PhD Thesis

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Assessment of Water Pollution and its Impact on Fisheries Resources of Posna Beel, Kalihati, Tangail
(University of Rajshahi, 2006) Alam, Ashraful; Jahan, M. Sarwar; Zaman, M.
Posna Beel is an important perennial waterbody in Kalihati Upazila of Tangail District. The heel area is 121.5 ha in monsoon and 9 .0 ha in dry period. The heel is the main source of fish for Pouzan, Balla, Rampur and Elenga Bazars. A research work for two years was carried out on the water quality, Agro-chemical use, and pesticide residue and beel sediment of Posna heel. From water quality monitoring, it was found that the heel water was very suitable for open water fisheries. The levels of concentration of some water pollutants such as ammonia (0.012-0.076 mg/I) and nitrate (0.15-0.48 mg/1) were very low while the biochemical parameters such as BOD5 (2.70-5.43 mg/I) and COD (5.20-8.15 mg/l) were slightly high. Nitrite was found zero round the year. The values of DO vary from 6.66 mg/I to 9.66 mg/1, which was suitable for fishes and other biota. According to the field survey, the farmers in the beet area was found to using 113.14 kg urea per acre against the government recommendation level of 87.0 kg per acre. On the other hand, application of TSP, MP and Gypsum were lower than the government recommendation level. Both the bee! water and sediment were free from Organophosphorus and Carbamate pesticides. However, a very trace amount of Organochlorine (DDT, heptachlor and dieldrin) pesticide was found in the beel sediment and water sample, which was negligible in the context of pollution. From the survey on agrochemical use, it was found that farmers around the Posna beet were not using organochlorine pesticides in HYV Boro field. The presence of a trace amount of Organochlorine pesticides in water and sediment samples may be for the past use of these pesticides for mosquito eradication in this area.
Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts of Social Forestry in the High Barind Tract
(University of Rajshahi, 2006) Basher, Mohammed Norul; Rahman, M. Shamsur
Forests and forest produce are the integral part of world's environment and they support the environmental balance of the world as well as supply the major portion of the basic needs of human beings. Forests accommodate a great diversity of largely unknown plants, animals, microorganisms and genes generated by intricate ecological process. Forests and trees provide a range of wood and non-wood products, fuel wood, fruits and vegetables, fodder, medicine and so forth. Forests also provide basic elements for life on earth through ecological functions, regulate climate and water resources, stabilize soil, cycle nutrients, treat waste, provide habitat and facilitate recreation. People began to clear forestland's for agriculture, settlement and grazing from Neolithic age. As the population rapidly increased since the l 8th and 19th centuries, a pressure on forestland's also increased. Nowadays the demand for forest goods and resources are the highest ever as the world's population is constantly increasing (Isik, Yaltirik and Akesen, 1997). Population pressure, agriculture, industrialization and development activities are exerting a tremendous pressure on the forests and forestland's. Forest covers one-third land of this planet (about 3.9 billion hectares) excluding Antarctica and Greenland, which is 29.6% of the world's total Landmass (Larsen, 2003). Assessments have shown that for many years world's forest cover is shrinking. According to Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO] (2003), 0.38% of the world's forest were converted to other land uses (i.e., deforested) every year since 1990s. Although large areas reverted to forest, it leaves a net annual loss of 0.22 percent and the world lost about 94 million hectares of forest from 1990 to 2000. Bangladesh is a developing country in South-East Asia with low natural resource base but a dense population. The natural resource base of the country is under serious threat, as most natural resources are being over-exploited and used unsustainable. In 1947, the natural forest cover of the country was 24% of the total land (Gain, 1998a), which has now come down to about 5.8% of the total land of the country (Bangladesh Forest Department [BFD], 2003). Bangladesh has nearly 150-years' history of scientific forest management. In the early 1980s, Bangladesh introduced Social Forestry with some core objectives: ecological restoration, poverty alleviation and people's participation. There remains a question whether these objectives are fulfilled at excepted level or there is room for a more responsive practice to improve outcomes of Social Forestry. A brief examination of past forest resource management practices and shift in forest policy changes in Bangladesh is essential to fully perceive the answer of this question. 1.1 Bangladesh Forestry Sector Bangladesh is situated in the no1th-eastern part of South Asia between 20° 341 and 26° 381 1101th latitude and between 88° 011 and 92°411 east longitude. The country covers an area of 1, 47,570 sq. km and is bounded by India from the west, north and most of east. Myanmar lies on the southeast and the Bay of Bengal on the south (BBS, 2001a). The cow1try is highly populated and total population of the country is 149.7 million (UNFP A, 2005). Bangladesh is located in a unique geographical location between two biologically diverse sub-regions (Indian and Malayan). Due to this, the country has a number of major natural forest ecosystems including the Sunder ban. Forest ecosystems of Bangladesh mainly consist of natural and plantation forests. Tropical wet evergreen, tropical semi evergreen, tropical moist deciduous ai1d tidal forest ecosystems are in the category of natural forests (Ali, 2003). Plantation forests are however developed in deforested forestland's, degraded hill forests, sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn.) forests, marginal lands and newly accreted low-lying coastal areas. Forest area of Bangladesh is gradually decreasing since the independence of Bangladesh. From 1986 to 1996, more than half of the closed forests those were medium to good density forests were turned to either degraded to poor density forests or deforested or encroached (F AO, 2000). Androgenic activities and natural causes are the agents of depletion of forest resources in Bangladesh. Increased consumption of forest products, human encroachment, deforestation, illegal logging, low flows in the dis-tributaries of the Gai1ges due to withdrawal of water at Farakka Barrage point in India during lean season and its · consequences are the human induced activities responsible for forest degradation. Climate change, sea level rise also acts as natural causes for forest degradation in Bangladesh (Ahan1ed, Siddiqi & Choudhuri, 1999). Three distinct periods are evident in the forest management history of Bangladesh. They are: 1) Forest management during colonial period 2) Forest management during Pakistan period and 3) Forest management in Bangladesh and inception of Social Forestry…
Environmental Consequences of Development Interventions in Rural Areas: A Study on Selected Villages
(University of Rajshahi, 2006) Ahsan, Kamrul; Jahan, M. Sarwar
The study was conducted to explore the indigenous knowledge and concept of people of various statuses from two floods free and two flood-affected villages on rural environmental consequences of development interventions under Camilla Sadar and Sonargaon Upazilas of Bangladesh. As well as the impact of development interventions in soil and water qualities were assessed. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and survey methods were used to assess the current environmental conditions in the study areas. Agriculture soil tests covered soil texture, pH, organic matter content, percent of total nitrogen, P and K. Nine soil samples from different land types of the study villages were tested for finding out residual effects of insecticides in soils under the groups of Organophosphorus, Organocarbamate and organochlorine after the boro season of 2003. Soil samples were collected from different types of agricultural land under the. study. Water quality both for surface and ground water were considered for the study. Total Dissolved Salt, SS, NH/, PH, P and K tests were carried out for surface water. Arsenic, TH and TDS tests were carried out for ground water assessment in the study villages.-------
Sustainable Land Management: Policy Implication and Sectoral Achievement
(University of Rajshahi, 2007) Alam, Md. Shamsul; Ahmed, Raquib; Rahman, Md. Redwanur
Present investigation deals with the "Sustainable Land Management: Policy Implication and Sectoral Achievement". It was conducted from the period of three years (July'2003 to June'2006) in the Barind tract (Nachole Upazila) and Chalan Beel area (Singra Upuzila). The Chalan Beel area lies between 24°35' to 24°70' North latitude and 89° 10' to 89°35 'East longitudes. The total area of Chalan Beel area is 368 sq km. Barind tract lies between 24°20' to 25°35'North latitudes and 88°20' to 89°30' East longitudes. Total area of Barind tract is about 7,770 sq km. The investigation was designed with land management system of Bangladesh and degradation due to inadequate existing polices and improper implementation of existing laws in Bangladesh. The present study has observed that there are many laws and government policies to manage the land of Bangladesh such as The Non Agricultural Tenancy Act'1949, The Land Revenue Act’s 949, The State Acquisition and Tenancy Act' 1951, The Tax Rules'1962, The Vested Property Act'1966, The Agricultural Pesticides Ordinance'1971, The Bangladesh Irrigation and Water Rate Ordinance'1983. Most of these laws were prepared during British and Pakistan periods. These ancient laws were prepared and enacted for their own interest and in ancient time. But now the scenario is changed. The formal Bengal province is now fully independent country. The land use pattern has been changed and population has been increased. Man land ratio has been decreased. The excessive land use and improper land use change are causing land degradation. The socio-economic problems are rising due to improper land management. The population is much more than the affording capacity of the area. The people need foods, shelter and others from the limited land. The farmers are trying to produce much food from the limited land resource. They are using chemical fertilizer, insecticides, HYV seeds and other harmful things in agricultural land without considering its consequences and future. Rut there are not laws and policies to stop or to reduce of these harmful activities. Even the existing laws and policies are encouraging them to use the harmful activities such as The Canals Act' 1864, The Irrigation Act'1876, The Destructive Insects and Pests Act'1914, The Agricultural and Sanitary Improvement Act'1920, The Tanks Improvement Act'1939, The Agricultural Pesticides Ordinance'1971, The Bangladesh Irrigation and Water Rate Ordinance' 1983. Though recent policies are emphasizing! To reduce those chemical fertilizers and pesticides in agricultural land. But these policies and laws are not implemented properly. There are 24 agricultural laws and 7 policies passed by the government of Bangladesh to develop the agriculture……………………………
