scholarly journals Probing the Crisis of Regional Connectivity Instigated by the Natural Disasters, Mizoram, India

Author(s):  
Siba Prasad Mishra ◽  
Jyoti Prakash Puhan ◽  
Saswat Mishra

Mizoram, in eastern Himalayas of India, is educated but thinly populous young state of area 21081sq km with hilly forest cover of (≈90.68%) The major connectivity is by roads of length 8912km (2019) that connects India’s mainland, Myanmar and Bangladesh and about no rail tracks. The state is housed in various folds and faults over Indo-Burmese tectonic zone (Indo Eurasian plate tectonics), and housed adjacent to 950 Ridges. The booming craggy state is combatting with its road network progress due to frequent low magnitude tremors, landslides, floods, and heavy rainfalls. The data of earthquakes, landslides, rainfall, and road progress were collected, and analyzed. The connectivity growth is reported tough and challenging within forests, broken relief, frequent ghats roads, and deep gorges, in topography that hinders the progress in pavement growth. Present study focuses on the ameliorative measures of hill road construction in Mizoram by adhering to the IRC: 52-2019, changing modus operandi of national contract bids, amateurish engineering design, procurement policies, bidder’s expertise and commitment for execution. The non-availability menial labours and technocrats have stemmed many legal issues & disputes between the government and the contractors. Faulty planning, engineering design, executant’s approach, procurement policies and the contractor’s skill, contract administration and construction management, road safety challenges, contract documentation, and inability of deployed bidders needs to be improved in Mizoram. To cater the  needs  of  up-gradation/  new  constructions, the hurdles warrant cutting edge impulses through EIA, EMP, DPR, amateurish design, and updating procurement policies that should supersede the orthodox practices.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar V. Bautista-Cespedes ◽  
Louise Willemen ◽  
Augusto Castro-Nunez ◽  
Thomas A. Groen

AbstractThe Amazon rainforest covers roughly 40% of Colombia’s territory and has important global ecological functions. For more than 50 years, an internal war in the country has shaped this region. Peace negotiations between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) initiated in 2012 resulted in a progressive de-escalation of violence and a complete ceasefire in 2016. This study explores the role of different deforestation drivers including armed conflict variables, in explaining deforestation for three periods between 2001 and 2015. Iterative regression analyses were carried out for two spatial extents: the entire Colombian Amazon and a subset area which was most affected by deforestation. The results show that conflict variables have positive relationships with deforestation; yet, they are not among the main variables explaining deforestation. Accessibility and biophysical variables explain more variation. Nevertheless, conflict variables show divergent influence on deforestation depending on the period and scale of analysis. Based on these results, we develop deforestation risk maps to inform the design of forest conservation efforts in the post-conflict period.


Author(s):  
Maksim P. Tishakov

The work, based on previously little available for research, as well as materials and documents found in archival institutions, reflects the legal basis for ensuring road safety in 1948-1953, the state and organizational and legal measures taken in the field of combating accidents in road transport at the republican level by the example Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Attention is focused on the key problems that determine the development of the road safety system, the measures taken, their effectiveness, mistakes and achievements. Measures to counteract accidents in vehicles are investigated from a historical and legal standpoint, a critical and detailed analysis of decrees and orders of the government, departmental regulatory legal acts. It was found that the presence of a significant number of administrative decisions of the republican authorities of Soviet Ukraine, although it was a rather progressive step for its time, did not fully take into account the reality of achieving the set goals, local conditions and peculiarities. At the same time, the functioning of the emerging road safety system was significantly hampered by the lack of a unified national policy in the context of the rapid growth and development of the country’s automobile and road complex.


Author(s):  
Vladimir Grigor'ev ◽  
Dan Chuong Fam Thi ◽  
Rustam Nizamov ◽  
Igor' Grigor'ev

Aquaculture is one of the most promising and dynamically developing types of agricultural production, especially in countries with warm climates. The research was carried out to analyze the current situation in aquaculture in Vietnam to clarify the existing problems and prospects of this industry. When collecting materials, we used statistical data from the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, as well as information from representatives of the Institute of Economics and Business of the Vietnam National University (Hanoi). In the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, aquaculture is well developed and continues to actively expand, annually increasing the production of products that are in significant demand on the world market. One of the most important problems of the industry is the threat to natural biodiversity, primarily due to the reduction of the natural habitats of the inhabitants of rivers and mangroves. An equally important problem is the strong dependence of the production of products, primarily shrimp, on foreign markets, which today is objective and insurmountable. Due to the use of chemicals and antibiotics in aquaculture, especially in natural conditions, environmental degradation is possible. Among the promising areas for the development of the industry is the convergence of natural ecosystems and agriculture, a good example of which is the cultivation of shrimp in mangroves without destroying the forest cover. It is possible to switch to aquaculture as an adaptation to changes in the ecological situation, primarily to the salinization of river deltas. As a result of a decrease in the profitability of fishing in the natural habitat of fish and shrimps, an increase in their populations in natural conditions is possible


