Gopal Krishan: Challenges and Concerns of Geography
The focal theme of this National Conference is listed as 'Challenges and Concerns of Geography'. This could well be better phrased as 'concerns of and challenges for geography'. It is the concerns that have to be spelt out first and these are the ones which set the agenda of challenges. The two are of course interlinked and my observation is just incidental for your consideration. There is every reason that these two terms be hyphenated in place of using a conjunctive of 'and' between them.
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Hema Malini B., Tesfaye Muhiye Endris: Identification of Ideal Length of Growing Period for Rain-Fed Crops: A Case Study of Amhara National Regional State – Ethiopia.
Under rain-fed conditions food crops are produced in areas where climatic and other conditions prevail for their successful growth. The length of time in a year in which these ideal climatic conditions prevail is called length of growing period. Of all these ideal conditions, it is moisture which is more variable in the tropics. Amhara National Region State has been selected as a case study from Ethiopia which is one of the drought prone and food insecurity areas of the country. By employing Thornthwaite's 1955 water balance method of computations, length of growing period(LGP) of the study area was assessed. Index of Moisture Adequacy (Ima), a derivative index of water balance, serves as the most important parameter for the identification of LGPs in the study area. By using the values of Ima, degrees of soil moisture dependability are assessed. Furthermore, the shortest length of growing period for the quick maturing crops in the study area is taken as a threshold to determine LGPs. It is found that the study area is having 150 days (five months) of single length of growing period. The five months of growing period of the study area are further categorized into highly and marginally suitable for crop growth.
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Tejpal, M. S. Jaglan, B. S. Chaudhary: Geo-environmental and Socio-economic Impacts of Mining of Construction Material: A Review of Literature.
Nature is being mercilessly exploited by mankind in various ways for greed and short-term benefits without realizing its consequences. Degradation of environment due to population explosion, rapid industrialization, unplanned urbanization and destruction of natural resources, has made the life of human beings miserable on the earth. The main intent of the present paper is to introduce the academicians, policy makers and planners to recent research trends in the field of extraction of construction material from earth. It presents a detailed review of literature on the processes and patterns of extraction of construction material and their potential geo-environmental and socio-economic impacts world over since 1990s. A detailed survey of literature on this theme has been categorized into three major groups and the case studies pertaining to each group have been succinctly described in subsequent sections. The review is based on literature available through internet and manual library consultation of national and international database of peer-reviewed scientific journals, reports, monographs, newspapers and M.Sc, M.Phil and Ph.D dissertations. The study reveals that the bulk of the literature relates to impacts of extraction of construction material on geoenvironmental, socio-political-economic, health hazard and safety issues. There are somestudies which deal with processing stages of raw materials such as stone crushers. There arealso studies relating to large-scale mining and only a limited number of them belong todeveloping countries. Respiratory impacts and problematic occupational health hazards relating to mining are widely studied. There are evidences of long-term impacts of mining on health of workers. There has been a rapid increase in use of new techniques (such as Remote Sensing and GIS) in mineral extraction studies since early nineties but most applications are still in their infancy. Based on this review, the study also provides some fundamental methodological recommendations for studies on mineral exploitation in developing nations.
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Omvir Singh, Manish Kumar: Flood Damages in India: A Temporal Analysis.
In this paper a temporal analysis of flood damages in India for a period of 55 years (1953 - 2007) has been attempted on the basis of data published by Central Water Commission, New Delhi. A close examination of the data revealed that flood affected area in India exhibited a discernible increasing trend with time. It has been found that about 0.014 million hectare area per year has increased under floods in the country. These results support the widespread belief that the floods and associated damages in the country are progressively increasing. Moreover, flood affected population in the country is also increasing with a slope of 0.15 million people per million hectare flood affected area per year. The increasing trend in the flood affected population in India is in agreement with those reported in World Water Development reports and findings of the impacts of the global flood disasters. About 88875 human lives were lost due to flood disasters in India during 1953-2007. This loss has progressively increased year after year during the study period. Total loss per million hectare flood affected area during 1953 to 2007 was found to be about Rs. 1584.9 billion with an average of Rs. 28.8 billion per year. In this study, therefore, an effort has been made to highlight the various types of damages by floods in the country during last 55 years so that a suitable strategy may be formulated to solve this problem which is increasing with time.