Fisheries Eco-Biology of Beel Koshba of Naogaon District
(University of Rajshahi, 2007-12) ISLAM, MD. NUR; Rahman, Md. Safinur
The present study was conducted in Beel Koshba of Naogaon district on the fisheries eco- biology during the period July, 2005 to June, 2007. The physical conditions of Beel Koshba consisted of air temperature, rainy days, rainfall, humidity, water temperature, water depth and water transparency were 26.07±4.56°C, 9.54±8.55 days, 113.93±114.01 mm, 79.33±7.94%, 25.365.12°C, 204.96 110.36 cm and 30.91+6.78 cm respectively. The chemical parameters of total hardness, alkalinity, pH, DO, CO2 and ammonia were 146.60±13.36 mg/l, 143.30±9.33 mg/l, 7.05±0.75, 6.03±1.08 mg/l, 8.64±0.88 mg/l and 0.73 0.31 mg/l respectively. The magnitude of monthly and seasonal variations of the physico-chemical factors indicated the eutrophic nature of the beel. A total of 54 species of different plants were found surround the beel area. Eight species of sub-merged, nine species of floating, 19 species amphibian vegetations were found in the beel. A total of 126 species of phytoplankton belonging to the 54 genera and 73 species of zooplankton belonging to the 42 genera were recorded from the beel. A total of 103 species of fish belonging to the 52 genera of 20 families, 10 orders under Osteichthyes class were recorded. Food and feeding habits, seasonal availability, breeding season, habitat and economic importance were also studied in the Beel Koshba. Identified annelids, arthropods, mollusks, amphibian, reptiles, aves and mammals were 8, 11, 15, 8, 21, 40 and 12 respectively. Among these 16 species of edible fisheries items were identified. It has been observed that the abundance of fishes is decreasing day by day due to natural and man made causes and other environmental factors. Some of the species are extinct (Nandus nandus, Chaca chaca), some of the species are threatened to extinction (C. marulius, Bagarius bagarius) in the northwest region of Bangladesh. Disease symptoms of the 12 fish species were studied. The symptoms of the diseases were 13 in number. The symptoms of dermal lesion was observed in all of the infected fish species (12 species), followed by ulcer (11 species), Epizootic Ulcerative Syndrome (10 species), tail and fin rot (6 species), red spot (6 species), scale loss (5 species), deformed (4), dropsy (3 species), gill rot (3 species), hemorrhage (3 species), black spot (3 species), tumour (2), white spot (2 species). The incidence of diseases were 8.08%, 19.42%, 17.08%, 13.42%, 9.58%, 8.00%, 7.25%, 16.17%, 17.42%, 5.42%, 10.08%, 14.92% in the species Carla catla, Channa punctatus, Channa striatus, Cirrhinus mrigala, Heteropneustes fossilis, Labeo bata, Labeo rohita, Mystus armatus, Mastacembelus pancalus, Mystus vittatus, Puntius sarana, Puntius ticto respectively. The overall incidence was 12.24%. The highest incidence was observed in Channa punctatus (19.42%) followed by Mastacembelus pancalus (17.42%) and Channa striatus (17.08%). The lowest incidence observed in Mystus vittatus (5.42%). The occurrence of diseases was highest in February (24.75%) followed by March (23.92%), January (23.42%), April (19.83%), December (19.75%), November (18.17%), October (4.75%), September (4.00%), May (2.92%), August (2.75%) and July (2.58%). The diseases were found in the month of July-May during the study period July 2005-June 2007, peak in the months of January-March. In case of environmental hazards, natural hazards (flood, drought, tornado and earthquake) and man made hazards (degradation of water quality from agriculture sector, industrial waste and fishermen community) were observed. Environmental hazards from fishermen community were observed on the basis of age group, family size, income group, investment, educational qualification, sanitary system, land ownership, fuel use pattern, housing pattern etc. It was found that the fishermen were the highest (32%) in 21-30 age group and the lowest (4%) in 61-70 age group. In case of total population, 11-20 age group people was the highest (25.66%) and accordingly the lowest (1.54%) in 61-70 age group. Daily income of the fishermen was the highest (50%) in Tk. 61-90 income per day group and the lowest (2%) in above the Tk. 151 group. The highest (36%) investments were in Tk. 2001-4000 group and the lowest (8%) were in highest investment Tk. 8001-10,000 group. The fishermen were mostly illiterate (68%) and 25% near to illiterate i.e. below class five group. Only 1% was secondary school certificate and above. In case of subsidiary occupation, the highest (44%) fishermen sell their labour on daily basis, 24%, 12% and 8% were engaged in agriculture, fish trading and other works respectively. Family type was mostly nuclear. Eighty seven percent families have below 6 members. Only 1% family has above 9 members. In case of land ownership pattern 6% fishermen were absolute land less. Seventy percent fishers have no agricultural land, they have only ancestral homestead. Only 24% fishers have a little piece of agricultural land. Overall average per family has only 0.061 hectare land. They use Lakri, Waste straw, Dry leaves, Nanda and Bhusi as fuel for cooking. Most of the fishes (90%) caught by the fishermen was sold in paikari form and always they set a less amount than expected one. The fishermen have no adequate training (only 8% ). They do not know (88%) the fisheries law. They showed interest (99%) to get training. Seventy percent Muslim and 30% Hindu community were engaged in the occupation of fishing.
Problems of Basic Education of the Disadvantaged Children in the Urban Areas of Bangladesh: A Study on Rajshahi City
(University of Rajshahi, 2010) Kabir, Md. Humayun; Rahman, Md. Moksuder
The research work "Problems of Basic Education of the Disadvantaged Children in the Urban Areas of Bangladesh: A Study on Rajshahi City" has been divided into 8 chapters. In the introductory chapter, mainly the backgrounds of the study and methodological aspects have been presented along with the objectives of research, definition of the key concepts, data collection and analyzing techniques. It is an explorative research work that is based on the information collected from the underprivileged children in Rajshahi city. The sample technique of the research is stratified random sampling and in it 3 types ( on going students and their guardians, dropout students and their guardians and students' institutions) of respondents have been selected purposively. Moreover, relevant information has been collected from the respondents through observation, questionnaire survey, key informants interview and case study. It is important to mention that the target of the research work is to uplift the problems of education of the unprivileged children. The researcher has to undertake six more specific objectives to acquire the target. The title of chapter two is Situation of Basic Education. In this chapter the major aspects of primary education have been presented viz., pattern of primary education, enrolment and dropout issue, school environment, financing of primary education, target of basic education, achievement of basic education, target of education, etc. In chapter three, Identification of Disadvantaged Children has been noted. This research has been conducted over the children who are deprived of economically; they go to school during their work time. In this chapter the condition and dignity have been presented. Disadvantaged children are "the most vulnerable group of people among the population. After exploring and analyzing data from different sources, the researcher has found three types of disadvantaged children (Street children, Domestic Child Worker, Children in Hazardous Work) in this study area. In chapter four, Socio-Economic Condition of Disadvantaged Children is demonstrated. In this chapter the collected data has been presented in various tables, charts or graphs. These tables, charts or graphs may clarify the overall situation of the disadvantaged children, specially their socio-economic condition. In chapter five, Educational Institution for Disadvantaged Children has been taken into regard. UCEP and BEHTRUWC schools are selected to get proper information regarding the issues. These two programs are playing a very effective role in eradicating illiteracy and achieving MDG. According to the characteristics, both the systems are non-formal education institutions. An analytical approach has been adopted to present the existing patterns and other pedagogical aspects have been included for getting practical situation. In chapter six, Difficulties in Accessing Basic Education of Disadvantaged Children are stated. The chapter examines the structural barriers that exclude poor children from educational opportunity. It is clear that socio-cultural reality itself is a major difficulty in accessing basic education. On the basis of the above motto, the researcher has presented a critical analysis concerning some basic education relating to socio-cultural phenomena. The title of chapter seven, is GO-NGO and Local Support for Disadvantaged Children. We know that, a number of Government and Non-government organizations are working for the welfare of the disadvantaged children in Rajshahi city as well as Bangladesh. Particularly the organizations and institutions like Baby Home, Shishu Home, Shishu Paribar, Shishu Sadan, Drop in Center, Sotomony Nibas etc. are working for the welfare of the disadvantaged children. On the other hand, many international, national, local and regional organizations like UNICEF, ILO, UNESCO, SOS Palli, UCEP, ASD, ACD, TDC, etc. are operating various types of integrated programs for the welfare of such children in the country over the years. The performance of the mentioned organizations in Rajshahi city has been observed through the research. In chapter eight, title is Chapter Summary and Recommendations. The researcher has found that economical, social, personal, problem at school, illiteracy of guardians are the main factors to accessing basic education of disadvantaged children. With the combined efforts of parents, teachers, policy makers of the society as well as government can stop the problem. Throughout the overall study, the researcher brings out some suggestions as recommendations in line with the identified problems. We need to identify the problem and also need to take necessary steps to prevent the problem. Otherwise overall development plan will be spoiled.
