Chapter 9: ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

• The economic development that we have achieved so far has come at a very heavy price at the cost of environmental quality.
• Liberalization, Privatisation and Globalisation (LPG) have resulted in the development of the economy but with adverse consequences on our environment.
• Therefore, we have to bear in mind the adverse consequences of the past development path on our environment and consciously choose a path of sustainable development.

MEANING OF ENVIRONMENT

Definition: Environment is defined as the total planetary inheritance and the totality of all resources.

• Environment is the sum total of external forces which surround us.
• It includes all the biotic and abiotic factors that influence each other.
• Biotic Elements: Biotic elements include all living elements like birds, animals and plants, forests, fisheries, etc.
• Abiotic Elements: Abiotic elements include non-living elements like air, water, land, etc.

Functions of the Environment

1. Provides resources for production: The environment supplies renewable and non-renewable resources.
   • Renewable resources are those which can be used without the possibility of the resource becoming depleted or exhausted, like trees, fish, etc.
   • Non-renewable resources are those, which get exhausted with extraction and use, like fossil fuels.
   • The natural resources provided by the environment are used as inputs for production.
2. Environment assimilates waste: The process of production and consumption activities generates a lot of wastage, which is absorbed by the environment.
3. Environment sustains life: Some necessities of life (sun, soil, water and air) are part of the environment. Therefore, the environment sustains life by providing these essential elements.
4. It provides aesthetic services: The environment includes land, forests, water bodies, rainfall, air, atmosphere, etc. People enjoy the scenic beauty of these elements (like that of hill stations). Such elements help in improving the quality of life. The environment is able to perform these functions without any interruption as long as the demand for these functions is within its "Carrying Capacity.

​​​​​​​'Carrying Capacity' implies two things:

• Resource extraction should remain below the rate of resource regeneration.
• The generation of waste should remain within the absorption capacity of the environment.
• If these two conditions are not fulfilled, then the environment fails to perform its vital function of life sustenance and it leads to the situation of 'Environmental Crisis

Reasons for Environmental Crisis

1. The population explosion and the advent of the industrial revolution have increased the demand for environmental resources, but their supply is limited due to overuse and misuse.
2. The intensive and extensive extraction of both renewable and non-renewable resources has exhausted some of the vital resources. Due to this, a huge amount of money is spent on technology and research to explore new resources.
3. Extinction of many resources and continuous rise in population has also resulted in an environmental crisis.
4. Due to affluent consumption and production standards of the developed world, the wastes generated are beyond the absorptive capacity of the environment.
5. The development process has polluted the atmosphere and waters and there is a decline in air and water quality (70% of water in India is polluted). It has resulted in an increased incidence of respiratory and water-borne diseases.
6. The expenditure on health is also rising. Global environmental issues such as global warming and ozone depletion also contribute to the increased financial commitments of the government.
7. Thus, it is clear that the opportunity costs of negative environmental impacts are high and environmental issues of waste generation and pollution have become critical today.

Reversal of Supply-Demand relationship: Reason for Environment Degradation

• In the Past, Demand was less than Supply In the early days of civilization, demand for environmental resources and services was much less than their supply.
  • Pollution was within the absorptive capacity of the environment; and
  • Rate of resource extraction was less than the rate of regeneration of these resources.
• As a result, environmental problems did not arise.
• Presently, Demand is more than Supply
• In the present period, the demand for resources is in far excess of supply, i.e. demand is beyond the rate of regeneration of the resources. With the population explosion and with the advent of the industrial revolution, the pressure on the absorptive capacity of the environment has increased tremendously.
• Thus, a reversal of supply-demand relationship is responsible for the degradation of the quality of the environment.

Global Warming

Global warming is the observed and projected increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere and oceans. During the past century, the atmospheric temperature has risen by 1.1°F (0.6°C) and the sea level has risen several inches.

Cause of Global Warming

• Global warming is due to an increase in greenhouse gas concentrations, like water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and ozone in the atmosphere.
• Burning of coal and petroleum products (sources of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone);
• Deforestation increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
• Methane gas released in animal waste;
• Increased cattle production, contributes to deforestation, methane production and the use of fossil fuels.
• The atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane (CH) have increased by 41 % and 160% respectively above pre-industrial levels since 1750.

Main Effects of Global Warming

• Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the earth's poles. It has led to a steep rise in sea level and coastal flooding.
• Hurricanes and other tropical storms are likely to become stronger.
• Increased incidence of tropical diseases, like malaria, cholera, dengue, chikungunya, etc.

There are thousands of species (like polar bears) in danger of becoming extinct forever.

