A transdisciplinary and collaborative urban water security framework: Developed through an interdisciplinary study in Kolkata, India

Urban water security (UWS) is and will remain a crucial issue over the next decades, especially as it is exacerbated by climate change effects and related hazards. Despite the growing number of studies focusing on more diverse dimensions, including social dimensions, of water security and urban dynamics, there is still an absence of comprehensive, interdisciplinary UWS measurement index that takes into account the complexity and multidimensional aspects of water security. This article discusses a new, transdisciplinary community-focused approach to analyzing and responding to water insecurity. It draws on findings from a large study carried out over 4 years with a focus on creating a new and comprehensive way of measuring water security, incorporating biophysical and social factors. The project collected data in Kolkata, India. Kolkata is an important megacity in a developing country, facing rising pressures on water-environmental provision due to rapid population growth and urbanization combined with governance and infrastructural issues. The project team worked collaboratively with affected communities to create a comprehensive framework for measuring and evaluating water security for cities. A water justice approach to water security we argue is particularly important in emerging countries, and one that can be effectively applied to environments where urban growth and resultant shrinking resources have created complicated and fragile systems. This approach adds to existing knowledge and research that focuses on collaborative interdisciplinary methods that aim to create solutions that can help create a sustainable water secure future “leaving no one behind.

Assessment of water security in socially excluded areas in Kolkata, India: An approach focusing on water, sanitation and hygiene

Water security is essential not only to ensure the availability and accessibility of water for drinking, producing food, washing, but also to maintain both human and environmental health. The 2011 Census of India reveals that 17.4% of urban households in India live in deprived areas in urban landscapes which are designated as slums in the Census dataset. The increasing number of people living in these areas poses serious challenges to the provision of basic urban water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) services. Perceived susceptibility of risks from contaminated water and lack of proper sanitation and hygiene will be addressed in the light of social exclusion factors. This study attempts to assess the present situation of water, sanitation and required hygiene provisions within the areas defined as slums by the Census of India 2011 in Kolkata, India. Based on the results obtained from the datasets from the census, and a household survey, we identified a lack of supplies associated with WaSH provisions in these areas of Kolkata. The WaSH provisions in the slum areas of Kolkata city are facing various issues related to regularity, quality and quantity of supplied water. Additionally, there is poor maintenance of existing WaSH services including latrine facilities and per capita allocation of a sustainable water security among the slum dwellers. By adding to our understanding of the importance of factors such as gender, religions, and knowledge of drinking water in deprived areas, the study analyses the links between both physical and social issues determining vulnerability and presence of deprivation associated with basic WaSH provisions as human rights of slum communitie

DNA characterisation from gut content of larvae of Megaselia scalaris (Diptera, Phoridae) for forensic investigations

The role of DNA in crime scene investigation over the last couple of decades has been immense. DNA materials as evidence are routinely collected from conventional sources (body fluids) from a wide range of crime scenes. In the absence of conventional sources, DNA evidence can be obtained from non-conventional sources, like touch DNA and gut contents of Dipteran larvae found on or near the body. While most studies about insects and their larval stages obtained from crime scenes have been done for PMI estimation, the use of gut contents from Megaselia scalaris (Diptera, Phoridae) larvae for human identification has not been yet investigated. The larvae’s ability to crawl through tight spaces make them an important species for both indoor crime scenes and also in the cases of buried corpses. In the present study, a comprehensive framework has been developed to extract non-insect DNA from the gut contents of larvae of M. scalaris (Diptera, Phoridae), fed on Sus scrofa tissue, and use it for STR analysis, making a tool for human identification, aiding forensic investigations. The larvae were fixed using 5 different protocols: (a) suspending the larvae in hot water (>80°C); (b) larvae kept at -20°C; (c) larvae kept in EtOH (98%) and stored at -20°C; (d) larvae kept at -20°C for 4hrs and later kept in EtOH; (e) larvae first suspended in hot water (>80°C) and kept in EtOH (98%) -20°C. Despite the small size of the larvae (2.0 ± 0.5 mm) and low amount of gut content (0.2-0.5 mg), DNA extraction of the gut contents of larvae was undertaken successfully using the Qiagen® Investigator Extraction Kit. The extracted samples were quantified and the maximum quantification was obtained from the larvae fixed by freezing at -20°C, with an average of 3.67 ± 0.05 ng/μl per sample, followed by larvae fixed with EtOH at -20°C with 2.55 ± 0.06 ng/μl per sample. A positive PCR amplification result was obtained from the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b (149bp) and ribosomal gene 16s rRNA (138bp), which was confirmed by analysis through BlastN, showing a positive result of Sus scrofa DNA sequence. STR analysis of the samples was done using Multiplex PCR test kit with 11 autosomal markers and 1 gender specific marker for Sus scrofa. A complete STR profile was obtained from the samples (minimum 1 crop) with a match on all loci when compared to the control sample. The results obtained from this study are significant, since M. scalaris is an important fly of forensic interest with a cosmopolitan distribution, generally encountered by investigators in crime scenes. The results obtained also show that preservation of larvae with EtOH (-20°C) and only freezing (-20°C) help in proper DNA typing, which is helpful for investigators as it is a more practical and easy method for proper collection and preservation of the larvae

