ENVIRONMENT

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

The relationship between Environment and human, that is essential and necessary has been established since
time immemorial. However, unprecedented population growth in the developing nations and unsustainable
consumption patterns in the developed nations have burdened both ‘assimilative’ and ‘absorptive’ capacity of
Mother Nature.

The anthropogenic activities have caused immense damage to the nature and functioning of its ecosystem.
These activities like unsustainable mining and quarrying, reckless deforestation, indiscriminate use of
fertilizers and pesticides that has altered the mutual relationship existing between human and nature have
resulted into environmental issues like desertification, soil erosion, bleaching of coral reefs, ozone depletion,
etc.

But in the race of endless economic development, humanity forgot that it’s not nature whose existence is
threatened rather it's humanity itself would come to the brink of collapse in the future. Therefore, to ensure
equity and equality in the distribution of natural resources both for present as well as future lies at the heart of
a dilemma between environmental consciousness and economic development.

1. DEFORESTATION
Concept- Deforestation is a mass elimination of trees which continues to threaten tropical
forests, their biodiversity and the ecosystem services they provide.
The conversion of forests through felling trees, clearance and burning through
anthropogenic activities into non-forest use like agriculture, urbanization and
industrialization is called deforestation.
However, the term deforestation is more associated with felling of trees in the equatorial
rainforests’ region like Amazon rainforest, Congo rainforest, etc.

The extent of deforestation can be understood through realizing the fact that the world
has been losing forest land equivalent to the size of 1,000 football fields every one hour
in the last 25 years.
Importance of ● Forest and Climate: Forest acts as lungs of earth. They are rain magnets and
Forests: does carbon sequestration. They stabilize the climate and helps in mitigation
and adaptation of climate change.
● Forest and Land: Forests promote soil formation, prevents soil erosion and soil
degradation and are home to major gene pool centers.
● Forest and Water: Forests reduces runoff and promotes percolation thus
recharging groundwater. They also contribute heavily in the hydrological cycle.
● Forest and Humans: Forest provides food, timber, wool, hides, gums, etc. They
are sources of livelihoods for many people.
● Forest and Tribal: Forests are integral for the survivability of the indigenous
people as they provide basic resources for their food and livelihoods.
Forest Data of ● With a forest cover of 24.4 percent, India stands well behind its target of 33
India: percent, and much behind the neighboring country of Bhutan which boasts a
cover of 72 percent.

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● Meanwhile, the country is roughly on an equal footing with China that has a
green cover of 21.7 percent.
● In February this year, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) published its State of
Forest 2017, which recorded a modest increase of 1 percent in the forest cover,
from 7,01,673 sq km in 2015 to 7,08,273 sq km in 2017.
● According to recent data acquired through RTI from the Ministry of
Environment and Forest revealed that on an average forest land diverted across
the country stands at 135 hectares per day.
● Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh
and Jharkhand are the states where maximum diversion of forests has taken
place.
Causes of Anthropogenic Activities:
Deforestation ● Expansion of Agriculture- For setting up of agriculture vast patches of trees are
cleared, recent examples include, Brazil’s rainforests being cleared to grow
soybean and various other agricultural crops.
● Commercial Logging- Logging and lumbering activity is also behind the clearing
of forests. Logging is done for furniture making etc.
● Urbanization and Industrialization- Forests are cut down to create human
settlements or setting up of industries. Urbanization which is happening
haphazardly has made it incumbent upon humans to clear trees so as to create
their shelters.
● Mining and Quarrying- Many resources like coal, oil, natural gas and other such
resources are seen to be buried in the areas of high forest density. To extract such
resources from the land clearing of forest is done.
● Wood as Domestic Fuel Supply- At grassroot level due to unavailability of
cleaner sources of fuel, wood is felled and used as a fuel, the tree logs are cut
down so as to meet domestic fuel needs.
● Shifting Cultivation- Jhum or similar form of shifting cultivation is done so as
to reap the benefits of a nutrient rich soil and when once the nutrients deplete
the growers move towards other areas. The mechanism involves felling of
forests, once the patch of land is cleared crops are grown and nutrient gets
depleted over a period of time in such a manner.
● Negligence- Forest fires start due to negligence which causes the whole forest to
burn. Recently, chir pine needles in the lower Himalayan (Uttarakhand) region
became reason of forest fires as small fire, even a single match being lit and
thrown on them or friction between vehicle tires and road can create
conflagration of the whole forest.

Natural Factors:
● Lightning- lightning and thunderstorms causes trees to burn and such fire
spreads and burns more trees.