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Nuruzzaman Kasemi: A Multivariate Regression Model for Predicting Productivity in Pottery Industry: Case Study of Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal.
Pottery is one of the most ancient and popular form of Indian village craft. In a predominantly rural country with a very low income, pottery plays an important role to provide subsistence to people. Besides providing employment to artisans, the sector offers job opportunities to nonpartisans during slack seasons of agriculture and to other tertiary sector employees. An overwhelming majority of the pottery industrial units is found in Jalpaiguri district, in the state of West Bengal. These are mostly concentrated in rural areas. The competition from the substitutes like plastic items is a major problem for the development of this sector. The study is based on data collected through field survey from 67 sample units covering 30 villages of the district. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship among the identified factors related to productivity of pottery and make predictions for the development of this industry in the study area. Multiple regression model is used in the present study with a set of eight independent variables. Based on the analysis some policy measures are suggested for the development of the said sector.
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Shamshad Akhtar, Muhammad Rafique Dhanani: Indigenous Surface Irrigation and Water Management: Case Studies of Gawaldai and Shyok Valleys-Pakistan.
In the mountainous north of Pakistan, areas where arid and semi-arid climate prevails, farmers have developed their own irrigation system in which water of streams and springs is utilized for irrigation through man-made water channels called diversion channels. During pre-winter and pre- summer, the flow of water in streams and springs reduces due to low temperature in mountains. Eventually, discharge of water in diversion channels is also affected. Due to the scarcity of water, farmers have developed a community oriented water management system based upon rationing of water. This paper is an attempt to probe the method of this irrigation system and role of social organizations in irrigation practice and water management in two areas; the Gawaldai Valley, located in the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa region and the Shyok Valley, located in Gilgit Baltistan region of Pakitan.
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Manish Kumar, Vivekananda Biswas: Monitoring Land Use / Cover Change of Kanpur City by Using Geospatial Techniques.
Rapid urbanization leads to dramatic change in urban landscape dynamics. The measurement and monitoring of land use/cover change are crucial to government officials and planners who urgently need updated information. This paper illustrates the use of remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) techniques to monitor and measure the land use/cover and urban growth of Kanpur city, India. Landsat satellite imageries of two different time periods, i.e., Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) of 1998 and 2011 were used and quantified the land use/cover changes over a period of 13 years. Supervised Classification methodology has been employed using Maximum Likelihood Technique in ERDAS 9.3. The images of the study area were categorized into four different classes, viz. water body, vegetation, built-up land and open space. The results indicate that the major land use in the Kanpur city is built-up area. 2During the period 1998 to 2011, the area under built-up land has increased by 15.76 km (16.94%) due to construction of new buildings on agricultural land, areas under vegetation and open space. As a result, the area under vegetation, open space and water body decreased 2 2 2by 14.8% (13.73 km) 2.30% (1.92 km) and 0.02% (0.06 km). The paper also highlights the nature, rate and location of change and the importance of digital change detection techniques for proper land use planning for sustainable and uniform growth of Kanpur city.
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Mahima Chatranta, D.D Sharma: Temperature and Precipitation Trends Around Gangotri Glacier.