Author(s):  
Mangey Ram ◽  
Ashok Singh Bhandari ◽  
Akshay Kumar

Roads have always been the main source of transportation all over the world. Easy accessibility and more safety are the most important features of road transportation. Improvements in these areas are constantly required and invited. Solar road studs are one of the remarkable improvements in road safety. Solar road studs use solar energy, which is the most sustainable and pollution-free source of energy that provides reliable power supplies and fuel diversification. Solar road studs are flashing solar cell-powered LED lighting devices used in road construction to delineate road edges and centerlines. This research work is dedicated to evaluating the reliability measures which include availability, mean time to failure (MTTF), cost analysis, and sensitivity analysis with their graphical representation by using the Markov process. Along with reliability assessment, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique is applied to optimize the cost of the system.


2013 ◽  
pp. 1901-1912
Author(s):  
Lilik B. Prasetyo ◽  
Chandra Irawadi Wijaya ◽  
Yudi Setiawan

Java is very densely populated since it is inhabited by more than 60% of the total population of Indonesia. Based on data from the Ministry of Forestry, forest loss between 2000-2005 in Java was about 800,000 hectares. Regardless of the debate on whether the different methodologies of forest inventory applied in 2005 have resulted in an underestimation of the figure of forest loss or not, the decrease of forest cover in Java is obvious and needs immediate response. Spatial modeling of the deforestation will assist the policy makers in understanding this process and in taking it into consideration, when decisions are made on the issue. Moreover, the results can be used as data input to solve environmental problems resulting from deforestation. The authors of this chapter modeled the deforestation in Java by using logistic regression. Percentage of deforested area was considered as the response variable, whilst biophysical and socioeconomic factors, that explain the current spatial pattern in deforestation, were assigned as explanatory variables. Furthermore, the authors predicted the future deforestation process, and then, for the case of Java, it was validated with the actual deforestation derived from MODIS satellite imageries from 2000 to 2008. Results of the study showed that the impacts of population density, road density, and slope are significant. Population density and road density have negative impacts on deforestation, while slope has positive impact. Deforestation on Java Island tends to occur in remote areas with limited access, low density population and relatively steep slopes. Implication of the model is that the government should pay more attention to remote rural areas and develop good access to accelerate and create alternative non agricultural jobs in order to reduce pressure on the forest.


Author(s):  
Lilik B. Prasetyo ◽  
Chandra Irawadi Wijaya ◽  
Yudi Setiawan

Java is very densely populated since it is inhabited by more than 60% of the total population of Indonesia. Based on data from the Ministry of Forestry, forest loss between 2000-2005 in Java was about 800,000 hectares. Regardless of the debate on whether the different methodologies of forest inventory applied in 2005 have resulted in an underestimation of the figure of forest loss or not, the decrease of forest cover in Java is obvious and needs immediate response. Spatial modeling of the deforestation will assist the policy makers in understanding this process and in taking it into consideration, when decisions are made on the issue. Moreover, the results can be used as data input to solve environmental problems resulting from deforestation. The authors of this chapter modeled the deforestation in Java by using logistic regression. Percentage of deforested area was considered as the response variable, whilst biophysical and socioeconomic factors, that explain the current spatial pattern in deforestation, were assigned as explanatory variables. Furthermore, the authors predicted the future deforestation process, and then, for the case of Java, it was validated with the actual deforestation derived from MODIS satellite imageries from 2000 to 2008. Results of the study showed that the impacts of population density, road density, and slope are significant. Population density and road density have negative impacts on deforestation, while slope has positive impact. Deforestation on Java Island tends to occur in remote areas with limited access, low density population and relatively steep slopes. Implication of the model is that the government should pay more attention to remote rural areas and develop good access to accelerate and create alternative non agricultural jobs in order to reduce pressure on the forest.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.7) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
N. S. Sikhanova ◽  
I. I. Rakhimov

