Garhwal Region Research Articles

An Analysis of Springwater Parameter Status for Different Locations in the Rural Hilly Garhwal Region of Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand boasts significant spring, groundwater, and surface water resources, particularly in the Garhwal and Kumaon regions, where year-round waterfalls and springs are abundant. However, efficient utilization of these resources remains limited. Reports from the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board and Water Commission highlight that many remote villages face issues with high mineral content, particularly calcium hardness, in their water. Nine samples revealed total dissolved solids (TDS) above 500 mg/l and hardness exceeding 300 mg/l, with some containing coliform bacteria. Water quality index (WQI) values showed four samples in the ‘Good’ category, while two indicated poor quality.

Pyogenic liver abscess due to Burkholderia pseudomallei in immunocompetent patient from Garhwal region of Uttarakhand – A case report

We report a case of liver abscess due to Burkholderia pseudomallei in a 45-year-old, non-diabetic patient from the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. The patient reported chief complaints of abdominal pain and fever. Ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced computed tomography of the whole abdomen were suggestive of the left liver lobe abscess. Pus was aspirated from the abscess and sent for culture and sensitivity. Growth on the culture plate was identified as B. pseudomallei; the patient was then treated with appropriate antibiotics and discharged in stable condition. Diagnosis of pseudomallei infection requires a high index of suspicion among clinicians as well as laboratory specialists. Early identification of organisms helped clinicians initiate appropriate management in our case.

Cultivation and Marketing Challenges in Growth of Herbal Plants in Garhwal Region, Uttarakhand

Evidence based on observation and conversation with the farmers played a major role in findings of this study. The study's main goal is to assess the current state of the market for medicinal plants in hilly region of Uttarakhand with a focus on easily accessible transportation, as well as storage facilities, threats and tactics associated with marketing these products in the region under proper supervision.

Species Diversity and Structural Characteristics of High Altitudinal Home Gardens in New Tehri district of Garhwal region, Uttarakhand

Species Diversity and Structural Characteristics of High Altitudinal Home Gardens in New Tehri district of Garhwal region, Uttarakhand

Aphid transmission in soybean crops infected by two strains of mosaic viruses in Garhwal regions

Aphid transmission in soybean crops infected by two strains of mosaic viruses in Garhwal regions

GC-MS study and anti - microbial activity of essential oils isolated from leaves of Artemisia annua

The chemical composition of the essential oil obtained from the leaves of Artemisia annua collected from the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, was analyzed by GC-MS. The major constituent was found out to be (Z)-βFarnesene (18.80%). The antibacterial and antifungal activity of the oil was determined by disc diffusion method. Results showed that the oil exhibited mild antimicrobial activity.

Resurgence of Pahadi Culture amongst Youth of Garhwal Region of Uttarakhand

Resurgence of Pahadi Culture amongst Youth of Garhwal Region of Uttarakhand

New record of Giant Redeye Gangara thyrsis thyrsis (Fabricius, 1775) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) from Garhwal region of western Himalaya, India

Gangara thyrsis thyrsis (Fabricius,1775) has distribution extending in peninsular India from Maharashtra to Kerala; Andhra Pradesh, and in northeastern India from West Bengal to Sikkim & Arunachal Pradesh. In north-western India it has been reported from Delhi & Kangra in Himachal Pradesh and also from Andaman & Nicobar Islands. In the current observation, the occurrence of G. t. thyrsis was recorded from New Forest Campus of Forest Research Institute, Dehradun which is the first known authentic record from the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India.

3D attenuation tomography of the Uttarakhand, NW Himalaya: Linkage to fluid or partial melt zones - Seismic hazard

This work proposes the shear-wave attenuation tomography of the Garhwal and Kumaun regions, Uttarakhand Himalaya, to investigate the crustal state. Based on attenuation characteristics, the high attenuated layer identified starts at ∼10 km in the Garhwal region and ∼5 km in the Kumaun region. The obtained model revealed that quality factor (Q) values vary from 16 to 664 and 49 to 866 at 1 Hz frequency for the Kumaun and Garhwal regions, respectively. The high attenuation rate (1/Q) in the Kumaun region compared to the Garhwal region may be due to the high attenuated layer at a shallower depth in the Kumaun region. The comparatively low attenuation rate of the Garhwal characterizes it as a region with high seismic hazard potential. Pioneeringly, layered frequency-dependent attenuation models are proposed up to a depth of 30 km for six different layers with 5 km thickness each, which will provide new insight into seismic hazard evaluation.

