Report of the three-day workshop on 'Regeneration of the Banas-Bisalpur Socio-ecological Complex'

Executive summaryThe ‘Regeneration of the Banas-Bisalpur Socio-ecological Complex’ workshop (JK Lakshmipat University, Jaipur, December 2017) brought together approximately 70 participants from government, NGOs, academia, village governance institutions and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes sharing an interest in reversal of the currently degrading cycle of linked ecological and socioeconomic degradation across the Banas River catchment in Rajasthan. The workshop was run in association with the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol, UK), JK Lakshmipat University (Jaipur, India), and WaterHarvest – India Liaison Office (Udaipur, India), and was kindly sponsored by Wetlands International – South Asia Office (Delhi, India).Like many catchments globally, the Banas has not been treated in modern times as a living resource. Rather, it has been subject to high levels of abstraction without proportional rebalancing resource renewal, putting the socio-ecological system into degrading cycle. Yet, for four-and-a-half thousand years of pre-industrial history, the people of Rajasthan had subsisted and thrived on scarce water by innovation and operation of a diversity of ‘water wise’ recharge, storage and efficient use solutions attuned to local geography and culture. A key challenge for reversal of the currently rapidly degrading cycle in the Banas catchment, with its associated vulnerabilities for all inherently interconnected urban and rural people co-dependent on its water, is to recognise the central role played by the primary resource of ecosystem processes.Workshop participants welcomed the opportunity to work together to explore problems, emerging needs and potential solutions, and to do so as part of an ongoing strategy of ‘action learning’ towards a vision of a regenerative socio-ecological system. Future progress entails working together to co-develop solutions that work with natural processes, hybridising traditional knowledge and modern techniques to achieve a regenerative socio-ecological cycle better connected across the catchment in a modern world of significant population growth, urbanisation and climate change. Cross-catchment connections include closer integration and equitable balance between needs and appropriate solutions that work for all people, with the current fracture of perspectives between urban and rural regions highlighted as a particular priority for action. Economic and regulatory reforms attuned to supporting environmental processes are essential, backed up by research in environmental and social systems, engineering, economics and governance mechanisms. Shared awareness and responsibility by all people across the catchment is necessary to achieve a more integrated approach to catchment sustainability, including reducing current fragmentation of institutions and knowledge. NGOs, village governance institutions and faith leaders have significant roles to play in integrating effort and knowledge, along with government, CSR and academic programmes.All technologies, both ecosystem-based and ‘hard’ engineering techniques, have roles to play, but the ramifications of their deployment need to be understood. An agreed foundational goal within the Banas vision is sustainable hybridisation of water management technologies –natural infrastructure, traditional management, ‘green’ technologies and ‘hard’ engineering – in ways that are beneficial to local people and catchment processes. This is vital to reverse current and cumulative cumulate pressures arising from proliferation of unlicenced tube wells and large dam-and-transfer schemes that are not today balanced with recharge, constituting primary drivers of catchment decline. Water efficiency in urban area, responsible for a high density of demand, is substantially underinvested today. Novel urban self-sufficiency, benefit sharing and investment mechanisms to regenerate the resource are required, overcoming former narrow exploitation-based approaches founded on limited knowledge and power asymmetries. Novel ideas include limiting water diversions from the Bisalpur to the city of Jaipur, quantitatively or on a time-limited basis, as a means to force greater awareness and self-reliance on local urban sources (such as investment in infiltration pits and local storage) and ‘green infrastructure’ solutions (rooftop water harvesting, greywater reuse, etc.) to redress power asymmetries and assumptions, and to promote urban self-sufficiency.Some knowledge gaps and incorrect assumptions need to be addressed. This includes in particular divergent opinions about the impact of small anicuts in upper sub-catchments, seen by some a stopping water reaching the Bisapur Dam but by others as sustaining local livelihoods whilst also regenerating groundwater systems that store and buffer flows downstream. There is also a need to better understand underground and surface flows of water in the catchment as a robust basis for more sustainable management, and to improve the protection of this vital natural capital to combat poverty and better support human needs.Novel livelihood practices could be innovated to make better beneficial use of water within the catchment, rather than depending on abstraction from the ecosystem to drive short-term consumptive economic uses. The economics of water include thinking in a cyclic way consistent with the water cycle, for example directing investment in upstream practices that recharge the catchment system rather than simply using it to increase the technical efficiency of extractive technologies that the current declines in water quantity and quality will render unsustainable. Reformed economic instruments are part of a wider transition to cyclic thinking and behaviour, also addressing equity issues, creating a regulatory environment across the catchment that works in synergy with its natural supportive and regenerative processes.Reaching for a regenerative vision necessarily includes innovating effective, nested governance systems. A ‘top down’ catchment-scale vision and enabling policy environment is necessary to inform and facilitate progress towards the catchment-wide vision, also helping enforce practices such as driving roof water harvesting, water efficiency and reuse, and other necessary efficiency measures in urban areas. However, practical delivery requires a high level of delegation to identify and deploy solutions closely tuned to specific geographical and cultural situations, that are best innovated and governed on a highly localised basis. Enabling, nested and co-creative governance arrangement are required. This includes far closer integration of the disparate CSR, NGO, local, faith leader and government programmes (MGNREGA, Smart Cities, Rajasthan’s MJSA programme, and many more departmental initiatives and associated budgets that are currently narrowly deployed). This can be implemented with far greater synergy and cross-departmental co-benefits leading towards the ultimate vision of a regenerative socio-ecological system.'Business as usual’ – today’s overemphasis on technically efficient extraction, overlooking ecosystem processes underpinning resource recharge and availability – is not a sustainable option, and can only perpetuate ecological depletion and associated human vulnerabilities. There is now no viable, equitable or sustainable alternative than acting upon what we now know about the systemic nature of catchments, and refocusing energies, investment and innovation on an ecosystem- and community-based regeneration programme for the Banas socio-ecological system. There is a pressing need to change paradigm from narrowly short-term exploitation, leading to the depletion of water and associated ecological and human wellbeing, towards more informed and strategic stewardship with efficient uses balanced with resource protection and regeneration.Workshop participants saw substantial value in bringing people together from a diversity of societal sectors associated with the catchment, welcoming future opportunities to share perspectives and make strides towards co-created sustainable solutions. Ecosystems and their processes were acknowledged as the fundamental resource underpinning continuing human security and opportunity, and need to be valued on that basis in all management and use decisions within a bold vision of a regenerative socio-ecological Banas system. Though the challenges of attaining it are daunting, confronting many assumed norms and vested interests, this vision can be focal for progressive innovation, evolution and integration of initiatives, to get as close as possible to a baseline of natural catchment functioning and sustainable human interactions with it.Above all, the tight interlinkage between all people co-dependent on the catchment system needs to be recognised within a collaborative approach to balance water use with recharge, regenerating the entire socio-ecological system. This is “a journey, not a destination” that all participants are happy to progress