Changing Pattern of Wetlands and its Impact on Environment of Dhaka City
(University of Rajshahi, 2010) Shahabuddin, A. K. M.; Ahmed, Raquib
Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh is one of the populous Mega cities in the world. High density population as well as shortage of land causes intense densification in the existing built up. Rapid population growth creates extra pressure on the land of already overcrowded Dhaka city and the city is expanding in an unplanned and uncontrolled manner. One of the major adverse impacts of unplanned growth is destruction of environmentally sensitive areas. Dhaka city had a large number of wetlands both big and small, which includes rivers, canals, lakes, lowlands etc. But the wetlands have been shrinking with the passage of time. In recent years the speed of conversion of wetlands for housing and other infrastructures emerged as an alarming issue considering its adverse impact on environment. This study mainly focuses on three issues: i) Changes of wetlands in and around Dhaka city ii) Problems appeared in the city due to wetland change iii) Government's implications regarding wetland change. This research documented the extent of wetland change since 1960. To accomplish the work top maps of 1960 and three images of different years (Land sat TM, 1988; ALOS VNIR, 2008 and Goggle earth, 2008) were used. Findings reveal that a large portion of the wetlands has been lost and the rate of destruction of wetland is alarming. During the total study period (1960-2008), the city has lost 33% of water bodies and 52% of lowlands. During the period 1960-88 the water bodies decreased about 30 hectares per year and between 1988-2008 decreased about 6 hectares per year and lowlands decreased 29 hectares per year between 1960-1988, 315 hectares per year between 1988-2008. It is clearly observed from the analysis of change in land use dimension of selected wetlands areas that wetlands are mainly converted to built-up areas. It is also revealed from this analysis that the rate of transformation of wetland is highly related with urban settlement. This research tried to apprehend the perception of local people regarding the loss of wetlands through questionnaire survey. It is evident from the views of surveyed respondent’s mainly real estate companies and government organizations are involved in wetland loss and water logging is the main impact of wetland loss. The water logging becomes a burden for the inhabitants of Dhaka city and creating adverse social, physical, economic and environmental impacts. Interruption of daily work, children's problem going to school, disruption of electricity, risk of run of motor vehicle, damage of houses, problems in getting drinking water, sanitation problem, creating unhygienic situation and suffering from the disease are the encountered effects of water logging on city life. Respondents viewed that to overcome the water logging problem, all illegal structure from the wetlands need to remove immediately. This research carried out a thorough assessment of prevailing plans, acts, rules and regulations for wetland management. The present wetland management of the public agencies has been critically analyzed and their overlapping and conflicting areas were identified. Activities of different environmental groups were also reviewed in this study. The investigation undertaken for this study reveals that the present management practices of government organizations are very weak and not at all systematic. The existing legal tools of different agencies are not exercised properly. Overlapping of functions among the agencies creates conflicts in management. The coordination status of government organizations are poor but the PLDCs, local influential people and others, those are involved in wetland change are highly organized and well coordinated. This study delivers the essence that combined effort is necessary from the part of involved stakeholders, like local people, NGOs, local government body, central government and civic organization to implement the conservation strategies of wetlands. Political will and government commitment is also needed for this purpose. In conclusion, some recommendations are made regarding proper demarcation of wetlands, strengthening the relevant GOs, strict development regulation and proper enforcement of laws towards conservation of wetlands.
Molluscan Biodiversity of the North-eastern Region of Bangladesh
(University of Rajshahi, 2010) Bhuiyan, Mahiuddio Md. Shahjahan; Jahan, Md. Sarwar
Mollusca, the second largest phylum in the animal kingdom are characterized by soft, slimy body and glandular body fold of skin or mantle. The mantle secrets a shell which often gives the mollusc’s partial or complete shelter for its body. Molluscs are the members of very ancient group whose origin goes back to the earliest fossil bearing rocks of the Paleozoic Era (the Cambrian period, some 500 million years ago). They reached the peak of their development in the Cenozoic Era, but even today molluscas are still, numerically, a very large group. The number of species in the phylum probably about 120,000, but this figure includes extinct species. A common estimate is 80,000 species, the majority of which live in the sea and about 75% of this total are gastropod (Pfleger and Chatfield 1988). The number of living molluscan species today varies from 80,000 (Boss, 1973) to 135,000 (van Brugen, 1955), of which 31,000 to 100,000 are marine, 1,4000 to 35,000 terrestrial and about 5,000 are freshwater (Abbot, 1989; Seddon, 2000). Moluscs are markedly diverse with regard to their external morphology and size they range from microscopic clams and snails (smaller than 1 mm) to giant oceanic squid and the massive tridacnid clams oflndopacific reefs (Hochachka, 1983). Habit and Habitats of Molluscs Molluscs range from limpets clinging to the rock, to snails, which crawl or dig or swim, to bivalves which anchor or burrow or bore, to cephalopods which torpedo through the water or lurk watchfully on the bottom. They penetrate all habitats: the abyssal of the sea, coral reefs, mudflats, deserts and forest, rivers, lakes and underground. They may become hidden as parasites in the interior of other animals (Morton; 1968). The molluscs are found in a wide range of habitats, from tropical to the polar seas, at altitudes exceeding 7000 m like Himalayas, in flood plains, ponds, lakes, beels, baors, streams, paddy fields, forest beds, mud flats, mangroves, rivers, and the seas from pelagic to benthic depths. The land molluscs are adapted to all kinds of weather and dwell on ground habitats ranging f om bushes, parks' gardens, vegetations and forests, particularly inhabits that offer sufficient shady and moist places. Their primary habitats are damp shady corners among vegetation, under fallen leaves, litters, and logs and in crevices. Some species crawl on damp walls, trees trunks, petioles and leaves and algal growths. A few prefers salty environments, while some are adopted to leaves and branches of trees or inside the hollow trees bark .Slugs having no protective shell often take shelter inside the petioles or folds of leaves. The young one is usually found attached to under side of the herbs. Freshwater molluscs are common in ponds, paddy fields, irrigation canals, lakes, hill streams (chhara) and rivers. Marine molluscs live in a wide range of habitats, from supra tidal mark of a coast to the extremely deep water. Most of the Bangladeshi marine molluscs live in the Bay of Bengal coast and represent diversified life style, including free -living, sedentary, bottom-dwellers, burrowers, borers and pelagic form. A few are also arboreal on mangrove trees and grasses. The majority of the species, however, inhabit shallower waters (Encyclopaedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh, 2007). Molluscs as human food and animal food In Guadeloupe, Mauritius, China, Japan and even in France, certain species of bivalve are used for human consumption (Preston, 1915).The use of fresh water molluscs, protein-rich food very much in practice in a number of countries viz. Mexico (GariaCubas, 1989, Valvas-Gonzalez 1989), Taiwan and Formosa (Wu 1989), the Philippine (Talavera and Faustino, 1933, Pagulayan and Cruz, 1989), and Kewajam, 1986). Pila globosa, Bellamya beagalensis, Brotia costula, Paludomus conica, Lamellidens marginalis, Solenia soleniformes, Trapezoides exolescens are consumed in West Bengal, India (Subba Rao, 1989). Land snails are also eaten by people of France. France also consumes 5 million pounds of escargot (a large tree snail Helix aspersa) every year (Bourquin et. al, 1999). Along the Worlds miles of coastlines, man has always had a readily available food source - high in protein and trace of minerals, because of the many kinds of molluscs to be found there. Mussel and oyster beds, clamflats and other abundant shell fishes have always provided and easy source of food……………………………………..
