Environment is a very broad term. It includes all that is above,\nbelow and around us. Environment is everything that surrounds us. It plays a\ncrucial role in human life as in the development of society. Mankind is a part\nof nature and every life is dependent upon the uninterrupted functioning of\nnatural system. It is a fact that today almost every country in the world is\nfacing the problem of environmental pollution. Environmental pollution means\npresence in the environment of any pollutant which is likely to cause or which\nis causing pollution or degradation. Thus environmental pollution means\ndeterioration in the quality of air, water, land etc. Man\u2019s most destructive\nenemy is man himself because he pollutes the environment in which he lives. In\nthis way he creates the hell of his own determination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation, has rightly remarked, \u201cEarth\nprovides enough to satisfy every man\u2019s need, but not to satisfy every man\u2019s\ngreed\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Air pollution according to WHO is the presence of materials in the\nair that are harmful to man and his environment. Air pollution is mainly of two\ntypes\u2014Particle pollutants like smoke, dust, mist, fume etc. and Gaseous\npollutants like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxides of sulphur and\nnitrogen, ozone etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Industrial inputs like carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon\nmonoxide, chlorine etc.; domestic pollutants
\nfrom fossil fuels burnt by humans; automobile exhaust or vehicular emissions,\nindustrial wastes, suspended particulate matter like fine dusts and soot\nemitted by industrial units all pollute air. The Earth is finite and a finite\nEarth can support only a finite population. However, today there is explosion\nof population. Each human being is creating a new burden on natural resources.\nUrbanisation means migration of people to urban areas in search of jobs, due to\nattraction for city life etc. Cities become densely populated. Industries are\nthe main cause of air pollution. Industries require raw material due to which\nthere is unbridled clearing of land, deforestation. Industrial activities leave\nuntreated effluents in land, air, water which result in damage of ecology in\nthat area and pollution. The air we breathe becomes polluted in various ways.\nThe rural folk use cow dung, wood and farm waste for cooking their food, giving\nrise to such pollutants as carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Urban areas, particularly large cities like Delhi and Mumbai\naccount for the worst level of pollution. Motor vehicles, power plants and\nrefineries also emit carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen\noxide, etc. as well as dust particles. These dust particles get into our lungs.\nFine dusts contain poisonous and heavy metal oxides, which lead to cancer of\nthe digestive tract and many pulmonary diseases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The presence of sulphur dioxide and nitrogenous oxide in the\natmosphere causes acid rain that affects flora and fauna and soil fertility.\nAcid rain is harmful to aquatic plants and animals also. Carbon monoxide having\naffinity with haemoglobin when enters blood replaces oxygen from oxi\nhaemoglobin and thus increases concentration of carbon dioxide in blood causing\nheadaches, breathing problems and death. Ozone, which also causes smog, is\ntoxic for plant growth and harms human health. Carbon dioxide causes global\nwarming. Acid rain affects our monuments and statues made of marbles. It is\napprehended that the fabled Taj Mahal would be irretrievably affected by the\nwinds carrying sulphur dioxide from Mathura Oil Refinery. Ozone layer absorbs\nthe harmful UV radiation coming from the Sun. Disturbance in the ozone layer\nleads to increase in the incidence of skin cancer, eye ailments, damage to\nimmune system. As the population records a spiralling growth, man is busy\ncutting down trees and clearing forest for locating new towns and industries.\nConsequently, the proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases.\nThis has already resulted in the warming of Earth and significant loss of\nrains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\norder to reduce air pollution, carpooling, reducing or restraining number of\nautomobiles are some of the measures that are adopted. Also, recycling the\nproducts, ban on bursting of crackers, introduction of clean technologies and\nstrict enforcement of pollution control laws are needed. Urban planners must\nlocate residential, commercial and industrial zones suitably. Problems should\nbe identified at regional and local levels and treated accordingly. Solar power\nproduced from the energy obtained from the Sun; Geothermal energy, the\nnaturally occurring thermal energy produced by the earth\u2019s molten inner core\ncan be used. Environmental education must be delivered among masses. People\nmust be aware of the causes and hazardous effects, otherwise they will not make\nefforts to reduce pollution. In a PIL filed by Mr. M.C. Mehta, the Hon\u2019ble\nSupreme Court directed CBSE to make environmental studies compulsory. It is an\nirrefutable fact that environmental pollution can be curbed to a considerable\nextent by bringing awareness among people.
\nThe Air Pollution Act, 1974 is the result of motivation derived from Stockholm\nConference. It provides for establishment of boards at both State and Central\nlevels to abate air pollution and penalties for offence committed in\nnon-compliance with the provisions of the Act. Similarly, the Municipal Solid\nWastes Rules, 2000 and Biomedical Waste Rules provide for proper handling of\ndomestic and medical wastes respectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Environment\nImpact Assessment (EIA) is an activity to evaluate the possible impact of an\nanthropogenic activity on environment. Social impact assessment involves the\npublic before commencement of any development project is proving beneficial in\ntackling environmental problems with ease. These methods are preventive in\nnature. The polluter pays principle is incorporated by the Supreme Court in\nmany cases. The polluter is absolutely liable to compensate for harm caused to\nthe environment and reversing the damaged ecology. The success of any law\ndepends upon its implementation. Various international treaties have been\nconducted addressing and covering almost every aspect of environmental\npollution. \n\nResearches are underway for devising new methods to control\nenvironmental pollution and protect this
\nplanet. The people must realise the hazards of pollution and join in the\ngovernment efforts in protecting their environment. In this context, the Chipko\nMovement, started by Sunderlal Bahuguna in 1973 in the Himalayan Foothills of\nUttar Pradesh, has received worldwide acclaim as an exemplary instance of\nenvironmental action by the people themselves. The need of the time is to\norganise a mass movement to protect the environment, else we shall all perish.\n\u201cOne person alone cannot save biodiversity but each individual\u2019s efforts to\nencourage nature\u2019s wealth must not be underestimated\u201d\u2014United Nations Environment\nProgramme (UNEP) has rightly observed.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Self-inflicted Curse ! Environment is a very broad term. It includes all that is above, below and around us. Environment is everything that surrounds us. It plays a crucial role in human life as in the development of society. Mankind is a part of nature and every life is dependent upon the uninterrupted functioning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":647,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646\/revisions\/647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}