LncRNA VEAL2 regulates PRKCB2 to modulate endothelial permeability in diabetic retinopathy

Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as key regulators of endothelial cell function. Here, we investigated the role of a novel vascular endothelial‐associated lncRNA (VEAL2) in regulating endothelial permeability. Precise editing of veal2 loci in zebrafish (veal2 (gib005Δ8/+)) induced cranial hemorrhage. In vitro and in vivo studies revealed that veal2 competes with diacylglycerol for interaction with protein kinase C beta‐b (Prkcbb) and regulates its kinase activity. Using PRKCB2 as bait, we identified functional ortholog of veal2 in humans from HUVECs and named it as VEAL2. Overexpression and knockdown of VEAL2 affected tubulogenesis and permeability in HUVECs. VEAL2 was differentially expressed in choroid tissue in eye and blood from patients with diabetic retinopathy, a disease where PRKCB2 is known to be hyperactivated. Further, VEAL2 could rescue the effects of PRKCB2‐mediated turnover of endothelial junctional proteins thus reducing hyperpermeability in hyperglycemic HUVEC model of diabetic retinopathy. Based on evidence from zebrafish and hyperglycemic HUVEC models and diabetic retinopathy patients, we report a hitherto unknown VEAL2 lncRNA‐mediated regulation of PRKCB2, for modulating junctional dynamics and maintenance of endothelial permeability

