Purba Medinipur District Research Articles

A cross-sectional study of nutritional status among 10–15 years old rural Bengalee adolescents of Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India

Introduction. Adolescence period requires special supervision as these years link the impact of generational and early childhood factors to adult outcomes. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines 10-19 years as adolescence period, an important stage of growth and development in the lifespan of an individual. The present study assessed nutritional status among adolescents of two villages of Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India. Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional study of 443 (208 boys; 235 girls) rural high school students aged 10–15 years of Ajaya and Deulpota villages, Khejuri- I block, Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, India, was undertaken to evaluate their growth pattern and nutritional status. Anthropometric measurements, including height (cm), weight (kg), mid-upper arm circumference (cm), were measured following standard techniques. Stunting, underweight and thinness were used as indicators of nutritional status. Results. The overall prevalence of stunting, underweight and thinness were 20.32%, 1.81% and 46.95%, respectively. The prevalence of stunting was similar in both sexes (20.67% in boys; 20.0% in girls). The prevalence of thinness was very high among the studied participants (46.63% in boys; 47.23% in girls). According to the WHO classification for assessing severity of malnutrition, the rate of stunting and underweight were medium and low in both sexes, respectively. However, they had very high prevalence of thinness thus indicating a critical situation of undernutrition. Conclusion. The nutritional status of these rural school going adolescents was not satisfactory. The existing prevalence of stunting and thinness among the studied population indicates chronic nutritional deficiency while the low prevalence of underweight reflects that the chronic food deprivation they have undergone was during childhood, not in recent period. Follow up studies and intervention of government schemes are required to ameliorate this problem.

Diversity of Aquatic Macrophytes in Four Blocks of Purba Medinipur District, West Bengal, India

The Current research was conducted to find the diversity of aquatic macrophytes in four selected block areas of Purba Medinipur district in the Indian State West Bengal. This overall study was conducted for a duration of 18 months, from February 2021 to August, 2022. A total of 67 aquatic macrophytes under 54 genera belonging to 32 families were identified from the study areas. Among them, about 18% represents the floating macrophytes, 40% emergent, 8% submerged and 34% marginal. Poaceae, Araceae, Asteraceae, Ulvaceae, Convolvulaceae, and Acanthaceae are the families that contain most of the identified species.

It Cost Us All of Our Savings to Deliver Our Baby: A Qualitative Study to Explore Barriers and Facilitators of Maternal and Child Health Service Access and Utilization in a Remote Rural Region in India During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, rural and geographically isolated regions in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) encountered major deficits in maternal and child health (MCH) care that were accentuated by pre-existing weak public health infrastructure and diversion of existing health resources for pandemic management purposes. Thisexplorative qualitative study was conducted to assess the barriers, challenges, and facilitators in the access and utilization of essential MCH services among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic in a geographically remote and rural area in India, having nearly 70% rural population. The study was conducted using an ethnographic approach. Three villages were selected purposively from the Purba Medinipur district of the Eastern state of West Bengal, geographically isolated by a local river. Information on challenges of utilization was collected by in-depth interviews (IDI) with a universal sample of 25 mothers who underwent pregnancy after March 2020 and focus group discussions (FGD) with their husbands and mothers-in-laws. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. The median (IQR) age of the mothers that delivered during pregnancy were 23 (18, 28) years and ranging from 18 to 28 years (N=25). All the mothers were married, housewives, literate, and Hindu by religion, while in the accompanying husband cohort, a majority (56 %) had completed high school. Half (52%)were primigravida with at least one living child (60 %). All the mothers had a successful birth outcome and only one had current evidence of mild depression. Low utilization of MCH services during the pandemic in the study area was recognized as an outcome of individual-level, interpersonal-level, and community-level barriers. Diversion of routine health staff for COVID-19 related services occasionally compelled pregnant women and children to seek care from unlicensed healthcare providers who remained accessible even during periods of stringent lockdown. Furthermore, the irregular functioning of the local primary health care system translated into missed home visits and disruption of nutritional assistance services. A dual burden of economic loss was reported in most households from loss of livelihood and wages and additional expenditure incurred in underdoing deliveries at private health facilities, thereby potentially translating into catastrophic out-of-pocket costs. The designation of a separate government health facility for delivery due to the unavailability of the local hospital did not mitigate the circumstances due to its lack of utilization by the villagers who encountered difficult access and a lack of trust in an unfamiliar environment. The functioning of a popular conditional cash transfer scheme for promoting safe motherhood was also possibly compromised during the pandemic. Accessibility to MCH services was severely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the stringent lockdown periods in remote and rural areas in India. Future pandemic preparedness must have enhanced health policy and administrative focus on preventing significant disruption of MCH services by maintaining improved accessibility to alternative health facilities, monitoring regular home visits by frontline health workers, rendering effective distribution of benefits from existing social protection schemes, and universal promotion of respectful maternity care.