Landuse Change and Environmental Degradation in Dhaka City
(University of Rajshahi, 2011) Islam, Md. Shahidul; Ahmed, Raquib
The present research documents the extent and impact of land use change since 1960 to 2008. Topographical maps of 1960 and two images of different years (Landsat TM image, 1991 and Google image, 2008) were used and analyzed to accomplish the expected research outcomes. The study reveals that a large portion of land has been changed, and the rate of decrease of vegetation and wet/lowlands has appeared to be quite alarming. During 1960-2008, the Dhaka city lost 39.94% (5354 ha) of cultivated land, 66% (5026 ha) of vegetation, 44.48% (1657 ha) of water-bodies and 47.32% (42.50 ha) of wet/lowlands. During the period 1960-1991, the cultivated areas decreased to about 22.45% (97 ha/year), vegetation cover decreased to about 28.85% (71 ha/year), waterbodies to about 14.20% (17 ha/year) and wet/lowlands to about 35.10% (102 ha/year). During 1991 to 2008 Dhaka lost 22.56% (138 ha/year) of cultivated land, 52.21 % (166 ha/year) of vegetation, 35.29% (66 ha/year) of water-bodies and 18.82% (65 ha/year) of wet/lowlands. Maximum changes were found to be concentrated on certain land uses such as in cultivated land (about 112 hectares were under change per year) and vegetation (105 hectares were under change per year) during the study period 1960-2008. Rate of decrease in case of wet/lowlands 89 hectares per year during the same period. It has been observed that wet/lowlands were converted predominantly into built-up areas. The transformation of cultivated land, vegetated lands and wet/lowlands were strongly related with the high rate of growth of urban settlement. Three areas to represent the research were selected viz. Ashulia, Uttara and Amin Bazar. These areas grew and developed mostly during 1960 to 2008. It is important to observe that the increase for Ashulia was 218 .2% during 1960 to 1991. It was true also in case other two areas during 1960-2008. Growth of Uttara region was about 540.4% continuously almost steadily during the same period. It means, the rate of urbanization is much faster in Uttara than in Ashulia. It has been observed that a cultivated lands has been reduced due to urbanization in Uttara. It has also been observed that in Uttara vegetated lands increased for about (159.2%) during 1960-1991. But it has decreased in Ashulia and in Amin Bazar This research presents a dynamic change of land use in Dhaka city, based on selected physical and social factors. Land Change Modeler (LCM) was used to analyze the land use changes between various land use classes during the period 1960-1991 and 1991-2008. The land use change was assessed through evaluation of gains and losses by those classes. It was noted that most of the land use categories experienced loss and gain to some extent. But the pattern was different. During 1960-1991, cultivated/agricultural land lost 76.51 % and gained 68.45%, with a net loss of 8.06%. And in 1991-2008 it lost 78.31 % and gained 63. 72%, with a net loss of 14.59%. Vegetation lost 67.53% and gained 25.34 % in 1960-1991 with a net loss of 42.19 %. In 1991-2008 the loss was 36.28% and the gain was 19.36% with a net loss of 16.92%. Wet/lowlands lost 57.45% and gained 12.53 % in 1960-1991 with a net loss of 44.92 %. In 1991-2008 the loss was 23.57 % and the gain was 24.85% with a net gain of 1.28% and water-bodies neither gained nor lost and land (the loss of water bodies was already completed before that period). Built-up area lost to about 27.61 % and gained 93.58%, with a net gain of 65.97 % during 1960-1991. During 1991-2008 the loss was 56.42% and gain was 71.26% with a net gain of 14.84%. Net gain for bare soil/landfill was 10.58 % and in transport and communication it was 18.24% in 1960-1991. During 1991-2008 similar trends have been noticed for the rest of the classes, with the exception of bare soil/landfill, which seems to be stable. Transport, communication and others categories have gained to some extent. But however, there are always some scopes of checking the result in GIS environment. The location accuracy in land use change model using Landsat TM image of 1991 and Google Earth image of 2008 was done using the clear and visible roads. In case of classifying bare soil/landfill, cultivated/agricultural land and vegetation, the user accuracy were 59%, 49% and 61 % respectively. The prediction of land use change was done on Neural Network, a built-in module in the Andes version of ID RISI. Iterations considered were 5000, considered sufficient for running the data. The lowest accuracy obtained was 57 .30 for all the conversion types. The transition probability matrix records the probability of future changes in which each land use category indicates in relation to other category. This matrix was produced by the multiplication of each column in the transition probability matrix where the numbers of cells of corresponding land use showed the later scenario. Though this matrix can be used to predict future land use in any period, it was specially designed for the predictions for the years 2020 (short term) and 2050 (long term). This research attempted to bring light to the perception of local people regarding change of land use through questionnaire survey. It is evident from the views and opinions of the local people that real estate companies, unplanned urbanization, industrializai10n an
Fisheries Resources of a Floodplain of the North-western Region of Bangladesh with Reference to its Environmental Aspects
(University of Rajshahi, 2011) Ehshan, Md. Amimul; Bhuiyan, NIM Abdus Salam
A study was conducted on fish biodiversity, environmental features, about fishers and fishing practices of the Roktodaha beel, a floodplain of north-western region of Bangladesh. A complete environmental cycle of the floodplain i.e. from inundation phase up-to dry phase was considered for the study. A total of 46 species of fishes and prawns were identified out of which 8 were exotic species. Perches (27.69%) were the most dominant groups followed by cat fishes (20.99%), prawns (18.62%), minnows (17.84%), eels (05.87%), murrels (02.25%), gouramies (01.55%) and carps (00.98%). Five top dominant species were Chanda nama, Pseudotropius atherinoides, Macrobrachium sp., Puntius ticto, Parambasis ranga and five least available species were Labeo kalbasu, Oreochromis mossambicus, Clarias batrachus, Notopterus notopterus and Pangasius hypophthalmus. Resident fish species were highly dominant (63.04%) followed by migratory (17.39%), exotic (17.39%) and riverine (2.17%) species which is an indication of lowering trend of fish species biodiversity. Fish biodiversity from different viewpoints viz., trophic niches, trophic levels, habitat preference, seasonal variation in abundance etc. were analyzed. Special attention was given on brush-vegetation park (katha) fishing. In katha Pesudotropius atherinoides was the most dominant in number (39 .19%) followed by Wall ago attu ( 14.67%) which is an impact of the sanctuary established by the Department of Fisheries, Govt. of Bangladesh. Average Shanon diversity (H1) index was 3.33 which can be mentioned as a moderately rich biodiversity ecosystem. At least 16 fish species were documented as recently disappeared from this bee! out of which 43.75% were migratory, 18.75% were riverine. Flood control structure, climate change impact viz., shrinking flood pulse, indiscriminate fishing practice etc. were found to be responsible for possible lowering of fish biodiversity. Almost all physico-chemical parameters except NH3-N2 were found to be more or less suitable for fish fauna. Rainfall had a wide range (0-768mm), the highest was in June, 2007, no rainfall was recorded in November, 2007-February, 2008. Water was more transparent in the rainy season. Water temperature showed negative correlation (r=-0.38) with dissolved oxygen. The average total hardness was found as 103.91±21.23 mgr1 Soil properties were also found to be suitable for agricultural crops. Average organic carbon was 2.257±0.3 I% which indicates good productivity of the floodplain. A total of 50 genera of plankton were identified out of which 34 were of phytoplankton and 16 genera zooplankton. Monthly quantitative abundance of phytoplankton varied from 23±2/ml (July, 07) to 56±20 (October, 07). Among phytoplankton Myxophyceae (30.84%±8.5) was the most dominant group followed by Chlorophyceae (28.82%±7.6), Bacillariophyceac (22.92%±6.4), protozoans (11.15%±6.1) and desmids (6.27%±5.5). Monthly average abundance of zooplankton varied from 466±90/1 (July, 07) to 610±46/1 (October, 07). Among zooplankton, Copepoda (26.38%±2.27) was the most dominant group followed by Rotifera (25.68%±3.8), Cladocera (24.91 %±6.1) and nauplius larvae (23.03%±4.5). Phytoplankton and zooplankton population showed a strong and positive correlation (r-0.67). Several plankers viz., Melosira, Ceratium, Anabaena, Anacystis obtained from the floodplain indicate its eutrophic nature. A total of 20 varieties of gear were observed for fishing. Among them katha fishing and ber/badhai jal were found to be extremely harmful for fishes. Intensive and repeated katha fishing were found to be harmful for fish biodiversity. Most fish and prawn species were caught in the nets (97.83%) followed by FAD (91.30%), traps (58.70%), wounding gear (26.09%) and others (15.52%). Considering numerical abundance nets were also the most dominant gear (44.15%) followed by FAD (42.32%), traps (9.71%), wounding gear (3.05%) and other methods (0.77%). Demographic and socio-economic variables of the fishers were studied, 31-40 years were found to be the highest (27.27%) age group. I 0.42% fishermen were illiterate, 25.00% could sign only, 60.42% were primary level, 6.25% were secondary and no fisherman was above SSC level. Most of their houses were kacha (72.92% ), semi-pucca were I 0.42%, about 16.66% houses were earthen. 54.17% fishermen possessed less than 5 decimal land. Full-time fishermen were 42.86%, part-time 24.49% and subsistence 32.65%. Various stakeholders involved only exploited benefits from the limited resource of the floodplain without any input or nourishment, a holistic approach is needed with special attention to conserve its pristine environment for the proper management and sustainable development of the floodplain.
Urbanization and Sustainable Development in Bangladesh
(University of Rajshahi, 2011) Shaik, Md. Rafiqul Islam; Ali, Md. Mohsin
In recent years sustainable development has gained quite a lot of popularity, specially in international circles. Sustainable development and urbanization are related inseparably. A mentionable number of researches have been done on urbanization but a few have done on the relation between urbanization and sustainable development in Bangladesh and abroad. In this research, we have tried qualitatively to answer the question- is urbanization in Bangladesh heading towards sustainable development or not from 1991 to 2011. To meet the desire to know, a model has been developed and applied in three urban areas of Bangladesh chosen as representative. The main thrust of the study is to seek an answer to the following question- are the social, economic and environmental impacts of rapid urbanization in Bangladesh during the period 1991 to 2010 convenient? This dissertation is done by statistical and demographic analysis from collected primary and secondary data. Primary data have been collected from field survey by questionnaire including 'closed' and 'open ended' questions from respondent (households) of the selected study areas. The secondary data have been collected from related published and reported materials including books, articles, research reports, official documents, theses and dissertations. Opinions have also been taken from the civil society to analyze the causes and effects of the impact of urbanization. In this dissertation, the impact of urbanization on social characteristics like- dependency, educational facilities and literacy rate, female literacy, health care and maternity services, family planning activities, migration, population density, traffic jam, social consciousness, religious affair, social recreational facilities, drug addiction, prostitution and 'law and order situation' have been examined. Here it has also been analyzed the impact of urbanization on economic characteristics likefinancial classification, employment, women employment, consumption pattern, housing pattern, sources of drinking water, electricity facility, communication and transport, financial institutions, 'land value, land ownership (without dwelling unit) and house ownership' and 'livestock, poultry and fishery resources' as well as the impact of urbanization on environmental characteristics like- flora and land use, sanitary facilities, sewerage systems, pollution and slums. Both statistical and demographic analysis of the collected data have confirmed that urbanization moves mainly parallel to economic development, with a lower scale to social development and adversely related to environmental development in the study areas. To avoid unfavourable impacts of urbanization on social, economic and environmental components it has suggested not declaring any municipal area as on political assignment and taking steps for increasing awareness among people about sustainable development.