Cultural Exchange And Cross-Cultural Understanding In Homestays, Garhwal Region

Cultural Exchange And Cross-Cultural Understanding In Homestays, Garhwal Region

Spatial variation of body wave attenuation in Garhwal-Kumaun Himalaya region, India

We have investigated the spatial variation of body wave attenuation in Garhwal-Kumaun Himalaya region from the datasets of 465 well located earthquakes, recorded at 52 broadband stations between 2017 and 2020. The body wave attenuation parameters QP and QS were estimated at each station by applying the extended coda normalization method for five different central frequencies ranging from 1.5 to 18 Hz. Strong frequency-dependent body wave attenuation was observed at each station over the whole region. Also, we found a significant variation of QP and QS from north to south which is consistent with geotectonic diversity beneath the study region. We have also made separate estimations of frequency-dependent relations for Garhwal and Kumaun Himalaya region in order to investigate the lateral variation in attenuation characteristics, and obtained the frequency-dependent relations as follows: QP=30±3f1.05±0.05, QS=143±20f0.88±0.07 for the Garhwal Himalaya region and QP=31±1f1.09±0.02, QS=121±11f1.00±0.04 for the Kuamun Himalaya region. Obtained Q values indicate strong body wave attenuation for both the region with no significant lateral variation. It may suggest the presence of crustal level folding, faulting, aqueous fluids, and metamorphic fluids below both the regions. Also, the ratios of QS/QP are high (>1) for the entire analyzed frequency range, suggesting a significant level of heterogeneity and tectonic complexities in the crust of the study region.

An Assessment of Death Profile of Unknown Dead Bodies, Brought for Autopsy to the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology in Government Medical College of Garhwal Region, Uttarakhand: A Retrospective Study

Background:an unknown dead body always becomes a challenge to the Investigating officer and forensic expert. However, the problem of determining the identity gets aggravated and taxes for the experts, when the dead body is recovered in decomposed/ skeletonized and mutilated form. Materials and Methods: A standard proforma was designed to collect the information to ensureconsistency for the whole sample. All dead bodies that were brought as unidentified were included however identified dead bodies were excluded from the study. Results:A total of 407 post-mortem examinations were conducted at the mortuary of the department during under study and amongst them, 56 cases (13.75%) were found unidentified. Of these unidentified cases, 69.64% (39 cases) were in decomposed and 30.35% (17 cases) were in fresh state. Unidentified cases comprised 80.35% males (45 cases) and 19.64% females (11 cases). Conclusion:Unidentified dead bodies were only 13.75% of the total dead bodies coming to the autopsy in the mortuary of the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, VCSGGIMS & R, Srikot, Srinagar, Pauri Garhwal, UTTARAKHAND during the study period of 5 years.

Multi-Model Analysis to Predict the Potential Suitable Habitat for Quercus oblongata D. Don (Fagaceae) in the Western Himalayan Region

Quercus oblongata D. Don is an economically and ecologically important tree species. It is distributed in the western Himalayan region of India as well as Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The present study explored the potential distribution and habitat suitability of Q. oblongata using ensemble modeling. Eleven environmental variables (eight bioclimatic and three topographic), and 121 occurrence records were used in the analysis. Four algorithms: Generalized Additive Model (GAM), Generalized Linear Model (GLM), Random Forest (RF), and Maximum Entropy (Max Ent) were used to build the ensemble model for potential suitable habitat of Q. oblongata. To evaluate the model performance, AUC and TSS metrics were used, which showed high AUC (>0.94) and TSS (>0.86) metrics for all the models. The environmental variables that displayed high contribution in the prediction were temperature annual range (bio7, 48.5%), precipitation of wettest period (bio13 ; 41%), and elevation (elev ; 40%). The total suitable area was 22634 km2, including the least (12546 km2), moderate (7935 km2), and highly (2153 km2) suitable areas. Habitat suitability of Q. oblongata is predicted in most of the regions of Nainital, Almora, central Tehri Garhwal, eastern Mussoorie and Chakrata region of Dehradun District of Uttarakhand. A sizeable wide patch was found in Southern Chamba with Northern Kangra District, including the northern region of Mandi District of Himachal Pradesh. The predicted suitable habitat can be used for future exploration for the study of genetic diversity and conservation purposes.