New species for the avifauna of adjoining coastal areas of Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, India

Abstract To upgrade the known avifaunal assemblages of adjoining coastal areas of Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, India, opportunistic survey were carried out during January 2020 to August 2022. The survey yielded additions of 36 bird species in 10 orders and 17 families to the coastal area of Purba Medinipur district, based on photographic evidences. Among these recorded birds, 30 species were classified as Least Concern, two species were Near Threatened (Aythya nyroca, Calidris canutus), one species was Vulnerable (Aythya ferina), two species were Endangered (Calidris tenuirostris, Rynchops albicollis) and one species was Not Assessed (Porphyrio poliocephalus). Details of all the records are given here.

Logistic Regression and Man-Land Ratio in the Analysis of House-Ownership Status of Four Blocks in Purba Medinipur District, West Bengal, India

It is pertinent to initiate our study of rural economic status by examining the compositional factors of Man-land ratio and Logistic regression of house ownership. The principal sources of economy of the rural sector are agro product. As per the capability of land, it continuously helps to develop its catchment rural area. The productive land directly provides opportunity through the traditional agriculture practice. Our study is emphasis on Man-land ratio distribution and Logistic regression analysis of two independent variables of four blocks of Purba Medinipur district. Consider two independent variables are number of household and house ownership. Actually, house ownership is one of the alternative setup that may stable due to stable income source. Secondary data have collected authorised source, from Ministry of Rural development, published by Government of West Bengal in 2001 and 2011. The results of man-land ratio indicate that, the considered blocks having with standard level of status due to satisfied level of Man-land ratio value. The population density of the considered area is exhibit at moderate level. Finally, a robust statistical technique like Logistic regression (Hosmer and Lemeshow Test.) was applied over the considered data set with specific level of section and after binary conversion. The result shows that, the expected house ownership and calculated house ownership makes a strong relation between them. B value (slope) is -3.515 and calculated test statistic value satisfied the significant level at 9th and 10th steps sections at 97 % (P =0.03) level of confidence.

Present and future scenarios of changing land use patterns from the perspective of agroecosystem under the shadow of ever-expanding shrimp culture

Conversion of cultivation lands into shallow water bodies is a trend in several shrimp growing regions in the world. The main aim of this research is to evaluate the current and future eco-economic scenarios of these converted lands for shrimp culture through the perspective of agroecosystem. To analyze the cost-benefits of respective lands, financial data with and without addition of some hidden costs associated with shrimp production for three specific sites were compared of Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, India. One of these three sites was a control site located outside the range of shrimp culture with agricultural activities; one was affected site, adjacent to shrimp farms with agricultural activities and the third was the leased land for shrimp culture. Vital abiotic components of soil were studied and compared between these three sites in order to distinguish specific changes caused by the shrimp culture. As well as the large scale temporal changes due to land conversion was visualised by satellite images. From the interpretation of the cost-benefit analysis, switching from leasing to re-cultivation has the lowest profitability in terms of Net Present Value. Net present value for the leased land became negative at 5% discount rate and above, during re-cultivation after the end of leasing tenure. Adjacent affected farms are equally vulnerable to the gradual production loss and would have no viable alternative to leasing for fishery. Significant differences in soil components were found between these sites. The entire ecological nature of the lands is altered when fertile lands are converted into shrimp farms. Finally, the ecological functional imbalance impacts the economic outcomes from the lands. It causes non-sustainable changes throughout the agricultural landscape. This study result is flagship to interlink between the growing of shrimp economy with the local agro-economy and agro-ecosystem for all shrimp growing regions in the world, especially south Asian shrimp producing countries. Some top-down policy measures were discussed in order to achieve a sustainable balance between the agroecosystem and shrimp culture.