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● Global Warming- Climate change and global warming is a major factor which is
creating changes in environment due to which the warming increases and
changes in weather affects the growth and resilience of the forests.
Consequences ● Reduction in Carbon Sequestration- Trees are a major capturer of carbon, if
of trees are cut down it reduces the carbon sequestration ability of nature.
Deforestation: ● Depleting underground Water Table- Trees and their roots help in seepage of
water down the soil in the water table, if trees are not available, water seepage
will reduce and it will become difficult for the local population to survive.
● Decrease in Soil Productivity- Soil productivity reduces massively due to
deforestation, soil erosion happens as tree roots in the soil hold it tightly and
does not let the soil to get eroded away, unavailability of trees will ultimately
reduce productivity.
● Reduction in livelihood Opportunities – More deforestation means those who
are dependent on forests, they won’t be able to survive, indigenous tribal
population which are vastly dependent on forests and its resources.
● Increase in intensity and Magnitude of Natural Disasters- Natural disaster’s
occurrence becomes frequent and its intensity also rises, some examples of this
is Forest Fires, worsening floods, landslides and droughts.
● Biodiversity Extinction- The biodiversity which is totally dependent on the
forest for their habitat, food etc. will go extinct eventually if ecological services
are affected due to deforestation.
Forests and • Deforestation = one of the main contributors to climate change.
Climate Change
• It comes in many forms, natural fires, agricultural clear cutting, livestock
ranching, and untenable logging for timber, and degradation due to climate
change, and etc.
• Deforestation = 2nd largest anthropogenic source of carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere, after fossil fuel combustion.
• Deforestation and forest degradation contribute to atmospheric greenhouse gas
emissions through combustion of forest biomass and decomposition of
remaining plant material and soil carbon.
• It used to account for more than 20% of carbon dioxide emissions, but it’s
currently somewhere around the 10% mark.
• Averaged over all land and ocean surfaces, temperatures warmed roughly 1.53 °F
(0.85 °C) between 1880 and 2012, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change.
Striving • India is striving towards achieving its NDC goal of creating additional carbon
towards sink of 2.5 to 3.0 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest
achieving INDC and tree cover by 2030.
goal through
As per present assessment total carbon stock in forest is estimated to be 7,082 million
increase in
tonnes. There is an increase of 38 million tonnes in the carbon stock of country as
forest cover
compared to the last assessment.

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State of Forest Report 2017 and its Analysis:

• Published by Forest Survey of India (under MoEFCC), Dehradun
• India has 21.73% of geographic area under forest. India posted a marginal 0.21% rise in the area under
forest between 2015 and 2017, according to the biennial India State of Forest Report (SFR) 2017.
• State with largest forest area = Madhya Pradesh (77,414 km2)
○ Haryana = Minimum forest cover (by area & by %age)
• Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala topped the States that posted an increase in forest cover.
• In India’s north-east however, forest cover showed a decrease.
• The category of ‘very dense forest’— defined as a canopy cover over 70% — and an indicator of the
quality of a forest, saw a dramatic rise but the category of ‘moderately dense forest’ (40%-70%) saw a
decline from 2015.
• India’s total forest cover increased by 0.94 per cent in the last two years, shows the State of Forest Report
2017
• India is ranked 10th in the world, with 24.4% of land area under forest and tree cover.
• The forest survey for the first time mapped 633 districts and relied on satellite-mapping.
• BAMBOO: Earlier this year, the government ceased to define bamboo as a tree to promote economic
activity among tribal. The survey found that India’s bamboo bearing area rose by 1.73 million hectares
(2011) to 15.69 million hectares (2017).
• The report also points towards an expansion of agro-forestry and private forestry. There is a jump from
42.77m3 in the 2011 assessment to 74.51m3 in timber production in ‘Trees outside Forests’ (TOF)
category.
• That most of the increase in the forest cover was observed in Very Dense Forest (VDF). The increase in
forest cover in VDF is followed by increase in open forest.

Class Area sq. kms % of geographical % of geographical

area area (SFR 2015)

Very Dense Forest 98,158 2.99 2.26

Moderately Dense Forest (all lands with tree 3,08,318 9.38 9.59
cover including mangrove cover with canopy
density between 40-70%)

Open Forest (all lands with tree cover 3,01,797 9.18 9.14
including mangrove cover with canopy density
between 10-40%)

Total Forest Cover 7,08,273 21.54 21.34

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Difference between Forest Cover and Recorded Forest Area?

• "Forest Cover" refers to all lands more than one hectare in area with a tree canopy of more than 10%
irrespective of land use, ownership and legal status.
○ It may include even orchards, bamboo, and palm.
• "Forest Area" refers to all the geographic areas recorded as ‘Forest’ in government records under
Indian Forests Act, 1927 and under other respective local acts.
○ Such areas with less than 10% tree cover such as cold deserts, alpine pastures will be excluded
from the assessment.

