Environmental Issues in India

• Chapter 12 discusses geographical perspectives of selected issues and problems.

Terminology

• Pollution means to make dirty, derived from the Latin word "Pollutioen".

• Pollution is an undesirable change in physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the physical environment (land, water, air).

• Pollution affects human life on a large scale.

• A pollutant is any form of energy or matter that causes degradation or creates pollution in the natural balance of the ecosystem.

• Pollutants can be in gaseous, liquid, or solid form.

• Smog was first used in the early 1900s to describe a mix of smoke and fog.

• Smog is a type of air pollution that reduces visibility.

• Smog is common in industrial areas and big cities with lots of industry and traffic.

• Smog is unhealthy for humans and animals, and can kill plants.

Swachh Bharat Mission

• The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), also known as Swatchh Bharat Abhiyan or Clean India Mission, is a nationwide campaign.
• The Government of India initiated SBM in 2014 to improve the quality of life in urban slums.
• Aim to advance solid waste management.
• It is a restructured version of the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, which launched in 2009, failed to achieve its intended goals.

Soil Erosion

• Soil erosion Is the removal of the upper layer of soil by running water, wind, or other agents of erosion.

Alkalization

• Alkalization is an accumulation of weak acid bases, such as bicarbonates, leading to an increase in soil pH.
• Increasing pH can be problematic for plant growth as it can block the uptake of some nutrients.

Salinization

• Soil salinization is a major process of land degradation.
• Results in decreased soil fertility, an important factor of desertification in drylands.
• The process involves evaporation, salt precipitation and dissolution, salt transport, and ion exchange.

Water Logging

• Waterlogging saturates the soil with water.
• Occurs when there is too much water in a plant's root zone, decreasing the oxygen available to roots.
• Can greatly threaten plant growth and production.

Environmental Concerns in India

• Water pollution is caused by chemical, physical, or biological substances that degrade water quality and make it unfit for consumption.

• Drinking water in India is getting contaminated due to industrial waste, leading to waterborne diseases.

• Air pollution results from the addition of toxic chemicals or compounds.

• Examples: dust, fumes, gas, fog, odor, smoke, or vapor into the air in large proportions and durations that reduce air quality.

• This is harmful to flora, fauna, and property.

• Burning fossil fuels, mining, and industries are the main sources of air pollution.

• Deforestation is defined as the broad removal of trees from forests for various purposes.

• India's forest cover is continuously declining due to increasing demand from an increasing population.

• Land degradation is defined as a temporary or permanent decline in the productive capacity of the land.

• Causes: soil erosion, waterlogging, salinization, alkalinization of land, and improper water planning/management.

• Noise pollution refers to unwanted sound in the environment caused by humans.

• Noise pollution affects human and animal mental health, becoming a serious problem due to technical innovations.

• Sources: factories, industrial construction, automobiles, aircrafts, loudspeakers, programmers and traffic.

Sources of Water Pollution

• Natural Sources: Natural agents, such as erosional activities, landslides, and the decomposition of plants, pollute water.
• Man-made Sources include:
  • Developmental activities of industries, urbanization, agricultural activities, transportation, etc.
  • Industrial Sources: solid industrial waste, wastewater, many poisonous gases and chemicals.
  • Numerous heavy metals, dust, smoke mix with water resources and pollute it.
  • Major polluting industries: leather, pulp, paper, textiles, chemicals.
  • Domestic Sources: sewage systems, municipal and domestic garbage thrown into water bodies.
  • River Yamuna at Delhi has turned into a sewage drain.
  • Agricultural Sources: the 'Green Revolution'changed agricultural patterns in India.
  • Chemicals used in agriculture like inorganic fertilizers and pesticides create chemical components.
  • Heavy rain washes these chemicals into rivers, lakes, and tanks.
  • Cultural Activities: cultural and religious activities such as pilgrimage, religious fairs, and increased tourism pollute water.

Pollution of Rivers Ganga and Yamuna

• River Ganga: Highly polluted from Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal due to urban and industrial wastes.
• Most polluted areas: downstream of Kanpur, Varanasi, and 'Farakka Barrage'.
• Domestic waste, industrial waste, and dumping of animal corpses released into cities; Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, and Kolkata.
• River Yamuna:
• Highly polluted at Delhi and Uttar Pradesh by urban and industrial wastes.
• From Delhi to the confluence with Chambal, Mathura and Agra are the major polluted regions.
• The water is mainly polluted by agricultural runoff, domestic and industrial waste from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Namami Gange Programme

• An initiative of the national government to clean the Ganga by controlling pollutants.
• The program's objectives involve:
• Developing sewage treatment systems in towns.
• Monitoring industrial effluents.
• Developing the riverfront.
• Planting forests on the bank to increase biodiversity.
• Cleaning the river surface.
• Developing 'Ganga Grams.'
• Raising public awareness about adding pollutants to the river.

Air Pollution Effects

• Causes disease related to the lungs, skin, and throat
• Impacts the respiratory and nervous system, can cause death
• Modifies climate, which leads to the "Greenhouse" effect and "Global Warming."
• Causes acid rain.
• Causes smog over cities dangerous to humans, flora, and fauna and to property.
  • Example: in India, 2500 people died in Bhopal in 1984 due to leakage of MIC.
• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) deplete the ozone layer, so Ultraviolet rays of the sun reach the earth and increase atmospheric temperature.

