Environmental Pollution in India: Types, Causes, and Control Measures, Essays (university) of Environmental Science

Download Environmental Pollution in India: Types, Causes, and Control Measures and more Essays (university) Environmental Science in PDF only on Docsity! English Project On Pollution Control in India Hidayatulla h National Law University, Raipur, Chhattisgar h Submitted By: Submitted To: Ayush Kumar, Roll no. 39 Mrs Alka Mehta, Semester I, B.A. LLB (Hons.) Faculty Member, English Declaration I hereby declare that my project titled “Pollution Control in India” is my own work and represents my own ideas. And wherever others ideas or words have been included, I have adequately cited and referenced the original sources. I also declare that I have adhered to all the principles of academic honesty and integrity and have not misrepresented or fabricated or falsified any idea/data/fact/source in my submission. Ayush Kumar Roll no. 39, Section B B.A. LLB., 1st year Acknowledgement Being a lover of environment I feel highly esteemed to present this project titled “Pollution Control in India”. Firstly, I’d like to thank our English Faculty, Mrs. Alka Mehta for allotting such an enlightening topic and for all the help and co-operation extended by her in helping scrutinize the same. Central Pollution Control Board 6 Vehicular Pollution and its Control 6 Noise Pollution Control 8 River and Lake Pollution Control and Regeneration 9 Conclusion 15 References 16 Introduction “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” ― Mahatma Gandhi The Basic Law for Environmental Pollution Control defines pollution as any activity, by corporations or individuals, which compromises the health and/or environment of other persons in a localized area, where the causal link is clearly established. Pollution, which literally means the state of being contaminated or having been rendered unclean, is an undesirable change in the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the land, air or water that harmfully affects human life, plants and animals. Pollutants occur naturally as well as due to human activity. Sulphur from volcanic eruptions, radioactive materials in nature, and hydrocarbons in the atmosphere are natural pollutants but their effect is not, generally, as drastic or long-lasting as that of manmade pollutants. With increasing population, rapid and unplanned industrialisation and deforestation, pollution of the environment has become a major problem. Pollutants can be degradable or non- degradable. The degradable ones include domestic wastes and sewage which decompose easily. The non-degradable are inorganic compounds, metallic oxides, plastics, etc. Environment pollution causes a number of health problems. Air Pollution Kumar | 6 According to WHO, air pollution is defined as the presence of materials in the air that are harmful to humans and their environment. Air is polluted by suspended particulate matter (SPM), harmful gases released from factories and industries, domestic pollutants from fossil fuels burnt by humans, vehicular emissions, etc. Air pollution causes lung diseases, nervous disorders, brain damage, etc. The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 is the main legislation for regulating air quality through the pollution control boards (PCBs) in the states. A programme for real time air quality monitoring for cities with population of more than 1 million was started during the Tenth Plan. The automatic air quality monitoring systems are operational in Jodhpur, Patna, and Sholapur while those in Kanpur, Varanasi, Jharia, and Kolkata are to be operationalised during the Eleventh Plan. During the Tenth Plan period, as many as 76 cities/towns were found to exceed acceptable limits of the parameters set, mainly due to vehicular and industrial pollution measured in terms of ambient air quality in residential, industrial and sensitive areas for SO2, oxides of nitrogen, suspended particulate matter (SPM), RSPM, ammonia and carbon monoxide. The report on average air quality levels of select Asian cities between 2000 and 2004 showed that apart from Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata, Beijing, Shanghai, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Seoul, Dhaka and Colombo also could not meet the WHO standards in this respect. Water Pollution Kumar | 7 The Policy Statement for Abatement of Pollution was adopted in 1992. It provides instruments such as laws and regulations and fiscal incentives to prevent control and reduce pollution of water, land and air. Emphasis is being laid on the promotion of clean and low- waste technologies, minimisation, re-use and recycling of wastes, improvement of water quality, environment statement, natural resources accounting, and institutional and human resource development. The main idea is to reduce the pollutants at source rather than adopt an end-of-the-pipe treatment. The thrust has, therefore, been towards considering process changes which involve better energy and water conservation. Environmental Statement Polluting units are required to submit an environmental statement under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 or the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 or both. Cleaner Technologies Efforts are being made to develop and promote cleaner technologies. With World Bank assistance, a waste minimisation programme has been launched for small scale industries. Programmes covering sectors such as textiles, pulp and paper, and tanneries have been identified for action. Central Pollution Control Board Kumar | 10 The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is an autonomous body of the environment ministry set up in September 1974, under the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. It coordinates the activities of the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and the Pollution Control Committees (PCCs). It also advises the central government on all matters concerning the prevention and control of air, water and noise pollution and provides technical services to the ministry for implementing the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The CPCB in consultation with State Pollution Control Boards has identified critically polluted water bodies and areas in the country which need special attention for control of pollution. The CPCB, SPCBs and the PCCs are responsible for implementing the legislations relating to prevention and control of pollution. They also develop rules and regulations which describe the standards for emissions and effluents of air and water pollutants and noise levels. A programme, National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring (NAAQM), has been in operation. Pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and SPM, and respirable SPM (RSPM) are monitored. Vehicular Pollution and its Control A sign of development seems to be the increasing number of vehicles on Indian roads. Vehicular emissions are major pollutants of ambient air quality. Petrol-driven vehicles produce carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, oxides of nitrogen, and sulphur dioxide. Vehicles driven on diesel produce