Environmental Impact Assessment of Development Activities in the Sundarbans
(University of Rajshahi, 2012) Mannan, Md. Abdul; Ahmed, Syed Samsuddin; Rahman, Md. Redwanur
The study aims at designing a perfect model for, Environmental Impact Assessment of Development Activities in the Sundarbans. The main objective of the existing management system of Sundarbans Forest and delineates the causes hindering the sustainable development of the forest. The goal of the study has been to propose recommendation for, Environmental Impact Assessment of Development Activities in the Sundarbans. Participation Rural Appraisal (PRA) and survey methods were used to Assess the present condition of the forest. The nature of the study is imperial. Both primary and secondary data have been used to provide for the study. The technique by which the information has been collected from of Sundarbans Forest involves the collection of data mainly from forest related people. To materialize the present and past developmental activities of the Sundarbans, various policy measures as well as institutional measures have been taken. To emphasize the different aspects of the Sundarbans different development plant have been taken and various government agencies and NGO, s are working in this field to change the fate of them through various multidimensional programs have been attempted to discuss in the thesis. All these along with the government's policies have created the context for the development of the Sundarbans and how in this thesis through making necessary analyses and interpretations base on available data. But from the different development projects we see that the input and output have not been varied so much. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Test has been done in six chapters and the monitoring schedule has been made. If we carry on our activities according to the above said monitoring schedule, we will get better results. Respondents provided information on several issues of the forest with the past and present conditions. Many foresters' views including that of 16 Deputy Rangers have been considered in relations to the present management situation of the forest. Several local people have also given their views, which have also been considered. It is clear from the study that Sundarbans is a valuable source of natural resources. But the condition of the forest is becoming worse day by day. Necessary steps and measures are required to be taken to improve the situation. It has been reviewed that creating an environment that could foster a fearless forest can stop the disappearance or extinction processes. The problems of forest degradation and biodiversity reduction can be eradicated naturally. It is necessary to make general people conscious about the law relating to preservation of forests, long term benefits from the proper maintenance of Sundarbans, the sheer disadvantages for not maintaining the forest properly, and to increase the number of employees. The problem of piracy in Sundarbans been shown as one of the main problems hindering development work therein. In relation to development work of the forest most of the total respondents assigned at various important management positions of the Forest Department (57.14 % of the officials) mentioned that improving the development work should include measures to protect of Sundarbans from any sort of piracy or robbery. Another problem that chokes the development work of Sundarbans is the inability of the management to forecast properly the weather or other radical environmental phenomenon causing disaster of Sundarbans. After a long survey and study, some logical suggestions have also been made. To protect Sundarbans, all management work should be taken for development and preservation. To do this first of all we need to protect the management staffs that are engaged in the protection of Sundarbans. Then it is expected that the condition of the forest will be improved. Proper community involvement should be made in order to eradicate piracy and other activities detrimental to the Sundarbans, such as indiscriminate felling of trees, and killing of tigers, deer, and other animals including water resources. Finally, for, Environmental Impact Assessment of Development Activities in the Sundarbans. The sustainable management of the forest the study proposes to carry out the recommendation made in the thesis.
Geo-chemistry of Ground Water in Rajshahi City and Improving its Quality for Drinking Purpose
(University of Rajshahi, 2013) Uddin, S. M. Helal; Mostafa, Md. Golam; Haque, A. B. M. Hamidul
The study was aimed at improving the fundamental understanding of the geochemistry of groundwater in Rajshahi City with a focus on constituents that pose a human health risks. The study was attempted to evaluate the major ionic chemistry, weathering and solute acquisition processes controlling water composition, and suitability of water quality for drinking purpose. A total of 240 ( 180 shallow and 60 deep) tubewells water samples were collected from 40 locations during pre, post-monsoon and monsoon season covering two years. Also a total of 30 aquifer soil samples were collected at depths (10-45 meter) from 30 locations during monsoon season in 2010 to know soil characteristics. A detailed laboratory analysis was carried to determine the characteristics of groundwater and aquifer soil samples of Rajshahi City. Also multivariate statistical analyses were conducted using various softwares (SPSS, AQUACHEM etc.) and the results were plotted to determine hydrochemistry, water quality and water type. The concentrations of Ca2+ and Cd2+ were the highest and lowest quantities among cations in the aquifer soil samples, respectively and their mean amounts were 166.08 and 0.133 mg/kg, respectively. Among anions, HCO3- and NO3- were the maximum and minimum concentrations and their concentrations were 580 and 3.87 mg/kg, respectively. The results of the analyzed aquifer soil samples showed that the mean concentrations of cationic parameters were followed the order: Ca2+> Mg2+> Na+> K+> Fe3+> Mn2+> Zn2+> Cu2+> Pb2+>As(total)> Cd2+and that of the anions were: HCO3-> Cr> SO/>NO3-. The analyzed results of the hydro-chemical composition of the shallow and deep tubewells water in the Rajshahi City showed that the groundwater of the study area was slightly acidic to neutral pH, hard to very hard and fresh category. Ca2+ was the dominant ionic species among the cations in both the shallow and deep tubewells water and their mean concentrations were 78.354 mg/L for the shallow and 78.541 mg/L for deep tubewells. HCO3- was the dominant species with an average of 245.30 mg/L for shallow and 188.362 mg/L for deep tubewells water. The analyzed results show that the mean concentrations of cations and anions in both shallow and deep tubewells water samples were followed the order: Ca2+> Mg2+> Na+> K+> Fe3+> Mn2+> Pb2+> Zn2+> Cu2+> As(total)> Cd2+ and HCO3-> Cl> SO/> NO3-, respectively. Most of the groundwater samples contained concentration of TH, HCO3-, ca2+, Mn2+, Fe3+ and Pb2+ that exceeded the permissible limit for World Health Organization (WHO) and Bangladesh Drinking Water Standard (BD-DWS). About 40% groundwater samples exceeded As(total) concentration for the WHO standard limit. The study observes that most of the physicochemical parameters were found to be higher in the pre and post-monsoon seasons compared to the monsoon season may be the cause of decreasing the volume of water in aquifer. ----------------
Eco-friendly Management of Tannery Solid Wastes in Bangladesh
(University of Rajshahi, 2013) Islam, Raju Muhammad Shahidul; Jahan, Md. Sarwar
Bangladesh has the potential of developing leather industries due to having quality raw materials (hides and skins) and cheapest laborer market. But still no new entrepreneurs are attracted to set up new leather industries here because of generating huge amount of untreated pollutants from tannery and no one wants to bear the environmental risks of this country. Accordingly, generation, existing management system and impact assessment along with possible utilization of the tannery solid wastes as value added products were considered for investigations. The existing management system of tannery solid wastes and its consequences were investigated through field survey with structured and unstructured questionnaire; the tannery workers, technologists, officials were interviewed during 2009-2011. The maximum amount of solid wastes generated was measured in the peak season (October-December) in the year 2011 through developed formula and found 443 metric ton solid wastes were generated in a day from tannery at Hazaribagh, Dhaka. It was also observed that 90% of the trimmers, (tannery workers) were directly affected by those solid wastes, the surrounding environment became polluted and soil of dumping ground was contaminated with organic carbon (7.97% ±0.170), organic matter (13.70% ±0.292), TKN (1.54% ±0.137), Chloride (0.247% ±0.0284) and Chromium (2.28 ±0.0291). The manufacturing of Animal glue through appropriate utilization of more solid wastes, was targeted as a tool of tannery waste management. Its traditional glue manufacturing process was modified for producing animal glue from fleshings and pickle cuttings mixing with raw trimmings which imparted better physical and chemical properties in comparison to the sample glue collected from local market manufactured following traditional method. The main target of this research had to enhance the efficacy of by-product industry through process modification and integrating with the main industry so that the solid wastes generated from tannery need not to be dumped and used at the point of origin triggered to the eco-friendly environment. The findings of this work along with the findings of the previous researchers created a hope for further progress in research in the field of leather technology and its eco-friendly environmental management.
