CASE STUDY

Assessing ecosystem from flat demolition debris

Rishika
Awasthi
23PEVSO13072
 INTRODUCTION
 Freshwater Ecosystems:
◦ Rich in species diversity and endemism.
◦ Underestimated species count; many remain unidentified.
◦ Human activities (alteration, pollution, overexploitation) threaten freshwater species.
◦ Freshwater ecosystems are at higher risk of extinction compared to other ecosystems
 Environmental Degradation:
◦ Serious global problem (pollution, biodiversity loss, deforestation, etc.)
◦ Soil quality degradation due to agriculture fertilizer use.
◦ Overexploited groundwater aquifers and polluted surface water sources.
◦ Human and natural factors contribute to environmental decline.
 Maradu Flat Demolition Case Study:
◦ Violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.
◦ Dust cloud concerns during demolition.
◦ Post-demolition increase in particulate pollution.
◦ Short-term health impacts observed.
 OBJECTIVES

◦ The primary aim is to investigate, evaluate, and interpret a devastated environment. The study’s objectives include:
◦ To identify a damaged ecosystem caused due to the flat demolition and due to its debris fallen on the water body.
◦ To observe the extent of damage.
◦ To analyze and interpret the water, sediment and soil samples collected from the site.
◦ To compare previous case study results and suggest ideas
 Study area

The Holy Faith H2O was situated in the Maradu Municipality of Cochin Corporation,
approximately 7 km away from the city center. It was located on the bank of one of the bifurcates
of the Vembanad Lake and constituted ecologically vulnerable zones.
Violation of CRZ Rules: The apartment complex, along with three other buildings, was found to
have been constructed too close to the Vembanad Lake, violating Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)
rules. As a result, the Supreme Court of India ordered the demolition of these structures.
Demolition Date: The demolition of the Holy Faith H2O and the other buildings took place on 11
January 2020.
Proximity to Key Features: The Vembanad Lake was only 13 meters away from the flat. A
residence was 1.5 meters distant from the flat. The Bharat Petroleum Petro House was located
right next to the flat. The front of the flat was 10 meters away from Thevara-Kundannoor bridge.
Underground pipelines for petrol and diesel by the Indian Oil Corporation ran in front of the flat.
Methodology
 TEMPERATURE
• Air temperature: 29
• Water temperature:31
• Soil temperature:29
• Sediment temperature:31
• The air temperature at the Holy Faith H2O demolished site was 29°C. The water
temperature was 31℃. The soil and sediment temperature was 29 to 31 ℃ respectively.
In the previous case study (2023), the temperature range showed between 30 – 31 ºC in
the air, water and soil.

TRANSPARENCY
• Transparency is the degree of optical clarity of the water or the capacity of sunlight to
pass through the body of water. A device known as the Secchi disk is used to measure it.
The transparency of the lake water at the demolition site of the Holy Faith H2O flat was
0.86 meters. This location displayed 0.85m of the lake water when compared to the
identical area in a prior case study done by the Department of Environmental Studies
(2023). It thus indicates modest variations in the water's purity.
• Temperature, turbidity, and clarity, is greatly impacted by the tidal area—both high and
low.

DO
• The DO of the water sample collected the lake along from the Holy Faith H2O
demolition area was found to be 8.976 mg/ L . 8-8.5 mg/L of DO supports healthy
growth rates, lower than 8 mg/L concentration will affect the mature eggs and the larval
development (Ali and Mishra, 2022).The previous case study 2023 revealed that DO is in
sufficient amount. Dissolved oxygen concentration varies due to photosynthesis and
respiration by organisms
 PH
• pH which is one of the most common analyses in soil and water testing, is a standard measure
of how acidic or alkaline a solution is. It is measured on a scale from 0– 14. pH of 7 is
neutral, pH less than 7 is acidic, and pH greater than 7 is basic. The closer the pH gets to 1,
the more acidic. The closer the pH gets to 14, the greater is its basic nature.
• pH of water collected from the lake along the Holy Faith H2O was 7.26 and pH of soil in the
site was 8.46 and pH of sediment in the lake was 8.48 which shows its alkaline nature due to
the presence of chemicals in the water such as bicarbonates, carbonates and hydroxides.

