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Environmental Pollution
The environmental problems in India are growing rapidly. The increasing economic development and a rapidly growing population that
has taken the country from 300 million people in 1947 to over one billion people today is putting a strain on the environment,
infrastructure, and the country’s natural resources. Industrial pollution, soil erosion, deforestation, rapid industrialization, urbanization,
and land degradation are all worsening problems. Overexploitation of the country's resources be it land or water and the industrialization
process has resulted in considerable environmental degradation of resources.
The cost of environmental damage in India would shave 4 percent off of the country's gross domestic
product. Lost productivity from death and disease due to environmental pollution are the primary
culprits.
The government agency responsible for environmental affairs is the Ministry of Environment and
Forests (MoEF). Coping with India’s industrial pollution is perhaps the agency’s top priority. MoEF
recognizes the need to strike a balance between development and protecting the environment in
administering and enforcing the country’s environmental laws and policies. The government heightened
the Ministry’s powers with the passage of the 1986 Environment Protection Act. This act built on the Industrial pollution
42nd amendment to India's constitution in 1976 that gave the government the right to step in and protect
public health, forests, and wildlife. This amendment however had little power as it contained a clause
that stated it was not enforceable by any court. India is the first country in the world to pass an
amendment to its constitution ostensibly protecting the environment.
Fog due to air pollution
Air Pollution
There are four reasons of air pollution are - emissions from vehicles, thermal power plants, industries
and refineries. The problem of indoor air pollution in rural areas and urban slums has assumed
significant attention lately.
India’s environmental problems are exacerbated by its heavy reliance on coal for power generation.
Coal supplies more than half of the country’s energy needs and is used for nearly three-quarters of
electricity generation. While India is fortunate to have abundant reserves of coal to power economic
development, the burning of this resource, especially given the high ash content of India’s coal, has
come at a cost in terms of heightened public risk and environmental degradation. Reliance on coal as Poison in the air due to Power
the major energy source has led to a nine-fold jump in carbon emissions over the past forty years. The plants. In India, air pollution is
government estimates the cost of environmental degradation has been running at 4.5% of GDP in estimated to cause, at the very
recent years. minimum, 1 lakh excess deaths and
The low energy efficiency of power plants that burn coal is a contributing factor. India's coal plants 25 million excesses illnesses every
are old and are not outfitted with the most modern pollution controls. Given the shortage of year.
generating capacity and scarcity of public funds, these old coal-fired plants will remain in operation
for sometime. Power plant modernization to improve the plant load factor, improvements in sub-
transmission and distribution to cut distribution losses, and new legislation to encourage end user
energy conservation were all mentioned as part of the energy efficiency effort. The government has
taken steps to address its environmental problems. As of now the use of washed coal is required for all
power plants.
Vehicle emissions are responsible for 70% of the country’s air pollution. The major problem with
government efforts to safeguard the environment has been enforcement at the local level, not with a
lack of laws. Air pollution from vehicle exhaust and industry is a worsening problem for India.
Exhaust from vehicles has increased eight-fold over levels of twenty years ago; industrial pollution Poison in the air due to
has risen four times over the same period. The economy has grown two and a half times over the past vehicle emissions
two decades but pollution control and civil services have not kept pace. Air quality is worst in the big
cities like Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, etc.
Bangalore holds the title of being the asthma capital of the country. Studies estimate that 10 per cent
of Bangalore’s 60 lakh population and over 50 per cent of its children below 18 years suffer from air
pollution-related ailments.
CHENNAI: Exhaust from vehicles, dust from construction debris, industrial waste, burning of
municipal and garden waste are all on the rise in the city. So are respiratory diseases, including
asthma. At least six of the 10 top causes of death are related to respiratory disease, says Dr D The brilliant white of the Taj Mahal
Ranganathan, director (in-charge), Institute of Thoracic Medicine. is slowly fading to a sickly
Mumbai: Not only are levels of Suspended Particulate Matter above permissible limits in Mumbai, yellow. In the famous “Tajmahal
but the worst pollutant after vehicular emissions has grown at an alarming rate. The levels of Case” a very strong step was taken
Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM), or dust, in Mumbai’s air have continued to increase by Supreme Court to save the Taj
over the past three years. Mahal Case being polluted by
fumes and more than 200 factories
were closed down.
The air pollution in Mumbai is so high that Mumbai authorities have purchased 42,000 litres of
perfume to spray on the city’s enormous waste dumps at Deonar and Mulund landfill sites after people
living near the landfill sites complained of the stench. The Deonar landfill site, one of India’s largest,
was first used by the British in 1927. Today, the festering pile covers more than 120 hectares and is
eight story's high.
These cities are on the World Health Organization's list of top most polluted cities. Vehicle exhaust,
Multi-storeyed residential buildings
untreated smoke, and untreated water all contribute to the problem. Continued economic growth,
stand behind an expanse of slums in
urbanization, and an increase in the number of vehicles, together with lax enforcement of
Mumbai
environmental laws, will result in further increases in pollution levels. Concern with New Delhi's air
quality got so bad that the Supreme Court recently stepped in and placed a limit on the number of new
car registrations in the capital.