Ozone Depletion

Definition: Ozone depletion refers to the destruction of ozone in the ozone layer due to the presence of chlorine from manmade chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other forces.

Cause of Ozone

• The problem of ozone depletion is caused by high levels of chlorine and bromine compounds in the stratosphere.
• The origin of these compounds is: CFC, which is used as cooling substances in AC and refrigerators; or and refrigerators; or
  • Aerosol propellants and Bromofluoro carbons (halons), which is used in fire extinguishers.

Main Effects of Ozone Depletion

• Because of the depletion of the ozone layer, more ultraviolet (UV) radiation comes to earth and causes damage to living organisms.
  • UV radiation seems to be responsible for skin cancer in human beings.
  • UV radiation lowers the production of phytoplankton, which affects other aquatic organisms.
  • UV radiation can also influence the growth of terrestrial plants.

Montreal Protocol

• As the ozone layer prevents most harmful wavelengths of ultraviolet light from passing through the earth's atmosphere, its depletion has generated worldwide concern. It has led to the adoption of the “Montreal Protocol".
• Montreal Protocol is a historical treaty designed by the members of the United Nations to protect the ozone layer by phasing out CFC, which is supposed to be the main reason for ozone depletion.
• Under the Montreal Protocol, all the signing members agreed to freeze the consumption and production of CFC by the year 2013.
• India signed the Montreal Protocol along with its London Amendment on 17.09.1992.
• The Montreal Protocol has significantly reduced the burden of CFCs in the stratosphere and helped in ozone recovery.

STATE OF INDIA'S ENVIRONMENT

• The black soil of the Deccan Plateau is particularly suitable for the cultivation of cotton, leading to a concentration of textile industries in this region.

• The Indo-Gangetic plains spread from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal are one of the most fertile, intensively cultivated and densely populated regions in the world.

• India's forests, though unevenly distributed, provide green cover for a majority of its population and natural cover for its wildlife.
• Large deposits of iron ore, coal and natural gas are found in the country. India alone accounts for nearly 20% of the world's total iron-ore reserves.

• Bauxite, copper, chromate, diamonds, gold, lead, lignite, manganese, zinc, uranium, etc. are also available in different parts of the country.

India's environmental problems pose a “Dichotomy" (contrast between two things that are or are represented as being entirely different):

• Poverty is causing environmental degradation through cutting down of trees (to use fuelwood), overgrazing of animals, pollution of water resources, and encroachment into forest land.
• Affluence in living standards is causing environmental degradation because with affluence (wealth), the demand for goods and services increases. Higher demand necessitates the need for an increase in production. For increasing production, the demand for finite natural resources increases. It raises the pollution resulting from more vehicles and industries. 

CHALLENGES TO INDIA'S ENVIRONMENT

Air pollution, water contamination, soil erosion, deforestation and wildlife extinction are some of the most pressing environmental concerns of India. The priority issues identified are:

Land Degradation

• Meaning: Land degradation refers to a decline in the overall quality of soil, water, or vegetation conditions, commonly caused by human activities.
• It occurs through natural and man-made processes of wind erosion, water erosion and water logging.

• In India, land suffers from different types of degradation, mainly because of unstable use and inappropriate management practices.

• Such kind of degradation leads to the loss of invaluable nutrients and lower food grain production.

• Poor land use practices are responsible for the rapid land degradation in India.

Causes of Land Degradation

1. Loss of vegetation due to deforestation.
2. Overgrazing, i.e. grazing of natural pastures at stocking intensities above the livestock carrying capacity.
3. Encroachment into forestlands.
4. Non-adoption of adequate soil conservation measures.
5. Unsustainable fuelwood and fodder extraction.
6. Improper crop rotation.
7. Indiscriminate use of agrochemicals, such as fertilizers and pesticides.
8. Improper planning and management of irrigation systems.
9. Extraction of groundwater in excess of the recharge capacity.
10. Poverty of the agriculture-dependent people.
11. Shifting cultivation.

Some Facts and Figures about Land Degradation

• According to Indian Agriculture in Brief, 27th edition, 2000, about 174 million hectares (i.e., 53 per cent of the total land area) of land in India is facing the serious problem of land degradation. Out of 174 million hectares:

• 144 million hectares are subjected to soil erosion through water and wind; and
• A Balance of 30 million hectares is subjected to other problems.

