Dynamics of the wetland ecosystem health in urban and rural settings in high altitude ecoregion.

The focus of the present study was to assess the dynamics of wetland ecosystem health in both urban and rural settings situated in the high-altitude Kashmir Himalayan ecoregion. The basic aim was to identify the drivers responsible for wetland degradation in order to sustain ecosystem services effectively. To achieve this, we examined water quality, trophic status, fish species diversity and human disturbances by analyzing changes in land use and land cover (LULC) since 1980. For the limnological characterization of the two wetlands, we evaluated a total of 21 physico-chemical parameters at 24 sites. Two-way analysis of variance revealed significant (p < 0.05) spatial and temporal variability in the water quality parameters. The trophic state index values of 67.7 and 76.7 indicated that the rural and urban wetlands were in eutrophic and hypertrophic status, respectively, signifying potential environmental stress. The data on fish fauna indicated a decline in fish species over the past 40 years, particularly the schizothoracine species. Urban wetlands showed a more significant decrease in species (06) compared to rural wetlands (01). LULC mapping and change analysis employing the visual interpretation technique showed significant transformations in the immediate catchment of wetlands. Substantial growth in the built-up (433.2 % and 2620 %) and decrease in aquatic vegetation (-83.4 % and - 97.5 %) in the immediate catchment was recorded in both the urban and rural wetlands respectively from 1980 to 2020. Our findings demonstrated a relationship between LULC classes and water quality parameters, with an increase in built-up and road areas showing a significant positive correlation with the rise in decadal mean values of total phosphorus, orthophosphorus, nitrate nitrogen, ammonical nitrogen, and calcium content. Based on these observations, we concluded that changes in land use and land cover within the immediate catchment areas of the wetlands were the primary drivers responsible for the deterioration of wetland ecosystem health.

Understanding the role of natural and anthropogenic forcings in structuring the periphytic algal assemblages in a regulated river ecosystem.

Periphytic algal assemblages in the River Sindh of Kashmir Himalaya were studied in relation to environmental factors and anthropogenic alterations like flow regulation for Run-of-River hydropower plants to understand their ecology in a regulated river ecosystem. Sites were sampled from unregulated, regulated, and downstream reaches along the river on a seasonal basis from the year 2017 to 2019. A total of 48 species were identified, spread over 31 genera. Non-metric multidimensional analysis showed clear distinction in periphytic algal assemblage samples based on sites and potentially some more minor distinction based on seasons rendering the sites into two distinct groups (G1 and G2). The ADONIS test showed that the groups (G1 and G2 sites) do not significantly differ in terms of how communities differ from one another, but there is a difference in species compositions based on seasons. However, the betadisper test indicated that groups (G1 and G2 sites) and seasons present homogeneity among group dispersions (compositions vary similarly) while having significantly different compositions. Geo-physical factors (discharge and altitude) accounted for most variations, while the scraper community played a minor role. This study provides scientific insights related to the ecology of a regulated Himalayan river and may provide information relevant to managing the River Sindh sustainably.

Impact evaluation of the run-of-river hydropower projects on the water quality dynamics of the Sindh River in the Northwestern Himalayas.

As the run-of-river (RoR) hydropower projects remain understudied, we conducted this study to understand how these projects affect the hydro-chemical dynamics and water quality index (WQI) of the Sindh River in the Kashmir Himalayas. We used multivariate statistical techniques and WQI to identify the spatiotemporal dynamics of 18 physico-chemical parameters from 11 sampling stations distributed along the length of river Sindh from December 2017 to December 2019. The dataset was classified into three groups using hierarchical cluster analysis based on similarities between hydro-chemical characteristics, and the results were confirmed by discriminant analysis. Wilk's quotient distribution further showed that ions, nutrients, free carbon dioxide, water temperature, and pH contributed to the formation of clusters. Principle component analysis revealed that the chloride (Cl-), total phosphorus (TP), ortho-phosphorus (PO4-P), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N), nitrite-nitrogen (NO2-N), and sulfate ion (SO42-) are significant factors that influence the water quality. Furthermore, our results suggest that diverting water for RoR operation did not significantly raise the WQI value to the point where water in the bypassed reaches could be declared unfit for drinking. Our analysis concluded that inclusive assessments are vital for framing policies on expanding RoR hydropower in the region.

