Sunil Pathak

Optimal crop planning for a region in India by conjunctive use of surface and groundwater

Optimal crop planning through the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater is necessary for the development of the agriculture‐based Indian economy. In the present study a linear programming model was used to arrive at the optimal cropping pattern of a typical region between the Yamuna river and Eastern Yamuna canal. The optimal monthly allocation of canal and groundwater supplies was also determined. A sensitivity analysis was conducted upon the most important variables, namely, crop area, net individual benefit from various crops, canal and groundwater supplies, and their operation and maintenance costs.

Geospatial assessment of tourism impact on land environment of Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India

India’s tourism industry has emerged as a leading industry with a potential to grow further in the next few decades. Dehradun, one of the famous tourist places in India located in the state of Uttarakhand, attracts tourist from all over the country and abroad. The surge in tourist number paved the way for new infrastructure projects like roads, buildings, and hotels, which in turn affects the topography of the mountainous region. In this study, remote sensing and GIS techniques have been used to assess the impact of tourism on the land environment of Dehradun. Satellite images of the years 1972, 2000, and 2016 were analyzed using object-based image analysis (OBIA) to derive land use and land cover (LULC) and ASTER-DEM (Digital Elevation Model) was used to determine the topography of the study area. LULC classification includes built-up, vegetation, forest, scrub, agriculture, plantation, and water body. The slope of the region was categorized as gentle, moderate, strong, extreme, steep, and very steep. To assess the sprawl of built-up on high terrain land, built-up class of LULC was overlaid on slope classes. The overlay analysis reveals that due to increase in tourism, the land use in terms of the built-up area has been extended from gentle slope to very steep slope. The haphazard construction on the extreme, steep, and very steep slope is prone to landslide and other natural disasters. For this, landslide susceptibility maps have also been generated using multicriteria evaluation (MCE) techniques to prevent haphazard construction and to assist in further planning of Dehradun City. This study suggests that a proper developmental plan of the city is essential which follows the principles of optimum use of land and sustainable tourism.

Effect of Alcohol Blending on Performance of Kerosene Fuelled Four-Stroke Spark Ignition Genset

Environmental pollution from engine exhaust emission has attracted worldwide attention. Besides vehicular pollution, the significance of engine exhaust emission from stationary utility engines, particularly gensets for electrical energy applications, has also been realized. Gensets based on kerosene are widely in use in developing countries like India. To reduce the exhaust emission, from these small carbureted engines is challenging due to cost factor. In present work, an attempt has been made to reduce the exhaust emission of a portable genset by blending alcohols in kerosene. It was observed that blending alcohols in kerosene helps reducing Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Hydrocarbon (HC) emission and fuel consumption of the engine while Nitric Oxide (NO) emission increases. Further, the effect of varying carbureted jetsize on the performance and exhaust emission is also examined. A comparison of kerosene with base jetsize was done with the various combinations of fuels and jetsizes to achieve optimized emission and fuel economy. It was observed that by blending 10% n-butanol in kerosene and operating engine on a slightly richer side, emission from a kerosene operated genset can be reduced along with improvement in fuel economy without any engine hardware modification.