worms were recorded for every seven days from day 1. Worms in Group II and the Control (Group I) were all viable till the end of the study whereas, Group III and Group IV worms demonstrated mortality to 33% and 100 % respectively at sixth week. Absolute mortality was observed in Group IV. Average of 7 cocoons was seen in the control group compared to 22 in group-II (raw effluent) in the fifth week. Chemically treated and biologically treated-soil groups (III and IV) did not produce hatchlings through cocoons. It can be concluded that textile effluent was found to be non-toxic to the earthworm and amenable to vermicomposting. Further studies, employing different earthworm species and, on the impact of textile effluent/effluent polluted soil, would help to evaluate the process and application for bioremediation of textile-effluent polluted soil. The extent to which effluent pollution will manifest itself at the population level, needs further investigation in order to assess the usefulness of this endpoint in ecotoxicological work. Keywords: Bioremediation, textile-industry effluent, Eudrilus eugeniae, fecundity, earthworm, Ecotoxicity.


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[AB5] Physico - chemical and microbial aspects of municipal solid waste compost during composting process at Jhansi city, Uttar Pradesh, (India) AK Pathak1, MM Singh2 and V Kumar2 Institute of Environment and Development Studies 2 Department of Geology, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi (U.P) E-mail: [email protected] 1

ABSTRACT In the present study, we studied the physico-chemical and microbial populations during composting process of Municipal Solid Waste (viz. kitchen waste). The pH ranged between 7.1-8.5, organic matter 48%, moisture content maintained at 42-53% and temperature monitored daily, plant nutrients C - 32%, N - 0.04%, P - 0.002, Na - 4.9%, K - 0.37% ,succession of microbial populations during composting process was colonized in major proportion by bacteria (45.3%), actinomycetes (31.4 %) and in lower number by fungi (24.2%). A detail study was conducted to assess the feasibility of composting of source separated organic matter of municipal solid waste generated in low, middle and high income areas of Jhansi city Uttar Pradesh. Due to the complexity of substrates and intermediate products, physico-chemical properties, microbial diversity and the succession of populations is a prerequisite to ensure complete bio degradation. The Multiple Regression Analysis revealed that the environmental parameter which influence on the mentioned microbial groups was the temperature. Keywords: Municipal Solid Waste, Composting, Microbial Communities [AB6] Eco-fermentor: the new applicable design of eco-enzyme fermentor to optimize the productivity of eco-enzyme at the household level Ahmadun Slamet Sumardi and Yolanda Sylvia Prabekti Undergraduate School of Food Science and Technology, Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT Until now, waste is still being a classic and the most important problems in the environment. Cutting the waste distribution flow into the landfill waste is expected as an effective way in processing waste into a more useful product. Its effectiveness can be realized through the production of eco-enzyme. Eco-enzyme is the liquid produced from fermentation of the remaining vegetables and fruits with brown sugar as substrate and support by lactic acid bacteria. The advantage of eco-enzyme compared to compost is that eco-enzyme does not require extensive land for the fermentation process as in the composting process, even these products do not require a vessel composter with certain specifications. In addition, eco-enzyme has many benefits as can be used as a plant growth factor, a mixture of floor cleaning detergents, for cleaning residual pesticides, and also for cleaning the crust on the pipeline. Considering the advantages of ecoenzyme, it is needed to design a concept of sustainable equipment as fermentation container which also can be used to make the harvesting process easier, called eco-fermentor. This paper has objective to offer an alternative design of eco-fermentor as a fermentation container of ecoenzyme. The container is made from simple material that modified into more compatible form to be used as fermentation container. This container will utilize huge bucket former that is modified by adding vessel to bring the liquid out. After three months, the liquid form of eco-enzyme can be harvested. The solid materials will be remained on the top and the liquid remains under the solid materials. By using this container, the liquid will be easily harvested since we put the additional


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vessel at the downside of the bucket. Hopefully, this fermentor can be used for optimizing the productivity of eco-enzyme at household level. Keywords: Eco-fermentor, eco-enzyme, waste, bucket, household [AB7] Urban water-bodies and wetland valuation: An imperative for environmental management in Indian cities Krishna Ghosh1, Suchandra Bardhan2 and Souvanic Roy3 Department of Architecture, Women's Polytechnic, Kolkata. W.B, India 2 Department of Architecture, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, W.B, India 3 School of Ecology, Infrastructure and Human Settlement Management, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, Howrah, West Bengal, India 1

