Jagdish Chandra Kuniyal

G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment · Centre for Environmental Assessment and Climate Change (CEA&CC)

Pre-treatment of biomass is a necessary step for delignification as well as an unavoidable step in the journey of biomass to biofuel. Apart from delignification, defragmentation and partial depolymerization of biomass are two other additional useful steps in the overall process of pre-treatment. Ultimately these three steps together make the downst...

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...

The Himalayas has a significant impact not just on the Indian subcontinent’s monsoon patterns but also on the global climate. Monsoon failure causing drought has become more common in recent years. As a result, it poses a major threat to ecosystem sustainability. We reported for the first time, a climatic-sensitive tree ring chronology of a broadle...

Local knowledge systems provide a solid foundation for rural water conservation and management. Based on data acquired through a questionnaire survey, this research examines traditional soil and water conservation methods in the villages of Sikkim Himalaya. During the years 2018–20, information was gathered through a questionnaire survey of 305 hou...

The present study is an attempt to evaluate the effects of Lockdown due to Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), on Air Quality Index (AQI) of Kullu valley. The Air Quality was monitoring from January 2019 to June 2019 and same time in the next year during COVID-19 period from January 2019 to June 2019 at Mohal-Kullu sampling site. PM10 and PM2.5 values...

Alteration in land use is one of the primary causes of global environmental change. Rapid variations in Land Use Land Cover (LULC) have also occurred in the already vulnerable Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) for the last few decades. These activities are highly influenced by anthropogenic activities and have more severe consequences on the air qualit...

Criteria pollutants such as CO, SO2, NO2, PM10, and PM2.5 were monitored in the Kullu valley, a famous tourist destination in Himachal Pradesh, during the lockdown period of the 2nd wave of COVID-19 pandemic. The Pre-Lockdown Period (PLD) from 1 January to 6 May 2021 is taken here as a reference period, while the period from 7 May to 30 June 2021 i...

To get the most out of geographical data, people are being encouraged to use open-sourceOpen-source data and softwareSoftware. Freely available Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software is making rapid progress. These software’sSoftware can be used to look at various properties that a satellite-based data, and other geog...

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 p...

The current study uses remote sensing derived products, high resolution gridded rainfall and temperature, and SWAT inside a Geographic Information System (GIS) to assess the Kuttiyadi River's hydrological response and water balance components. As Kuttiyadi basin lacks a rainfall monitoring station, making hydrological studies difficult. Thus, we u...

The Himalayan wetlands are highly sensitive and dynamic habitats, which work as water reservoirs in downstream areas, adjust local climate and promote sustainable ecosystems. The present work is focused on the assessment of the Sattal wetland area in the River Bhagirathi basin in Uttarakhand. The area is facing threats due to anthropogenic activiti...

The United Nation decade on ecosystem restoration has been recognized in global and regional policy com-mitments that play a crucial role towards restoring degraded areas with the continued provision of ecosystem services. Climate-sensitive alpine meadows are vital in this regard as they are facing a continuous threat of degradation governed by bot...

The Run-of-River (RoR) hydropower projects change the natural flow regime and impact the ecology of the river ecosystem. Assumptions of eco-friendliness surrounding RoR hydropower plants have been rarely tested. Keeping this knowledge gap in view, the present study was undertaken to understand the impact of ROR power plants on the macroinvertebrate...

Reliable information of hydrological processes within a river basin is essentially required for developing an appropriate strategy for achieving sustainable development goals. The present study assesses the streamflow of a pro-glacial stream and also intends to estimate the contribution of suspended sediments, erosion rate, and the headwater contri...

Forest resources are the primary livelihood sources for native communities. These are rich in biodiversity, hence are accredited as the green pearl of the Himalayan region. This life-supporting system is under great biotic stress and has become vulnerable due to an ever-increasing anthropogenic pressure. This study, therefore, aims to identify crit...

Climate Variability

Citation: Ningombam, S.S.; Dumka, U.C.; Mugil, S.K.; Kuniyal, J.C.; Hooda, R.K.; Gautam, A.S.; Tiwari, S.

Present study is an attempt to estimate the effects of roadside dust pollution on apple trees of Mohal (1146 m), Raison (1359 m) and one control site, Beasar (2181 m), Kullu Valley, Himachal Pradesh. In both Mohal and Raison sites, PM10 and PM2.5 are showing the increasing trend which is affecting the apple farming and production in the area. When...

The extensive work on the increasing burden of aerosols and resultant climate implications shows a matter of great concern. In this study, we investigate the aerosol optical depth (AOD) variations in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) between its plains and alpine regions and the corresponding consequences on the energy balance on the Himalayan glac...

The impact of climate change has severely affected geosphere, biosphere and cryosphere ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region. The impact has been accelerating further from the last few decades due to the rapid increase in anthropogenic activities such as modernization, industrialization/ urbanization along with energy demands. In view...