Assessment of the Forest Report:

Forest and Tree Cover of the country has increased by 8,021 sq km (1 %) as compared to assessment of Forest
survey 2015. The very dense forest has increased by 1.36 % as compared to last assessment.

Assessment:
● The increasing trend of forest and tree cover is largely due to the various national policies aimed at
conservation and sustainable management of our forests like Green India Mission, National
Agroforestry policy (NAP), REDD plus policy, Joint Forest Management (JFM), National
Afforestation Programme and funds under Compensatory Afforestation to States.
● Successful agroforestry practices, better conservation of forests, improvement of scrub areas to
forest areas, increase in mangrove cover, conservation and protection activities have also led to an
increase in the forest and tree cover.
● Green Highways (Plantations & Maintenance) Policy to develop 1,40,000 km long tree line with
plantation along with both sides of national highways will go a long way in enhancing the forest & tree
cover.

Top 5 states where forest cover has decreased are

Mizoram (531 sq km), Nagaland (450 sq km), Arunachal Pradesh (190 sq km), Tripura (164 sq km) and Meghalaya
(116 sq km).

Assessment:
● It is important to mention here that these states are in the North Eastern region of the country where the
total forest cover is very high i.e. more than 70% in each state.
● The main reasons for the decrease are - shifting cultivation, other biotic pressures, rotational felling,
diversion of forest lands for developmental activities, submergence of forest cover, agriculture
expansion and natural disasters.

Water bodies inside forests have increased by 2,647 sq. km over a decade
● Forests play a vital role in water conservation and improve the water regime in the area.
● State Forest Departments besides plantation and protection also undertake steps to improve water
conservation through different interventions such as building Check dams, vegetation barriers,
percolation ponds, contour trenches etc. under various Central & State Government schemes
● Maharashtra (432 sq kms), Gujarat (428 sq kms), Madhya Pradesh (389 sq km) are the top three states
showing an increase in water bodies within forest areas.

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Mangrove cover of the country has shown a positive change

● As per ISFR 2017, mangrove forests have increased by 181 sq. kms.
● Maharashtra (82 sq. kms), Andhra Pradesh (37 sq. kms) and Gujarat (33 sq. km) are the top three
gainers in terms of mangrove cover.
● 7 out of the 12 mangrove states have shown an increase in mangrove cover and none of them show any
negative change.
● Mangrove ecosystems are rich in biodiversity and provide a number of ecological services. They also
play a major role in protecting coastal areas from erosion, tidal storms and tsunamis.

Criticisms of Forest Report:

1. According to the report, forest and tree cover together registered a 1% rise over the previous estimate two
years ago. However, such an estimate listing very dense, moderately dense, open and scrub forests
mapped through remote sensing does not really provide deep insights into the integrity of the green areas.
2. There has been an increase over the baseline cover of 20% at the turn of the century. Yet, tree cover is not
the same as having biodiverse, old-growth forests.
3. The ecosystem services performed by plantations that have a lot of trees grown for commercial purposes
cannot be equated with those of an undisturbed assemblage of plants, trees and animals.
4. The Ministry’s report has calculated a cumulative loss of forests in Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal
of nearly 1,200 sq. km. Any gains achieved through remediation programmes in Odisha, Assam,
Telangana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur cannot
compensate the loss in North East adequately.

1.7 Government Initiatives Towards Conservation of Forests:

National Mission for a Green India: The objectives of the Mission: increased forest/tree cover and improved
quality of forest cover in two to eight million hectares, along with improved ecosystem services including
biodiversity, hydrological services, increased forest-based livelihood income of households, living in and around
the forests, and enhanced annual CO2 sequestration.
Implementation:
● Mission implementation will be on a decentralized participatory approach with involvement of grass
root level organizations in planning, decision making, implementation and monitoring.
● The gram sabha and the committees mandated by the gram sabha, including revamped JFMCs will
oversee implementation at the village level.

Partnership for Land Use Science (FOREST PLUS)

● A joint programme by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC)
● To strengthen capacity for REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation)
implementation in India.
● The programme brings together experts from India and the United States to develop technologies, tools
and methods of forest management to meet the technical challenges of managing forests for the health
of the ecosystem, carbon stocks, biodiversity and livelihood.

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National Redd+ Strategy

Complying with the UNFCCC decisions on REDD+, India has prepared its National REDD+ Strategy.

REDD +: Reducing Emissions by Deforestation and Degradation

An initiative finalized under the UN’s Paris Agreement in 2015
A mechanism developed by Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC)
It creates a financial value for the carbon stored in forests by offering incentives for developing countries to
reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development.
Developing countries would receive results-based payments for results-based actions.
REDD+ goes beyond simply deforestation and forest degradation and includes the role of conservation,
sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
• The Strategy builds upon existing national circumstances which have been updated in line with India’s
National Action Plan on Climate Change, Green India Mission and India’s Nationally Determined
Contribution (NDC) to the UNFCCC.
• India has begun implementing REDD+ pilot projects, developing protocols for improving measurement,
reporting, and verification (MRV) and safeguard information systems (SIS).