ABSTRACT Urban water-bodies and wetlands provide a wide range of goods and services that have an economic value, not only to the local population living in its periphery but also to communities living in distant areas. Lack of clear understanding about economic, ecological and socio-cultural values of water-bodies and wetlands amongst the stakeholders is a significant factor contributing to their degradation. Since they are naturally available assets providing most of the benefits at little or no cost to society, the benefits are realized only after they have been degraded or destroyed by urbanization or various anthropogenic disturbances. The challenge to policy makers today is whether these ecosystems can be sustained against the mounting land conversion pressures in cities along with other environmental issues. The Ramsar Convention Bureau has stressed that wetland goods and services must be given a quantitative value if their conservation is to be ensured over alternative uses of the land or the water which feeds the wetlands. National Environment Policy (NEP), 2006 recognizes the numerous ecological services rendered by wetlands and stated that in many cases, the economic value of the environmental services of wetlands may significantly exceed the value from alternative use. This paper explores the different approaches to economic valuation of the benefits that would be applicable for a particular water body and wetland functions. It also discusses the significance of valuation studies in the decision making process as most of the decisions pertaining to management of urban water bodies and wetlands in our cities so far mostly ignored or failed to quantify in monetary terms both the immediate as well as long term benefits associated with these ecosystems. Keywords: Water-bodies and Wetlands, Economic Valuation, Replacement Cost Techniques, Mitigative or Avertive Expenditure Techniques, Contingent Valuation Method, Market Price Method


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[AB8] Recompenses of a Green city: Integration of natural environment in city planning Avirup Bhattacharya and Nishant Maloo National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh ABSTRACT One of the main goals of nature conservationists is to protect expansive natural environments outside the city. However, as the majority of the world’s population now live in urban areas, it is time to reverse this focus and give some attention to the urban environment and the role of natural environments within the city. Location, site and situation as factors contributing in localising, growth in size and function of a town are important. In order to know the milieu of towns, other aspects which are equally important, rather more, in the development of a town are site, the ground upon which a town stands the area of earth it actually occupies and its situation in relation to the surroundings. The rapid urbanization in the developing economies of our globe has put up an alarming threat of sliding of our cities towards unmanageable, bursting, hell of unliveable atmosphere. All these problems have certainly given birth to a planner, but in shortage of proper planning legislations, strategies and tools, everything gets wasted. Urban planning needs to better integrate natural values and ecological principles. Therefore, in this paper we’ve tried to focus on three objectives: Firstly, to outline the reasons why natural environments are important in the city; secondly, to examine why they have not been provided adequately in the past; and thirdly, to show how this situation can be used to illustrate the principles being discussed, and a model suggesting approach towards green city. Throughout this paper, examples from various cities are given for closer investigation. The paper also discusses the possible ways of city design integrating the aspect of Natural environment into it. Keywords: Sustainable, Urbanization, Green city