Air Pollution Sources

• Natural Resources: volcanic eruption, dust, storm, fires, etc.
• Factories: cause smoke and ash
• Automobiles: release carbon monoxide & lead into the atmosphere.

Steps to Reduce Air Pollution

• Grow more trees.
• Reduce the use of fossil fuels.
• Utilize public transport.
• Educate people.
• Reduce the use of inorganic and plastic products.
• Do not burn agricultural and other wastes.
• Reduce ACs and Refrigerators use.
• Use power-saving devices.
• Properly decompose human and animal waste.

Hazardous Noise Pollution in Big Cities

• Industrialization's increased heavy machinery, like generators and mills, results in unwanted noise.
• Traffic, traffic, intensity, and nature, are dependent on the type of aircraft, vehicle, and road.
• Weddings and public gatherings use loudspeakers resulting in unwanted noise.
• Mining and building construction add to the noise pollution.

Steps to Reduce Noise Pollution

• Avoid loud music.

• Restrict firecrackers.

• Position factories/industries away from human settlements.

• Restrict the use of pressure horns.

• Turn off engines when not in use.

• Control the volume of radios and TVs.

• Oceanic noise has increased due to the increase in global shipping trade, greater vessel speeds, and population in recent decades.

• Increased marine and naval activities due to exploration of natural resources.

Urban Waste Problems

• Solid waste refers to a variety of old/used articles such as stained small pieces of metals, broken glassware, ashes, etc. that are dumped in different places.
• In India, metropolitan cities collect and dispose of about 90% of solid waste.
• 30-50% of waste in most cities remains uncollected.

Strategies to Overcome Urban Waste Disposal

• Separate organic and inorganic waste.
• Use the water from the wash basin for flushing toilets.
• Treat other cleaning purposes clothes with water purification system waste water
• Avoid single-use food/drink containers and utensils.
• Use a reusable bottle/cup for beverages.
• Use dry leaves as manure after composting.
• Buy secondhand items and donate used goods.
• Establish waste treatment plants.
• Recycle wisely.
• Use harvested rain water for gardening.

Problems Arising Due to an in Developing Countires

• Urbanization can lead to congestion and other problems.
• In-migration causes crowding and excessive land pressure.
• Migration leads to unemployment.
• Lack of housing leads to urban slums.
• Unemployment results to anti-social and drug related activities.
• Overcrowding leads to poor sanitation and health services.
• Increased environmental pollution.
• Urban waste solid and liquid disposal issues.
• Overburden on existing services.

Advantages of Urbanization

• Migration to urban areas provides employment.
• Leads to diverse services.
• Availability of cheap labor.
• Improved living standards due to demand for advanced services.
• Opportunities for people especially for health, education, and employment.

Dharavi Slum

• Dharavi is divided by one main road with narrow alleys so bicycles cannot pass through.
• Consists of temporary two-to-three-story buildings.
• Overcrowded.
• Shadowless, treeless sunlight, uncollected garbage, and stagnant pools of water.

Positive Aspects of Dharavi

• Produces beautiful articles.

• Produces ceramics and pottery, exquisite embroidery, high-fashion garments, metal and woodwork, and wood carvings.

• Slums or "jhuggi- jhopris" are unauthorized, overcrowded buildings around urban areas.

• Slums lack basic facilities like drinking water, sanitation, sewage systems, electricity, and toilets.

• Poor hygienic conditions.

• Compact houses that lack inflow of fresh air.

• Congested areas that lack transportation and schools.

• Low paying jobs.

• Lack of a secure economic structure makes them unsafe and forces them into drug abuse.

Reducing Land Degradation

• Provide some ways to reduced soil pollution:
• Explain the causes of soil pollution.
• Excessive irrigation changes the structure of the soil.
• Saline areas increased.
• Reckless overuse of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides.
• Degrade soils by destroying their natural, physical, chemical, and biological properties.
• They increase salinity and reduce water-holding capacity.
• Industrial Wastes:
• Improper disposal of and irrigation of agricultural fields degrades the soil.
• Toxic chemicals enter into the soil.
• Polluted Chimneys:
• Pollutants transported by winds deposit onto soils.
• Acid Rain:
  • Sulphur emitted from factories pollute large scaled soils.

Measures to Reduce Land Degradation

• Training to farmers on the proper use of fertilizers.
• Recycling water to reuse.
• Plastic restriction.
• Converting human and garden waste into manure.
• Properly decomposing garbage instead of throwing it into water.

Watershed

• Slum dwellers should have access to toilets, irrigation, and crop rotation.
• The watershed management program in the Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh is a perfect scenario of all those things.
• Backward district with a high tribal population.
• Management programs by the ministries of "Agriculture" and "Rural Developments".
• Focus land preservation and community enrichment.
• Ministry of Rural Development treats the area of district.
• People have introduced pastures and other farming techniques.
• Farmers have become satisfied.

Text Questions

• Organics (food/yard waste) account for 32% of thrown away products, followed by 26% of paper products: proper waste disposal is key.
• Most waste ends up in a landfill, some San Francisco and Seattle, are recycled.
• Ragpickers sustain by sorting waste helping clean a large amount: most Indian cities don't possess working facilities.
• Waste value differs by material, recyclability.
• Lack of proper educational facilities leads to the lack of students in schools.

Explore the multifaceted environmental challenges facing India, including deforestation, pollution, and waste management. Understand the impact of these issues on agriculture, wildlife, and human health. Gain insights into the key factors driving environmental degradation and potential solutions.