1. Degradation of Forests or Deforestation

• Deforestation involves the permanent destruction of indigenous forests and woodlands. It refers to the cutting, clearing and removal of rainforest, where land is thereafter converted to a non-forest use.
• 'Deforestation is rising at such a rapid scale that it has totally disturbed the ecological balance of the country.
• The per capita forestland in the country is only 0.08 hectare against the requirement of 0.47 hectare to meet basic needs.
• There are very serious and dangerous consequences of forest depletion, like chances of more floods, soil erosion, heavy siltation of dams and changes in climate.

2. Soil Erosion

• Definition: Soil erosion takes place when the surface soil is washed away through excessive rains and floods.

• Deforestation is one of the major reason for soil erosion.
• As per the estimates, soil is being eroded at a rate of 5.3 billion tonnes a year, which is in excess of the recharge capacity. As a result, country loses 0.8 million tonnes of nitrogen 1.8 million tonnes of phosphorus and 26.3 million tonnes of potassium every year.

• The quantity of nutrients lost due to erosion each year ranges from 5.8 to 8.4 million tonnes.

3. Biodiversity Loss

• Definition: Biodiversity is defined as the variability among living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are a part.

• Conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity is fundamental to ecologically sustainable development

• Biodiversity loss has serious economic and social costs for any country as many plant and animal species are severely threatened by the destruction of their habitat and over exploitation of resources. So, there is an immediate need for biodiversity conservation.

4. Air Pollution

• Air pollution is the presence of materials in the  air in such concentrations, which are harmful to man and the environment.

• In India, air pollution is widespread in urban areas where vehicles are the major contributors, and in a few other areas, which have a high concentration of industries and thermal power plants.
• Vehicular emissions are of particular concern as these are ground level sources and have the maximum impact on the general population.

• The number of motor vehicles increased from 3 lakh in 1951 to 6.7 crores in 2003 and 14.18 crores in 2011. Personal transport vehicles (two-wheeler vehicles and cars only).
• Constitute about 80% of the total number of registered vehicles, thus, contributing significantly to the total air pollution load.

• India is one of the ten most industrialised nations of the world. However, this achievement comes with unwanted and unanticipated consequences like unplanned urbanization, pollution and the risk of accidents. The CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) has identified 17 categories of industries (large and medium scale) as significantly polluting

Some Ways to Control Air Pollution

• Air pollution causes health problems and causes damage to the environment and property. It has resulted in ozone depletion, which is leading to climate change. Therefore, there is a serious need for intake steps to control it. Some of the ways to control air pollution are:
• Promotion of public transport like the use of Delhi Metro instead of private vehicles. Steps should be taken for effective traffic planning and management.
• Promotion of cleaner fuels in vehicles, like the use of CNG instead of petrol and diesel.
• Use of cleaner fuels such as LPG in households to reduce indoor air pollution.
• Promotion of cleaner technologies, strengthening of emission standards, introducing economic incentives and strengthening of the monitoring and reporting system.

Pollution Control Boards

In order to address water and air pollution in India, the government set up the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 1974. This was followed by states establishing their own state-level boards to address all the environmental concerns.

Main Functions of Pollution Control Boards

• They investigate, collect and disseminate information relating to water, air and land pollution, and lay down standards for sewage/trade effluent and emissions.
• These boards provide technical assistance to governments in promoting cleanliness of streams and wells by prevention, control and abatement of water and air pollution in the country.

• These boards also carry out and sponsor investigations and research, relating to problems of water and air pollution and for their prevention, control, or abatement.
• They also organise, through mass media, a comprehensive mass awareness programme for the same.

• They also prepare manuals, codes and guidelines relating to treatment and disposal of sewage and trade effluents.

• They assess the air quality through regulation of industries.
• State boards periodically inspect every industry under their jurisdiction, through district-level officials, to assess the adequacy of treatment measures provided to treat effluent and gaseous emissions.

• They also provide background air quality data needed for industrial siting and town planning
• They monitor the quality of water in 125 rivers (including the tributaries), wells, lakes creeks, ponds, tanks, drains and canals.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

• Definition: Sustainable development is the development, which will allow all future generations to have a potential average quality of life, that is, at least as high, as what is being enjoyed by the current generation.
• The basic aim of sustainable development is to ensure that the present generation should leave a stock of 'quality of life for the next generation, which is no less than what we have inherited.
• Environmentalists have used the term 'sustainability' in an attempt to clarify the desired balance between economic growth on one hand and environmental preservation on the other.
• For economists, a development path is sustainable, if the ability of future generations to the stock of overall capital assets remains constant or rises over time.

• The term 'sustainable development has its origin in the International Union for the Conservation of Natural Resources (IUCN) 1980 World Commission Strategy report.