Assessing the feasibility of integrating ecosystem-based with engineered water resource governance and management for water security in semi-arid landscapes: A case study in the Banas catchment, Rajasthan, India

Much of the developing world and areas of the developed world suffer water vulnerability. Engineering solutions enable technically efficient extraction and diversion of water towards areas of demand but, without rebalancing resource regeneration, can generate multiple adverse ecological and human consequences. The Banas River, Rajasthan (India), has been extensively developed for water diversion, particularly from the Bisalpur Dam from which water is appropriated by powerful urban constituencies dispossessing local people. Coincidentally, abandonment of traditional management, including groundwater recharge practices, is leading to increasingly receding and contaminated groundwater. This creates linked vulnerabilities for rural communities, irrigation schemes, urban users, dependent ecosystems and the multiple ecosystem services that they provide, compounded by climate change and population growth. This paper addresses vulnerabilities created by fragmented policy measures between rural development, urban and irrigation water supply and downstream consequences for people and wildlife. Perpetuating narrowly technocentric approaches to resource exploitation is likely only to compound emerging problems. Alternatively, restoration or innovation of groundwater recharge practices, particularly in the upper catchment, can represent a proven, ecosystem-based approach to resource regeneration with linked beneficial socio-ecological benefits. Hybridising an ecosystem-based approach with engineered methods can simultaneously increase the security of rural livelihoods, piped urban and irrigation supplies, and the vitality of river ecosystems and their services to beneficiaries. A renewed policy focus on local-scale water recharge practices balancing water extraction technologies is consistent with emerging Rajasthani policies, particularly Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan (‘water self-reliance mission’). Policy reform emphasising recharge can contribute to water security and yield socio-economic outcomes through a systemic understanding of how the water system functions, and by connecting goals and budgets across multiple, currently fragmented policy areas. The underpinning principles of this necessary paradigm shift are proven and have wider geographic relevance, though context-specific research is required to underpin robust policy and practical implementation

A rare case of a peripheral Ewing sarcoma primitive neuroectodermal tumor of pelvic origin

Primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) represent malignant neuroectodermal tumors composed of small round cells. They can be differentiated between originating from the peripheral nervous system or the central nervous system. Peripheral PNET (pPNET) can be further subclassified as one of the Ewing family tumors (EFT). Although rare, EFT can originate in the female genital tract and pelvic region. Here, we present a case of a middle-aged female with PNET masses in her uterus, abdomen, and hepatic lobes. We discuss the diagnostic modalities, including immunohistochemistry, histopathology, and imaging findings associated with this rare malignancy

Mapping Prospects for Artificial Groundwater Recharge Utilizing Remote Sensing and GIS Methods

The indiscriminate use of groundwater and its overexploitation has led to a significant decline in groundwater resources in India, making it essential to identify potential recharge zones for aquifer recharge. A study was conducted to determine such potential recharge zones in the Nandhour-Kailash River watershed. The study area included 1481 streams divided into 12 sub-basins (SWS). The results show that the downstream Saraunj sub-basins (SWS-11) and Odra sub-basins (SWS-12) were high priority and required immediate soil and water conservation attention. Sub catchments Lobchla West (SWS-4), Deotar (SWS-5), Balot South (SWS-8), Nandhour (SWS-9), and Nakoliy (SWS-10) had medium priority and were designated for moderate soil erosion and degradation. In contrast, sub-catchments Aligad (SWS-1), Kundal (SWS-2), Lowarnala North (SWS-3), Bhalseni (SWS-6), and Uparla Gauniyarao (SWS-7) had low priority, indicating a low risk of soil erosion and degradation. Using the existing groundwater level data, the potential map of groundwater was validated to confirm its validity. According to the guidelines provided by the Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development (IMSD), the results of the groundwater potential zones for good to very good zones have been integrated at the slope and stream order. In a 120.94 km2 area with a slope of 0–5% in first-order streams, 36 ponds were proposed, and in a 218.03 km2 area with a slope of 15% in first- to fourth-order streams, 105 retention dams were proposed and recognized as possible sites for artificial groundwater recharge. The proposed water harvesting structure may aid in continuously recharging these zones and benefit water resource managers and planners. Thus, various governmental organizations can use the results to identify possible future recharge areas