Iodine level and Hardness in Drinking Water in Selected Areas of Howrah and Purba Medinipur District, West Bengal state of India

Endemic goiter has been reported from the southern part of West Bengal. The bioavailability of iodine and hardness of water used for drinking in the region are inversely and directly related to goiter prevalence in several geographical regions. These factors were evaluated to study the etiological factors for the persistence of endemic goiter. The local drinking water concentration can give an induction of the iodine content of the soil. Water hardness is defined by the high concentrations of calcium and magnesium present. In the present study, 5 Community Development (CD) Blocks and 8 CD Blocks attached to the river Ganga are selected from Howrah and coastal areas of Purba Medinipur district, respectively. From each CD Block, at least 8 drinking water samples were collected and analyzed for iodine, calcium, and magnesium content. Iodine content in drinking water samples was found in the range from 7.5 to 95.4 μg/L and the hardness of drinking water was found to range from 210.3 to 625.7 ppm. The presence of magnesium was found to be higher than the calcium salts in most of the samples. These findings suggest that all most all the studied region is environmentally iodine sufficient but water is relatively hard and thus, the possibility of the hardness of water for the persistence of endemic goiter may not be ruled out.

Effects of oral contraceptive pill on female health

Oral contraceptives, also known as birth control tablets/pills, are medicines that stop pregnancy. About 75% of married women who use contraception in the research location (Purba Medinipur district) reported they prefer the combined hormonal pill with oestrogen and progesterone. Thirty women were chosen at random to participate in the study. Of the 50% who routinely used contraceptive pills and 50% never used them or occasionally did so. Her male partner likely uses a condom when necessary. The hormone progesterone is responsible for preventing conception, whereas the oestrogen component regulates menstrual blood loss. An questionnaire survey is used in one-on-one interviews. Statistics used in the study were descriptive. To examine the data, an unpaired ‘t’ test was employed. In order to provide effective contraception using oral contraceptives, this study investigates the adverse effects of oral contraceptive pills. It highlights the significance of better care coordination among occupational therapist. According to this study, one of the most common oral contraceptive regimens decreases women's quality of life while not affecting depressive symptoms. However, ovarian and menstrual issues and increased bone mineral density are very noticeable in women in their forties and significantly impact their behaviour. Younger women are more receptive to oral contraceptives' positive benefits on acne. It has been shown that birth control pill side effects can include complications including cystic acne, anxiety or irritability, sore breasts, weight gain, or some trouble conceiving after discontinuing the pill. The study makes predictions about the menstrual flow type, dysmenorrhea, blood pressure, waist-hip ratio, and pattern of contraceptive use. Consuming oral contraceptives is linked to some symptoms, including breast soreness, weight gain, missing periods, vaginal discharge, alterations in vision with contact lenses, and irregular or spotty bleeding.

Site suitability assessment for traditional betel vine cultivation and crop acreage expansion in Tamluk Subdivision of Eastern India using AHP-based multi-criteria decision making approach