The effects of air pollution are obvious: rice crop yields in southern India are falling as brown clouds
block out more and more sunlight. And the brilliant white of the famous Taj Mahal is slowly fading to
a sickly yellow. In the famous “Tajmahal Case” a very strong step was taken by Supreme Court to
save the Tajmahal Case being polluted by fumes and more than 200 factories were closed down. In
the case of Shatistar of 1990, AIR 1990 SC 630 (pp.8 to 13), Supreme Court declared in a clear tone
that a citizen has right for a decent environment in his living area. Mumbai authorities have purchased
42,000 litres of perfume recently to
spray on the city’s enormous waste
dumps at Deonar and Mulund
landfill sites
Animals and sea creatures are hurt and killed every day by discarded plastic bags - a dead turtle with a plastic
bag hanging from its mouth isn't a pleasant sight but mistaking plastic bags for food is commonplace amongst
marine animals. Plastic clogs their intestines and leads to slow starvation. Others become entangled in plastic
bags and drown. Because plastic bags take hundreds of years to break down, every year our seas become
'home' to more and more bags that find their way there through our sewers and waterways. Given India's poor
garbage collection facilities, tons of plastic bags litter the roads, preventing rainwater from seeping into the
ground. Hundreds of cows die in New Delhi alone every year when they choke on plastic bags while trying to
eat vegetable waste stuffed in the garbage.
Every bag that's washed down a drain during rainfall ends up in the sea every bag that's flushed down a toilet (many mall bags are), ends
up in the sea - every bag that’s blown into a river will most likely end up in the sea. Besides choking drains, plastics are highly toxics.
When burned they release cancer-causing gases. Lying in the garbage, polythene bags also find their way in gut of cattle, asphyxiating the
animals. The cheap bags contain chemicals such as cadmium- or lead- based chemicals that are harmful to health. They leach into
vegetables, meat and food.
An estimated 15 lakh computers and 30 lakh mobile phones are disposed of every year in India. “Computers, mobiles and other
electronic items generate hazardous e-waste like lead, brominated flame retardants and chromium which can cause cancer,” There is
another problem: India has more to deal with than just the waste generated at home. The Environment Protection Authority of Britain
recently said 23,000 tonnes of e-waste was dumped in India, China and Pakistan.
Several countries have already banned their use and more will doubtless follow. Several Indian states such as Maharastra, Dehli, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Himanchal Pradesh, Goa , West Bengal etc. banned their use. Mumbai's storm water drainage choking with accumulated
plastics waste, making the floods unmanageable, is an old story. The Environment Ministry has banned manufacture and use of plastics
carry bags less than 8 inches X 12 inches in size 20 micron in width. The ministry has also asked State Governments to register all plastics
manufacturing unit, so that these can be regulated. However, the implementation of the order has been tardy, evident from the large number
of polythene bags strewn in every major town and city.
The alternative to plastic bags are paper bags, jute bags and cloth bags. Paper, Jute and Cloth are eco-friendly. Jute bags are most suitable
substitute then paper and cloth, because it is cheaper then cloth and reusable. Though paper bags are cheaper then jute bags but less
durable. The Rajasthan Government, has put a ban to use plastic bags for food stuffs in Rajasthan.
A Mumbai resident who lived in the United States for many years says every grocery store there offers the option of paper or plastic
carrybags. Besides, “large bins are kept outside the stores to collect used plastic bags’’ . Closer home, Delhi’s Shyamala Mani, programme
director, waste and resource management, Centre for Environment Education (CEE), advises : “Malls are the best places to easily promote
paper, jute, even non-woven cloth bags and other materials which are biodegradable.’’
The main reason of plastic bag pollution is that the poly-bag comes free. Shop-keepers blindly hand out polythene carry-bags, even if
you buy just a tube of toothpaste or a pencil, little caring that the bag will be in the dustbin after some time. The shopkeepers should
include the cost of poly bags in the bill, along with other billed products. People will then finally take some steps to reduce the dependence
on polythene and try and reuse them or carry cloth bags. The Government will be able to generate extra revenue through polythene tax and
the environment will be less polluted with polythene.
‘Ecofriendly Reuse and Recycling Unit' (CEE-ERU) especially for recycling of paper scraps and plastic carry bags. In this unit, paper
scrap is recycled by the hand-made paper making method while polybags are reused through the polybags weaving method.
The plastic weaving concept is based on the fact that plastic bags which are thin and flimsy (be it 20µ or less) have an average life time of
2 to 3 hours after which they are discarded. They end up in gutters, dumpsites or on mountain sides and even in the stomachs of animals;
they are responsible for clogging, choking, flooding, asphyxiation, landslides, death and destruction. Instead, if they are collected, even
from roads, they can be washed, cleaned, dried, cut into strips and woven into the basic plastic textile fabric, which can then be stitched
into various products like mats, folders, hand bags and purses. In this manner, both the plastic and paper waste becomes more manageable
and less destructive.
The first CEE-ERU was first established in Coorg, Karnataka and subsequently, through various CEE offices, it has also been established
in Ahmedabad, Coimbatore , Delhi , Goa , Patna and Tirupathi. Today, the concept has been taken up by many women's self-help groups
who gather raw material either by door to door collection or by buying it from rag pickers. This provides them livelihood while taking the
plastic carry bags away from the environment.