A critical appraisal of the status and hydrogeochemical characteristics of freshwater springs in Kashmir Valley.

With growing water scarcity, jeopardized by climate change, springs are likely to perform a vital role in meeting the domestic water demand in future. This paper examines the water quality status of Kashmir valley springs in relation to their geographical location, regional hydrogeological conditions, anthropogenic activities and climate change. We analyzed data for 258 springs from the whole Kashmir valley using water quality index (WQI) and geographic information system techniques. WQI ranged from 23 (excellent water) to 537 (water unsuitable for drinking). The WQI indicated that 39.5% of the springs had excellent waters, 47.7% had good water, 5% had poor water, 1.6% had very-poor water, and 6.2% of the springs had water unfit for drinking purposes. The Piper diagram identified Ca-Mg-HCO3, Ca-Mg-SO4, and Na-HCO3 as the most predominant hydro-chemical facies, whereas Gibbs diagram revealed that the water of springs in the study region is mainly controlled by rock weathering dominance. The results of the study offer inputs about the water quality to be used by the concerned departments and agencies at a bigger scale for drinking purposes. Our findings therefore suggest that springs which are in thousands in Kashmir landscape have the potential to offer viable solution to the rising drinking water demand and therefore merit an attention for their protection and management.

Quality assessment of springs for drinking water in the Himalaya of South Kashmir, India.

The present study describes the water quality scenario of some freshwater springs of South Kashmir during the two-year period (2013-2015) because of rising pollution risks endangering water resources globally. The accessibility to quality drinking water has become a challenge and is receiving renewed attention. A total of 96 samples from twelve springs were collected and analyzed for major drinking water quality parameters. Piper trilinear and Durov diagram depicted dominance of Ca-Mg-HCO3 hydrochemical facies and simple dissolution and mixing process. Water quality was falling in very good to excellent class and well within the desirable limits of WHO thereby indicating huge potential for meeting rising drinking water demand. The principal component analysis (PCA) revealed the generation of three components (PC1, PC2, and PC3) with higher eigenvalues of 3 or more (3-6) explaining 40, 21, and 17% of the overall variance in water quality data sets, respectively. The components obtained from PCA indicate that the parameters responsible for variations are mainly related to discharge, temperature, and dissolved oxygen (natural), nutrients (agriculture), and cation and anions (lithology). The results suggest that the hydrochemistry of springs is jointly controlled by lithology and anthropogenic inputs.

SARS-CoV-2: A critical review of its history, pathogenesis, transmission, diagnosis and treatment.

The outbreak of the deadly virus (novel coronavirus or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2) that emerged in December 2019, remained a controversial subject of intense speculations regarding its origin, became a worldwide health problem resulting in serious coronavirus disease 2019 (acronym COVID-19). The concern regarding this new viral strain "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2" (acronym SARS-CoV-2) and diseases it causes (COVID-19) is well deserved at all levels. The incidence of COVID-19 infection and infectious patients are increasing at a high rate. Coronaviruses (CoVs), enclosed positive-sense RNA viruses, are distinguished by club-like spikes extending from their surface, an exceptionally large genome of RNA, and a special mechanism for replication. Coronaviruses are associated with a broad variety of human and other animal diseases spanning from enteritis in cattle and pigs and upper chicken respiratory disease to extremely lethal human respiratory infections. With World Health Organization (WHO) declaring COVID-19 as pandemic, we deemed it necessary to provide a detailed review of coronaviruses discussing their history, current situation, coronavirus classification, pathogenesis, structure, mode of action, diagnosis and treatment, the effect of environmental factors, risk reduction and guidelines to understand the virus and develop ways to control it.