Crop-specific land suitability analysis can better support a region's agricultural base and enhance its resource utilization efficiency. In this study, we employ the Analytical Hierarchic Process-based Multi-Criteria Decision-Making approach together with geospatial inputs/methods to assess land suitability for betel leaf cultivation in Tamluk Subdivision of Purba Medinipur district in West Bengal, India. Seventeen individual parameters grouped into five categories – physiographic, land use and land cover, climatic, pedologic and infrastructural – were used. The respective ranks of the influencing factors were assigned based on collated farmer responses and expert opinions obtained during an extensive field survey, while a pair-wise comparison matrix was used to calculate their respective weights. Internal variations within individual factors were categorized by assigning scores based on their importance to betel leaf production, as ascertained from published literature and fieldwork. Results show that only 6.86% of the region is highly suitable and available for betel leaf cultivation, 30.15% area is moderately suitable, while 11.26% is marginally suitable but can be enhanced through apt land/water management practices. A 500 × 500 m grid overlay further elicited location specific combinations of the different land suitability classes and the presence/absence of waterbodies required for irrigation. It also ascertained the locational aptness of current betel leaf plots while identifying new expansion sites for this crop on the basis of grids having more than 40% of suitable lands with available water resources. The study presents possibly the first documentation of land suitability specifically for betel vine plots in Eastern India and thus thus provides a valuable insight into this high-value cash crop agribusiness, which can be useful for framing crop-specific policies. The methods used herein can be readily employed for similar agricultural assessments (in respect of betel vine or other crops) in other regions.

Structural classification and monitoring development status of impounded water resources using spatial information technology of Purba Medinipur district, India

Structural classification and monitoring development status of impounded water resources using spatial information technology of Purba Medinipur district, India

A study on socio-demographic and obstetric profile, contraceptive use and reasons for medical termination of pregnancy among women attending medical termination of pregnancy clinic in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal, India

Background: Induced abortion contributes significantly to maternal morbidity and mortality in developing countries yet women still seek repeat induced abortion in-spite of the availability of contraceptive services. The objective of this study was to identify the socio-demographic and obstetric profile of the mother’s seeking abortion as well as causes for seeking abortion.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study among selected women undergoing medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) at Tamluk district hospital and Haldia sub divisional hospital (SDH) of Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal. Results: A total of 52 women participated in the study. Among the study subjects, majority (53.83%) of the women were between 26-35 years of age. 88.46% of participants were Hindu by religion and belonged to nuclear families (80.76%). Common reasons given by the mothers for terminating of the pregnancy were previous baby too young (32.69%) and completed family size (28.84%) and contraceptive failure (28.84%).Conclusions: Unmet need of contraception is still an issue in respect to unwanted pregnancy. So focused attention from Front line workers like ANM, ASHA is required to meet the unmet need of contraception.

TRENDS AND PATTERN OF URBANIZATION IN PURBA MEDINIPUR DISTRICT OF WEST BENGAL, INDIA

Urbanization is a global phenomenon; it is nearly a universally accepted truth that economic progress and the amount of urbanization are directly linked to one another. Purba Medinipur district includes 25 urban centres with a total population of 592714 people, accounting for 9.2 percent of the district's total population. To investigate the trends and patterns in urbanization levels in the Purba Medinipur district. The entire investigation was carried out with the assistance of a secondary data source. In the Arc-GIS platform, the cartographic approach is used, and maps are created. According to the ndings, Haldia municipality is the district's main urban centre, with an 18.40 percent population. The overall male literacy rate in Purba Medinipur is 92.32 percent, while the female literacy rate is 81.32 percent, with a discrepancy of roughly 11 percent; 92.90 percent of literate males are found in urban regions, while the ratio drops to 83.95 percent in urban females. Thus, proper gender inequality in terms of literacy rate between urban and rural Purba Medinipur has been discovered.

Morphological and phytochemical studies of Suaeda maritima (L.) Dumort growing along the coastal belt of Purba Medinipur District, West Bengal, India in search of the prospective variation

Suaeda maritima (L.) Dumort of the family Chenopodiaceae is an annual succulent mangrove herb. This annual salt marsh is quite regularly used by the local people for food and pharmaceutical. This species has been cursorily noted to have variation in some morphological characters. Earlier reports indicated the presence of triterpenoid e.g. alpha amyrin in some species of Suaeda. However, no report on the variation in the quantity of it in this species was presented. The present study has furnished an account of subtle variation in morphology of this herb growing on different sites in the area under study. It also shows a difference in the amount of alpha amyrin in the plant individuals of different places, revealed through the HPTLC study. Morphological variations have been noted mostly in respect of the characteristics of the stem and leaf of the species.