An Integrated Quantitative Assessment of Urban Water Security of a Megacity in the Global South

Water security, the access to adequate amounts of water of adequate quality, is and will remain a hugely important issue over the next decades as climate change and related hazards, food insecurity, and social instability will exacerbate insecurities. Despite attempts made by researchers and water professionals to study different dimensions of water security in urban areas, there is still an absence of comprehensive water security measurement tools. This study aims to untangle the interrelationship between biophysical and socio-economic dimensions that shape water security in a megacity in the Global South—Kolkata, India. It provides an interdisciplinary understanding of urban water security by extracting and integrating relevant empirical knowledge on urban water issues in the city from physical, environmental, and social sciences approaches. To do so we use intersectional perspectives to analyze urban water security at a micro (respondent) level and associated challenges across and between areas within the city. The study concludes with the recommendation that future studies should make use of comprehensive and inclusive approaches so we can ensure that we leave no one behind

Comparing Deterministic and Stochastic Methods in Geospatial Analysis of Groundwater Fluoride Concentration

Dental and skeletal fluorosis caused by consuming high-fluoride groundwater has been reported over several decades globally. Prediction maps to estimate the fluoride contaminated area rely on interpolation methods. This study presents a comparison of the accuracy of nine spatial interpolation methods in predicting the fluoride in groundwater. Leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV), hold-out validation and validation with an independent dataset were used to assess the precision of the interpolation methods. This is the first study on fluoride with a large dataset (N = 13,585) applied at the regional level in India. Our findings showed that the inverse distance weighted (IDW) algorithm outperformed other methods in terms of less discrepancy between measured and predicted fluoride. IDW and local polynomial interpolation (LPI) were the only methods to predict contaminated areas (fluoride > 1.5 mg/L). However, the area estimated by the typical assessment of the percentage of unsuitable samples was much higher (6.1%) compared to that estimated by IDW (0.2%) and LPI (0.2%). LOOCV provided viable results than the other two validation methods. Interpolation methods are accompanied with uncertainty which are regulated by the sample size, sample density, sample distribution, minimum and maximum measured concentrations, smoothing and border effects. Drawing a comparison among variegated interpolation methods capturing a wide range of prediction uncertainty is suggested rather than relying on one method exclusively. The high-fluoride areas identified in this study can be used by the Government in planning remediation actions

Assessment of Environmental Water Security of an Asian Deltaic Megacity and Its Peri-Urban Wetland Areas

Achieving urban water security requires sustaining the trade-offs between the exploitation of water/environmental resources and ecosystem services. This achievement not only reduces the pollution and contamination in the environment, level of water stress, but also secures good ambient water quality and future for people’s well-being and livelihoods. Changes in land use and land cover and growth of impervious structures can immediately generate severe ecological and social issues and increase the level of natural or manmade risks, affecting the condition of ecosystem services within and in the vicinity of an urban region. As a result of these transformations and further exploitation, due to the growing anthropogenic pressure, surface water and groundwater quality can be deteriorated compared to ambient water quality standards (for both chemical and biological pollutants). Based on land use and land cover (LULC) data retrieved from remote sensing interpretation, we computed the changes of the ecosystem service values (ESV) associated with the LULC dynamics, water quality and, finally, urban water security during the pre- and post-monsoon periods of 2009, 2014 and 2019 in Kolkata, an Asian deltaic megacity, and its peri-urban wetlands named East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW). The area under wetlands reduced comprehensively in 2009–2019 due to the conversion of wetlands into various other classes such as urban settlement, etc. The quality of surface water bodies (such as rivers, lakes, canals and inland wetlands) deteriorated. The groundwater quality is still under control, but the presence of arsenic, manganese and other metals are a clear indication of urban expansion and related activities in the area. As a result, there was a change in the ESV during this timeframe. In the pre-monsoon period, there was an increase in total ESV from US$53.14 million in 2009 to US$53.36 million and US$59.01 million in 2014 and 2019, respectively. In the post-monsoon period, the ESV decreased from US$67.42 million in 2009 to US$64.13 and US$61.89 million in 2014 and 2019, respectively. These changes can be attributed to the peri-urban wetlands and the benefits or services arising out of them that contribute more than 50% of the total ESV. This study found that the area under wetlands has reduced comprehensively in the past 10 years due to the conversion of wetlands for various other uses such as urban expansion of the Kolkata City, but still, this peri-urban wetland supports the urban water security by providing sufficient ecosystem services. In conclusion, the transformation in extent of the water-related ecosystem is a crucial indicator of urban water security, which also measures the quantity of water contained in various water-related ecosystems. Quantitative analysis of the LULC change, hence, is important for studying the corresponding impact on the ecosystem service value (ESV) and water quality that helps in decision-making in securing urban water future and ecosystem conservation