Metal/Metalloid-Based Nanomaterials for Plant Abiotic Stress Tolerance: An Overview of the Mechanisms

In agriculture, abiotic stress is one of the critical issues impacting the crop productivity and yield. Such stress factors lead to the generation of reactive oxygen species, membrane damage, and other plant metabolic activities. To neutralize the harmful effects of abiotic stress, several strategies have been employed that include the utilization of nanomaterials. Nanomaterials are now gaining attention worldwide to protect plant growth against abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, heavy metals, extreme temperatures, flooding, etc. However, their behavior is significantly impacted by the dose in which they are being used in agriculture. Furthermore, the action of nanomaterials in plants under various stresses still require understanding. Hence, with this background, the present review envisages to highlight beneficial role of nanomaterials in plants, their mode of action, and their mechanism in overcoming various abiotic stresses. It also emphasizes upon antioxidant activities of different nanomaterials and their dose-dependent variability in plants’ growth under stress. Nevertheless, limitations of using nanomaterials in agriculture are also presented in this review

Multi-ahead electrical conductivity forecasting of surface water based on machine learning algorithms

Abstract The present research work focused on predicting the electrical conductivity (EC) of surface water in the Upper Ganga basin using four machine learning algorithms: multilayer perceptron (MLP), co-adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (CANFIS), random forest (RF), and decision tree (DT). The study also utilized the gamma test for selecting appropriate input and output combinations. The results of the gamma test revealed that total hardness (TH), magnesium (Mg), and chloride (Cl) parameters were suitable input variables for EC prediction. The performance of the models was evaluated using statistical indices such as Percent Bias (PBIAS), correlation coefficient (R), Willmott’s index of agreement (WI), Index of Agreement (PI), root mean square error (RMSE) and Legate-McCabe Index (LMI). Comparing the results of the EC models using these statistical indices, it was observed that the RF model outperformed the other algorithms. During the training period, the RF algorithm has a small positive bias (PBIAS = 0.11) and achieves a high correlation with the observed values (R = 0.956). Additionally, it shows a low RMSE value (360.42), a relatively good coefficient of efficiency (CE = 0.932), PI (0.083), WI (0.908) and LMI (0.083). However, during the testing period, the algorithm’s performance shows a small negative bias (PBIAS = − 0.46) and a good correlation (R = 0.929). The RMSE value decreases significantly (26.57), indicating better accuracy, the coefficient of efficiency remains high (CE = 0.915), PI (0.033), WI (0.965) and LMI (− 0.028). Similarly, the performance of the RF algorithm during the training and testing periods in Prayagraj. During the training period, the RF algorithm shows a PBIAS of 0.50, indicating a small positive bias. It achieves an RMSE of 368.3, R of 0.909, CE of 0.872, PI of 0.015, WI of 0.921, and LMI of 0.083. During the testing period, the RF algorithm demonstrates a slight negative bias with a PBIAS of  − 0.06. The RMSE reduces significantly to 24.1, indicating improved accuracy. The algorithm maintains a high correlation (R = 0.903) and a good coefficient of efficiency (CE = 0.878). The index of agreement (PI) increases to 0.035, suggesting a better fit. The WI is 0.960, indicating high accuracy compared to the mean value, while the LMI decreases slightly to − 0.038. Based on the comparative results of the machine learning algorithms, it was concluded that RF performed better than DT, CANFIS, and MLP. The study recommended using the current month’s total hardness (TH), magnesium (Mg), and chloride (Cl) parameters as input variables for multi-ahead forecasting of electrical conductivity (ECt+1, ECt+2, and ECt+3) in future studies in the Upper Ganga basin. The findings also indicated that RF and DT models had superior performance compared to MLP and CANFIS models. These models can be applied for multi-ahead forecasting of monthly electrical conductivity at both Varanasi and Prayagraj stations in the Upper Ganga basin