Conductivity
• Conductivity is a measure of capability of water to pass electrical charge. Conductivity
ability is directly related to the concentration of ions in the water.
• Conductivity of the water collected was 19.83 mS/cm and conductivity of soil was
10mS/cm and that of the sediment was observed to be 30mS/cm. This shows a significant
increase in the level of conductivity, which indicates pollution in the river.
• The construction material of Holy Faith H2O is cement which is composed of silica,
calcium, sulphate, iron oxide, lime. These can be the reason for the high conductivity in the
collected samples
 Primary productivity Total dissolved oxygen
• Primary productivity is the process of conversion of inorganic material • Total dissolved solids (TDS) make up the inorganic salts that are
of the environment into organic material or cell material. dissolved in water, mostly of bicarbonates, chlorides, sulphates,
• s. The NPP and GPP of the water samples collected from the water body potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and other salts. There
near the demolished flat Holy Faith H2O was obtained as are also some trace amounts of organic materials.
0.6533mgC/L/hr. and 0.871 mgC/L/hr. Value for GPP were higher than • Our previous case study done during the First Semester showed
NPP. the TDS level 6.53 mg/L. But in the present study TDS has
• The productivity is high ,the high productivity of some tropical lakes increased, to 12.2mg/L.
and reservoirs, can in general be attributed to the short food chains from • It may be due to the addition of domestic wastewater, garbage,
primary sources (phytoplankton and detritus), to harvestable biomass. sewage and flat demolition waste runoff etc. In this study, TDS
concentration, however is below the desirable limit (500mg/L)
given by BIS
• If TDS levels are high, especially due to dissolved salts, many
Chemical oxygen demand forms of aquatic life are affected. . The high value of TDS
• Chemical Oxygen Demand is the net amount of oxygen consumption influences the hardness, and corrosive property of the water.
that takes place during the oxidation of organic and inorganic matters
present in any aquatic ecosystems and its decomposition by the action
of oxidants or oxidizing agents Hardness
• The COD of the sample collected from the water body near the • Hardness is referred to as the concentration levels of Calcium,
demolished flat Holy Faith H2O 4.28 mg/L. The COD of water sample Magnesium, Carbonates, Chloride, and Sulphate ions in water.
collected from Holy faith H20 demolition area is within permissible Based on its concentration, water can be classified as soft water
limit. with least amount of calcium and magnesium ions and hard
• . The COD concentrations observed in surface water resources typically water with highest concentration of both.
range from 20 mg/l or less in unpolluted waters to greater than 200 mg/l • Hardness of water -983 mg/L
in water receiving effluents (Jain and Singh, 2003). The low value of • The rapid increase in concentration might be due to the high
COD indicates low organic pollutants in the sample. Flat demolition tide at that sampling time. The demolition also contributes to
thus has not affected the COD of water near the flat. hardness in water. sediment analysis, (amount of calcium-
10.5%). Indicative the influence of fallen debris and construction
materials to the water at demolition time or runoff from the site
later
 Alkalinity Nitrates
• Total alkalinity is the concentration of titratable bases in • Nitrate is the most highly oxidized form of nitrogen compounds
water. In most natural waters, nearly all of the alkalinity commonly present in natural waters, because it is the resultant of
will derive from HCO3 −, CO3 2−, and OH−. aerobic decomposition of organic nitrogenous matter.
• the water sample collected from the study location had a • The concentration of nitrate in water samples collected from
total alkalinity of 110 mg/L Holy Faith H2O flat demolished area was found to be 2.04µg/ml.
• Alkalinity may be due to high content of cement paste and The result shows that the concentration of nitrate is within the
mortar in these concrete remnants. These compounds are permissible limit.
mainly composed of portlandite and calcium-silicate
aluminate (C-S-H) which are hydrated in an aqueous
solution to produce Ca(OH)2 with high alkalinity. Apart
Calcium
from this high value of alkalinity can be attributed to the
• Calcium occurs naturally in water. Calcium is an important
increased discharge of detergents, soaps and animal waste
determinant of water hardness and it also functions as a pH stabilizer
in the lake.
because of its buffering qualities. The parent material of calcium
carbonate–rich soil may consist of a wide spectrum of rocks, e.g.
limestone, sandstone, calcium carbonate–rich shale or marl.
Amonia • . The soil calcium in present study found to be high this may be due
• Ammonia is a natural constituent of freshwater sediments, to the flat demolition. The soil calcium level study conducted by
Pollution can lead to ammonia concentrations that are toxic Mallik and Suchindan (1984) falls in between the range 0.01 - 0.395
to benthic invertebrates. Ammonia can also contribute to % .In our study the calcium level is very high ,the high amount of
the toxicity of sediments that contain more persistent calcium may be due to the marine water and the demolition of flat.
contaminants
• Concentration level of ammonia 0.001 mg/ml. Our
previous case study in 2023, conducted in the Holy Faith
H2O flat demolition site in Maradu (2023) showed a Organic carbon
concentration level of ammonia slightly high (0.002 • Soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important factor for soil quality
mg/ml). diagnosis. Physical and chemical fractionation of SOC are useful to
• This amount of concentration seems to be under the normal characterize SOC, because some fractions are more sensitive indicators of
range from the WHO guidelines for ammonia the effects of different management practices
concentration. • The soil organic carbon concentration found in the area was 1.56%.
 Phosphate
• Phosphate is a fundamental component in water quality analysis and assessments which
determines the level of pollution and eutrophication when it exceeds the desirable
limits.
• Phosphorus is an important element, required by organisms for their normal growth and
development. Phosphorus occurs in natural water almost solely as phosphates rather
than free state.
• Concentration of phosphate in soil sample from the Holy faith H2O flat demolition site
was 0.015 mg/ml and the sediment sample from the lake near the demolition site was
0.016 mg/ml.
• Phosphates are usually present in low quantities in natural unpolluted rivers and it
mostly ranges between 0.005 and 0.02 mg/L. The normal phosphate level ranges from
0.005 to 0.05 mg/L . The water phosphate concentration of the sample collected from
the flat demolition site Maradu was estimated as 0.001133 mg/ml.
• Phosphate analysis on water of the Holy Faith H2O flat demolition site showed
variations from the prior study which means we can see an increase in the phosphate
values of water. The high level phosphate content, that might be due to the fallen debris
of flat demolition, was affecting the water quality and stimulating algal and aquatic
plant growth.