• According to the commission, sustainable development refers to the development that meets the need of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations, to meet their own needs.
  • Sustainable development is a development, that:
  • Meets the basic needs (employment, food, energy, water, housing) of all people, particularly the poor people; and
• Ensures growth of agriculture, manufacturing and service sector, to meet these needs

Sustainable Development aims:

• Sustainable and equitable use of resources, to meet the needs of the present and the future generations without causing damage to the environment.
• To prevent further damage to our life-support systems;
• To Conserve and nurture biodiversity and other resources for long-term food security.

How do achieve Sustainable Development?

1. Restrict use of renewable resources: Renewable resources should be extracted on a sustainable basis. It means the rate of extraction should not exceed the rate of regeneration.
2. Substitute non-renewable with renewable resources: As non-renewable resources are depleted, renewable substitutes must be developed, to maintain the flow of services over time. It means the rate of depletion of non-renewable resources should not exceed the rate of creation of renewable substitutes.
3. Become Input Efficient: Technological progress should be made to become input efficient and not input consuming. It means efforts should be made to produce more per unit of input. It will reduce the exploitation of resources.
4. Control Pollution: Pollution emissions should be limited to the absorption capacity of the environment.
5. Control the growth of population: The growth of the human population should be controlled to a level, which is within the carrying capacity of the environment.

Strategies for Sustainable Development

1. Use of Non-conventional sources of energy: India is hugely dependent on thermal and hydropower plants to meet its power needs. However, both these sources have adverse environmental impacts.
   • Non-conventional sources like wind Energy power and solar rays are cleaner and greener energy sources but are not yet been explored on a large scale due to a lack of technological devices.
   • In areas with a high speed of the wind, windmills can provide electricity without any adverse impact on the environment. In areas with high speed of wind, windmills can provide electricity without any adverse impact on the environment.

• • India is naturally endowed with a large quantity of solar energy in the form of sunlight. With the help of photovoltaic cells, solar energy can be converted into electricity
  • Both the sources (wind power and solar rays) are very free from pollution. Although their initial cost is high, the benefits are, such that the high cost gets easily absorbed.

2. Use of cleaner fuels

• In Urban areas, use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is being promoted to be used fuel. In Delhi, use of CNG in public transport has significantly lowered air pollution.

• In Rural areas, households generally use wood, dung cake or biomass as fuel. The fuels have several adverse implications like deforestation, reduction in green cover wastage of cattle dung and air pollution. To overcome this problem, the use of LPG and gobar gas is being promoted, as they are cleaner fuels and help in reducing household pollution largely.

3. Establishment of Mini-Hydel Plants: In mountainous regions, perpetual streams can be found almost everywhere.

• These streams can be used to generate electricity (via turbines) through Mini-hydel plants.
• Such power plants are more or less environment-friendly and generate enough power to meet local demands.
• Moreover, large-scale transmission towers and cables are also not required in such plants.

4. Traditional Knowledge and Practices: Traditionally, Indian people have been close to their environment. All practices relating to the agriculture system, healthcare system, housing, transport, etc. used to be environment friendly.
   • The shift from the traditional systems has caused large-scale damage to the environment and to our rural heritage.
   • For example, India is well known for its AYUSH treatment with about 15,000 species of plants, which have medicinal properties.

• However, with the advent of westerthe n system of treatment, we ignore our traditional systems of Ayurveda, Unani, etc.
• These old systems are environment friendly, relatively free from side effects and do not involve large-scale industrial and chemical processing.

5. Use of Bio-compost: The use of chemical fertilizers to increase agricultural production has not only adversely affected the large areas of productive land but also contaminated the water bodies.

• Due to use of chemical fertilizers, demand for irrigation has been going up year after years.
• With the rise in demand for organic food, farmers have again started using compass made from organic wastes of different types.

• In certain parts of the country, cattle’s are maintained only because they produce dung, which is an important fertilizer and soil conditioner.

6. Control of Bio pest: The advent of green revolution has increased the use of chemical pesticides, which not only contaminates the food products, but also pollutes the water bodies.

• To meet this challenge, better methods of pest control are promoted. For example, neem based pesticides are environment friendly and free from side effects. .
• In addition, awareness is being created for use of various animals and birds (like snakes lizards, owls, peacocks) as natural pest controllers.
• Mixed cropping and growing different crops in consecutive years on the same land have also helped farmers.

7. Change in unsustainable patterns of consumption and production: With increasing purchasing power, wasteful consumption, linked to market driven consumerism, is stressing the resource base of developing countries further.

• It is important to counter this through education and public awareness.
• In several areas, desirable limits and standards for consumption and production need to be established and applied through appropriate mechanisms, including education incentives and legislation.