Events & Issues
New Delhi, 15
November, 2017
Environmental Crises
INDIA CHOKING, REDUCE
CO2
By Dr. Oishee
Mukherjee
Over the last week India is choking. Thanks to the dangerously
poisonous air we breathe as most cities are over populated and polluted. A
recent Geological Survey of India study found life threatening conditions in
Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi or Hyderabad, wherein people face lead
concentration in food, far higher than permitted limits.
Further, raw food sold in streets contain 8.78mg to a high of
43.35 mg per kg of lead concentration, higher than the threshold value of 2.5
mg per kg specified by the Food Safety & Standards Regulation (2011).
Importantly, about 75% of this lead contamination is contributed
by atmospheric lead produced by incomplete diesel combustion. The implications
of this alarming situation are devastating as every 10 mg of lead in a
deciliter, one tenth of a litre of blood in 11 year olds to 4.25 points lower
IQ at the age of 38, according to a study published in the Journal of the
American Medical Association. Worse, high toxicity might lead to cancer.
Another example: Vast waste dumps in cities pollute the entire
neighbourhood. The increasing incidence of dengue witnessed in West Bengal,
Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra etc is a direct
result of a dirty environment with municipalities refusing to take action. Pertinently, the Supreme Court is hearing a
PIL about Mamata’s State Government
trying to hush up dengue cases in West Bengal.
Sadly, pollution is not only crippling urban centres but also
rural areas. The recent death of farmers due to pesticide poisoning in
Maharashtra’s Yavatmal and elsewhere is a case in point. Alongside, experts
have questioned the rationale of using pesticides here which are either banned
or restricted globally due to their high toxicity.
Interestingly, the Centre for Science & Environment came out
with a list of seven highly hazardous pesticides that continue to be used in
the country despite being banned in many countries. It questioned the IARI Central
Committee which had reviewed the use of these pesticides in 2015 but preferred
not to ban them indefinitely.
Notably, these seven are in the list of Class-I extremely
hazardous pesticides which account for nearly 30% of the total pesticides used
in India in 2015-16. Though the Central Committee had reviewed the use of
66 pesticides and recommended banning 13 from 2018, phasing out six from 2020
and allowing use of others listed till the next review, is a matter of concern for
researchers, environmentalists and doctors.
Shockingly, even now the Government has taken no initiative instead
the Central team has blamed the wrong combination of pesticides for standing
cotton crops without taking adequate protection like use of safety gear. Sadly,
not only pesticides the story is the
same vis-à-vis control of various
pollutants wherein the Government remains a silent spectator.
Undeniably, the need for curbing such pollutants remains a big
challenge as these are affecting people across the board specially low income
groups leading to wanton increase in diseases. True, infrastructure development
and road building activities are ongoing however there is need to give urgent
attention to human health, the cornerstone of a nation’s progress.
Raising a moot point: How should this be done? If the Government
is serious environmental rules and regulations have to be strictly implemented
and monitored. Recall, the Supreme Court recently directed the Centre to
furnish a report to implement the much-hyped Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in view of various vector borne diseases,
including dengue.
An action plan also needs to be formulated immediately to
identify specific areas where pollution is directly related to health hazards
and the implementation methodology. Unless the whole issue is examined by
experts, including scientists and environmentalists and a time frame proposed
for each action, pollutants would continue to be a dangerous threat to human
life.
Undoubtedly, the Niti Aayog has taken the correct decision in
proposing a law providing for an increase in the existing penalty from Rs 1
lakh to a minimum Rs 5 crores and imprisonment up to 7 years for causing
‘substantial’ environmental damage. But what is necessary is strict enforcement,
which unfortunately is lacking in the
country.
This proposed legislation which received the nod of the Law Ministry
would result in amending the existing Environment Protection Act and the
National Green Tribunal (NGT) Act. Once amended, the law would have separate
categorization of green violations in terms of ‘minor’, ‘non-substantial’ and
‘substantial’ on the basis of extent of damage and imposing fines on them
accordingly.
But all these small measures may not be substantial for the
country in the long run unless a pragmatic and judicious strategy with specific
time frame is formulated. Towards that end, the
23rd round of climate change talks (COP23) are ongoing
in Bonn to discuss the alarming rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
In a startling revelation by 20 German institutions under the
network Bioacid (Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification) found the
cumulative effects of pollution on increasing acidity in food chains and the
marine ecosystems. Be it India or other developing countries all should be
harping on a qualified goal for financial support, of over $ 100 billion by
2020.
The negotiating group, China and G-77 should highlight the
disastrous impact of climate change along-with the flow of finance, technology
and building capacities in developing countries to deal with it. This is imperative
when the flow of funds is declining. In fact, G-77 stressed that countering
climate change could not wait till 2020, when the Paris Agreement with its
national action plans comes into effect.
Obviously the changing climate with increasing pollution is a
serious cause of concern. Recently the World Meteorological Organization underscored
concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere surged at a
record breaking speed in 2016, to the highest level in 800,000 years. Stating, “globally
averaged concentrations of CO2 reached 403.3 parts per million
in 2016 up from 400 ppm in 2015 due to a combination of human activities and a
strong El Nino event”.
Adding, CO2 in the atmosphere was up by 145%
over pre-industrial levels, methane (CH4) by 257% and nitrous oxide
(N2O) by 122%. The steady
increase of these gases from 1970 till date has been consistent with increase
in global average temperatures. Obviously, with rapid cuts in these gases
specially carbon dioxide dangerous temperature increase is expected by the end
of this century or even earlier.
Clearly, the situation is going from bad to worse in India and
other Third World countries whereby restricting the global warming limit to
around 20 C is mere jargon. Extreme weather events are
occurring globally, already a large part of coral reefs have been destroyed or
seriously damaged.
Time now to drastically reduce global CO2emissions, an
impossible task, but could save half the world’s tropical reefs. It only requires
transfer of financial and technological support to developing countries which would
save lives and help counter the looming environmental crises. ----- INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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