DETERIORATING ENVIRONMENT AND OUR RESPONSIBILITY

DETERIORATING ENVIRONMENT AND OUR RESPONSIBILITY  , RACE IAS : Best IAS Coaching in Lucknow 

Mains Examination: General Studies Paper 3

(Environmental Pollution and Protection)

Reference:

  • The impact of environmental pollution on all the activities and development of human civilization in the last three decades, its impact will remain for many decades.

Foreword:

  • Ever since the problems caused by pollution have increased, the central and state governments have taken several steps to get rid of it at their level. The question is, can the environment be made clean with the funds and schemes allocated by the central and state governments to get rid of environmental pollution?

World Environment Day 2023:

  • World Environment Day is celebrated globally on 5th June every year. The purpose of celebrating this day is to raise awareness globally about environmental issues and the actions to be taken to deal with them.
  • This time the host of World Environment Day is Ivory Coast. This day is being celebrated under #Beat Plastic Pollution.
  • After the Human Environment Conference or Stockholm Conference in June 1972, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) designated June 5 as World Environment Day in December 1972.
  • The day was first observed in 1974, and since then it is widely celebrated in more than 100 countries.
  • The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development stresses the need for a global effort to ensure the sustainable protection of our planet and our natural resources.
  • The Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG14 and SDG15, focus on protecting underwater and land ecosystems.

Environmental Pollution and Its Impacts:

  • It is difficult to say for how many decades the impact of environmental pollution on many activities and development of human civilization will remain for the last three decades. Actually, it is such a slow poison that it affects many other activities including our health. Before Corona, environmental pollution was considered to be the cause of many problems, crises, diseases, hindrance in development, hindrance in economic progress and poisoning of the entire atmosphere. This does not mean that the effects of environmental pollution, problems arising due to it, problems like crisis, diseases, changes in the season cycle should be removed from the priority list.
  • According to the resolutions set in the Paris Climate Agreement held in the year 2015, India is continuously striving for environmental protection and promotion. India is the only country among the G20 countries, which is complying with the agreement. Under this, saving and increasing forest areas are included. Apart from air pollution, there are also problems like water, noise, soil, fire and excessive light pollution, the effects of which have created problems at many levels.
  • Environmental pollution has increased at a rapid pace since last 6 months. According to the latest survey, Delhi is the second most polluted city among the 30 cities covered in terms of pollution in the world. Apart from this, 22 other cities of India are also included in the most polluted cities of the world.
  • It may be noted that despite the implementation of the resolutions for the betterment of the environment, there has not been any significant change in the problem of pollution. Despite this, we are not sensitive to keeping the environment better.
  • Scientists have considered increasing air pollution as the major reason for climate change, increasing diseases, global warming, tsunami and rising temperature of the earth.
  • The biggest reason for the increasing temperature of the earth and the change in the season cycle is toxic carbon energy. Compared to 2005, our country has reduced carbon emissions by 21 percent, but it is very less.
  • The continued air quality in Delhi, Gurugram, Agra, Ghaziabad, Kanpur and other cities in the very poor category means more effective steps are needed for the betterment of the environment.
  • According to environmental scientists, by 2040 the demand for clean energy in the country will increase three times as compared to today.
  • Surveys show that many states of the country where there are factories for making urea, ammonia, zinc sulphate and insecticides, whose chimneys emit various types of toxic gases, badly polluting the environment.
  • Phulpur and Amla have huge factories for making urea. Due to the toxic water and gas coming out of these factories, people are facing many problems.
  • Many rivers flowing in Bihar and Hooghly river in Kolkata have become so much polluted due to the wastes of more than 150 leather, textile, paper, jute, liquor and other modern industries that touching it with the hand feels like summoning the disease.
  • Similarly, the Sarisawa river dividing India-Nepal has become highly polluted due to the wastes coming out from the industries of Nepal. Significantly, the river Sarisawa had remained a means of livelihood for more than a hundred villages for centuries. But it has now become a cause of death due to the toxic water and effluents released from the tanneries, liquor factories and sugar mills.
  • In the last 25 years, more than ten thousand animals have died due to consumption of its toxic water. This has happened due to water pollution.
  • According to the Ganga Pollution Prevention Committee, 2033 kms of 480 kms of this historic river has been badly polluted due to continuous discharge of industrial effluents and residuals. Krishna, Kaveri, Godavari, Narmada, Tapti, Bhima, Sabarmati and Yamuna are also badly polluted due to the effluents coming out from the industries. Kerala's Chaliyar river has become so polluted due to the toxic water released from the rayon factory that its water is no longer fit for any use.
  • Among the problems of pollution, air and water pollution are affecting humans the most. If we talk about toxic gases dissolved in the air, then the amount of benzene carcinogen has increased three to nine times in Delhi. This is a dangerous level of benzene. According to scientists, cancer cases are increasing day by day in Delhi.
  • Similarly, in Bihar and Jharkhand, more than 30,000 people die every year due to poisonous gases coming out of electric heating houses.
  • Thousands of people die every year in Delhi, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh due to respiratory diseases and cancer. In Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, thousands of people die due to various respiratory diseases due to the gases coming out of lime kilns.
  • Eye and respiratory diseases are common among textile workers in Mumbai, Ludhiana, Surat, Kolkata and many other textile mills in the country. There are big cement factories in Satna, Banmore, Kaimor, Gopalnagar and Jamul in Madhya Pradesh. Kaimur has the largest cement factory in the country. Dust blows round the clock from this and other cement factories. Apart from toxic particles of dust, poisonous gases like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide come out of their chimneys. Because of these, apart from asthma and TB, the amount of hemoglobin in the blood decreases.
  • 24 percent of the pollution in the capital Delhi is caused by factories. Apart from this, poisonous gases are emitted from hundreds of factories in the capital region of Faridabad, Gurugram and Noida. Due to increase in the amount of nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and other toxic gases within a radius of 100 km from them, eye, nose, brain, lung, throat, intestinal and digestive diseases usually occur.

Conclusions:

  • To get rid of the problems caused by pollution, the central and state governments have taken steps to get rid of it at their level. The question arises whether the funds and schemes allocated by the central and state governments to get rid of environmental pollution can make the environment clean? Obviously, the steps taken by the central government to get rid of air and water pollution and the factors polluting the environment also need to be explained to the common people.
  • As long as the common man remains careless about the environment and continues to cause noise pollution through loud noise in the air, water, soil and atmosphere, pollution related problems cannot be solved. Merely making a law is not going to work. That's why scientists keep advising common people to make them aware of the environment. In the last thirty years, the increasing problems in small and big cities, cities and towns of India including Delhi have made it clear that if we want to live a better life then pollution has to be reduced.
  • The need is that we should minimize the use of polluting factors in the environment and in our own interest and also make others aware about it. That is, the increasing environmental problems have to be taken very seriously. Only then our environment will be safe and we will also be safe.

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Mains Exam Question:

Write your suggestions to solve the increasing pollution and its impacts.