Open landfill site and threat to the proximity resident’s: Addressing perceived consequences of unscientific solid waste dumping using GIS techniques

Municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal is a rapidly expanding sector that caters to the rising demand for disposal facilities; as a result, MSW treatment is becoming a significant challenge in concern to environmental and public health. The by-products of solid waste dumped in landfills have negative consequences on the environment and people living near disposal sites. This research aimed to assess whether the disposal of garbage in landfills affected the people who live near them. Consequently, residents living near MSW disposal facilities are exposed to various risks. A systematic questionnaire was devised and disseminated in this research to examine the adjacent people's concerns and attitudes around the landfill of the rapidly expanding Siliguri city of West Bengal. It was accomplished by assessing the opinions of persons living within the 1000m of the landfill site and how it impacts their life. The novelty of the research includes geographical analysis of physical impressions, including odour nuisance, breathing problems, impacts of flies and mosquitoes, water contamination, issues due to illegal burning, and health-related problems, which was conducted using geographic information system methodologies. Besides, the Landfill satisfaction index (LSI) tool was used to assess the perception of the people residing near the landfill. Also, to statistically validate the perception of the people related to the impact of landfills on their life, gamma coefficient (y) test of Goodman-Kruskal was applied. The findings reveal that the majority of the respondent within 600m are more susceptible to various risks due to unscientific landfill. Subsequently, a large portion of the responding sample was aware of the detrimental effects of landfills on the health and environment, therefore, individuals living near the dump yard preferred to live farther away. The findings also reveal that geographical proximity has a clear relationship between respondent perception and distance to the landfill. The study concludes with a discussion on how the research results may be beneficial for designing landfill sites and can be utilized by urban planners, environmentalists, and engineers.

Assessment of Spatial Distribution of Physico-Chemical Parameters of Groundwater around Kodungaiyur Dump yard

Municipal solid waste management has become an acute problem due to enhanced economic activities and rapid urbanisation. In most cities, solid waste is disposed of in open dumps without proper lining which has tremendous health issues and environmental effects. Kodungaiyur dump yard chosen for this study is the major toxic dump yard in Chennai. In recent years there has been a serious concern about the deteriorating groundwater quality due to leachate contamination. Despite posing strict rules on pollution of water bodies, water continues to be consistently underappreciated and undervalued. So, the present study is emphasized on the ill effects of leachate percolation on groundwater quality and is also represented spatially to understand the impact of the landfill in the selected area. For this study water samples are collected from 12 bore wells in and around Kodungaiyur dumpsite and they are tested for various Physico-chemical parameters like total alkalinity, total dissolved solids, hardness, conductivity, pH, sulphate, chloride, potassium, sodium, Magnesium, and nitrate. The water samples are also analysed for BOD, COD and heavy metals include Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb and Ni. The test results are compared with Water quality standards. The spatial distribution of the Physico-chemical parameters is represented in maps prepared using Quantum Geographical Information System (QGIS). The result obtained from testing and spatial representation using GIS helps in monitoring and managing water contamination in the study area.

Techno-Commercial Assessment of Concurrent Municipal Brown Field Reclamation Procedures: A Pivotal Case Study of Jawahar Nagar Dump Site