The present study is an attempt to accomplish the understanding of the factors impacting Parbati river water quality in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. The main objective is to assess the overall water quality, to explore its hydrogeochemical characteristics including major ion contents and other chemical parameters using Water Quality Index (W...

Particulate pollutants below 10 micron (PM 10) and gaseous pollutants such as Sulphur Dioxide (SO 2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO 2) and Ammonia (NH 3) were monitored. In and around the commissioned hydroelectric project Srinagar Garhwal, PM 10 concentration was found as low as 88.1±2.0 µg m-3 ranging from 63.6 to 104.2 µg m-3. On the other hand, Tapovan-...

Eco-restoration initiative work in the high altitude Dayara pastureland (3501 m) from the Indian Himalayan Region has been considered to be one of the successful field demonstration against both natural and anthropogenic degradation. The present study therefore attempts to assess the implications of entire eco-restoration model as practiced by Depa...

Himalaya is one of the youngest and greatest mountain ranges in the world and is one of the world’s most erosion-prone regions. Reliable information on the basin hydrology, physico-chemical weathering, and runoff dynamics is essential to develop an appropriate policies for sustainable, socially acceptable, ecological, and economically viable develo...

The present study is an attempt to accomplish the understanding of the factors impacting surface water quality of Parbati river in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. The main objective is to assess the overall water quality, to explore its hydrogeochemical characteristics including major ion contents and other chemical parameters using Water Quali...

Mountain midges (Deuterophlebiidae) are cold water hill stream insects restricted to Nearctic and Palaearctic regions. Deuterophlebiidae is believed to be a primitive lineage of Diptera and so educes a considerable degree of interest in aquatic entomologists. Due to their restricted geographic distribution and specialized habitats, very little info...

Mountains are considered as the early indicators of climate change. This study aims to understand how the Himalayan communities perceive climate change, and how this change has impacted the livelihood and sustenance of local people particularly in the remote and rural areas of the region. In view of this, 994 households of 25 villages were intervie...

In this study, we assess the response of ambient aerosol black carbon (BC) mass concentrations and spectral absorption properties across Indian mainland during the nationwide lockdown (LD) in connection with the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. The LD had brought near to total cutoff of emissions from industrial, traffic (road, railways,...

At a given cross-section hydraulic parameters such as depth and velocity of a stream vary with discharge as a single power function. From the development and management perspective of the streams, the estimation of these parameters is very important for canal designing, irrigation works, and hydropower production, etc. Thus, in this context, a fiel...

At a given cross-section, hydraulic parameters such as depth and velocity of a stream vary with discharge as a single power function. From the development and management perspective of the streams, the estimation of these parameters is very important for canal designing, irrigation works, and hydropower production, etc. Thus, in this context a fiel...

COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 is a current global challenge and urgent discovery of potential drugs to combat this pandemic is a need of the hour. 3-chymotrypsin-like cysteine protease (3CLpro) enzyme is the vital molecular target against the SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, in the present study, 1528 anti-HIV1compounds were screened by sequence alignmen...

Development of a novel, integrated production of C8 ester butyl butyrate (BuB), a promising supplement for diesel/jet-engine fuels, from lignocellulose derived C5 and C6 sugars is attempted by means of smart and innovative process design. In the pathway, enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass with high solid loading is an important step which requires red...

River health is sustained by time‐based variation in their flows, and the maintenance of natural flow regime is essential for keeping the rivers healthy. However, the dynamism in natural flow regime now stands altered by changing climate and the omnipresent regulation of river flows throughout the world has severely impacted the river health. It is...

Mid Term British UGC-UKIERI International Collaboration Project outcome.

4. Richard Johnson, J. C Kuniyal, Kesar Chand, Alan Diduck, Esther Edward, James Gardner, Bindhy Wasini Pandey, DevDutt Sharma and Pushpam Singh(2020) .Accelerating Change: Engaging Local Communities in Disaster Risk Reduction in The Indian Himalayan Region. Science Policy Brief. https://doi.org/10.17870/bathspa.c.5036990.v1 and UNDRR Prevention We...

This policy briefing note is based on detailed research data, obtained in the Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh. This initiative has been undertaken by Indian, Canadian and UK research team. The purpose of this policy brief is to bring new contributions to government policy and practice activities, in the context of the Sendai Framework for Disaster...

The book provides an account of 605 taxa (582 species) of shrubs belonging to 261 genera (259 angiosperms, 2 gymnosperms) and 65 families in the western Himalayan Region. The analysis suggests in west Himalayan states, Uttarakhand (UK) has highest diversity of shrubs (488 taxa) followed by Himachal Pradesh (344) and Jammu & Kashmir (338). The avail...

