Impact of Urban Growth on Water Bodies - The Case of Hyderabad

Being located in the Deccan Plateau region, Hyderabad city has been dotted with a number of lakes, which formed very important component of its physical environment. With the increasing control of the State and private agencies over the years, and rapid urban sprawl of the city, many of the water bodies have been totally lost. Many have been shrunk in size while the waters of several lakes got polluted with the discharge of untreated domestic and industrial effluents. This study makes an attempt to analyse the transformation of common property resources (the lakes) into private property. The adverse consequences of the loss of water bodies are felt in the steep decline in water table and the resultant water crisis in several areas. Further, the severity of flooding that was witnessed in August 2000 was also due to a reduction in the carrying capacity of lakes and water channels. The State has not bothered to either implement the existing laws or pay attention to the suggestions of environmental organisations in this regard. The paper argues that in this process of loss of water bodies in Hyderabad, the State is as much responsible as private agencies in terms of the policies that it has formulated and the lack of ensuring legislation and implementation.Urban Growth, Water Bodies, Hyderabad

Impact of urban growth on water bodies: The case of Hyderabad

Being located in the Deccan Plateau region, Hyderabad city has been dotted with a number of lakes, which formed very important component of its physical environment. With the increasing control of the State and private agencies over the years, and rapid urban sprawl of the city, many of the water bodies have been totally lost. Many have been shrunk in size while the waters of several lakes got polluted with the discharge of untreated domestic and industrial effluents. This study makes an attempt to analyse the transformation of common property resources (the lakes) into private property. The adverse consequences of the loss of water bodies are felt in the steep decline in water table and the resultant water crisis in several areas. Further, the severity of flooding that was witnessed in August 2000 was also due to a reduction in the carrying capacity of lakes and water channels. The State has not bothered to either implement the existing laws or pay attention to the suggestions of environmental organisations in this regard. The paper argues that in this process of loss of water bodies in Hyderabad, the State is as much responsible as private agencies in terms of the policies that it has formulated and the lack of ensuring legislation and implementation.

Inequity in water supply and impact on the poor: the case of Hyderabad

There are significant variations in the access of households to tap water between the core city and the surrounding urban areas in Hyderabad. In the surrounding areas, a substantial proportion of the households have their source of water outside their premises. Rather than the lack of water, it is the iniquitous distribution and denial of clean drinking water to the urban poor that led to the outbreak of water-contaminated diseases on a large scale in 2003 in Hyderabad city. The two main reservoirs that are the principal sources of drinking water to the old city have been neglected over the years leading to their drying up, for the first time, in 2003. Despite untold miseries suffered by the poor, the State continues to be lukewarm to their plight, which is highlighted in this paper. Such neglect by the State is probably due to lack of mobilization by the poor to form an effective pressure group at grassroots level to lobby for basic amenities

Eco-friendly and versatile brominating reagent prepared from a liquid bromine precursor

Facile bromination of various organic substrates has been demonstrated with a 2 : 1 bromide:bromate reagent prepared from the alkaline intermediate of the conventional bromine recovery process. The reagent is acidified in situ to generate HOBr as the reactive species, which effects bromination. Aromatic substrates that have been successfully brominated under ambient conditions without use of any catalyst include phenols, anilines, aromatic ethers and even benzene. Non-aromatic compounds bearing active methylene group were monobrominated selectively with the present reagent and olefinic compounds were converted into the corresponding bromohydrins in moderate yields. By obtaining the present reagent from the liquid bromine precursor, the twin advantages of avoiding liquid bromine and producing the reagent in a cost-effective manner are realised. When coupled with the additional advantage of high bromine atom efficiency, the present protocol becomes attractive all the way from "cradle to grave"

Performance of layers on sorghum-based poultry feed rations

In this study, Sorghum bicolor cultivars CSV 15, PSV 16, CSH 16 and S 35 were supplied to farmers in Mahabubnagar and Ranga Reddy districts in Andhra Pradesh, India, in 2003 for poultry feed trials. Sorghum replaced maize at 0, 50 and 100% levels, including a 100% replacement + 3% Stylosanthes (Stylo) of the control diet. 500 chicks were divided into 42 groups with 6 treatments at 0, 50 and 100% sorghum diets in mash and pelleted forms

Performance of broilers on sorghum-based diets

The effect of replacing maize with sorghum grain on the performance of broilers was studied. Grain from 4 improved Sorghum bicolor cultivars (CSH 16, CSV 15, PSV 16 and S 35) and one traditional yellow variety were used to replace maize (control diet) in the starter (1-4 weeks) and finisher rations (5-6 weeks) of broilers by 50, 75 and 100% levels. All diets were isonitrogenous and isocaloric and were homogeneous for lysine, methionine and cystine levels. One-day-old 512 commercial Cobb female broilers were divided into 64 groups with 16 dietary treatments and 4 replicates per treatment, with 8 birds in each. In a second trial, sorghum replacement was conducted without homogenizing the diets for nitrogen and energy contents. The study lasted for 6 weeks. It was shown that the liveweight gain and feed intake of broilers was statistically similar in sorghum diets at all inclusion levels compared to the control diet. However, the feed conversion efficiency of broilers in the 100% sorghum diet was significantly higher compared to the maize diet (P=0.05). A better feed conversion efficiency was found with the CSV 15, CSH 16, PSV 16 and the local cultivars at 100% inclusion levels. However, the yellow pigmentation of the skin and carcass of the broilers was better in the maize diet compared to the sorghum diets. Cost varied among and within cultivars at different inclusion levels, and was lower in CSV 15, PSV 16, S 35 and local sorghum cultivar-based diets. Cost was also much lower in CSV 15, PSV 16 and local sorghum cultivars at 100% inclusion level compared to maize. Feed cost per kg liveweight gain was lower with CSV 15 (Rs 17.16) and PSV 16 cultivars (Rs 17.62) compared to maize (Rs 18.02). Although pelleting increased feed costs (by Rs 0.25/kg), it also improved broiler production efficiency compared to mash in sorghum diets. Inclusion of Stylosanthes sp. leaf meal at 3% in 100% sorghum-based diets favourably improved the shank and skin colour of the carcass. Carcass yield and abdominal fat of broilers fed sorghum, sorghum + Stylosanthes sp. and maize diets were similar. In conclusion, the inclusion/replacement of sorghum in maize-based diets and pelleting improves the feed conversion ratio and decreases the total feed costs in broiler production