Debris slides of Varandh Ghat, west coast of India

 On 28 June 1994 when 240 mm of rainfall occurred, a huge debris slide took place at Parmachi village in the Varandh Ghat of the Konkan district on the west coast of India. The debris slide resulted in extensive damage to property and killed 20 people in addition to numerous animals. The slide is considered to have occurred due to the development of hydrostatic pressure at the base of colluvial material, such that slope failure took place at the rock/soil interface. In view of the significance of such slides to settlements and highways, it is proposed that a warning system is developed based on a rainfall threshold of 170 mm in a 24-hour period. Received: 21 February 1997 · Accepted: 5 January 1998     

In the Hands of the People: Harnessing the Collective Power of Village Life in India

Top-down attempts by governments and charities to rebuild rural communities after natural disasters, or to rehabilitate slums, can leave communities feeling fractured. The Hunnarshala Foundation instead focuses on re-establishing social capital, providing funding and professional support for residents so that they can work together to improve their lot. This also reinforces the value of traditional artisans' knowledge in solving modern problems. Hunnarshala's Executive Vice Chairman Sandeep Virmani explains.     

Ecomasterplanning

Best known as the pioneer of the green skyscraper, Ken Yeang is now applying his innovative, ecological thinking to the urban masterplan. Here he outlines how the introduction of an ecoinfrastructure can bring multiple benefits to a city, encouraging connectivity between green spaces, providing natural habitats for wildlife and alleviating the impact of climate change by offsetting CO2 emissions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Arsenic groundwater contamination and its health effects in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in upper and middle Ganga plain, India: a severe danger

This communication presents results of our 2-year survey on groundwater arsenic contamination in three districts Ballia, Varanasi and Gazipur of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in the upper and middle Ganga plain, India. Analyses of 4,780 tubewell water samples revealed that arsenic concentrations in 46.5% exceeded 10 microg/L, in 26.7%, 50 microg/L and in 10% 300 microg/L limits. Arsenic concentrations up to 3,192 microg//L were observed. The age of tubewells (n=1,881) ranged from less than a year to 32 years, with an average of 6.5 years. Our study shows that older tubewells had a greater chance of contamination. Depth of tubewells (n=3,810) varied from 6 to 60.5 m with a mean of 25.75 m. A detailed study in three administrative units within Ballia district, i.e. block, Gram Panchayet, and village was carried out to assess the magnitude of the contamination. Before our survey the affected villagers were not aware that they were suffering from arsenical toxicity through contaminated drinking water. A preliminary clinical examination in 11 affected villages (10 from Ballia and 1 from Gazipur district) revealed typical arsenical skin lesions ranging from melanosis, keratosis to Bowens (suspected). Out of 989 villagers (691 adults, and 298 children) screened, 137 (19.8%) of the adults and 17 (5.7%) of the children were diagnosed to have typical arsenical skin lesions. Arsenical neuropathy and adverse obstetric outcome were also observed, indicating severity of exposure. The range of arsenic concentrations in hair, nail and urine was 137-10,900, 764-19,700 microg/kg, and 23-4,030 microg/L, respectively. The urine, hair and nail concentrations of arsenic correlated significantly (r=0.76, 0.61, and 0.55, respectively) with drinking water arsenic concentrations. The similarity to previous studies on arsenic contamination in West Bengal, Bihar and Bangladesh indicates that people from a significant part of the surveyed areas in UP are suffering and this will spread unless drives to raise awareness of arsenic toxicity are undertaken and an arsenic safe water supply is immediately introduced.     

Dragons Adrift: The New Chinese Landscape

The work of New York-based artist Nancy Wolf is preoccupied with the relationship between people and the contemporary city. Here she explains how a meeting with scholar and poet Lap Lam in Hong Kong provided much of the inspiration for her work in China, which she describes as ‘a commentary on the enormous changes in today's Chinese landscape created by Modernist architecture and urban planning’.     

Returning Genius to the Place

Advocates of sustainable design since the early 1990s, HOK are intent on disseminating new research, resources and tools across their global design teams. Mary Ann Lazarus , Sustainable Design Director at HOK, and Chip Crawford , Planning Group Director at HOK, describe a particularly innovative project that the two groups have collaborated on with the essential input of the Biomimicry Guild (see p 44). Addressing critical environmental issues at the habitat scale and performance standards, they have developed ecological design tools that have been employed on masterplans for Lavasa, India, and Langfang, China. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.