We are living in an endangered environment caused by our progress and folly—a world, we thought, just belonged to us and none else. And we are paying a dear price with nature reacting violently around the world. You can’t obviously rape Nature and get away with it. You are getting back in your own coin. Regions like Europe are witnessing deluges they have not heard of for over a hundred years. The holy Ganga is no longer holy. All the rivers—big and small—have become contaminated and even the sea has become a marine slum. Even the mountains are under attack—be it the foothills of the mighty Himalayas or the Western Ghats. Environmental degradation is the order to the day. Initially, the villains were the developed countries; and now every country has jumped into the rat-race.
We talked of global warning with the uncontrolled emission of greenhouse gases; the sea level threatens to rise and might sooner than the later pull islands and coastal belts into a watery grave. We made a boastful regime; the funds were misutilised and the Ganga remains as polluted as ever. The human habitations on the banks of the Yamuna reduced the river into a virtual sewer. The court had to intervene several times to save the capital of India from being converted into a bigh gas chamber. It asked the authorities to re-locate the polluting industries on the fringes of the Union Territory and asked the vehicles to switch over the CNG and unleaded petrol. Delhi has become one of the most polluted cities in the world. Unleaded petrol is being supplied in most of the big cities in India to curb automobile pollution.
Where the government is slow in its response to the chllenge of ecological degradation, people or NGOs have acted in unison.
The programme of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) was introduced in India in 1978. A notification issued in January 1994 made EIA statutory for 29 categories of development projects under various sectors such as industrial, mining, irrigtion, power, transport, tourism, communication, etc. The EIA notification was amended in 1997 in order to make public hearing an integral part of the assessment procedure.
Special groups/committees and task forces are consituted as and when needed for expert inputs on major projects. After detailed scrutiny and assessment, the appraisal committee makes its recommendations for approval or rejection of the project.
An ‘Eco-mark’ label has been introduced to label consumer products that are environment-friendly. So far, the Ministry of Environment has issued 18 notifications on different products criteria. In order to promote clean technology in small scale industries, the authorities organise training and awareness programmes for personnel in Small Scale Industry Development Organisation and for entrepreneurs. Efforts are also being made to minimise waste in small scale enterprises.
On of the major causes of air pollution in our cities is the pollution caused by the increasing number of vehicles. Right from the beginning of 2000 only unleaded petrol and diesel with just 0.25 per cent sulphur content is being supplied in all outlets across the country. The Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways has notified rules relating to the registration of non-commercial four-wheeled petrol and diesel-driven vehicles in the National Capital Region to confrom to India-2000 emission standards akin to Euro-1 emission standards effective from June 1, 1999 as these standards are effective from April 1, 2000 in the entire country for all types of vehicles.
The Government has idenfied seventeen categories of heavily polluting industries. These include cement, thermal power plants, distilleries, sugar, fetiliser, integrated iron and steel, oil refineries, pulp and paper, petrochemical’s pesticides, tanneries, basic drugs and chemicals, dye and dyeintermediates, caustic soda, zinc smelter, copper smelter and aluminium smelter. Bulk of these industries have installed adequate facilities for pollution control and only a small number remain defaulters.
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