MPN
• Most probable number (MPN) is used for the estimation of the concentration of
viable microorganisms in a sample. The MPN analysis is mostly used in the
estimation of microbial populations in soil, water and agricultural products
(Nisha,2017). This method involves cultivating duplicate parts of the original
sample to find out whether coliform bacteria are present in each one.
• The value of MPN was found to be 9.2 MPN /100 ml. In the previous study which
was conducted on the same spot on 2023 December 11, the value of MPN was
observed to be 23 MPN /100 ml. The result shows there is a decrease in the value
which may be due to the dilution of water at the time of collection as the sampling
was done during the peak of high tide time which might have caused a chance of
dilution of lake water due to the influx of marine water. Hence, low MPN observed
in the present study.
 CONCLUSION

 Construction and Demolition Waste:

◦ Construction and demolition (C&D) waste is generated during urban infrastructure development, including building construction and demolition. - Poor
handling, over-ordering of materials, inadequate storage, and other factors contribute to excessive waste generation in construction projects.
◦ C&D waste can be categorized into three main types: inert (e.g., concrete, rocks), non-inert (e.g., wood, metals), and hazardous (e.g., flammable materials,
corrosive substances).
 Environmental Impact:

◦ Landfilling of C&D waste has adverse environmental effects.

◦ The environmental impacts are estimated to increase by *20.2%* by 2025 due to landfilling.
◦ However, achieving a *50% recycling and reuse rate* by 2025 can reduce the environmental impact by *33.2%*.
◦ Recycling C&D waste can mitigate risks such as landslides, reduce energy consumption, offset greenhouse gas emissions, recover valuable materials, create
jobs, and protect natural resources.
 Eco-Friendly Demolition:

◦ Traditional demolition techniques can harm local ecosystems by destroying habitats, removing trees, and contaminating water sources.
◦ Eco-friendly demolition minimizes impact by reducing heavy machinery use and waste generation
 Overall Importance:

◦ Proper waste management, recycling, and sustainable practices are crucial for protecting ecosystems and achieving sustainable development.
THANK YOU