Compensatory Afforestation Act, 2016

This act provides for setting up Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority
(CAMPA) at both central and state level to ensure expeditious and transparent utilization of amounts realized
in lieu of forest land diverted for non-forest purpose. The utilization of funds is expected to mitigate the impact
of diversion of such forest land.

Why CAMPA:
● Continuous diversion of forests (20,000-25,000 hectares per year acc to MoEFCC) => a large sum of
money is being accumulated by the government.
● At present, more than Rs 40,000 crore has been realized and it is increasing at the rate of about Rs 6,000
crore every year.
● So, to manage this money + to utilize it for the designated purposes = the CAMPA is proposed to be
set up.
● The compensatory afforestation money and NPV are supposed to be collected from the user agency
by the state government where the project is located, and deposited with the central government. The
money will eventually flow back to the state to be used for afforestation or related works.

Draft National Forest Policy 2018

Background:
● The first National Forest Policy in independent India took effect in 1952, with a second edition in 1988.
● Once finalized, the 2018 policy will guide the forest management of the country for the next 25-30 years.

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Salient features of the draft policy:

• Objective: To safeguard the ecological and livelihood security of people, of present and future
generations, based on sustainable management of the forests for the flow of ecosystem services.
• Aim: Bringing a minimum of one-third of India’s total geographical area under forest or tree cover.
○ In the hills and mountainous regions, the aim will be to maintain two-thirds of the area under
forest and tree cover.
• Conservation: It proposes to restrict “schemes and projects which interfere with forests that cover
steep slopes, catchments of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, geologically unstable terrain and such other
ecologically sensitive areas”.
• New Bodies: It suggests setting up of two national-level bodies—National Community Forest
Management (CFM) Mission and National Board of Forestry (NBF)—for better management of the
country’s forests.
• Afforestation: “Public-private participation models will be developed for undertaking afforestation
and reforestation activities in degraded forest areas and forest areas available with forest development
corporations and outside forests”.
○ It calls for “promotion of trees outside forests and urban greens”, while stating that it will be
taken up in “mission mode”.
• Efforts will be made to achieve harmonization between policies and laws like Forest Rights Act
(FRA) 2006".
• Community participation: "India has a rich and varied experience in participatory forest management
and thus there is a need to further strengthen this participatory approach, for which a National
Community Forest Management (CFM) Mission will be launched."
○ All efforts to ensure synergy between gram sabha & JFMC (Joint Forest Management
Committee) will be taken for ensuring successful community participation in forest
management”.
• Finances required for management of forests: The compensatory afforestation fund which is being
transferred to the states would be a major source of funds for taking up afforestation and
rehabilitation works in degraded forest areas as well as for bringing new areas under forest and tree
cover.
• Forest fire: It addressed the issue of forest fires, stating that “adequate measures would be taken to
safeguard ecosystems from forest fires, map the vulnerable areas and develop and strengthen early
warning systems and methods to control fire, based on remote sensing technology and community
participation.”
• Climate change: It emphasized on integrating climate change concerns into forest management while
noting that forests acts as a natural sink of carbon dioxide thereby assisting in climate change mitigation.
• Wildlife conservation: “wildlife rich areas and corridors outside protected areas would be identified
and maintained for ensuring ecological and genetic continuity.”
• Human-wildlife conflict: To tackle rising human-wildlife conflict, the draft outlined short-term and
long-term actions.

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Critical Analysis of Government Initiatives

Compensatory Afforestation Act, 2016
Difficulties in implementation:
• Lack of availability of non-forest land for afforestation.
○ Law says: the land selected should preferably be contiguous to the forest being diverted, so
that it is easier for forest officials to manage it.
○ But in case that is not possible, land in any other part of the state can be used for the purpose.
○ If no suitable non-forest land is found, degraded forests can be chosen for afforestation, but
in that case, twice the area of diverted forest has to be afforested. Still, there is difficulty in
finding land, especially in smaller states, and in heavily forested ones like Chhattisgarh.
• The purposes for which the money can be used.
○ The fund was envisaged to be used only for “compensatory” afforestation, but the Act has
expanded the list of works that this money can be utilized for
▪ the general afforestation programme run through the Green India Mission.
▪ Forest protection,
▪ forest management,
▪ forest and wildlife related infrastructure development,
▪ wildlife conservation,
▪ facilitating the relocation of people from protected wildlife areas etc.
○ Critics say this will take the focus away from the prime objective of compensating for the
forest cover lost to industrial or infrastructure development.