Scrub typhus outbreak in rural area of Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, India in 2021

Background: Scrub typhus is a reemerging zoonotic disease with no definite preventive measures. Mild to severe clinical manifestation of scrub typhus are occurring in tropical countries. We conducted investigation to confirm the outbreak and vector survey to ascertain transmission of scrub typhus.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in Sahid Matangini block of Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, India between November’ 2020 and January’ 2021. All suspected scrub typhus cases were included for investigation. Environmental and vector survey was also conducted in affected villages.Results: Among total 71 cases, 51 cases were tested for scrub typhus and positivity rate was 13.72% (7/51). Positivity rate was higher in women 9.80% (5/51) than men. Cases found in adult women in the age group of 19-45 years were 35.21% (25/71) and in the children below the age of 15 years were 23.94% (17/71). All the patients developed fever followed by headache, myalgia, cough, rash & eschar. Outbreak started in November’ 2020 and maximum cases were found in December’ 2020. Dumping of household waste inside house was 93%, agriculture fields close to residential houses were 80% and pet animals in household were 69% of total case patients. Trap positivity was 37.5% (3/8) and after examination in laboratory ectoparasites such as adult mites were identified.Conclusions: This was an outbreak of scrub typhus. Mites were found in peri-domestic areas. Household waste is to be dumped away from the residential houses. A clean and vegetation free household environment with proper washing of feet and hand may decrease the risk of scrub typhus.

Khesari (Lathyrus sativus L.), an ancient legume for future gain: An expedition collection from parts of West Bengal state of Eastern India

Grasspea plays a considerable role in food and nutritional security of the local people. Notably, in the eastern parts of India, there is a long history of cultivation and uses of this crop. An expedition was undertaken to collect germplasm of grasspea in lower-Gangetic riverine belt and coastal areas of West Bengal of eastern India lying between latitude 21.43-24.44°N and longitude 87.23-88.90°E. From results of a structured questionnaire administered to grasspea farmers in 57 villages located in 96 local government areas, it appeared that grasspea is the primary winter pulse cultivated in this region. A large variability of germplasm exist, ranging from small to bold seed, green to yellow colour seed types, moderate to the high biomass type of grasspea. Most of these landraces have been adopted over the years from neighbouring communities, but in a few instances, the varietal replacement was noted which came either through the involvement of government department or local seed dealers. The highest proportion of the accessions (52.38%) were collected from Purba Medinipur district, and the lowest (19.05%) from Paschim Medinipur. On-spot evaluation of morphological traits variations was detected in the descriptor characteristics across the locations. A total of 21 accessions was collected and assessed on-spot for characters, viz ., size, shape, skin colour, taste and texture of the epidermis, revealed significant variation. The implications of this survey results for grasspea improvement in India are discussed in the present study.

Beach beauty in Bengal: Perception of scenery and its implications for coastal management in Purba Medinipur district, eastern India

Human activities can affect the revenue-generating potential of coastal landscapes through the loss of intrinsic properties like scenery. Yet, scenic assessments are often excluded from coastal management programmes in many countries. The recent modifications made to India’s Coastal Zone Regulations warrant such assessments urgently, as escalating anthropogenic activities in previously restricted zones can degrade coastal ecosystems. Using the Coastal Scenic Evaluation System (CSES), this paper assesses the scenery of six beaches in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal in eastern India. The CSES uses fuzzy logic to analyze users’ perceptions of 26 attributes regarding the physical and human environments of beaches and categorizes them into five classes of increasing scenic depletion. Results obtained suggest that the studied beaches have very degraded scenic quality, with one each in classes III and IV and four in class V. The causative factors include rapid degeneration of a subdued physical environment by tremendous proliferation of coastal tourism along with its concomitant changes and poorly implemented management policies. Reducing direct interventions on beaches, undertaking dune restoration, controlling coastal erosion through emerging approaches, improving litter management, modifying the built environment where necessary, raising public awareness about the issue and greater public participation in the management process can ameliorate the situation. A Coastal Scenery Management Plan, incorporating all these aspects, must be included in the state’s Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme. Undertaking such measures and implementing them stringently, coupled with regular follow-up assessments, might improve the scenic conditions of the beaches of Purba Medinipur in the future.