Development of region specific earthquake early warning scaling relations for the Garhwal region using observed and simulated datasets: a step forward to disaster mitigation

Development of region specific earthquake early warning scaling relations for the Garhwal region using observed and simulated datasets: a step forward to disaster mitigation

Transfusion transmissible malaria: seroprevalence of malaria parasitemia in blood donors in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India

Background and Objectives: Malaria was the first ever reported case of transfusion transmitted infection (TTI). Transfusion transmissible malaria (TTM) can result in febrile transfusion reaction in the recipient. TTM can be fatal if the blood transfu- sion recipient is from vulnerable population i.e. pregnant women or young children. Therefore, the present study was done to estimate the seroprevalence of malaria parasitemia among blood donors in Garhwal region. Materials and Methods: Study subjects were healthy blood donors who had passed the screening criteria for blood do- nation. Donors with a history of malaria were temporarily deferred for 3 months following full recovery. Screening of the donated blood units for malaria parasite was done using immunochromatography based rapid diagnostic test. Thin smear examination was performed for malaria parasite species identification. Results: A total of 1984 blood donations were screened for TTI. The seroprevalence of HBV, HCV HIV and syphilis was 0.3% (n=6), 0.25% (n=5), 0% (n=0) and 0% (n=0) respectively. The seroprevalence of malaria parasite was 0.05% (n=1). Plasmodium vivax was identified upon thin smear examination. The donor reactive for malaria parasite was a replacement donor and gave no recent history of fever or any past history of malaria. Conclusion: Meticulous donor screening combined with rapid diagnostic tests for malaria parasite is the most practical strategy to prevent TTM in Garhwal region of India.

Study of Malnutrition in Children with Malignancies in Northern Garhwal Region

Background: Children with cancer are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition. Adequate nutrition plays a decisive role on treatment response, quality of life, and cost of care. This study aims to find out the prevalence of malnutrition in pediatric cancer patients and assess its grade and severity. Methods: 89 patients included in this observational hospital based study. Nutritional status was assessed at the time of diagnosis then at 3rd and 6th month by different Anthropometric parameters.P < 0.05 was taken as significant. Conclusion: Out of 89 patients, 3 died. According to IAP classification prevalence of malnutrition when weight for age taken as criteria, 22.1% lies in grade I and 16.3% lies in grade II at admission , total 38.4% malnourished at admission. According to WHO 19.8% were moderately wasted at admission and 5.8% were severely wasted. When BMI taken as criteria, 15.1% falls under thinness and 16.3% falls under severe thinness, only 1.2% were obese. After post hoc analysis, there was significant difference between BMI of patients at admission versus 6months and also at 3 months versus 6 months. Prevalence as per WHO criteria at admission 25.6% decreased to 16.3% at six months.

Rediscovery of Common Tinsel Catapaecilma major Druce, 1895 (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) from the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India

During a butterfly survey in the remote village of Gailung in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, one Common Tinsel was recorded on 27th March 2023. The butterfly was photographed and identified with the help of field guides as Catapaecilma major Druce, 1895 (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae). The habitat was adjacent to local terrace farmland and was dominated by plants such as Ageratum conyzoides, Oxalis sp., Urtica sp., Fluggea virosa, and Bauhinia variegata. The butterfly was observed resting on the leaves of Ageratina adenophora. and was noted for its swift flight. The current communication highlights the first observation of Common Tinsel from the Garhwal Himalaya after 1930s.

Changing Cropping Patterns in the Central Himalaya: Causes and Implications

The Himalaya is experiencing significant changes in land use and cropping patterns. This paper examines the major causes and consequences of these changes in the Central Himalaya, focusing on two districts: Dehradun (Garhwal region) and Nainital (Kumaon region). Data on land use and cropping patterns for both districts were collected from the district statistical diaries and, subsequently, were analyzed. The analysis reveals that cropping patterns are undergoing substantial changes in both districts, although the change is not uniform across the regions. Various factors contribute to the shifting cropping patterns. In the recent past, there has been a notable increase in climate variability and change, with a persistent warming observed in the river valleys and mid-altitudes. Other significant factors influencing the changing cropping patterns include decline in the area and production of crops, alterations in food habits, population growth, and out-migration in the Central Himalaya.

A Clinical Study of Holi Dermatoses in Garhwal Region of Uttarakhand

A Clinical Study of Holi Dermatoses in Garhwal Region of Uttarakhand

Superstition and Religious Beliefs in the Works of Jim Corbett

Throughout society, the pervasive presence of superstitions and the attribution of supernatural powers are unmistakable phenomena. Superstition, as defined by Merriam Webster, encapsulates any belief or ritual founded upon one's faith in luck or obscure, irrational, or otherworldly forces. While these convictions exhibit regional disparities, their profound influence on the human psyche remains constant. Within the literary tapestries woven by esteemed authors, one encounters a rich tapestry of superstitions, each weaving its own narrative. Even seemingly fantastical attributions of superstition and supernatural prowess to man-eaters are not without their roots in reality. The ingenuity, intellect, dominance, and sheer might of tigers have elevated these majestic creatures to the status of mythical beings. This study endeavors to dissect the role of the supernatural in shaping the superstitions and traditions of the Garhwal and Kumaon regions, where these beliefs are cherished and passed down through the ages, weaving an intricate web that binds generation after generation.