Study on the Leather Industrial Effluents: Chemical and Microbial Approaches to Control Environmental Pollution
(University of Rajshahi, 2013) Chowdhury, Manjushree; Saha, Ananda Kumar; Mostafa, Md. Golam
Effluents from raw hide processing tanneries, which produce wet-blue, crust leather and finished leather contain high levels of inorganic compounds including trivalent chromium (Cr) and sulphides in most cases. Organic and other ingredients are responsible for high BOD5 (Biological Oxygen Demand in 5 days) and COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) values and represent an immense pollution load, causing technical problems, sophisticated technologies and high costs in concern with effluent treatment. In Bangladesh, most of the leather industries discharge the effluent without any treatment into a nearby water body and cause significant pollution. The present study was conducted aiming to characterized the tannery effluents and evaluate the performances of an innovative tannery wastewater process based on a combined physico-chemical and biological degradation. In this study, effluents were collected from different manufacturing units (MU) in the three selected leather industries and also collected composite effluents from three monitoring points around the effluents dumping area situated at Hazaribagh industrial zone in Dhaka, Bangladesh during the year 2008-20 I 0. The effluents were stored and analyzed for various physic-chemical parameters. The study also evaluated the performance of treatment processes combining of physico-chemical and microbial approaches to reduce toxic elements from the tannery effluents. The analysis results illustrate that the collected tannery effluents at different manufacturing units (MU) in the three selected leather industries contained extremely high values of TSS, TDS, TS, BOD5, COD, so/·, Na, Ca, Cr, As, Cd and Pb. The results show that the highest value of so/· and As were found in the liming and un-heiring effluents, the highest values of TDS, er, Cr, Cd and Pb were found in the pickling and chrome tanning effluents and the highest value of COD and BOD5 were found in the retaining and dyeing effluents. These values were far above the standard permissible limits for ISW in BDS, ISI-2000 and USEPA-2000. The mean concentration of TSS, TDS, so/·, er, BODs, COD, Na, Cr, As, Cd and Pb in the collected composite tannery effluents in all monitoring points were also exceeded the standard disposal limits. The concentration of metal ions in the composite tannery effluents were observed in the order Na> Mg> Ca> Cu> Zn> Cr> Pb> Ni> Cd> Mn> As. The pollution levels at the three monitoring points was in the order P1 > P2> P3. The study also reveals that the concentration of various metal ions in the sludge contained very high values, and in particular, the concentration of Cr and Na ions were about 10000 and 6000 mg/Kg, respectively. The concentration of ions in the sludge was in the order: Cr> Na> Ca> S> Mg> P> Cu> TN> Zn> Organic compound> Pb> As> Cd. The analysis results of physico-chemical parameters suggest that the untreated leather industrial effluents contained very high level of toxic pollutants and could not be discharged into surface water and land, which pose potential threats to human health, aquatic life and the entire environment. This study was also conducted a series of treatment processes consisted of physical, chemical and biological in order to reduce the toxic pollutants level. The collected composite effluent was allowed to settle for 1 day and filtered through different filtered media namely (i) sand-stone (ii) saw-dust and (iii) sand-stone combined with saw dust. The analysis results of the filtered effluents suggest that sand-stone filtered media could be used to reduce pollution to certain levies, but the efficiencies were not enough to consider its alone use. The study also evaluated the performance of removal efficiencies of selected coagulants namely, FeC'3, Fe2O3 and FeSO4• The study optimized the coagulant dose and pH for each coagulant. The coagulants FeC'3 and FeSO4 showed maximum removal efficiencies for majority of the parameters at an optimum dose of 150 mg/L and neutral ph. The other coagulant Fe2O3 showed the maximum efficiency at a dose of 100 mg/L and pH around 9. The analyses results reveal that removal efficiency of color and TSS achieved about 100% for all coagulants. The coagulant Fe2O3 removed Cu and Cr almost 100%. The mean removal efficiency for all parameters were 91 %, 89% and 85%, for the coagulants Fe2O3, FeC'3 and FeSO4, respectively, indicating that Fe2O3 showed the best removal performance among the coagulants. It may be mentioned that Fe2O3 showed lower removal efficiency only for NH4-N and TN compared to the coagulant FeC'3. The overall removal performance of the coagulants was in the order Fe2O3> FeC'3> FeSO4• The analysis results of the chemical treated effluents illustrated that most of the physical and chemical parameters were found well below the prescribed limits. The study also carried out microbial treatment with bacterial species for the synthetic and composite untreated tannery effluents to remove heavy metal ions. The isolated bacteria showed resourceful tolerance against some selected heavy metal ions, i.e., Cr, Cd and Pb without producing any byproduct. The isolated metal ions tolerance bacteria were applied to synthetic and composite tannery effluents. The study results revealed that Cr concentration in the treated synthetic effluent was found almost "zero" (0) mg/L and the removal efficiency was about 100% using isolated bacteria at a culture dose of 3ml (OD-1) at pH 7.2 and 37°C for an inoculation period of 10-15 days but the Cr removal efficiency showed lower, i.e., 84%, when treated the composite tannery effluent with the same bacterial isolates under the same inoculation conditions. The strain shows comparatively lower efficiencies for degrading metal ions of Cd and Pb. The bacterial isolate was identified as Enterobacter species by 16S rRNA sequencing and biochemical studies. The study observed that the microbial strains (Enterobacter species) were successfully grown and enrichment in the presence of heavy metal ions and thus could be used in degrading heavy metal ions such as Cr, Cd and Pb from the discharged tannery effluents. Finally, the study concludes that a combine treatment approaches, i.e., physical, chemical and microbial processes could be applied for tannery effluents to reduce environmental pollution and save the water bodies from further deterioration.
Sustainable use of Water for Some Selected Hybrid and Inbred Rice Cultivation in the Floodplain Areas (AEZ 26 and AEZ 28) of Bangladesh
(University of Rajshahi, 2013) Bulbul, Sheikh Helena; Rahman, Md. Safinur; Sattar, M.A.; Rahman, Md. Redwanur; Ali, Md. Ansar; Masuduzzaman, A.S.M.
The water crisis is threatening the sustainability of the irrigated rice system and food security in Asia. Our challenge is to promote novel technology and production systems that allow rice cultivation to be maintained in the declining water availability. This paper introduces principles for sustainable water use and water saving technology for reducing water inputs and increasing water productivity, and assesses the opportunities of such technologies and systems at spatial scale levels from plant to field, to irrigation system, and to agro-ecological zones. The rapid growth of world population has resulted in significantly increased global water demand. According to a recent repo1t on limited water supply, conservation techniques and water use policies are needed to preserve water resources. Worldwide agriculture is the largest consumer of water, particularly for growing rice. Water use for rice production was chosen because rice will continue to be a staple crop for the majority of the world's population and because of its pervasive use of water. Traditional lowland rice production in Asia requires much water: it consumes more than 50% of all irrigation water used in Asia. Water resources are, however, increasingly getting scarce and expensive. The supply of water for irrigation is endangered by declining water quality, declining resource availability, increased competition from other users, and increasing costs. During the past decades, rice production in Bangladesh experienced an impressive intensification. The change to dry season rice, constituting about 60% of national rice production, was largely due to groundwater irrigation by shallow tube wells (STW) and deep tube wells (DTW). This practice led to the massive extraction of groundwater, an overexploitation of groundwater, locally manifested by declining groundwater tables in Rajshahi. Co1Tespondingly to the expansion of i1Tigation, demand for energy increased, as electricity or fuel are needed to lift groundwater to the surface. This also touches on the chronically deficient energy situation of Bangladesh. To address problems of water scarcity, researchers have studied and developed a number of water-saving i1Tigation technologies such as saturated soil culture and alternate wetting and drying (A WD) that can drastically diminish these losses. Under these technologies, yields may decline, but they have demonstrated that they save water and increase water productivity. Hence, this thesis was designed to investigate water conservation possibilities for rice production in two water management regimes: alternate wetting and drying and continuous standing (the latter is the traditional water management technique in iITigated rice culture). The study revealed that the alternate wetting and drying treatment reduced water use and increased rice grain yield than continuous standing water. Among the results of the study, it was found that BRRJ hybrid2 gave better performance than other inbred varieties. Logistic regression model used to estimate the contribution of key variables of adoption of A WD. Boro rice, it was suggested that farm size, education of household head, and contact with extension agents, water scarcity and dissemination through demonstration were the variables that had significant impact on the adoption of A WD. It was also evident that water conservation benefits can potentially be realized if local government agencies (e.g., Phil- Rice and NIA), as well as international agencies ( e.g., IRRI), continue to provide education and training about the latest research on A WD and other water-conserving technologies to local extension personnel, field technicians, and as well as farmers. With calls for re-orientation of sustainable water use, the implications of the findings of this research suggest that alternate wetting and drying water saving technology is making a positive contribution towards sustainability. It should be a valuable approach that should not be trivialized, stigmatized or ignored because of its potential to bring long-lasting impacts.