Glaciers are dynamic and fragile ice bodies on the landscape and are the product of climatic conditions prevailing in an area. They change their dimensions in response to climatic variables in the surrounding environment. The present study is a time series analysis of the observed temperature and precipitation trends of Gangotri glacier from 2000 to 2011 based on the daily meteorological data obtained from the standard meteorological observatory at Bhojwasa near the snout of Gangotri glacier. The study aims at analyzing the change in climatic elements like mean, maximum, minimum and diurnal temperature range, and total precipitation (rainfall and snowfall) affecting Gangotri glacier. The temperature trend analysis shows that the annual and seasonal mean maximum and minimum temperature is increasing and the highest increasing trend is found in the mean minimum summer temperature. Diurnal range of temperature also shows an increasing trend. Regarding trends in precipitation, annual rainfall shows an increasing trend along with number of rainy days and seasonal analysis reveals that the period of heavy rainfall is shifting towards later months of the year as the contribution of September rainfall has increased in the past decade (20022011). However, a decreasing trend is observed in annual average snowfall and similarly the number of snowy days has also decreased. The amount of snowfall received throughout the year has a direct influence on the temperature of that year.
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H.S. Mangat, Lakhvir Singh Gill: Spatial Dimensions of Criminality in Haryana: Trends and Magnitude.
This study is addressed to the incidence of crime in Haryana registered by the police under Indian Penal Code (IPC). During the last 21 years (1990-2011), the population of Haryana recorded a growth rate of 55.5 per cent while the incidences of cognizable crime witnessed a growth rate of 113.4 per cent. In other words, the growth rate of crime in Haryana was two times more than the growth rate of population during this period. At national level, Haryana has 8th rank in criminality among 28 States of India. With 2.1 per cent of total national population, the State is contributing 2.6 per cent of total crimes in India. Likewise, rate of cognizable crime in Haryana is 239.7 against the national average of 192.2. This study therefore, intends to explore the magnitude, trends and spatial dimensions of criminality in Haryana, so that some conclusions may the drawn for the policy makers. It has been found that 33 per cent of the districts of the State recorded high rate of criminality while 43 per cent of the districts witnessed low level of criminality. Low level of crime provides a positive lesson, on the other hand severity of crime suggests a need for more effective intervention.
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Map Series-VI: R.C. Chandna: Punjab-Haryana Region: Housing Quality-II
Continuing with Map Series on housing quality in Punjab-Haryana Region, the present attempt is to extend further previous such study published in Volume 8 (2012) of this journal. As observed in the previous study, the type of material used in housing structures, especially roof and flooring determines the quality of housing in an area. Since the analysis of flooring material used has already been covered in the previous publication, the scope of the present analysis is, therefore, restricted to the analysis of material used for roof in residential dwellings in Punjab-Haryana region.
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Doctoral: Abstract Karam Singh: Quality and Availability of Passenger Facilities along Selected Highways in Haryana and its Impact on Highway Users and Surrounding Communities
The national highways are the backbone of the road infrastructure. These constitute about 2 per cent of entire road system in India, but carry about 40 per cent of the total road traffic. On November 1, 1966 when the new state of Haryana was carved out of the Punjab a total length of national highways was 767 km which has increased to 1512 km in 2011.
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Doctoral Abstract: Bhawna Bali: Growth and Socio-Spatial Structure of the Civil Area in Cantonment Towns: A Case Study of Jalandhar Cantonment (Punjab)
Cantonment towns are a product of British colonial urban development in India. As a unique settlement type, these are characterized by their special function status as military enclaves with an urban municipal status (being governed by a Cantonment Board), planned layout and systematic internal structure based on functionality of space, segregated social spaces based on class distinctions, an indigenous bazaar or civil area and their administration through a separate set of regulations known as the cantonments Act (currently the Cantonments Act of 2006).
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Book Review: Gopal Krishan: Farmhouses: Bliss or Curse
Ever since the farmers living in villages on the fringe of Delhi Metropolis sold their farms and houses to the city rich and powerful, the term farmhouse has made a popular entry into the urban lexicon of India and carries a connotation distinct from the way it is used in the West. These are fabulous resorts serving as a residence or a retreat or a festivity venue for the wealthy and elite and their associates hailing from politics, bureaucracy and other domains. Quite often these are turned into commercial multienterprises by renting them out for social functions, such as marriages, birthday parties and other celebrations.
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