A comparative study on the density of two herbs at Sikharchandi Hills area and Dhauligiri Hills area, Bhubaneswar, Odisha; a consequence of rapid industrialization and urbanisation

 Sanjeet Kumar
 Department of Botany, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack
sanjeet.biotech@gmail.com

The rich diversity of life that inhabits the earth helps in maintaining a balanced environment. The perfect balance between the physical environment and the living organisms in nature is called ecological balance. Herbivores eat plants, and are themselves eaten by carnivores. The number of plants, herbivores and carnivores is maintained in such a way that there are enough organisms of different species to survive. However, various human activities cause interference and imbalance in nature. The population of India has crossed the figure of 1 billion and the world population is estimated to have touched the 6 billion mark. To meet the demand of food, housing and energy, environmental resources are being exploited at a fast pace. Environment has the potential to replenish most of its resources in a certain period of time. However, over-exploitation of resources and human activities has altered it leading to many environmental problems. We are aware of the importance of forests as a major natural resource. They provide wood for multiple uses, shelter to wild life, soil conservation and rainfall. Plants take up carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. Less forest mean more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. With fast expansion of Urban Environment (Cities and Towns), there is large scale construction and development of roads and other infrastructures. This has lead to indiscriminate felling of trees leading to increase in heat waves and environmental pollution. It needs a planned approach for planting of trees which can give shade, provide fuel woods in terms of  dried leaves and  twigs to slum dwellers, provides various types of fruits in different seasons, help in controlling dust and pollution in the environment besides beautification and providing shelter and food for many animals like monkeys, birds, squirrel, insects etc that play very important role in ecological services. This needs a local Environment initiative to educate local people and the administration about selection, planting and after care of floras. This can bring environment sustainability and green house gas reduction, an approach towards climate change mitigation. In order to promote the idea, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) has started a theme “Green Cities- Plan for the Planet.” It has been initiated in many Indian cities such as Ahmadabad, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Delhi etc. and needs to be adopted in Bhubneswar, a fast expending city in Odisha for environmental suitability and improvement in the quality of life of the local people. Therefore we made an attempt to investigate the effect on density of flora at Sikharchandi where numbers of industry exist and having much effect of urbanization with the comparison of Dhauligiri hills area where no industry exist and having less urbanization effect.

Methodology

The study was conducted through the field survey and assessment of major flora, frequency of herbs per m ² area (Quadrate Sampling Density^3.4) followed by Barbour et. al., 1987 & Cox, 1990, around and on the hills area of Sikharchandi and Dhauligiri.

Study area

The study area is located at 20°21'30"
N and 85°49'40"E (Sikharchandi) in Khurda district of the state. Sikharchandi hill area is covered with dry deciduous forest along the Chandaka Industrial Estate and Chandaka sanctuary. It gives a ecofriendaly environment to particularly the populace of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, also it provides a shelters of different fauna particularly monkeys due to existatance of fruiting plants on this hill. Dhauli hills are located on the banks of the river Daya, south of Bhubaneswar. It is a hill with vast open space adjoining it, and has major Edicts of Ashoka engraved on a mass of rock, by the side of the road leading to the summit of the hill. Dhauli hill is presumed to be the area where Kalinga War was fought^1,2. Anacardium occidental L. is a dominant flora of this area.

Table 3: Quadrate sampling of two herbs in two different ecology with three experiments.

Site of sampling	Mean ± SD
Sikharchandi Hill-1	67.6 ± 20.90
Sikharchandi Hill-2	83.0 ± 28.18
Dhauligiri Hills area -1	212.3 ± 9.03
Dhauligiri Hills area – 2	221.0 ± 21.36

Results

The most dominant flora of Sikharchandi Hills area are Toddalia asiatica Lam., Naringi crenulata Roxb., Glycosmis pentaphylla Retz. and the most dominant flora of Dhauligiri is Anacardium occidental L. The density of Mimosa pudica L. and Sida acuta Burm. f. is highest in Dhaligiri than Sikharchandi. In 1 m² area, the number of plant species is highset with three experiment in Dhauligiri. There are numbers of industry and institute are exist around the area of Sikharchandi, such as Mahalaxmi rocks and minerals, Kurl-on pvt ltd.,Silicon Institute of Technology etc.The important common medicinal flora at sikharchandi are Hemidesmus indicus, Andrgraphic paniculata, Combretum roxburghii and Sida acuta and the most common wild edible fruits are Toddalia asiatica Lam. & Phyllanthus reticulates Poir.

Conclusion

The lowest number of plants at Sikharchandi in 1meter square area in comparison of Dhauligiri indicated the harmful effect of Industrlization and urbanisation.

References

1.     www.indiavideo.org/text/maurya-dynasty-kalinga-war-ashoka-49.php Kalinga War and its impact on Ashoks.

2.     Bimalendu Mohanty: Orissa yesterday, today and tomorrow, Nur Publishers Bhubaneswar, India, 2003. ISBN 81-883450-00-8.

3.     Cox, G. Laboratory manual. of general ecology 6th Ed. Dubuque, Iowa: WIlliam C. Brown; 1990.

4.     Barbour, M.G., J.H. Burk, and W.D. Pitts. Terrestrial Plant Ecology. Chapter 9: Method of sampling the plant community. Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Co.; 1987.