Flood Risk Assessment and Its Mapping in Purba Medinipur District, West Bengal, India

Floods are one of the most common quasi-natural hazards in costal districts of West Bengal, India and thousands of people are affected every year. From the destruction of crop lands and buildings to the disruption of balance of the environment and the spreading of disease, floods can devastate entire regions. The risk of flood depends on the flood intensity, frequency, and duration, the vulnerability of the people, etc. The spatiality of flood risk is still insufficient at micro level study for the management of resource disasters. In consequence, the present study on ‘flood risk mapping’ is performed in Purba Medinipur (one of the coastal districts of West Bengal, India) by considering the flood frequency and vulnerability of the people as flood risk components. The frequency of floods from 2002 to 2019 is considered as a variable of assessment and twenty-five key indicators are employed to understand the vulnerability of the people of the region. From the analysis, Moyna emerges as the highest flood risk prone block and Contai-I is the least flood prone block of the district. The results can help to minimize the chances of death, injury, loss, or harm and establish a good disaster management plan against floods.

Performance of Self Help Groups (SHGs): An Empirical Analysis of Moyna Block in Purba Medinipur District (West Bengal)

SHG is one of the latest phenomenons of anti-poverty programme. The study tries to examine economic changes that have occurred to the rural poor as a result of their after joining SHG. The study consider the Moyna block under district of Purba Medinipur in west Bengal and a total of 530 SHGs are selected at random from 44 villages. These 44 villages have been selected at randomly from 11 Gram Panchayat (G.P,). The findings of study revealed that the rural poor were successful in their savings habit, internal lending, and increasing income in post –SHG situation. Field level study also shows that each member has taken loan and earns money after taking IGAs/MEs. The study concluded that the poor people change their life pattern in post-SHG situation that in pre-SHG situation by means of earning with the involvement of income generating activities.

Crop-type mapping and acreage estimation in smallholding plots using Sentinel-2 images and machine learning algorithms: Some comparisons

Crop acreage analysis and yield estimation are of prime importance in field-level agricultural monitoring and management. This enables prudent decision making during any crop failure event and for ensuing crop insurance. The free availability of the high resolution Sentinel-2 satellite datasets has created new possibilities for mapping and monitoring agricultural lands in this regard. In the present study conducted on the Tamluk Subdivision of the Purba Medinipur District of West Bengal, the heterogeneous crop area was mapped according to the respective crop type, using Sentinel-2 multi-spectral images and two machine learning algorithms- K Nearest Neighbour (KNN) and Random Forest (RF). Plot-level field information was collected from different cropland types to frame the training and validation datasets (comprising 70% and 30% of the total dataset, respectively) for cropland classification and accuracy assessment. Through this, the major summer crop acreage was identified (Boro rice, vegetables and betel vine- the three main crops in the study area). The extracted maps had an overall accuracy of 97.16% and 97.22%, respectively, in the KNN and RF classifications, with respective Kappa index values of 95.99% and 96.08%, and the RF method proved to be more accurate. This study was particularly useful in mapping the betel leaf acreage herein since scant information exists for this crop and it is cultivated by many smallholder farmers in the region. The methods used in this paper can be readily applied elsewhere for accurately enumerating the respective crop acreages.

An observational study on maternal mortality and maternal near miss in a selected facility of West Bengal.

An observational study was performed at Purba Medinipur District Hospital, West Bengal, from April 1, 2018, to December 31, 2020, with an aim to find out the magnitude of maternal mortality and near miss cases and to assess the utilization of available maternal health care services by the deceased women and near miss cases. Result showed 4.5% women developed potentially life-threatening condition (PLTC) of which 21% women developed LTC. Maternal Near Miss (MNM) ratio was 9.46/1000 live birth and the MNM-to-Maternal Mortality ratio was 8.3:1 and the leading causes of MNM and maternal death were hemorrhage, pregnancy induced hypertension/eclampsia. The utilization of maternal health-care services revealed that there is a scope to increase the service delivery. Study finding indicates that health-care programs need to enhance the existing efforts to improve timely health seeking behavior of women.