Criticism: As per civil society groups

• Provisions of the Act fundamentally are opposed to Forest Rights Act (FRA) and did not address the
legal rights of scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers (OTFDs). Reason: consent of
gram sabhas for implementation of compensatory afforestation on their customary lands not required.
• Community forest rights (CFRs) recognized under the FRA now constituted a new forest category to be
governed and managed by the gram sabhas and forest rights holders. Therefore, any government
programme on forest lands, including with CAMPA funds, had to be compatible with that law.
• The structure of funding and implementation proposed under CAMPA Bill was entirely opposed to
the structure of forest governance established by FRA
• Major reason for poor implementation of FRA = the opposition of the forest bureaucracy to
empowerment of gram sabhas and democratization of forest governance
• CAMPA Bill would serve only to empower notoriously unaccountable bureaucracy to further deprive
forest dwellers and tribal of their livelihood by forcibly undertaking plantations on their customary lands
• In many cases, under the name of infrastructure development, the funds have been misused for
administrative and non-budgeted tasks.

Way forward:
● CAMPA funds can be used for securing the existing natural tracks, make forests contiguous,
safeguarding habitat and providing fair compensation to the local stakeholders.

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● The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has suggested that the CAMPA funds could be used
for mitigation of wildlife deaths on roads by creating underpasses and by-passes for animals.
● Wildlife impact assessment has to be conducted over the kind of infrastructure the CAMPA money has
created.

Draft National Forest Policy 2018

Criticism of the policy:
• The draft policy persists with the outdated approach on plantations to tackle the challenge of climate
change.
• The draft policy fails to mention or address the degradation of growing stock in the natural forests.
• The policy remains vague on the issue of forests rights for forest dwelling communities.
○ FRA is a major movement in forest areas at present and its progress has been very lackadaisical
over a decade of its implementation in India.
• The draft policy
○ Does not discuss in detail the issue of diversion of forest land for mining and other purposes.
○ Orients itself more on the conservation and preservation of forest wealth rather than
regenerating them through people’s participation.
○ Mentions major forestry issues ailing the forest sector, but it doesn’t provide answers to
them as to how these objectives will be achieved considering the competitive demands for
forestlands.

2. SOIL EROSION
Meaning and Soil erosion refers to the wearing away of a field's topsoil by the natural physical forces
Concept of water and wind or through forces associated with farming activities such as tillage.
Erosion, whether it is by water, wind or tillage, involves three distinct actions – soil
detachment, movement and deposition.
● Soil compaction, low organic matter, loss of soil structure, poor internal
drainage, salinization and soil acidity problems = can accelerate the soil erosion
process.
Extent of Soil ● The National Assessment of Shoreline Changes along Indian coast says that
Erosion in almost 1/3rd of India’s 6,632 km coastline was lost to soil erosion between 1990
India: and 2016.
● It has been estimated that an area of 80 mha of our total area is exposed to wind
and water erosion out of which 40 million hectares of land has undergone
serious erosion.
● About 45 million hectares of land is subject to severe wind erosion in Rajasthan,
Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Western Uttar Pradesh.
● According to ICAR, there are 40 lakh hectares of ravines. Out of which 28 lakh
hectares are in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and
Gujarat.

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● In Madhya Pradesh about 4 to 8 lakh hectares are affected by deep gullies and
ravines along the banks of rivers Chambal and Kali Sindh.
● The flood plains of Ganga and its tributaries in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar also
suffer from soil erosion due to water. The Siwalik Range has also been badly
affected by gully erosion. Erosion by Chos in Punjab is most marked in
Hoshiarpur district.
● It has been estimated that 15 lakh hectares of forest land is cleared for shifting
agriculture every year. Ex. Nilgiris, Lushai Hill, Naga Hills, etc.
● Coastal erosion is evidenced along the coast of Kerala by uprooting of coconut
trees.
Causes of soil Natural Factors:
erosion ● Water erosion: Runoff water is responsible for much soil erosion, moving the
soil particles by surface creep, saltation and suspension. Water erosion can be
through splash erosion, sheet erosion, rill erosion and gully formations. The
slope of land is potent factor in determining the velocity of water and the
consequent soil erosion.
● Erosion due to waves and glaciers: Soil erosion by tidal waves along coasts and
erosion among the higher reaches of Himalayas by glaciers.
● Wind erosion: Winds blowing at considerable speed in arid and semi-arid lands
with little rainfall remove the fertile, arable, loose soils leaving behind a
depression devoid of topsoil.

Anthropogenic factors:
● Deforestation: Roots of trees and plants bind the soil particles and regulate the
flow of water, thus saving soil from erosion. Ex. Chos of Punjab and Ravines of
Madhya Pradesh are the result of deforestation.
● Overgrazing: It leads to lose structure of the soil especially during dry period.
The soil gets easily washed away during rains.
● Faulty methods of agriculture: The most outstanding are wrong ploughing, lack
of crop rotation, indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers, over-irrigation and
practice of shifting cultivation.
● Soil Compaction: It occurs when soil particles are pressed together, reducing
pore space between them. It reduces percolation and promotes run-off.

