Proposed Project Site Research Articles

The Development of Senior Clubs

The Senior Club serves as a space for seniors, connecting with the community and promoting healthy aging through a variety of resources to help them stay active and independent. Therefore, this study proposes a plan for the development of senior clubs, which is a center for social and therapeutic activities for older adults at specific times of the day. The project design for this research is based on two case studies, the social housing for the elderly in Alcácer do Sal and the Guangxi elderly center. The project design in this study includes several important areas, such as public areas, educational areas, administrative areas, support service areas, fitness areas and residential areas. The proposed project site for the project is located in the Obhur Al-Shamaliyah district, as the site has significant advantages in terms of shape and scale, topography, accessibility and visual quality. Lastly, this project aims to provide a good environment for the elderly to connect with others, especially to learn new knowledge, and to believe that they can live long and disease-free.

Translocation of intertidal corals in highly urbanized Mumbai seascape: A pragmatic management initiative towards ecosystem conservation

Coral reefs harbour rich biodiversity by increasing heterogeneous habitat and providing numerous ecosystem services and goods. However, they are highly threatened due to ongoing climate change and various anthropogenic activities. Therefore, the protection of corals is enforced by laws and legislative machinery around the globe. The present work is a case study in the highly urbanized Mumbai city, where a coastal road project required dredging and reclamation that overlapped with a coral habitat. A detailed environmental mitigation plan was undertaken to preserve the fragile corals at the proposed project site. A total of 329 colonies of Pseudosiderastrea tayamai Yabe & Sugiyama, 1935, were relocated from the project site to a recipient site after verifying the habitat suitability. Monthly coral health monitoring was conducted for one year after their relocation to the new habitat. After one year of translocation, 92.1% (n = 303) colonies survived and were in healthy state. Coral bleaching is a well-known phenomenon that occurs due to extreme variability in temperature, salinity and siltation etc. In the present study, coral bleaching was observed during monsoon (July – September 21) wherein maximum (94.83%) occurred in August 21 and minimum (4.86%) was in November 21. Algal overgrowth on coral colonies (maximum 38.9%), and sediment smothering (maximum 44.8%) were observed, but no colony mortality was noted (Jan – May 21). Whereas, 3.4% mortality was recorded during monsoon season only. The gross new recruitment (n = 22) of corals was also recorded collectively during the months of April, May and November 21. Therefore, the current study suggests that relocating corals from coastal development sites, where habitat loss is unavoidable, could be considered a tool that will aid in conservation of urban reefs. This study proves that only committed involvement of stakeholders and project proponents who have developmental perspective with environmental accountability can achieve the sustainability of rare and fragile ecosystems.

Performance investigation of 140 kW grid connected solar PV system installed in southern region of India – A detailed case study and analysis

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the performance assessment of a grid-connected 140-kW photovoltaic (PV) plant which is installed on the roof of an aerospace hanger block located at the SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India. The installed unit comprises of seven parallel strings, each comprised of 60 modules. Each of the seven strings is separately connected to an individual inverter (Delta RPI-M20A), i.e., a string inverter of 20 kW. An investigation deals with parameters recorded based on the average of daily, monthly, and yearly data such as AC and DC energy generated, reference yield, array yield and final yields, performance ratio and capacity factor. In the year 2020, the total power generated by the proposed project site is 139,125 kW. Further, the average reference yield varied from a minimum of 118.9 (hr/mth) to a maximum of 197.6 (hr/mth). Similarly, the average final yield varies from 86.14 (hr) to 135.61 (hr). The capacity factor and performance ratio are found to have a maximum of 18.83% and 80.29% and a minimum of 11.96% and 64.14%, respectively. Thus, this article helps readers identify the practicability and sustainability of solar-powered PV systems in rural and remote locations.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA) AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN (EMP): A CASE STUDY OF KACHCHH, GUJARAT, INDIA

