1 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL OF INDIA ISSN : 0027-9374/2018/1641-1663, Vol. 64, No. 1-2, March-June, 2018 Editor Prof. R. S. Yadava 1641 Reminiscences of Professor Shanti Lal Kayastha Anand Mohan and Arvind Mohan 1-6 1642 Shanti Lal Kayastha : A Humanist amongst Human Geographers Sarfaraz Alam 7-34 1643 Environmental Sustainability - Issues and Challenges in India H.S. Sharma 35-46 1644 Status of Biodiversity in West Bengal: Threat to Conservation and Scope of Restoration Ranjan Basu 47-63 1645 From Bonsai to Big Banyan: Scaling up Community Driven Green Livelihood Initiatives Sachin Kumar and Bhupinder S. Marh 64-75 1646 Disaster, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Case Study of Kosi Floods in North Bihar Sneh Gangwar and Baleshwar Thakur 76-92 1647 Landslide Hazard Zonation in and around Litan Village along NH-202, Ukhrul District, Manipur, India M. Okendro and R.A.S. Kushwaha 93-103 1648 Resource Use and Conservation of Kabartal Wetland Ecosystem, Bihar S.C. Rai and Mukesh Kumar 104-110 1649 Women and Natural Resource Management Swati Sucharita Nanda 111-117 1650 Estimation of Soil loss Sensitivity in the Jinari River Basin using the Universal Soil Loss Equation Nilotpal Kalita, Akangsha Borgohain, Dhrubajyoti Sahariah 118-127 and Siddhinath Sarma 1651 Deteriorating Scenario of Lakes: A Case Study of Ramgarh Lake, India Alka Singh and V.N. Sharma 128-143 2 1652 Rural Environmental Characteristics: A Case Study of the Selected Central Himalayan Villages R.C. Joshi and Masoom Reza 144-154 1653 Ecology and Economy of Home Gardens in a Village Environment of the Brahmaputra Valley, Assam Nityananda Deka and A.K.Bhagabati 155-165 1654 Perspectives on Urban Climate Change and Policy Measures in India Salahuddin Qureshi 166-173 1655 Failing Cityscape: Urbanization and Urban Climate Bikramaditya K. Choudhary and Arun K. Tripathi 174-184 1656 Urbanization and Land use/Land Cover Change in Varanasi City Sant Prasad and R. B. Singh 185-197 1657 Urban Sprawl and Its Impact on land Use and Socio-Economic Condition: A Case Study of Barddhaman District, West Bengal Arindam Dasgupta and Suman Paul 198-210 1658 Societal Perception of Waste Water-Management and Condition of Holy River Ganga in Varanasi City Amrita Dwivedi and V. K. Kumra 211-219 1659 Perception of Urban Residents towards Drinking Water Quality and Supply: A Case of Varanasi City Richa Pandey and Jagadish Singh 220-235 1660 Megacity Expansion, Recharge Deficit, Groundwater Depletion and City Sustainability in Ahmedabad Ghazal Salahuddin 236-243 1661 Water Quality Assessment of Pond Water in Jaunpur City Dipak Prasad and Srabani Sanyal 244-253 1662 Environmental Impact Assessment of River Ganga along the Ghats of Varanasi City Shweta Yadav, Rashmi and Ram Bilas 254-265 1663 Methodology and Applications of Remote Sensing and GIS in Environmental Mapping and Monitoring Praveen Kumar Rai, Varun Narayan Mishra and K.N.P. Raju 266-276 *** FROM THE DESK OF THE EDITOR This volume of National Geographical Journal of India (NGJI) is being brought as a special volume on Environmental Issues in memory of Prof. Shanti Lal Kayastha, who left for heavenly abode on January 6, 2018. Prof. Kayastha was a well-known geographer and an environmental scientist of international repute. He contributed a great deal on theme of spatial dimension of environment in relation to society through rigorous research and teaching. Prof. Kayastha initiated research on theoretical and practical aspects of environment and environmental hazards in India on a systematic basis. He guided some of his research students on themes of concepts, perceptions and problems of urban pollution, flood plain and human adaptation, rural water supply, population and impact of development on environment. Prof. Kayastha was the Editor of the NGJI since its inception in 1955. His association with the journal was for over three decades. He served the journal with remarkable commitment and sincerity. Being the Editor of a journal involves hard work, commitment and patience. Prof. Kayastha, not only looked after the academic content of the papers he received but also their language. During those days, it was difficult for geography teachers and researchers to obtain information about academic events and geographical news about India and the world. An important highlight of the NGJI, when he was at the helm as the honorary editor, was the appearance of Notes and News of geographical importance. His colleagues, students and admirers assembled to mourn his death. On that occasion, one of the colleagues floated the idea of bringing special issues of NGJI as a befitting tribute to Prof. S. L. Kayastha. The idea was informally discussed amongst the colleagues of the department. Subsequently, the President of NGSI and Executive Committee resolved to go ahead with the idea. It was also decided to combine fours issues of the journal into two special issues; one on Environmental Issues and second on Population Geography. The editor contacted senior geographers and academicians from different parts of the country. It is extremely