Soil compaction, low organic matter, loss of soil structure, poor internal drainage,
salinization and soil acidity problems are other serious soil degradation conditions that
can accelerate the soil erosion process.
Consequences ● Productivity loss: It leads to loss of soil fertility and fall in agricultural
of Soil Erosion: productivity.
● Ecological problems: The agricultural runoff releases nutrients into water
bodies and causes eutrophication. Ground water level is lowered and there is a
decrease in soil moisture.

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● Environmental hazards: The incidence and damaging power of landslides

increases. Frequency and intensity of floods and droughts increases.
● Social problems: It leads to rural out-migration and slums development, social
conflicts and low sex ratio in urban areas.
● Economic problems: There is loss of livelihood in rural areas and contribution
of agriculture in GDP reduces.
Government ICAR, through National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Nagpur
Initiatives conducted scientific soil survey from time to time for assessing the extent and nature
Towards of soil erosion and land degradation across the country.
Prevention and ● In order to prevent soil erosion and land degradation, Ministry of Agriculture is
Remediation of implementing various watershed programmes, namely;
soil: ○ National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas
(NWDPRA),
○ Soil Conservation in the Catchments of River Valley Project and Flood
Prone River (RVP&FPR) and
○ Reclamation and Development of Alkali & Acid Soils (RADAS) across
the country.
● Ministry of Rural Development is also implementing Integrated Watershed
Management Programme (IWMP) for the purpose.
● About 57.61 million ha area has been developed under various watershed
development programmes of Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Rural
Development since inception upto 2011-12.
● Besides, 1.5 million ha sodic land has been reclaimed using gypsum technology
and 0.5 million ha saline land have been reclaimed using sub-surface drainage
technology across the country.
What more • Careful tilling: Because tilling activity breaks up the structure of soil, doing less
needs to be tilling with fewer passes will preserve more of the crucial topsoil.
done to prevent • Crop rotation: allows organic matter to build up, making future plantings
Soil Erosion: more fertile.
• Contour bunding and Farming
• Strip Cropping
Figure below shows how crops are grown in strips

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• Terracing

• Shelter Belt
• Mulching: Applying a layer of mulch to the soil top allows the soil to slowly
soak up water, as it protects against rain impact, and restores pH levels =
erosion prevention
● Increased structure for plants: Introducing terraces or other means of
stabilizing plant life or even the soil around them can help reduce the chance that
the soil loosens and erodes.
● Water control: specialized chutes and runoff pipes can help to direct these water
sources away from the susceptible areas
○ Retaining Walls can be built around the area of erosion to prevent
water run-off.
○ Gully Reclamation

3. DESERTIFICATION
Meaning and Desertification is defined as “a type of land degradation in which a relatively dry land
concept region becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as
vegetation and wildlife.”
● Desertification does not refer to the expansion of existing deserts according
to UNCCD.
● It occurs because dryland ecosystems (which cover over 1/3rd of the world’s
land area) are extremely vulnerable to overexploitation and inappropriate land
use.
● It is caused primarily by human activities and climatic variations.
● Poverty, political instability, deforestation, overgrazing and bad irrigation
practices can all undermine the productivity of the land.
Causes of Anthropogenic Activities:
Desertification: ● The extension of cultivation in marginal lands,
● Inadequate soil and water conservation measures,
● Tillage for agriculture,

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● Overgrazing and deforestation for fuel or construction materials.

● Intensive cropping systems and
● Poor irrigation management and overexploitation of groundwater.
● According to State of India’s Environment 2017: In Figures book published
by the Centre for Science and Environment and Down to Earth magazine
○ Increasing desertification of India’s soil, is a fundamental threat to
agriculture
○ Nearly 30 per cent of India is degraded or facing desertification.
○ Of India's total geographical area of 328.72 million hectares
(MHA), 96.4 MHA is under desertification.
○ In 8 states—Rajasthan, Delhi, Goa, Maharashtra, Jharkhand,
Nagaland, Tripura and Himachal Pradesh—around 40 to 70% of land
has undergone desertification.
○ More to it, 26 of 29 Indian states have reported an increase in the area
undergoing desertification in the past 10 years.
○ Biggest reasons for desertification:
■ Loss of soil cover, mainly due to rainfall and surface runoff
➢ It is responsible for 10.98% of desertification in the
country.
➢ Water erosion in both hot and cold desert areas,
across various land covers and with varying levels of
severity.
■ Wind erosion- Movement of
Natural Factors:
● Natural Disasters: There are some cases where the land gets damaged because
of natural disasters, including drought.
● Climate Change: As the days get warmer and periods of drought become more
frequent, desertification becomes more and more eminent. Unless climate
change is slowed down, huge areas of land will become desert; some of those
areas may even become uninhabitable as time goes on.
Case Study: ● Scientists agree that there is a natural cause for the existence of desert in the
Sahara Desert place where is now the Sahara Desert: a natural climate cycle cause a lack of
water in this area from time to time.
● There is a suggestion that the last time that the Sahara was converted from
savannah to desert it was partially due to overgrazing by the cattle of the local
population.
● Extent of Desertification in Sahara.

