Jitender Kumar, M.S. Jaglan: Suitability of Groundwater for Drinking Purpose in Bhiwani District, Haryana: A Spatio-Temporal Analysis.
Increasing threat to groundwater quality due to human activities has become a matter of concern during recent period. Groundwater quality problems today are mostly caused by contamination and over-exploitation of groundwater. The situation has become more critical in arid and semi-arid regions of the world due to scarcity of water. It necessitates developing innovative methods and viable strategies to protect this vital natural resource. Present study highlights hydro-geochemical characteristics of groundwater, its quality and determinants using multi-site groundwater quality data for the years 1992, 2000 and 2010 in Bhiwani district of Haryana. Groundwater quality index (GQI) calculated in accordance to the World Health Organization (WHO) standards, reveals that about 75 per cent groundwater water observation wells of the district fall in the category of poor water quality. The analysis of Gibbs Diagram reveals that groundwater observations predominantly fall in evaporation dominance, whereas Piper Diagram shows that water chemistry of study area is dominated by alkaline earth with strong acid.
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Som Nath Thakur,Simrit Kahlon, Smita Bhutani: Assessment of Climate Change Through Temperature and Rainfall Trend Analysis in Chamba and Kangra Districts of Himachal Pradesh.
Climate change is perhaps the single most significant and challenging phenomenon to impact the human race during the recent times. The present study estimates the trend and magnitude of climate change in Chamba and Kangra districts of Himachal Pradesh using the variables of temperature and rainfall. Data for these variables on monthly basis have been collected from India Meteorological Department, Pune for the period 1901 to 2002. Non-parametric trend tests (Mann-Kendall and Sen's slope estimator) are applied to detect the trends of temperature and rainfall during the study period. Linear regression analysis has been carried out to highlight the magnitude of trends. The results point towards a distinct warming. The warming is particularly visible during the winter and pre-monsoon seasons. Temperature in these districts has increased significantly to the tune of 1.5°C during the month of February in winter season; whereas it has declined to the tune of 0.5°C during the July month of monsoon season. Rainfall trends show a shift in the rainfall pattern with more rain being received in the months of February and March than December and January. Such changes in temperature and rainfall have their own implications for the agricultural regime of the region.
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Savita Devi, Rajeshwari: Availability and Accessibility of Health Care Infrastructure in Haryana and Gujarat: A Comparative Study.
The present paper explores the pattern of availability and accessibility of health care facilities in Haryana and Gujarat, the economically most advanced states of India. Gujarat is industrially developed while Haryana is agriculturally advanced state. Despite this, both the states are not bracketed among the states recording high level in other indicators of social well-being or maternal and child health, witnessed from the National Family Health Surveys and District Level Health Surveys. In this study, the availability of various levels of health care facilities has been studied by taking population facility ratio. This has been examined as per the national health policy norms of the Government of India. Accessibility of health care infrastructure has been measured with reference to area served by particular facility. The availability of manpower, particularly doctors and lady doctors in health care facilities vis avis their requirement has been examined. The study also presents a composite index of health care infrastructure which is a combination of availability, accessibility and manpower in health services in both the states. The paper reveals that both the states though economically prosperous, lag behind in provision of health infrastructure vis-à-vis national health policy norms of its provision. The study also highlights the levels in the provision of health infrastructural facilities at district level in both the states.
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Dhan Dev Sharma, B. R. Thakur: Prioritization of Micro-Watersheds for Soil Conservation in Giri Catchment.
The present study aims to estimate the amount and spatial distribution of soil loss risk to prioritize micro-watersheds in the Giri catchment for soil conservation. The study is based on remote sensing data (LISS-IV MX), drawn from the high resolution satellite images. The morphometric information has been extracted from drainage layers computed from topographical sheets and CARTOSAT Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with 30 m spatial resolution. The soil loss risk has been assessed employing the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). The study reveals that about 50 per cent of the micro-watersheds under study are highly prone to soil loss risk and therefore, need immediate soil conservation measures.
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B. Hema Malini, B. Visweswara Reddy, M. Gangaraju, G. Tammi Naidu, K. Nageswara Rao: Geospatial Analysis of Filariasis Risk in Vizianagaram District of Andhra Pradesh, India.