Preservation of biodiversity (interspecific, intraspecific) is one of the urgent tasks that requires a systematic, comprehensive, scientifically based approach. Engineering design of the bird life area, includes modeling, packaging the area and its effects on environment. For this purpose we design the procedure by finite element method for biological life of bird. A vivid example of restoration and preservation of biological diversity of fauna and flora should be considered the implementation of the environmental project "Regulation of the riverbed of the Syrdarya and the Northern Aral Sea”. The project was initiated by well-known Russian and Kazakh scientists with the support of the government of Kazakhstan and world financial institutions. The aim of the project is the construction of new and reconstruction of existing hydrological structures. The result of this project, among other things (improving the economic, social, environmental situation) is the restoration of biological diversity. The process of recovery is gradual, depends on many external factors and requires detailed study, scientific justification for individual periods and phases. Bird fauna is considered conservative enough in the choice of habitats and is an indicator of the restoration of biodiversity. This paper is devoted to keeping track of bird in the water spills of the Baskara canal (the main left-bank channel of the Syrdarya river) in the eastern part of the Kazalinsky district (Kazakhstan's Aral Sea area). During the surveys, 13 species of birds were recorded, which are representatives of 8 orders. The most part (77%) of registered birds belongs to the limnophilic group - the wetland birds.  Impoverished species composition is due to the climatic conditions of the accounting year, the lack of sufficient shelter, the isolation of the water body. Systematic, all-season bird monitoring is required. 


Author(s):  
Anna Maria Klepacka ◽  
Wojciech Florkowski ◽  
Monika Bagińska

Achieving goals of the national reforestation program for 2020 is threatened by its slow implementation despite financial support provided through the EU rural development programs. This study attempts to examine association between the increase in the forest cover and they are of agricultural land in Poland between 2010 and 2015 and the indirect association between the forest cover and regional migration, and residents seeking employment outside agriculture by registering microenterprises focusing only on Podlaskie Voivodship. The description of the observed developments has been supplemented by calculations of the Pearson correlation coefficient between the key indicators considered in this study. The calculated correlations coefficients suggest strong association between the EU funding and the reforested area in three districts surrounding the major cities in the region. Strong correlations were found between regional migration and the entrepreneurial activity reflected in the number of registered micro-enterprises in the case of Białystok and Łomża districts, but somewhat weaker associations in the case of Suwałki district. The transfer of land away from agriculture to reforestation is affected by the local technical infrastructure expansion, e.g., road construction, and influences the obtained correlation coefficients.


2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donatas Čygas ◽  
Vilma Jasiūnienė ◽  
Mantas Bartkevičius

Traffic safety situation in Lithuania, despite the progress made in 2008, is still not good enough compared to the other European Union countries. Therefore, Lithuania implements the traffic safety improvement measures affecting all the elements of the traffic safety system “Road user‐road‐vehicle”. In 2008 Lithuania started implementing the road safety audit procedure which substantially contributes to the improvement of safety situation on Lithuanian roads. This article gives the analysis of road safety audits of special plans and technical designs for road construction and reconstruction in Lithuania, makes the analysis of the main deficiencies of plans and designs and gives recommendations for their elimination. Santrauka Eismo saugumo situacija Lietuvoje, nepaisant 2008 m. pasiektos pažangos, vis dar yra nepakankamai gera, palyginti su kitomis Europos Sąjungos šalimis. Atsižvelgiant į tai, Lietuvoje įgyvendinamos eismo saugumo gerinimo priemonės, darančios įtaką visiems eismo saugumo sistemos „Eismo dalyvis–kelias–transporto priemonė“ elementams. Lietuvoje 2008 m. buvo pradėta taikyti kelių saugumo audito procedūra, kuri prisideda prie eismo saugumo gerinimo Lietuvos automobilių keliuose. Straipsnyje pateikta Lietuvoje atliktų specialiųjų planų ir automobilių kelių tiesimo bei rekonstrukcijos techninių projektų kelių saugumo auditų analizė, išanalizuoti pagrindiniai planų ir projektų trūkumai, pateiktos rekomendacijos jiems šalinti.


2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 40-50
Author(s):  
Lori Moren ◽  
Ray Shuey ◽  
Greg Chambers ◽  
Mansour Ranjbar ◽  
Christoph Hamelmann ◽  
...  

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran) has embarked on a challenging project aiming to demonstrate how to make road travel safer through speed management measures based on Safe System Approach (SSA) and Result Based Management (RBM). This follows from mounting concern in curbing a high death rate from motor vehicle crashes in recent years. However, despite the Government’s commitment to address this problem, there have been setbacks owing to the challenges of putting in place a strong collaborative framework involving all the agencies charged with responsibilities for road engineering, traffic law enforcement and public education. Iran has established a National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) to lead and coordinate actions. In implementing a demonstration project, specific partnership arrangements have been established at national and provincial levels, as well as pillar-based project teams in 3 provinces. This paper examines the governance structure and opportunities to strengthen the collaborative management of the project and how similar programs can be established and executed in other countries to improve road safety based on SSA and RBM.


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