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Consequences of ● Impact on farming: If an area becomes a desert, then it’s almost impossible to
Desertification grow substantial crops there without special technologies.
● Hunger: Inadequate farm production => farms produce will become much
scarcer, and the people who live in those local areas will be a lot more likely to
try and deal with hunger problems. Animals will also go hungry, which will
cause even more of a food shortage.
● Flooding: Without the plant life in an area, flooding is a lot more eminent.
○ Not all deserts are dry; those that are wet could experience a lot of
flooding because there is nothing to stop the water from gathering
and going all over the place.
● Poor Water Quality: Water quality declines because the plant life plays a
significant role in keeping the water clean and clear; without its presence, it
becomes a lot more difficult for you to be able to do that.
● Overpopulation: When areas start to become desert, animals and people will
go to other areas where they can actually thrive. This causes crowding and
overpopulation, which will, in the long run, end up continuing the cycle of
desertification that started this whole thing anyway.
International Desertification and the Sustainable Development Goals:
Initiatives to The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development declares that “we are determined to
Prevent protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and
Deforestation: production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on
climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations”.
Specifically, Goal 15 states our resolve to halt and reverse land degradation.
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries
Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa
(UNCCD)
● A Convention to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought
through national action programs that incorporate long-term strategies
supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements.

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● It is the only internationally Legally binding framework set up to address the

problem of desertification.
● The Convention is based on the principles of participation, partnership and
decentralization
● India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD).
● The National Action Programme for combating desertification was
prepared in 2001 to take appropriate action in addressing the problems of
desertification.
Indian ● Programmes that address issues related to land degradation and
Government desertification:
Initiatives to ○ Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP),
Prevent ○ National Afforestation Programme (NAP),
Deforestation: ○ National Mission for Green India (GIM),
○ The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (MGNREGS)
○ National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas
(NWDPRA),
○ Command Area Development and
● With a view to mitigate adverse impact of land degradation/desertification,
increasing the productivity of agricultural land and sustaining foodgrain
production, Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture is implementing
various Schemes/Programmes, namely;
○ National Project on Organic Farming (NPOF),
○ National Food Security Mission (NFSM),
○ Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY),
○ Integrated Scheme of Oilseeds, Pulses, Oil Palm and Maize
(ISOPOM)
What more need To reduce the severity of the desertification process, adoption of proper and regular
to be done to management practices such as following are suggested:
control ● Identifying suitable areas for afforestation with the selection of suitable
deforestation: climate-resilient multipurpose tree species, perennial forage and fodder
species.
● Managing soil erosion by adopting location-specific soil and water
conservation practices.
● Dealing with soil salinity in agricultural lands through proper irrigation water
management, development and maintenance of surface and subsurface
drainage systems.
● Adopting proper agriculture and land management practices.
● Converging these activities with the ongoing national and state government
programmes like Joint Forest Management, Integrated Watershed
Management Programme and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act, etc.

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4. SAND MINING
Meaning and Sand Mining is the process of the actual removal of sand from the foreshore including
concept rivers, streams and lakes. Sand is mined from beaches and inland dunes and dredged
from ocean beds and river beds. A related process is the mining of mineral sands, such
as mineral deposits like diamond, gold and silver.
Uses of Sand Use of Sand in manufacturing industry: It is used for manufacture of both common and
optical glasses.

Use of Sand in infrastructure sector:

● Sand is an ingredient in plaster and concrete
● It is added to clays to reduce shrinkage and cracking in the manufacture of
bricks.
● River sand is used along with cement, gravel, water and steel for making
reinforced concrete.
● Along with cement and water, it is used as mortar for joint filling and
plastering.
Environmental • It provides a suitable substrate for many benthic organisms.
significance of • It is an unavoidable component for psammophile (sand loving or shallow sandy
sand: water creature) fish as it provides breeding, spawning, feeding and hiding
grounds.
• Inter-beds of sand within floodplain deposits act as aquifer systems storing
large quantities of ground water.
• sand acts as an efficient filter for various pollutants => maintains the quality
of water in rivers and other aquatic ecosystems.
Issues with Sand In earlier days, mining of sand did not create any problem to the river ecosystem as the
Mining: quantity of mining was well within the replenishment limits. However, increase in
population and the rise in economic and industrial developments during the past few
decades have aggravated mining of river sand many folds higher than natural
replenishments