This case study outlines some noteworthy features of the process of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management Plant (EMP) of Deendyal (Kandla) Port Trust (DPT) and Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) lignite mines, Kachchh, Gujarat, India. These key viewpoints incorporate task depiction, options, checking, portrayal of the earth, open cooperation, biophysical impacts, social effects, sway essentialness, total impacts evaluation, observing, and introduction, which are earmarked in annexure in the form of sectors requiring EIA, Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA), basic guidelines, and environmental laws. The case study reflects the detailed scenario of physical, biological, and socioeconomic profiles of the study areas, which directly or indirectly the environmental as well as ecological characteristics of the proposed project sites. The suggestive steps, recommendations and mitigation measures are also discussed herewith.

Governing India’s bauxite mineral expansion: Caught between facilitating investment and mediating social concerns

This article examines the implementation of social and environmental criteria for a bauxite mining and refining project as a way of understanding wider governance processes around controversial industrial projects in India. It does this by tracing the extent to which decision-making processes have been able to mediate between government support for private investments on the one hand, and social welfare and environmental sustainability on the other. Governance processes take place in a wealth of forums across federal India from the proposed project sites to national expert committees in Delhi. Increased transparency based on freedom of information legislation combined with ethnographic fieldwork allow for a detailed examination of how investment approvals were put into practice in a particular case to almost, but crucially not entirely, facilitate investment. The existence, and even ongoing expansion, of rights for marginalized groups and environmental protection thus continue to be a source of both frustration and hope for more inclusive forms of governance which might improve the social consequences of large-scale mining in India. At present the significant uncertainty which both communities and investors face appear to not benefit anyone other than perhaps the key policymakers who work behind the scenes to facilitate the deals

Determination of Velocity in Estuary for Bridge Scour Computations

Determination of the appropriate design for protection against bridge pier scour depends significantly upon the design velocities at the project site. In estuaries with large influences by tides or storm surges, the velocity is controlled by the dynamic change in water level. These changes at the ocean boundary together with the upland runoff drive the hydrodynamics of the system. Because the ocean water surface is a function of the characteristics of storm surges, the velocity is likewise similarly affected. Thus, in order to determine the velocity at the proposed project site, a simulation of the hydrodynamics is required using the ocean storm surge as the driving boundary condition. A problem arises, however, in defining an appropriate method to correctly describe the ocean boundary. This paper describes three methods for determining the boundary condition based upon historical and stochastic representations of tropical storms (hurricanes) at the ocean boundary of a particular estuary. Each of the three methods is applied to the Indian River estuary in Delaware. For a simple and conservative approach, the single design hydrograph method yields good results for the Indian River example.

On estimating distance-determined voting functions

The distance from one's home to a proposed project site is often the important factor determining an individual's opinion whether such a project should be built. This article first discusses why regression is inappropriate to analyze such preference functions at the individual level. It then examines alternative estimation techniques, concentrating on the utility and limitations of probit. Probit is particularly useful for spatial analysis because an indifference distance, i.e. the distance from a project at which an individual is indifferent to whether it is built, can be estimated and used to map such preferences.

Predicting rural health care utilization with archival data.

This study explored the usefulness of archival data in predicting rural health care utilization. A regression model was used to see how well observed utilization for local populations could be predicted by calculating expected values in advance from age- and sex-specific national rates applied to local age and sex profiles. Although the correlation between observed and expected utilization was reasonably high (r = 0.92), an attempt was then made to improve prediction by considering other data that do not require independent collection. These archival data included indicators of historic utilization (local Medicaid payments, the percentage of births to county residents occurring in the mother's county of residence, percentage of children immunized, and infant mortality) and services already available. Observed utilization data were obtained by surveys in eight rural counties, and the predictor was tested on three additional rural communities. A predictor equation that added to the expected utilization only one variable (the percentage of births to county residents occurring in the mother's county of residence) was found to account for approximately 95% of the variance in observed utilization. This predictor is recommended for planners who need convenient, low-cost market feasibility estimates for proposed project sites and a way to establish intermediate goals or incentives during early project development.