The quantity of municipal solid waste (MSW) generation is escalating at an alarming rate with every passing year alongside the modernization of our economy. Unfortunately, the majority of this waste remains uncollected or ends up in open dumping and followed by uncontrolled burning. Citing the deep-rooted consequences, open dumping should be abandoned, and scientific interventions should be aggressively exercised to reclaim the municipal brownfields. The present research undertook the judicial task of assessing the comparative feasibility of biomining and scientific capping as a technology selection for reclamation of about a decade-old 120 million tons of waste chunk laying at Jawahar Nagar dump yard. Primary dump samples were collected from various locations, considering depth as a variable. At the same time, leachate and groundwater samples were collected from Malkaram lake and preinstalled borewells receptively. Additionally, the ambient air quality and noise level also been ascertained within the buffer zone. The blended representative solid sample was segregated using a 70 mm mesh trommel into organic and inorganic fractions. The organic fraction was composted using a lab-scale aerobic static pile composting (ASPC) while the trommel reject was processed as refuse-derived fuel (RDF). Evidently, the compost lagged quality and depicted nutrient deficiency. In contrast, the burning of RDF produced siloxane gas significantly due to elevated silicon levels in the primary waste. Furthermore, due to the prolonged leaching tenure and seasonal dilution, the concentration of legacy leachate was relatively weaker. Borewell samples collected from a depth of 20 feet also portrayed minor contamination up to 500 meters horizontal radius. The issue of leachability can solely be resolved with the capping of the existing dump, and the end product quality derived from the biomining process is highly questionable. Thus, handling such large quantity capping is a befitting option over biomining for Jawahar Nagar dumpsite.

Paradise in Peril: Dams, Development and Domination

Damming rivers is often seen as the panacea of the neo-liberal development paradigm. It is believed to be the fit all solution to problems of agricultural production, flood control, irrigation in arid and semi –arid regions, electricity generation as well as urban development. The industrialization of the world and the adoption of a capital intensive, mechanized and marketoriented production process has dramatically altered the environment as resource-extraction and resource consumption increased manifold. Nature, in fact, became a source of supply of raw materials for feeding the ever growing needs of modernization and development as well as a dump-yard for material waste, slowly heading towards a perilous condition. The paper, therefore, seeks to explore and investigate the issue of damming rivers as a domineering force over nature explicating the power of science over nature.

Circulation in the Gulf of Khambhat—A Lagrangian Perspective

The circulation of the Gulf of Khambhat (GoK) is studied from a Lagrangian point of view using a 2D numerical model. The model-predicted tide elevation and current speed are in agreement with the observations. Seasonal variations of advection of particles are simulated by releasing 237 particles homogeneously distributed over the Gulf. After one month of simulation, no particles escaped from the GoK except a few from the southern GoK during southwest monsoon (June–September), and the advection of particles was at its maximum in the northern part. Residual eddies are present inside the GoK during the northeast (October–January) and southwest monsoon seasons. Gulf circulation is studied with the combined forcing of tide and wind for different tidal conditions, which had noticeable seasonal difference. The maximum simulated current speeds of 3.4 and 2.8 m/s are noticed during southwest monsoon near to Bhavnagar and Dahej respectively, where the tide elevations are maximum indicating that GoK is a tide-dominated system. A seasonal barrier could be found in the southern Gulf, which not only makes the Gulf circulation distinct from that of the Arabian Sea (AS), but also restricts water-mass exchange between the Gulf and AS during ebb condition. As the Gulf is a dump yard for anthropogenic wastes, the present study puts forward an effort to determine the fate of the waste from a hydrodynamic point of view.

Detecting the Possibility of Soil Pollution with Radon Emissions for an Area Located within Baghdad University Campus- AL-Jadiriyah

This research deals with the detection of possible surface soil pollution by radon emissions for an area located inside the university of Baghdad campus at AL-Jadiriyah / Baghdad. The area is about 5625 m2 and located near the College of Science for Women. The area used as construction rubbles dump yard in the past, while recently it is covered with Silty - Clayey soil furnished with grass and used as a playground. A surface survey performed on October 2018 by gridding the area into 36 stations where surface radiometric pollution readings recorded and soil samples collected by using an auger for the top 30 Cm which represents the root zone of the area. Soil samples tested in the laboratory by using can technique with CR-39 type track detectors, while surface readings performed by using a portable Geiger counter device. Soil surface readings and laboratory analysis results were processed by computer in order to draw contour maps which showed the variation of radon emission anomalies across the area. The aim behind this processing and interpretation is to provide an evaluation for the health environmental impact related to the radioactivity of the top soil and the area surface. The results of this study showed that radon emissions were below the standard limits and this makes it possible to invest the area for future human housing and other activities.