In News
- 75% of river monitoring stations report heavy metal pollution according to the recent State of Environment Report 2022.
- It is published by the environmental NGO, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
Key observations of the report:
- River Pollution:
- Three out of every four river monitoring stations in India posted alarming levels of heavy toxic metals such as lead, iron, nickel, cadmium, arsenic, chromium and copper.
- In about a fourth of the monitoring stations, which are spread across 117 rivers and tributaries, high levels of two or more toxic metals were reported.
- Of the 33 monitoring stations in Ganga, 10 had high levels of contaminants.
- The river has high levels of lead, iron, nickel, cadmium and arsenic.
- India has 764 river quality monitoring stations across 28 states.
- Of these, the Central Water Commission tested water samples from 688 stations for heavy metals between August 2018 and December 2020.
- Of the 588 water quality stations monitored for pollution, total coliform and biochemical oxygen demand were high in 239 and 88 stations across 21 States – an indicator of poor wastewater treatment from industry, agriculture and domestic households.
- India dumps 72% of its sewage waste without treatment.
- Ten States do not treat their sewage at all, as per the Central Pollution Control Board.
- Coastline Erosion:
- Over a third of India’s coastline that is spread across 6,907 km saw some degree of erosion between 1990 and 2018.
- West Bengal is the worst hit with over 60% of its shoreline under erosion.
- Twenty-five glacial lakes and water bodies in India, China and Nepal have recorded over 40% rise in their water spread areas since 2009.
- This has indicated a grave threat to five Indian states and two Union territories.
- While the global average of the Ocean Health Index, a measure that looks at how sustainably humans are exploiting ocean resources, has improved between 2012 and 2021, India’s score in the index has declined over the same period.
- Forest Cover:
- India’s total forest cover has registered a little over a 0.5% increase between 2017 and 2021.
- Most of the increase has taken place in the open forest category, which includes commercial plantations.
- This has happened at the cost of moderately dense forest, which is normally the area closest to human habitations.
- At the same time, very dense forests, which absorb maximum carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, occupy just 3% of total forest cover.
- India has a forest cover of 77.53 million hectares. But recorded forests—the area under the forest department— with forest cover are only 51.66 million.
- This gap of 25.87 million hectares —a size bigger than Uttar Pradesh— remains unaccounted, the organisation noted.
- India’s total forest cover has registered a little over a 0.5% increase between 2017 and 2021.
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River pollution: Reasons |
Solutions |
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Coastline erosion: Reasons |
Solutions |
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Forest Cover Reduction: Reasons |
Solutions |
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Government Initiatives
- National River Conservation Plan for abatement of pollution:
- The plan has identified stretches of various rivers and undertaken conservation activities like interception & diversion of raw sewage, construction of sewerage systems, setting up of sewage treatment plants, low cost sanitation facilities, education and awareness creation, community participation, electric/improved wood crematoria and riverfront development.
- Namami Gange Programme:
- It is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as ‘Flagship Programme’ by the Union Government.
- It aims to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.
- The programme has also been assisted by World Bank.
- Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS):
- INCOIS has prepared and published an atlas of Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) maps for the entire coastline of India at a 1:100000 scale.
- It uses data on sea level rise, coastal slope, shoreline change rate, coastal elevation, coastal geomorphology, tidal range and significant wave height.
- Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (ICZMP):
- It is a World Bank supported project that aims to build national capacity for implementation of comprehensive coastal management approach in India
- To implement ICZMP project, Ministry of Environment has established Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM).
- Declaration on Forests and Land Use:
- More than 140 countries have pledged, through the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, to eliminate forest loss by 2030 and to support restoration and sustainable forestry.
- An additional $19 billion has been allocated to help developing countries achieve these objectives.
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World Environment Day
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Source: PIB
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