Mapping of geographical distribution and identification of disease-prone areas is an important element in disease management efforts. The present study demonstrates the significance of geospatial mapping in identifying the risk zones of vector-borne diseases by taking a case study of lymphatic filariasis in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh. Data on the filarial cases recorded during 2007-2014 from 62 primary health centres in the district and the land use/land cover map prepared from the satellite images from 2012 were spatially correlated. About 2.7 per cent of people have been affected by filariasis during 2007-2014 in the district with spatial variations at regional and mandal (tehsil) levels. Location quotient analysis has revealed that hilly region with dense forest cover is relatively less vulnerable, whereas the plain region characterized by large number of water bodies and extensive irrigated cropland besides urban environment is more vulnerable to filariasis.
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M. Gomathi, K. Kumaraswamy: Patterns of Crop Concentration and Diversification in Aiyar Basin, Central Tamil Nadu.
The study analyses the spatial pattern of agricultural crops in Aiyar basin at village level using the secondary data collected for six years (2010-11 and 2015-16). By comparing the relative strength of various crops, the first and second ranking crops for each village have been identified and mapped based on percentage of net sown area. The spatial distribution of first and second ranking crops reveals that paddy (the principle wet crop) and sorghum (the principle dry crop) occupy first rank in their categories over extensive parts of the study area. The distributional pattern of these two crops reflects the availability of irrigation facilities. Indices of the crop concentration and diversification of crops have been calculated and mapped to study the spatial patterns of crop concentration and diversification. In general, it has been found that the diversification of crops is high all over the study area. However, the villages having higher proportion of area under paddy, sorghum or tapioca have recorded very low level of crop diversification.
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Virender Singh, D.D. Sharma: Status of Sanitation Facilities in Himachal Pradesh: A Tehsil Level Analysis.
Sanitation refers to any process whereby people create and sustain a hygienic and healthy environment for them by erecting barriers to prevent the transmission of disease causing agents. In this study an attempt has been made to assess the status of sanitation in Himachal Pradesh in terms of availability of some selected sanitary facilities. The study is based on secondary data on 'Household Amenities and Assets' collected from the Census of India, 2011. Statistical techniques like z-score and composite index have been used to assess the status of sanitation. The study brings out that barring a few exceptions, tehsils having higher value of sanitation index are found in the western part of the study area.
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Subodh Rani, K.V. Chamar: Levels of Road Connectivity in Haryana: 2011.
Road transport invariably plays an important role in the reconstruction of any area. Since, roads provide a strong stimulus to the development of a nation, it is realized that there is a need to evaluate and examine the road connectivity levels in Haryana. All nodes having minimum population of 10000, district and tehsil headquarters and settlements having crossings of three or more national highways, state highways and major district roads have been selected for the analysis. Structural indices like cyclomatic number, alpha, beta and gamma have been used to analyze the spatial variations in road connectivity in the state. Further, aggregate transport scores (ATS) have been calculated by summing up the values of alpha, beta and gamma indices. It is found that the districts located in the foothill areas of Aravalli and Siwalik Hills have recorded low level of road connectivity, whereas districts namely Bhiwani, Sirsa, Mahendragarh, Ambala, Rohtak and Jhajjar have witnessed high level of road connectivity.
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Map Series-IX: R.C. Chandna: Punjab-Haryana Region: Patterns of Literacy, 2011.
Three maps and three tables included in this study reveal that Punjab and Haryana region had by 2011 attained a respectable level of literacy (75.7 per cent) where 7 to 8 persons in every ten people were recorded as literate and equally important was the fact that both male and female literacy rates were high with some notable spatial differentials in male female literacy rates.
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Doctoral Abstract: Gulshan Mehra: Watershed Management in Mahendergarh District, Haryana.
Managemen of watershed encompasses various activities ranging from delineation of watershed to its monitoring. Watershed management involves judicious utilization of natural resources in a hydrological unit. Since, land and water resources have maximum interaction and synergic effect on development, therefore watershed becomes a convenient unit for implementation of various developmental programmes. In this study watershed management approach has been adopted for planning of land and water resources of Krishnawati and Dohan watersheds, falling in Mahendergarh district of Haryana.
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Doctoral Abstract: Renu Arya: Distributional Pattern and Occupational Mobility of Dhanak Caste in Rural Haryana.
Caste system is a specific characteristic of Indian social fabric. In Indian context, there is an association between caste and occupation. A person carrying a specific occupation is automatically considered belonging to a specific caste or vice-versa. For example, scheduled castes are a collective and constitutional name for those groups of people who belong to lower strata in 'Hindu Society' in India. Dhanak caste is one of the deprived castes among scheduled castes in Haryana. The occupation of Dhanak caste is weaving.
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