Publications

Invited News item by Geological Society of India

The renowned seismologists C.P. Rajendran and Kusala Rajendran offer a riveting story of the Indian earthquakes, their science, history and impact. Like all other natural phenomena, earthquakes are part of life-sustaining forces-- the creators of the mountains, valleys and springs or even deserts on Earth-- a theatre where the show never ends.

The book takes the readers to some exciting parts of India to show how earthquakes change the topography where a sea existed not far in the past-- now a salt marsh, affecting the social life, trade and livelihood. The book discusses the likelihood of the next big earthquake in the Himalayas against the backdrop of the devastating earlier ones revealed by archaeology, history and geology. It probes the causes and aftermath of the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 and gives a glimpse of the past.

The high-impact earthquakes will happen, but they need not always end up as human catastrophes. The authors have spent much of their professional lives studying the earthquakes in India and abroad. They tell us from their vast experience how to negotiate the impacts of earthquakes and related hazards by following science-based strategies.

The predictions on the disaster scenarios in the Himalayan states have come true. We are now witnessing the consequences of human interventions that have contributed to the intensity of disasters, impacting the lives and livelihoods of the people.

Simultaneous charging and discharging operations of thermal energy storages render effective energy-harnessing features. However, it leads to thermocline formation due to the dynamic interplay between energy input, energy extraction, and losses. Reliable retention of good thermodynamic quality of energy is realized by minimizing the energy degradation and thermocline thickness. Near real-time tracking of heat content degradation is a tedious task for real-sized storage systems, which involves accurate quantification of the temporal evolution of thermocline thickness. A few simplified, one-dimensional energy-based models are available for tracking the movement of the thermocline layer inside the thermal energy storage tank. However, these models largely assume the thermocline layer to be a thin horizontal plane within the tank, without quantifying the thermocline thickness. In this study, a reduced-order realistic stratification (RS) model has been developed for the vertical cylindrical tank equipped with an immersed helical discharging coil, working under dual-dynamic mode. For evaluating the thermocline thickness, the prediction equations for the average temperatures in the upper and the lower regions of the tank are formed using a machine-learning-based technique, considering a reasonably wide range of operating and geometrical parameters. The developed model utilizes approximate formulations for the average temperatures of the upper and lower regions of fluid within the storage tank, coil outlet temperature, and the overall average temperature of working fluid. For the larger storage tank (155 L), the thermocline thickness predicted by the new RS model is 738.26 mm at the end of simultaneous charging and discharging operation, whereas that estimated by detailed numerical simulation is 798.12 mm. This improved model reduces the computational time by about 80 % owing to effective approximations and can be used for a reasonably accurate rapid assessment of thermal degradation in the storages deployed for low-temperature solar thermal applications, including domestic hot water systems.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, under Goal 6 (SDG 6), aims to ensure universal access to water and sanitation. SDG-6.1 focuses on achieving safe drinking water for all by 2030. India's Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) targets providing tap water to rural households by 2024. This article discusses a study on water demand and availability in seven villages in Ballari and Raichur districts, North Karnataka. It reveals heavy reliance on groundwater due to inadequate surface water. Only 14% of households meet JJM standards, with projected worsening scarcity. The authors recommended a revised Krishna (Almatti)–Pennar river interlinking project by 2030 to minimize environmental and social impact, which is crucial for North Karnataka's sustainable development.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes Goal 6 (SDG 6): ‘Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’. SDG target 6.1 aims to achieve by 2030 ‘universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all’. The Government of India has also launched the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to provide potable tap water to every rural household by 2024. In this context, this article explains the findings of a study to assess the domestic water demand and the availability of water in seven villages in the Ballari and Raichur districts in North Karnataka. This study indicates that groundwater is predominantly used for domestic purposes in these districts due to the lack of adequate and reliable surface water. Only 14% of households in the study area receive adequate water as per the JJM norms and this water stress is projected to worsen due to the increasing supply–demand mismatch in the future. The authors recommend the implementation of the revised configuration of the Krishna (Almatti)–Pennar river interlinking project by 2030 since this alignment is optimised to reduce project-related deforestation, people displacement, project duration and costs. This is critical for the sustainable development of North Karnataka.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, under Goal 6 (SDG 6), aims to ensure universal access to water and sanitation. SDG-6.1 focuses on achieving safe drinking water for all by 2030. India's Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) targets providing tap water to rural households by 2024. This article discusses a study on water demand and availability in seven villages in Ballari and Raichur districts, North Karnataka. It reveals heavy reliance on groundwater due to inadequate surface water. Only 14% of households meet JJM standards, with projected worsening scarcity. The authors recommended a revised Krishna (Almatti)–Pennar river interlinking project by 2030 to minimize environmental and social impact, which is crucial for North Karnataka's sustainable development.