Evaluation of Groundwater Potentiality and Exploitation in Barind Area and Its Impact on Environment
(University of Rajshahi, 2014) Hasan, Md. Rashidul; Mostafa, Md. Golam; Matin, Iqbal
The study aimed to understand overexploitation, potentiality of groundwater for irrigation in Barind area and its probable impact on environmental. The study area was Chapai Nawabganj district in Barind area located in North-western part of Bangladesh. The study area consisted of five Upazilas in the district, namely Nawabganj, Shibganj, Nachole, Gomastapur and Bholahat. The study has considered secondary data collected from different organizations and five boring log samples were collected from five Upazilas of Chapai Nawabganj district in Barind area. A total of 50 representatives deep tubewells (DTWs) water samples were collected from 5 selected locations of each Upazila during the month of March (pre-monsoon) and October (post-monsoon), 2014. The experimental data were statistically analyzed using various software and the results were discussed to interpret the geochemical characteristics, water type, and water quality. The study results illustrate that the highest groundwater depletion was about 29 m found at Nawabganj Upazila in 2010 and the lowest was about 5 m at Shibganj in 2003. A 10-year rainfall data of the district showed that the maximum annual rainfall recorded was 1804 mm in 2007. Since then, rainfall was gradually decreasing for consecutive three years, but it was again increased 439 mm in 2011 from 1015 mm recorded in the previous year. The highest annual rainfall received in the area was 1793 mm in 2007 and the lowest was 1025 mm in 2010 in the district. The average rainfall received in Chapai Nawabganj district was 1372 mm during 2002-2011. The estimated run-off and infiltration results of Chapai Nawabganj district in Barind area illustrate that decreasing trends in run-off and infiltration were observed for consecutive three years since 2007, but they were increased in 2011 in all Upazilas due to higher rainfall received. The analysis results show a good relation among rainfall, infiltration and run-off indicating that the higher amount was the rainfall, the higher amounts was the estimated runoff and infiltration. A good trend of water table fluctuations of Chapai Nawabganj district was found during 2002 to 2011. The minimum groundwater level was recorded in 2004 and maximum was in 2011. The study results reveale that a good relation between rainfall and water table fluctuations was observed where the groundwater table was recharged through the rainfall. The overall yearly water table declining trend indicate that the unsustainable withdrawal of groundwater for irrigation purposes played a vital role in groundwater table depletion in the study area. Moreover, groundwater level fluctuation depended on the extraction and recharge of the area. Specific yield of the five Upazilas were determined and the values were found around 10 (%) which indicate good permeability of the areas, except Bholahat Upazila, where the value was 8.4 (%) indicating low permeability. The results illustrate that Nachole Upazila has a large storage volume, i.e., 49,305 Hec-m, but the other Upazilas have a storage capacity between 8000 to 18000 Hec-m. The storage capacity of the five Upazilas was followed the order: Nachole>Nawabganj>Shibganj>Gomastapur> Bholahat. The highest number of DTWs was installed at Nachole Upazila in the district and the extracted amount was 8848 Hec-m and the amount for the district was 26822 Hec-m . The study results indicate that the over withdrawal of groundwater for irrigation has threaten sustainable water resource management. The analysis results of the hydro-chemical composition of the DTWs water in Chapai Nawabganj district show that the groundwater of the study area was neutral to slightly alkaline pH and fresh category. Ca2+ was the dominant ionic species among the cations of the DTWs water samples, with an average of 50.37 mg/L (range 35.24-69.9 mg/L). The catonic order of the groundwater was: Ca2+> Mg2+> Na+> K+> Fe3+> As(total). Among the anions, HCO3 - was the dominant species with an average of 245.301 mg/L (range 60-510 mg/L). The major anions of the DTWs water were followed the order of HCO3 -> Cl-> SO4 2-. The Piper tri-linear diagram relating to HCO3 -, SO4 2- and Cl- showed the most of the groundwater samples contain a high amount of HCO3 - and the cation diagram showed the majority of groundwater samples contained higher amount of Ca2++ Mg2+ than Na++K+. The diagram showed that HCO3 - and Ca2+ were the dominant ions in groundwater samples. Therefore, most of the analyzed DTWs water samples fall in the field of Ca2+-HCO3 - type in the quadrilateral diagram during the pre and post-monsoon. As the Mg2+ concentration in water samples was lower compared to the Ca2+ concentration, thus the results suggest that the water type of this area was considered to be Ca2+- HCO3 -. The analysis results suggest that the concentration of TH, HCO3, Ca, Na, K, Mg, and Fe, ions in water were the cause of weathering of aquifer materials. So, groundwater of Chapai Nawabganj district in the Barind area shows a wide range of characteristics in terms of physical, chemical and microbial parameters during two seasons. The study observed that the quality of groundwater was very much suitable for irrigation and domestic purposes. The study results illustrate the overexploitation of groundwater in Nachole Upazila has led to highest depletion (10 m) of water table in 10 years during study period. The scenario of water level depletion of the Upazila forcast the drought and water scarcity in the area will prevail if the unplanned groundwater extraction is continued in the long run. Despite a slow depletion of groundwater level in other Upazilas during the study period, a holistic approach in water resource management is very much needed for sustainable environment. The study results identified the groundwater extraction of Chapai Nawabganj district for irrigation as a critical environmental concerned. The study observe that the below average rainfall has another cause of groundwater depletion and thus further aggravated the situation in the study area. The key impediments to potentiality of groundwater have been identified as over exploitation of groundwater use in Boro rice cultivation in the Barind area. Fortunately, arsenic was not detected in any DTW water samples collected in the study despite the overdraft of groundwater in some parts of the study area. The groundwater management for sustainable irrigation and crop production in the region is imperative. A well planned water resource management would be taken to achieve sustainable use of groundwater for irrigation aiming to achieve food security as well as ecological friendly environment.
Present Status and Impact of Environmental Laws on Biodiversity Conservation in Bangladesh
(University of Rajshahi, 2014) Uddin, Md. Helal; Hannan, Mohammad Abdul; Rahman, Md. Redwanur
From the discussion stated in my study it is found that the environment is an important external conditions in which an organism lives and we never thinks our life without it. In the view of Baul environment is the treasure, which supports life. It is healthy environment which can make our life healthy. Though the importance and role of environment in human life is very strong nevertheless we could not ensure healthy and safety environment for us. In my study, I have tried to show the biological resources and diversity form on the basis of both the ecology and economy of Bangladesh. Most essential sectors related to human life are heavily dependent, directly or indirectly on these biological resources. In my understanding, it is found from the researches done by many famous biologists that the world biodiversity may be divided into three. These are species diversity, genetic diversity and ecosystem diversity. Bangladesh is a tropical country of 147,570 sq.km which was environmentally rich than other parts of the earth even in early 1960s. It has a long seacoast, numerous rivers and their tributaries, deep and flood plain wetlands, lakes, haors, baors, evergreen forests of tropical nature, semi evergreen forest, hill forests, moist deciduous, forest, swamps etc. But today, Forests and other vegetation in have lost their original characteristics and ecological features due population growth and forestland converted to agriculture to meeting up the food shortage. With mild temperature, tropical climate, fertile soil, ample water, abundance of fish, rich ecology and biodiversity and forests, various flora and fauna, unfortunately, this rich environment is degraded due to various causes such as population growth, human interventions, indiscriminate use of environmental resources, unplanned urbanization and infrastructure development, industrialization, poverty, food shortage, introducing modern agriculture technology and so on. Presently Bangladesh has been suffering from various environmental problems such as various pollution, urban solid waste disposal, deforestation, bio-diversity degradation, ecological imbalance, climate changes, land degradation, wetland degradation, water scarcity and other environmental resources degradation etc. Pollution affects us from the different grounds such as polluting the air which is an integral part of our life, polluting the water without which we cannot imagine our life, polluting the noise due to the hydraulic horns, band transport vehicles, loud speakers etc. These shorts of disasters are happening by land degradation, wet land and water resources degradation, deforestation etc. Human beings are mostly contributed behind this disasters for rapid pollution growth, Chittagong Hill cutting, absence of a proper land use policy etc. Identifying the causes of biodiversity depletion is a great achievement of my study. The Sundarban is the largest compact mangrove forest of the world. It is called “Beautiful Jungle” in another word. It was rich with different species of animal. In 2000, almost 666750 animals of different species were found. But today this number of animals in Sundarban is decreased dramatically. Chalan beel is another source of biodiversity which is called heaven of fish. Almost 30,000 fishermen hunt fish in rainy season and 12,255 metric tons different kinds of fishes were caught by them in a year. The availability of the agricultural and fishing land of Chalan beel and the surrounding is decreasing day by day due to increased demands of settlement. Initiatives taken in Bangladesh are as formulating and updating laws and policies, implementing various projects to mitigate the present environmental problems, formulating some long term environmental action plans, ratifying different international and regional treaties. In recent years, Government has enacted some important environmental laws such as the Environment Conservation Act, 1995, Environment Court Act, 2000, formulated Environment Rules 1997, Environment Policy 1992, Environmental Action Plan 1992 conseruation of Wildlife Act, 2012, Bio-safety Rules, 2012, Paly Grounds and Natural Water Bodies in Twon and Municipal Areas Act, 2000 and some other important rules and policies are under consideration for enacting. But besides these initiatives losing biodiversity is going on till today. Violations of the laws are now a common practice to the people. Due to the increasing demand of daily amenities, the people have been more opportunistic to abuse environment for their own benefits. In my study, I have shown the connectivity of both people and organization with the violation of laws. Some powerful organization plays their aggressive role and violates the environmental laws for which the biodiversity of Bangladesh is going down day by day to be destroyed. In 1994, a writ petition was first taken before the high court divisions on behalf of the local people where a disputed development action was being implemented. The petition was at first rejected by the court on the ground of standing of the organization. A few numbers of conscious persons, responsible organizations, rightists and victims tried to take litigation against the violators of the environmental laws in the different times from their grounds. But ultimately they could not be succeeding with their efforts. For these intellectual disabilities our biodiversity is in loss till today. So, it is said that the complexities to the enforcement of the laws are making inspiration to the violation of the conceded