maximum sulphur dioxide followed by the other pollutants produced by petrol-driven vehicles. These emissions are responsible for the high incidence of Kumar | 11 a number of diseases and genetic disorders like lung cancer, leukaemia and damage to the central nervous system. Vehicular pollution is sought to be controlled through progressive tightening of emission norms for new vehicles, introduction of cleaner fuels, effective enforcement of an inspection and maintenance programme for vehicles in use and effective road network and mass transport system and traffic management. Measures have been taken by different ministries and departments in this context. Delhi is getting special attention on account of its high pollution level. The WHO has classified the city among the ten most polluted cities in the world and vehicular pollution is the major factor of concern in Delhi. CNG has also been introduced in most of the cities in India including Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Surat, Baroda, etc. Compared to both diesel and petrol engines, emissions from vehicles running on CNG and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) are very low. In addition, the effects of these emissions are also very low regardless of the weather. A comparison of pollution performance of different engines operating on diesel, petrol and gaseous fuels such as LPG and CNG shows CNG to be better than other fuels. CNG releases less CO, less NOx, and less particulates. Noise Pollution Control Kumar | 12 The objective of the GAP Phase-I was to improve the water quality of the river Ganga. An amount of about Rs. 452 crore was spent on the GAP Phase- I which came to a close in March 2000. The entire funding was provided by the Central government. It was initially expected that programme would be completed in 6-7 years. However, it was delayed considerably due to land acquisition problems, court litigation and lack of experience in implementing a programme of this nature and magnitude. Only 35 per cent of the pollution load being generated from the towns along the river was tackled. A review of the first phase showed that even the organic pollution in the river had shown only an “incidental reduction”. This was so mainly because the technologies required were either cost-intensive or needed large areas of land. As a result, the impact of the plan was not “adequately- visible” on the quality of the river water. The major shortcomings of the plan were in respect of the operation and maintenance of the assets created. The state governments concerned, particularly those of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, were not able to provide adequate and timely funds to operate the plants. In West Bengal, however, the operation and main tenance of the plants were generally satisfactory. A comprehensive evaluation of GAP had been undertaken in April 1995 through independent agencies. The conclusions and recommendations of this evaluation were used to bring about improvements in GAP Phase-II and the National River Conservation Plan schemes. With the approval of the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) in 1995, the CGA was reconstituted as the National River Conservation Authority (NRCA) and the Ganga Project Directorate, redesignated as the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD). Kumar | 15 The GAP model with necessary corrections on the basis of lessons learnt and experience gained from GAP Phase-I have been applied to the polluted major rivers of the country under the NRCP. Since Phase-I did not cover the pollution load of Ganga fully, the Phase-II, which covers its tributaries Yamuna, Gomti and Damodar, besides River Ganga itself, was launched and approved in stages between 1993 and 1996 for implementation. After the launching of the NRCP in 1995, it was decided to merge the GAP Phase-II with NRCP. A notification to this effect was issued in December 1996. The GAP completed over 20 years and the NRCP completed 10 years in 2007. In November 2008, the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, declared Ganga a ‘National River’ to achieve the objectives of the clean-up operation. The decision was taken during a review of the Ganga Action Plan by the prime minister. The meeting also decided to set up a Ganga River Basin Authority. The Authority will be chaired by the prime minister and will have as its member’s chief ministers of the states through which the grand old river flows. Unlike the original Ganga Action Plan, which primarily focused on municipal sewage treatment, the latest decisions are aimed at broad-basing the river management efforts, integrating pollution control with measures for sustainable use of water and flood management. Yamuna Action Plan Originally, Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) covered pollution abatement works in 15 towns, break-up being Haryana (six), Uttar Pradesh (eight) and one in Delhi. This component is being funded by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) through a soft loan of Yen 17.77 billion. Kumar | 16 In April 1996, on the directions of the Supreme Court, six additional towns of Haryana were included under YAP. Works in these towns are implemented through the Plan funds of the environment ministry. Thus, YAP presently covers pollution abate ment works in 21 towns. The total cost of Yamuna Action Plan stands at Rs. 732.05 crore. Gomti Action Plan Gomti Action Plan (GoAP) was approved along with the YAP at an estimated cost of Rs 58.11 crore in April 1993. The approved cost comprises pollution abatement works in Lucknow and two other downstream towns Sultanpur and Jaunpur. Damodar Action Plan Under this Action Plan, pollution abatement works are being taken up in 12 towns. Of these eight are in Jharkhand and four in West Bengal. The approved cost is Rs. 23.58 crore. The NRCD has undertaken a series of measures to improve the performance, keeping in mind the experience gained by the implementation of GAP-I. It has been decided that all future river action plans will be formulated, with people’s active involvement, in an integrated and holistic manner by addressing not only the issue of river pollution but that of other components like internal sewerage, low cost sanitation, solid waste disposal, etc. Kumar | 17 India to protect the natural resources of India and maintain or improve the quality of our rivers and lakes (such as Ganga, Yamuna, Damodar and Gomti). Hence, whether there are favourable government policies to protect the environment present in India or not; whether everyone is contributing in controlling and reducing pollution or not; we should at least on an individual level do our best to protect the environment and natural beauty of India and spread awareness amongst other people also because once we lose the natural beauty of India to pollution, we can never get it back. References Bibliography 1. Dr. A.N. Rai, A Text Book of Environmental Education for Class XI. 2. Vidhi Oberoi, Environmental Science Class XI. Webliography 1. www.yourarticlelibrary.com 2. www.downtoearth.org.in Kumar | 20 Kumar | 21 3. www.greencleanguide.com 4. www. jstor.org 5. www. fairobserver.com