Dynamics of the wetland ecosystem health in urban and rural settings in high altitude ecoregion.

The focus of the present study was to assess the dynamics of wetland ecosystem health in both urban and rural settings situated in the high-altitude Kashmir Himalayan ecoregion. The basic aim was to identify the drivers responsible for wetland degradation in order to sustain ecosystem services effectively. To achieve this, we examined water quality, trophic status, fish species diversity and human disturbances by analyzing changes in land use and land cover (LULC) since 1980.

Understanding the role of natural and anthropogenic forcings in structuring the periphytic algal assemblages in a regulated river ecosystem.

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 on a seasonal basis from the year 2017 to 2019. A total of 48 species were identified, spread over 31 genera.

Impact evaluation of the run-of-river hydropower projects on the water quality dynamics of the Sindh River in the Northwestern Himalayas.

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 parameters from 11 sampling stations distributed along the length of river Sindh from December 2017 to December 2019. The dataset was classified into three groups using hierarchical cluster analysis based on similarities between hydro-chemical characteristics, and the results were confirmed by discriminant analysis.

A critical appraisal of the status and hydrogeochemical characteristics of freshwater springs in Kashmir Valley.

With growing water scarcity, jeopardized by climate change, springs are likely to perform a vital role in meeting the domestic water demand in future. This paper examines the water quality status of Kashmir valley springs in relation to their geographical location, regional hydrogeological conditions, anthropogenic activities and climate change. We analyzed data for 258 springs from the whole Kashmir valley using water quality index (WQI) and geographic information system techniques.

SARS-CoV-2: A critical review of its history, pathogenesis, transmission, diagnosis and treatment.

The outbreak of the deadly virus (novel coronavirus or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2) that emerged in December 2019, remained a controversial subject of intense speculations regarding its origin, became a worldwide health problem resulting in serious coronavirus disease 2019 (acronym COVID-19). The concern regarding this new viral strain "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2" (acronym SARS-CoV-2) and diseases it causes (COVID-19) is well deserved at all levels. The incidence of COVID-19 infection and infectious patients are increasing at a high rate.

Quality assessment of springs for drinking water in the Himalaya of South Kashmir, India.

The present study describes the water quality scenario of some freshwater springs of South Kashmir during the two-year period (2013-2015) because of rising pollution risks endangering water resources globally. The accessibility to quality drinking water has become a challenge and is receiving renewed attention. A total of 96 samples from twelve springs were collected and analyzed for major drinking water quality parameters.