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[AB9] Road kill of wild animals by highway traffic in and around Jabalpur Forest Division, Madhya Pradesh, India Sanjay Paunikar T-III/13, Tropical Forest Research Institute, Campus, PO. RFRC, Mandla Road, Jabalpur - 482021 (Madhya Pradesh) Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT Jabalpur is one of the most important and major city of Madhya Pradesh. The central point of India is located in Jabalpur district and situated in the Mahakaushal region of central India or eastern Madhya Pradesh. It is located at 230 10' N, 790 57 E and 23017’ N, 790 95’E. Jabalpur Forest Division is well recognized due to its rich, dense forest cover and wild life dominated areas. The world famous national parks, Kanha, Bandhavghar and Pench, wildlife sanctuaries Panna and Satpuda and two most important biosphere reserves, Pachmari and Achanakmar-Amarkanatak and several protected and unprotected forest areas are situated just short distance from Jabalpur. It is well connected by road to other important cities like Nagpur, Bhopal, Raipur, Bilaspur Jhansi and Allahabad. Recent times, several development activities of the roads of state and national highways are carrying out by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Govt. of India) and Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation (MPRDC, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh) like expanded, conversion, diversion and connected to all over the country for faster movement and transportation. Last 2-3 decades, in India, motorized vehicles have increased and resulted heavy traffic loads on the highways of the country. Several states and national highways are passing through national parks, wild life sanctuaries, biosphere reserves, protected and unprotected forest areas of the country and Jabalpur Forest Division is also no exception to it. The state highways (SH-11, SH-15 and SH-22) and national highways (NH-7 and NH-12A) are passing through in and around Jabalpur Forest Division. Many roads are being converted into four lane highways. While, travelling by road through the Jabalpur Forest Division, it was found that the number of wild animals like Tiger, Leopard, Jungle cat, Jackal, Indian fox, Striped Hyena, Indian pangolin, Indian civet, Indian Hare, Mongoose, Antelope species (Cheetal, Nilgai, Sambhar, Chinkara, Deer etc.), Primate species and number of species of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals dead due to road accidents by uncontrolled vehicular traffic. These highways are the cause of death for number of wild animals and also exert adverse impacts on their population of wild animals of the region due to road accident by heavy traffic movements. (Chhangani, 2004; Baskaran et al., 2010 and Paunikar et al., 2010 and 2011). It is also proving a major threat to our rich and precious faunal biodiversity. The literature showed some other countable studies on the road kill of animals by highways vehicle in and around national parks, wild life sanctuaries, tiger and biosphere reserve, protected and unprotected forest areas of the country. More attention has been given in developed countries like America, Australia, Africa and Europe to assess such impacts but developing Asian country like India has not given the required attention to these aspects. The population of wild life animal is declining due to number of reasons, such as habitat loss, destruction of forest areas, poaching, climate change anthropogenic pressure, pollution and road kill by heavy traffic further adds to this loss. It is needed to save our rich and precious faunal diversity by taking all the possible protection measure. Although, road kill of wild fauna by heavy vehicular traffic needs to be discussed at appropriate forum the possible way out could be by displacing the wild life presence at the places of their abundance in the forest area along with other measures controlled like vehicle speed and limit. The construction of flyover and alternate roads outside the forest area could also be another option. Keywords: Road kill, wild animals, Biodiversity, Jabalpur Forest Division, Highways traffic, Madhya Pradesh, Biodiversity.


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[AB10] .

Diversity of herpetofauna of Tropical Forest Research Institute campus, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India Sanjay Paunikar* and Ashish D. Tiple *Tropical Forest Research Institute, PO. RFRC, Mandla Road, Jabalpur-482021 (M.P.) Department of Zoology, P. S. G. V. P. Mandal’s Arts, Commerce and Science College, Shahada, Nandurbar, (M.S) ABSTRACT

The Tropical Forests Research Institute (TFRI), campus is one of the most important forestry research organisations of central India and nine institutes under the umbrella of Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehra Dun (Ministry of Environment and Forest, Govt. of India). It lies at the bank of the Gour River on Mandla Road (79°59’23.50°E and 21°08’54.30°N) about 10 km south east of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. The campus is spread over an area of 109 ha amidst picturesque surroundings and has natural forests, plantations and forest nurseries make them reserve type of forests. The TFRI, campus is surrounded by agricultural field with rural in habitation. The water reservoir and the vegetation planted, around the institute have created a very good habitat and source of attraction for number of faunal species like insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Keeping in the view, the regular surveys were conducted in order to explore herpetofaunal diversity in and around Tropical Forest Research Institute, Campus Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Central India. Their habitat, status and distribution were also studied during the extensive field survey. The total 22 species of herpetofauna were recorded from the region, among these 8 species of amphibians and 14 species of reptiles were recorded from TFRI campus, Jabalpur. The amphibians have recorded such as Common Indian toad (Bufo melanosticus), Indian bull frog (Hoplobatrachus tigerinus), Indian tree frog (Polypedates maculates), Indian skipping frog (Euphlytis cyanophlyctus), Painted frog (Kaloula taprobanica), Indian Cricket frog (Fejervarya limnocharis), Indian pond frog (Euphlyctis hexadactylus ), Balloon frog (Uperodon globulosus) and 2 species of skinks, Common or Brahniny skink (Mabuya carinata), Striped skink (Mabuya dissimilis), 3 species of lizards, Indian garden lizard (Calotes versicolour), Monitor lizard (Varanus bengalensis), Common house Geco (Hemidactylus frenatus) and 9 species of snakes like Indian rock python (Python molurus), Bomboo pit viper (Trmeresurus gramineus), Indian cobra ( Naja naja), Tree snake (Dendrelaphis tristis), Rat snake (Argyrogena fasciolatus), Wolf snake (Lycodon aulicus), Common krait (Bungarus caeruleus), Russell’s viper (Vipera russellii), Common sand boa (Eryx conicus) have been recorded. The some species of amphibians, skinks, lizards, and snakes were very common and some species rarely found in the campus. Herpetofauna (Amphibians and reptiles) are essential components of the Earth’s biodiversity because they play integral roles in food webs as herbivores, predators, and prey, as well as connecting aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems (Schenider, et al., 2001). The decline in herpetofauna population is a major concern throughout the world. Recent years, it has been observed that the populations of herpetofauna are declining due to number of reasons, such as habitat loss, destruction of forest areas, illegal trades for skins and flesh, anthropogenic activities, poaching, indiscriminate uses of chemical pesticides and fertilizer in agricultural fields, climatic change, uses for import of frog legs and trade and mostly uses in our college and laboratories for research purpose and road kill by heavy traffic further adds to this loss.(Molar et al., 1998, Agoramoorthy et al., 2009 and Paunikar et al., 2010). It is needed to save our rich and precious herpetofaunal diversity by taking all the possible protection measure, ultimately conservation of herpetofaunal biodiversity. Keywords: Diversity, Amphibia, Reptiles, Herpetofauna, TFRI campus, Jabalpur


