Fighting against POLLUTION to Save Environment
Fighting against POLLUTION to Save Environment
in Furtado. J.I. (Ed.) Tropical Ecology an Development pp. 669 675, 1980. I.S.T.E. Kuala Lampur.
S.B. Chaphekar, D.B. Boralkar and R.P. Shetye
Department of Botany, Institute of Science, 15. Madam Cama Road, Bombay 400032, M.S., INDIA.
T. Maneewarn: How did you collect dust from mango leaves?
S. B. Chaphekar: With a jet of distilled water, dust was washed from the leaf surfaces into a beaker.
T. Maneewarn: What age of Commelina was used as the test plant?
S. B. Chaphekar: Fifteen-centimetre shoots of Commelina were vegetatively propagated, and they were used when they were 10–12 days old.
R. Wohlfarth: Can you explain whether damage to leaves starts at a concentration of 0.9 ppm SO2?
B. Chaphekar: A concentration of 0.9 ppm SO2 is fairly high and damages the leaves of an average plant. A 5-hour exposure to 5 ppm SO2 causes damage to many plants.
R. Wohlfarth: What is the time duration for the dustfall study?
S. B. Chaphekar: Dustfall was measured only for the dry season, from October to April (7 months).
Wohlfarth: Why are factories not established in the main wind direction?
B. Chaphekar: Urbanization and industrialization have proceeded in Bombay for more than 100 years. Social and economic constraints prevent the shifting of established factories. However, since 1956, new factories have been established in the main wind direction.
M. Numata: How would you monitor CO, NOx, and O3 with plants?
S. B. Chaphekar: Monitoring of individual gases with plants is difficult in a city because of synergistic or antagonistic reactions between gases. Nevertheless, some plants appear sensitive to specific gases (e.g. alfalfa to SO2, gladiolus to HF, tobacco to Pb), and there is a need to search for such indicator plants.
A. Santiago: Would SO2 and NOx emissions be harmful to plants in the humid tropics when some of them may be converted to fertilizers?
S. B. Chaphekar: At low concentrations these gases serve as fertilizers for plants. At high concentrations, as in cities, they are damaging to plants.
| Month | TIFR | Wilson College (RS-LV) |
Sion (RS-IIV) |
Masjid (RS-IIV) |
Shivaji Park (RS-LV) |
Mahul (I-C) |
BARC (I-C) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry season I Sept. 1976 |
0.4 | 1.4 | 10.8 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.7 |
| April 1977 | 7.3 | 58.6 | 64.2 | 39.1 | 18.4 | 20.0 | 18.7 |
| Dry season II Oct. 1977 |
1.5 | 1.6 | 2.6 | 6.9 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.2 |
| Dec. 1977 | 4.7 | 7.4 | 11.2 | 22.5 | 9.2 | 1.9 | 0.8 |
| Jan. 1978 | 6.3 | 16.3 | 36.2 | 41.4 | 9.6 | 9.2 | 2.9 |
| Feb. 1978 | 7.4 | 18.8 | 46.2 | 53.6 | 9.9 | 15.5 | 4.7 |
| Mar. 1978 | 8.2 | 53.1 | 89.6 | 79.9 | 13.1 | 22.9 | 6.2 |
| Apr. 1978 | 10.2 | 69.6 | 119.2 | 97.2 | 24.2 | 25.4 | 23.1 |
| Locality | Characters | API = A+B+C+D+E+F+G |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shoot length (A) |
Nodes / Plant (B) |
Length of IV Internode from top (C) |
Area of III leaf from top (D) |
Shoot Dry wt. (E) |
Total Chlorophylls (F) |
Total Proteins (G) |
||
| Holiday Camp (C1) | 0 loss | 0 loss | 0 loss | 0 loss | 0 loss | 0 loss | 0 loss | - |
| Inst. of Sci (partly CI) | 29" | 13" | -3" | -6" | 46" | -19" | -12" | 7 |
| Aquarium (RS) | 70" | 43" | 40" | -25" | 67" | -8" | 77" | 38 |
| Loha Bhavan (RS) | 44" | 11" | 37" | 43" | 49" | 84" | 39" | 44 |
| Bombay Gas Co. (A) (RS-I) | 80" | 46" | 55" | 12" | 85" | 18" | 42" | 48 |
| Bombay Gas Co. (B) (RS-I) | 57" | 4" | 54" | 34" | 2" | 35" | 68" | 36 |
| Dadar TT (RS-IIV) | 33" | 17" | 11" | 33" | 0.1" | 24" | 35" | 22 |
| Collector's Colony (I-C) | 27" | 9" | 17" | 53" | 14" | -5" | 51" | 24 |
| SOCLEEN Lab (I-C) | 47" | 24" | 29" | 43" | 20" | 35" | 39" | 34 |