heartening to note that the editor received sufficient number of research papers within a very short period of time for two special issues of NGJI. With the support of the editorial board of the journal, these papers were edited, processed and organized. This issue contains 23 papers on themes of environment and related issues including reminiscences and biography of Professor Kayastha. Anand Mohan and Arvind Mohan have penned down and reconstructed the personality out of his reminiscences magnificently. Sarfaraz Alam has written a brief biographical memoir of Prof. Kayastha where in he has provided an account of his academic and professional achievements. H.S. Sharma has contributed his paper on issues and challenges of environmental sustainability in India. In the paper, he has discussed environmental problems faced by India in great length. Ranjan Basu has discussed in detail the status of biodiversity. Sachin Kumar and B.S. Marh have contributed their paper on need for scaling up community driven green livelihood initiatives. They have convincingly argued as to why small initiatives matter and play vital role in conservation of environment. Sneh Gangwar and Baleshwar Thakur have provided a vivid account on disaster, displacement and rehabilitation with a focus on Kosi floods in North Bihar. M. Okenndro and R.A.S. Kushwaha have discussed landslide hazard zonation in and around Litan village along NH202, Ukhrul district of Manipur that puts serious constraints on communication of Manipur with other parts of country. S.C. Rai and Mukesh Kumar have discussed challenges and problems of use and conservation of Kabartal Wetland ecosystem of Bihar. Swati S. Nanda has conceptually dealt with connection between women and natural resource management from the perspective of developing countries. Nilotpal Kalita et. al. have attempted an experimental study on estimation of soil loss sensitivity in the Jinari river basin using universal soil loss equation. Alka Singh and V.N. Sharma have described the extent and causes of deterioration of Ramgarh Lake of Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh. R.C. Joshi and Masoom Reza have made an interesting study of the selected central Himalayan villages. Nityanad Deka and A. K. Bhagabati have highlighted pertinent issues related to ecology and economy of a village environment of the Brahmputra valley of Assam. Salahuddin Quereshi has dealt with perspectives on urban climate change and policy measures in India. Bikramaditya K. Choudhary and A. K. Tripathi have made their scholarly contribution to the theme of urbanization and urban climate. Arindam Dasgupta and Suman Paul have discussed salient features of urban sprawl of Barddhaman district of West Bengal and its impact on land use and socio-economic condition. Amrita Dwivedi and V. K Kumra have made their contribution on societal perception of waste water management and condition of holy river Ganga in Varanasi city. Ghazal Salahuddin paper is on issue of sustainability of Ahmadabad. Dipak Prasad and Srabani Sanyal have written their paper on water quality assessment of pond water in Jaunpur City. Shweta Yadava, Rashmi and Ram Bilas have written their paper on the topic Environmental Impact Assessment of River Ganga. Praveen Kumar Rai, Varun Narayan Mishra and K. N. P. Raju have submitted their paper on methodology and applications of remote sensing and GIS in environmental mapping monitoring. I heartily congratulate all the authors and co-authors for contributing to this special volume. It is my firm belief that this part of the 64th volume would be well received by academia and professionals in teaching and researchers in Universities and Colleges. Ram Sakal Yadava Editor, NGJI NGJI, An International Refereed Journal (NGSI-BHU, ISSN: 0027-9374/2018/1641) Vol. 64, No. 1-2, March-June, 2018 Reminiscences of Professor Shanti Lal Kayastha Anand Mohan1 and Arvind Mohan2 ÙeneB keâer nw Ùen heefJe$e efMe#ee~ efkeâ melÙe henues efHeâj Deelcej#ee~~ (kegâueieerle- keâeMeer efnvot efJeMJeefJeÅeeueÙe) Prologue The spirit force behind this beautifully com- The biggest attractions for all of us were posed “Kulgeet” of Banaras Hindu University his lively discussions during dinner at the dining was adopted by our father in letter & spirit and table. Father would talk on wide ranging topics he led a pious and peaceful life in the holy city which everybody always eagerly looked for. He of Varanasi. inculcated in us fine habits of dining together. Our father maintained a highly disciplined While eating, he desired that family should talk routine throughout his life span. ‘Early to bed, on different issues rather than involve in news- early to rise’; a simple living and high thinking paper or magazine reading, watching T.V. etc. and frugal life style were his standard yardstick. Much of the narration in the following pages is Offering morning prayers, listening to BBC ra- a consequence of the information we have gath- dio news, long morning walk, reading editorial ered over a period of time during such family column of the "The Statesman Newspaper" and dinner culture.