Hydropower if scientifically developed is considered to be one of the clean and non-polluted renewable energy sources. But its impacts always exist on physical and social environment of the area. The present study was conducted in the River Satluj basin which is well known for its hydropower potential. The main objective of the study was to underst...

Delignification of lignocellulosic biomass by alkaline peroxide pre-treatment is a preliminary important step for an overall biomass fractionation process. In the present work, saw dusts are pre-treated by aqueous alkaline peroxide solution under different temperatures over a predetermined time. It is seen that Combined Pre-treatment (CP) removes a...

Ambient air quality in terms of particulate matter < 10 µ (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ammonia (NH3) was monitored in the upper Satluj basin under-construction stage of Shongtong-Karcham (450 MW) and commissioned stage of Rampur (412 MW) hydropower projects. PM10 ranged from 102.8 to 111.9 µg m⁻³ with a mean of 106.4 ± 1...

The present study was conducted in the upper river Satluj basin of district Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, India. The vulnerability assessment was done on the basis of selected parameters like slope, slope profile, slope aspects, relative relief, curvature, soil texture, lithology, river morphometric, precipitation, land use and land cover, mass moveme...

Efficient production of sugar monomers from lignocellulose is often hampered by serious bottle-necks in biomass hydrolysis. The present study reveals that ultra-sonication assisted pretreatment following autoclaving, termed as combined pretreatment, can lead to more efficient delignification of lignocellulosic biomass and an open, deformed polysacc...

The study of physico-chemical properties of atmospheric aerosol is important as these influence the Earth's climate directly by scattering and absorbing solar radiation, and indirectly by acting as cloud condensation nuclei. Nowadays, the physico-chemical properties of aerosols are being measured using space as well as ground-based sensors. Althoug...

For source identification, a field campaign involving simultaneous sampling of particulate matter (PM10) was conducted at eight sampling sites in the Indian mainland during winter 2014. The sampling sites include Delhi (upper IGP), Lucknow (middle IGP), and Kolkata (lower IGP) in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP); Mohal-Kullu and Darjeeling in the Ind...

वाय-ु प्रदषू ण का अथ ा िै वाय ु में कु छ तत्वों के अनावश्यक रूप स े ममल जाने से वाय ु का प्रदवू षत िो जाना । वपछल े कु छ दशकों स े दनु नया के सामन े वाय-ु प्रदषू ण की समस्ट्या उठ खड़ी िुई िै । इसकी भयाविता हदन प्रनतहदन ढ़ती जा रिी िै । इसके प्रमुख कारण िैं उद्योगों का व्यापक प्रसार, धुओिं छोड़ने वाले वािनों की सिंख्या में ववृ ि और घरेल ू उपयोग के म...

Surface ozone is mainly produced by photochemical reactions involving various anthropogenic pollutants, whose emissions are increasing rapidly in India due to fast-growing anthropogenic activities. This study estimates the losses of wheat and rice crop yields using surface ozone observations from a group of 17 sites, for the first time, covering di...

Both in-situ and space-borne observations reveal an extremely high loading of particulates all year around, over the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP), all year around. With a burgeoning population and combustion sources (fossil fuels (FFs) and biofuels (BFs)) in close proximity to each other, the IGP is widely regarded as a hotspot for anthropogenic aero...

Recent investigations suggest that the accumulation of polluted aerosols at mountain sites of the Indian Himalaya potentially may accelerate the seasonal warming. In view of the importance of aerosols, the present study was carried out over Mohal (1154 m) during April 2006 to March 2010. The investigation of the optical properties of aerosols such...

Ambient air quality deterioration is one of the major threats to pristine air environment of the Indian Himalayan Region. Keeping this in view, the particulate matter (TSP & PM10), and gaseous pollutants (SO2, NO2 & NH3) were monitored in the three Himalayan towns; Bilaspur (556 m), Mandi (760 m) and Keylong (3100 m) during pre-monsoon in 2009. TSP...

The currently existing three major options for power production in India and elsewhere are hydro, thermal, and nuclear. From the viewpoint of efficient production and low environmental cost, hydropower has become one of the most important clean sources of energy. India is endowed with enormous hydropower potential especially in the Himalayan region...

Ground based measurement of aerosol optical depth (AOD) and black carbon (BC) aerosol were carried out on the foothills of the three important selected glaciers (i.e., Parbati, Hamta and Beas Kund) in winter season in the northwestern Indian Himalayan Region. The AOD values were found to be in the range of 0.05-0.19. The aerosol loading was observe...

Owing to profuse water resources and favorable geography, Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) has become a preferred destination for hydropower in India. It has been planned to produce around 78% (117239 MW) of total potential of country from IHR only. Though various inter linked and complex issues of environmental protection pertaining to large scale de...