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[AB11] Water quality assessment of River Manimala in Kerala during Sabarimala Season Ajesh Cryil, Eileen ET, Jency SK, Jikku J, Linu TJ, Nirmal G, Anna J, Annie MI and Mini M Department of Civil Engineering, Amal Jyothi College of Engineering, Koovappally, Kottayam, Kerala ABSTRACT Manimala River is one of the perennial rivers of Kerala which has 90 km length and 847 km2 catchment area. Sabrimala Sree Ayyappa Temple is one of the most ancient and prominent Sastha temples in the country. One of the primary stations of this pilgrimage is Erumeli Sastha Temples. The pilgrimage begins in November and ends in January. The pilgrimage center, Erumeli, lies on the bank of Manimala River and the pilgrims extensively depends on river water for their daily needs. This river is the main source of drinking water for thousands of people living in and around Erumeli. Around 4 million pilgrims visit Sabarimala in each year during peak seasons. High influx of pilgrimage and their daily chores resulted in the contamination of water. The quality of river water is influenced by the waste water from the pilgrim centre at Erumeli. The residents in and around Erumeli alleges that the use of river water is the causative factor for various health problems especially during pilgrimage season. In order to study the cause of pollution of river water and also to study the effect of pilgrims to the quality of river water, preliminary studies were conducted. Seven sampling points were identified around the Erumeli in Manimala River. The water samples were collected for three stages: first stage is before the sabarimala season, second during the peak time of pilgrimage and the third stage is immediately after the season. The standard water quality parameters such as pH, DO, BOD, COD, Chlorine and TDS were analyzed. The results show that during the peak season the parameters BOD, COD, Chlorides, and TDS showed a high concentration compared to the recommended limits. This indicates that the quality of river water is deteriorating due to the effluent from the center. Keywords: Manimala river, water quality, sampling stations.


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National Conference


[AB12] Quantum chemical based screening of ionic liquids for the extraction of endosulfan from aqueous solution Santhi Raju Pilli, Tamal Banerjee and Kaustubha Mohanty Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati – 781039, India Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT Endosulfan is an endocrine disruptor and highly toxic chemical and is banned in more than fifty countries including India. In this work, we describe the judicious screening of 986 combinations (34 cations × 29 anions) of ionic liquids (ILs) for extraction of endosulfan by using COnductor Like Screening MOdel for Real Solvents (COSMO-RS). Screening of five groups of cations namely, imidazolium, pyridinium, pyrrolidinium, ammonium and phosphonium have been done and plotted. The selectivity order of these five groups is as follows: Phosphonium > Pyrrolidinium > Imidazolium > Pyridinium > Ammonium. Phosphonium based IL [TBP][TOS] gave highest selectivity (212.5) among all the screened ILs. From the same group, second and third highest selectivity values were obtained by [TBP][MDEGSO4] (209.57) and [TBP][C8H17SO4] (202.57) respectively. Similarly for pyrrolidinium based ILs, [DPPYR][Br] (107), [BEPYR][Br] (106) and [BEPYR][MDEGSO4] resulted in higher selectivity and all other cations gave less selective values (3cm long), whereas meristematic activity could be selectively initiated in those from the freshly formed daughter pseudobulbs ( 25 and