Preparation of State Environmental Atlas, Orissa

Preparation of the State Environmental Atlas, Orissa is a compilation of environmental related information in a form of map, text and statistical data. It includes maps on general features (such as Administrative boundaries, major settlement, transportation Network etc.), on physical characteristic(such as land use physiography, land capability etc.), on surface / ground water features( such as drainage pattern, used quality ,flow and table ) , on environmental sensitive zones (biological diversity, incompatible land uses etc.), and on major sources of pollution and also on environmental quality. The map of the atlas were prepared in 1:1 million scale ) . Relevant information and data were collected from various departments such as Water Resources, Agriculture, Statistics, Mining Industries, Tourism , Archeology, Ground Water Board, Ground Water Survey, Central Water Commission , Transport, Forest , Soil Conservation and Survey of India. The collected data were analyzed and interpreted into various theme maps using GIS, Arc Info software. The draft report along with the maps were prepared and submitted to CPCB, Delhi .

Preparation of District Environmental Atlas, Orissa

Preparation of the district State Environmental Atlas, Orissa is a compilation of environmental related information in the form of map, text and statistical data. It included maps on general/ physical features, surface / ground water features, environmental sensitive zones and major sources of pollution and environmental quality. The scale of the atlas is 1: 250000) . During the year under report, district environmental atlas were prepared for Sundergarh, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Deogarh, Cuttack, Jajpur , Jagatsingpur, Kendrapada, Puri, Mayurbhanj and Kendujhar districts. Relevant information and data were collected from various departments such as Water Resources, Tourism , Archeology, Ground Water Board, Ground Water Survey, Central Water Commission , Transport, Forest , Soil Conservation and Survey of India. The collected data were analyzed and interpreted into various theme maps using GIS Arc Info software. The draft report along with the maps were prepared and submitted to CPCB, Delhi .

District Specific Industrial siting guidelines, furnish information on environmental sensitive zones/ areas to be restricted for establishment of industries in the district, potential zones for air and water polluting industries and areas that may be considered for siting of industries. The Zoning Atlas studies will be used to develop these guidelines. The Board, has completed Zoning Atlas for siting of Industries for Sundergarh, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Deogarh, Cuttack , Jajpur , Jagatsingpur, Kendrapada, Puri, Mayurbhanj and Kendujhar districts of Orissa. District specific industrial siting guidelines committee under the chairmanship of District Collector for the following districts have been constituted. (a) Deogarh (b) Sambalpur (c) Bargarh (d) Jharsuguda (e) Cuttack (f) Kendrapara (g) Sundergarh (h) Kendujhar. Interaction Meetings for the preparation of district specific siting guidelines have been held at the respective district Collectorate during 2004 -05. .

Water Quality of Chilka lake

Chilka lake is the Orissa's largest natural heritage and the most biologically diverse ecosystem. The lake was designated by the Govt. of India as a Ramsar site in 1981 under Ramsar convention for wetlands of international importance. The study on water quality status of Chilka lake has been undertaken to assess the quality of water being discharged to Chilka through major rivers and to assess the seasonal variation of salinity across the Chilka lake.

There are 52 rivers falling on Chilka out of which 15 numbers or rivers have been monitored at 15 stations before their confluence with Chilka lake. From the analysis it is observed that the water qualities of rivers falling in Chilka confirms to Class-C use category.

Environment Study and preparation of Action Plan for abatement of

Chromium pollution in Sukinda Valley

MOEF has sanctioned a project on “Environment Study and preparation of Action Plan for abatement of Chromium pollution in Sukinda Valley “ of 18-month duration with a total project cost of Rs. 13,47,600/- lakhs. MoEF has released a sum of Rs. 4,39,200/- which is 50 % of the 1 st year's budget. Monitoring was conducted in the month of May'2004, July'2004, November'2004, February'2005 and April'2005 and June 2005 to assess the water quality of Damsala river, a perennial surface water flow in Sukinda valley. quality of ETP outlets being discharged to Damsala river, ground water quality and ambient air quality.

Hexavalent chromium in Damsala river are found to vary within the range from 0.018- 0.172 mg/l in summer season. During rainy season the hexavalent chromium content at most of the places exceeds the prescribed standard (0.05 mg/l) for class B and C category of inland surface water with a maximum value being 0.201mg/l at village Ostapal.

To assess the ground water quality, water samples have been collected in a number of locations in the study area. Hexavalent chromium is observed to be within the prescribed standard for drinking water(IS:10500-1991) at all the monitoring stations except Patna , Ostapal and Gurajanga village.

Hexavalent chromium and total chromium content in the overburden samples collected from the study area are observed to be in the range 12-311 mg/Kg and 3589 – 14486 mg/Kg respectively.

Ambient Noise Level in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack cities during Dushera and Deepavali 2004.

Considering the adverse effect of noise on human health, notice was also issued in the interest of general public for creating awareness not to use any firecracker generating high noise above 125 dB (A). The State Govt. has also designated the District Magistrates, ADMs, SDMs, SP, ASP, DSP and SDPOs as the “prescribed authority” for the concerned districts/sub-divisions for maintenance of ambient noise standards vide notification No.2849/F&E dated 12.02.2002 and has also categorized different areas/zones of the State into silence, residential, commercial and industrial zones for implementation of provisions of the Noise Rules. The Designated Authorities had also been requested to restrict utilization of loud music systems /fire-crackers during night time on the Dushera and Deepavali days vide interim orders dated 27.09.2001 of the Hon'ble Court .
Ambient noise level monitoring was carried out at different silence, residential, commercial and industrial zones of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar cities to assess the impact of important festivals like Dushera and Dipawali. Noise monitoring was conducted during the day-time ( 6.00 AM-10.00 AM ) and night time ( 10.00 PM-6.00 AM ) at 7 locations at Cuttack and 6 locations at Bhubaneswar . For proper assessment of the impacts of the festivals, monitoring was carried out during the preceding and following days of these festivals. Summary of the observations are given in table 8.1 .

Celebration of religious/cultural functions in Orissa is almost invariably associated with some noise producing activity. However the matter of serious concern is a significant increase in the noise level (compared to the prescribed standard) in silence zones of both cities, particularly around the hospitals (Sishoo Bhawan and S.C.B. Medical College & Hospital at Cuttack and Capital Hospital at Bhubaneswar ).