laws. If the necessary laws are possible to be implemented effectively to the affected grounds then a gradually development will have in favor of our biodiversity. According to my field experience completed as a part of my thesis, it is found that the caretaker government (Oct’06-Oct’08) played vital role during their period. From the view of the locals of Meghnaghat of Chadpur we are informed that the amount of harvested hilsha fish has been increased wonderfully in 2008 and 2009 because of having effective implementation of the relevant laws during the period of last caretaker government. Brick fields are the most pollutant industry in the country which impacts our environment highly by destroying forest/trees and producing Carbon Di-Oxides (CO2). A few years ago this sectors was a great concern to our environmentalists but today this sector has been developed environmentally by enacting the laws in which coal is suggested as fuel to burn the raw bricks. As like these mentioned sectors there are so many sectors damaging our environment in which we should implement the necessary laws effectively. Environmental law began in the Indian subcontinent with the enactment of Land Mark Public Health Act, 1875 by the British ruler. There are around 57 laws enacted by the British rulers though these were not treated as environmental laws by the jurists and scholars till 1960 because environmental problems originated after 1960 when it became threat to global civilization. In reality, scholars put the environmental problems to thoughts in 1960 but these were treated as acute in 1970. For the despoiled situation of environment, the government in different periods passed and enacted laws to reduce environmental problems. After the independence, Bangladesh government has realized the environmental problems and adopted necessary measures with a view to developing and conserving the environment and environmental resources. Environmental consideration got priorities in every development sector to ensure sound environment and sustainability. At present, there are around 200 environmental laws in Bangladesh and all of them are in execution in different sectors. According to the imposing period, these laws are divided into three periods such as British, Pakistani and Bangladesh period. There are around 58 laws enacted by British rulers (1757-1947), around 40 and 90 laws enacted in Pakistan and Bangladesh government respectively. The Government of Bangladesh has enacted major laws and policies to have the environmental solutions after 1990. Agriculture is one of the largest environmental activities through the world including Bangladesh. It has a vast role in the development of Bangladesh economy. Laws and policies to control the agricultural activities in Bangladesh have been passed at several times. There are 10 agricultural laws passed by the British rulers and the major of them are The Canal Act, 1864, Irrigation Act, 1876, Destructive Insects and Pests Act, 1914 etc. There are around 9 laws enacted in Pakistan period and the major of them are Non Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1949, State Acquisition and Tenancy Act,1950, Agriculture Pests Ordinance, 1962 etc. And the government of Bangladesh passed many agricultural laws after the independence such as Agricultural Pesticides Ordinance, 1971, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute Ordinance, 1976, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council Act, 1996 etc. Wetland and fish are one of the valuable and integral components of our environment and the main protein source of our country from the very beginning of the human civilization. To regulate and develop this fish and fish resources there are twelve fisheries laws passed in the different periods. Of them two laws are passed in British period, three laws are passed in Pakistan period and remaining seven laws are passed in Bangladesh period. Development of wildlife conservation laws are passed to conserve and develop wildlife and domestic animals, prevention of cruelty to animals, restriction on hunting and slaughters, control of consumption of meat, create wildlife sanctuary, livestock disease and treatments. These laws are passed in different periods. Of them three laws are passed in British period, four laws are passed in Pakistan period remaining five laws are passed in Bangladesh period. There are six Acts and three ordinances have passed for the conservation and development of the forest and forest resources, wildlife, etc. Water Pollution and Water Resources Management - There are seven Acts, one Ordinance, two Rules, and one Order for conserving and maintaining watersheds, controlling and regulating water pollution, sustainable planning and use of water resources, conservation of aquatic biodiversity etc. To save the global environment and biodiversity different types of efforts were taken in different times. At first the relationship between economic development and environmental degradation was placed on the international agenda in 1972, at the UN Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm. In 1992, The Earth Summit was held in Re De Janeiro of Brazil in which a number of agreement were signed and many steps were taken for having a change of our traditional development in environmental sectors. There are quite a few examples where environmental issues have successfully been addressed. Bangladesh has been able to create an enabling policy regime for better management of environment and natural resources. The policies has adopted in principle the concept of sustainable development and recognized the importance of economic development that goes in hand with the control of environmental pollution and maintaining ecological balance. An enabling legal environment has been tried to create by establishing Environment Court, enacting Environmental conservation Act and Rule, making EIA mandatory for all development activities etc. But for the lack of inter-sectorial coordination, conflicts in sectorial policies, lack of institutional capacities, regulatory and institutional inadequacies, abuse of laws by the authority and out dated laws expected developments in are so far.
Application of Functional Bio-Molecules for the Control of Mosquito
(University of Rajshahi, 2014) Rahman, Mohammad Mahbubur; Islam, Md Nurul
The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the larvicidal activity of 6 selected plants Alstonia scholaris L. (Apocynaceae), Derris indica Bennet (Fabaceae), Ocimum sanctum L. (Lamiaceae), Plumeria alba L. (Apocynaceae), Psidium guajsva L. (Myrtaceae) and Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels. (Myrtaceae) against two mosquito species viz. Aedes albopictus Skuse and Cu/ex quinqufasciatus Say. Additional experiments to determine their bioactive potentials like lethality against the brine shrimp, Artemia salina L. nauplii, dose-mortality and repellency against the red flour beetle, Triblium castaneum (Hbst.) adults were also carried out. Isolation, purification and characterization of plant component(s) were also done to establish step-forward positive control measure(s) against two mosquito species from the pest control and pharmaceutical point of view. Larvicidal activity The Petroleum ether (Pet.E.), chloroform (CHC'3) and methanol (CH3OH) extracts of leaf, stem bark, stem wood and roots of D. indica, leaves of A. scholaris, P. albs, ps. guajava, S. cumini and whole plant of 0. sanctum was tested to evaluate the larvicidal potential against the two mosquito species Ae. a/bopictus and C. quinqufasciatus larvae through larvicidal activity. Against Ae. albopictus the extracts yielded significant results with dose levels ranged between 600 to 3.13ppm; and the observation of mortality was made after 6h of application and with 6h interval up to 30 hours. According to the intensity of activity the plants could be arranged in the following descending order: D. indica > P. alba > 0. sanctum > Ps. guajava > A. scholaris > S. cumini. Against C. quinquefasciatus the extracts yielded results with the same dose levels and observation intervals. According to the intensity of activity the plants could be arranged in the following descending order: D. indica > 0. sanctum >P. alba > A. scholaris > Ps. guajava > S. cumini. Among the selected plants D. indica was found promisingly active and thus it was taken in to consideration for dose-mortality, repellency and brine shrimp lethality tests.
Environmental Perspectives and Distance Decay Function: A Case Study of Rural Periodic Markets in Nawabganj Sadar Upazila, Bangladesh
(University of Rajshahi, 2014) Kamruzzaman, Md.; Sheikh, Md. Abu Hanif
Generally Rural Periodic Market (RPM) means a small scale market where people solemnize their every day purchasing and selling for mainly consumption purposes and continuing every day’s economic activities. The evolution and development of rural periodic markets are usually conditioned by population pressure, transport intensity, consumer’s income, inter-center distance and range of goods. This study concerns with the environmental perspectives and Distance Decay function of the rural periodic markets of Nawabganj upazila in Chapai Nawabganj district. The main theme of this study is that the present way of life of the people of the study area is closely interlinked with the rural periodic markets. Moreover, many people talk about the various aspects of rural periodic market including its environmental consequences. But none of the environmentalist or think-tank did conduct any comprehensive and rigorous study in this field. Being a much talked about issue, the researcher has conducted this study with a view to identifying and understanding the spatial nature of rural periodic markets and its impact on physical and human environment. Some selected methodology like social survey, observation and case study along with some techniques of data collection and analysis where some environmental aspects have been given special priority in the present study. The study area has a total 40 RPMs, and out of these 6 RPMs are growth center, 17 RPMs revenue collection haats and 17 non-government RPMs. The findings for the questionnaire survey in the study area shows the location of the RPMs and its historical background, land forms as well as physical condition of the area, climate, population density, agricultural, literacy and transport have been presented. Then the site and situation of RPM in each union has been discussed where only one RPM and the subject have been represent as the representative of the whole situation of the particular study area. The initiation and development of RPMs in the study area involved four factors such as personal influence (22.5%), population pressure (35%), communication facilities (17.5%) and surplus production (25%). The study area’s Rn value is 1.06 which is close to one and therefore, it indicates that the haats of this upazila are randomly distributed. The RPMs have been classified into four classes i.e. 08 is in 1st order haat, 09 is in 2nd order haat, 09 is in 3rd order haat and 14 RPMs are in 4th order. Temporal distribution of RPM means distribution relates with time context. Daily RPMs is 01, weekly 09 and Bi-weekly 30. Spatio-temporal synchronization of RPM such as same day markets 5.55 km., adjacent day markets 3.81 km. one day separated markets 3.47 km. and two days separated markets are 3.21 km. In Nawabganj sadar upazila out of nine RPM rings two are incomplete rings and seven are complete RPM rings. The main focus of the study is to determined trade as well as the spatial interactions among the markets and the products being assembled. The convergence of the product has been examined in the light of distance and perishability. There are two parameters which have analyzed the background of physical factors and social milieu. Such association has been documented in a matrix to find out the development of the positive and negative relationship. The total calculative positive impact points are one thousand five hundred thirty seven (+1537) and the total negative impact points are minus nine hundred and ninety (-990). So it may get 547 positive points often deleting the negative impact points from the total positive impact point and it is said that the study area have the positive impact of Rural Periodic Markets. However in order to get more expected positive value points regarding environmental perspective all RPMs should be established in well planned and environment friendly manner.