Impact of sand mining on environment:

● Excessive in-stream sand-and-gravel mining
○ lowers the stream bottom, which may lead to bank erosion.
○ is a threat to bridges, river banks and nearby structures
○ results in the destruction of aquatic and riparian habitat through large
changes in channel morphology.
○ Impacts include bed degradation, bed coarsening, lowered water tables
near the streambed, and channel instability.
● Depletion of sand in the streambed and along coastal areas causes the
deepening of rivers and estuaries + enlargement of river mouths and coastal
inlets.

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● Bed degradation from in-stream mining lowers the elevation of stream flow
and the floodplain water table => can eliminate water table-dependent woody
vegetation in riparian areas, and decrease wetted periods in riparian wetlands.
● Saline-water intrusion from the nearby sea

Impact on humans:
● Sand mining also affects the adjoining groundwater system and the uses that
local people make of the river.
● Degraded stream habitats result in loss of fisheries productivity, biodiversity,
and recreational potential. Severely degraded channels may lower land and
aesthetic values.
● Sand mining transforms the riverbeds into large and deep pits; as a result, the
groundwater table drops leaving the drinking water wells on the embankments
of these rivers dry.

Impact upon the river’s water quality:

● Increased short-term turbidity at the mining site due to resuspension of
sediment,
● Sedimentation due to stockpiling and dumping of excess mining materials and
organic particulate matter
● Oil spills or leakage from excavation machinery and transportation vehicles.
Case study: ● Last of the wild and breeding gharials left = Found in maximum strength in
National National Chambal Sanctuary running across three states (UP, MP and
Chambal Rajasthan)
Sanctuary ● Mining of sand banks is destructive for gharial population as sand banks are
essential for nesting and basking. Gharials lay their eggs under sand beds,
but illegal sand mining destroys their nests.
● Local inhabitants are cultivating river banks immediately adjacent to the river
and this is causing considerable disturbance to the natural habitat of gharials.
● Villagers residing along the river are flattening ravines present in the
sanctuary for farming.’
● The 425 km stretch of the Chambal River was declared a protected area in 1979.
Government • Legal provision: Sand is a minor mineral, as defined under section 3(e) of the
intervention to Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act).
control sand • Section 15 of the MMDR Act empower state governments to make rules for
mining: regulating the grant of mineral concessions in respect of minor minerals and
for purposes connected therewith.
• The regulation of grant of mineral concessions for minor minerals is, therefore,
within the legislative and administrative domain of the state governments.
• Under the power granted to them by section 15 of the MMDR Act, State
Governments have framed their own minor mineral concession rules.

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• Further, section 23C of the MMDR Act, 1957 empowers state governments to
frame rules to prevent illegal mining, transportation and storage of mineral
sand for purposes connected therewith.
• Control of illegal mining is, therefore, under the legislative and administrative
jurisdiction of state governments.
• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has issued Sustainable
Sand Mining Management Guidelines, 2016, which, inter-alia, addresses the
issues relating to regulation of sand mining.
• Salient features of the Guidelines:
○ It provides for a detailed programme for ensuring that mining of river
sand is done in a sustainable manner;
Grant of Environment Clearance for minor minerals, including sand and gravel, for
mining lease of area up to 5 hectares will be done by the District Environment Impact
Assessment Authority headed by the District Collector / District Magistrate.
Sand Mining Objectives:
Framework ● To help states deal with the sand mining issues, including demand supply deficit
and illegal extraction

Significance:
● This will help states to frame their policies, taking into consideration their
objectives, endowments and state deployment of resources
● The framework addresses the issues of state objectives, demand-supply
assessment, measures to sand availability, allocation model, transportation
and monitoring mechanism.
● it also includes suggestions for faster clearances /approvals and using its
interventions in complete process chain of sand mining.
● The framework also lays emphasis on alternatives of sand i e manufactured
sand, import of sand etc.

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5. HUMAN-ANIMAL CONFLICT
Concept Human-animal conflict simply refers to the interaction between man and animal and
resultant negative impact on man and his resources or animal and its habitat. The
conflicts between man and animal become more frequent in recent times.

The incidents of Man-Animal Conflicts can be categorized into the following major
types:
● Human beings get killed or injured by wild animals
● Livestock/Cattle reared by man get killed or injured
● Crop cultivated by man damaged
● Wild animals get killed or injured
Recent statistics A total of 1,557 people was killed due to human-elephant conflict between 2014-15 and
and cases 2017-18 (till November 2017).

Recent cases of the conflict:

● A tigress named Avni, who was believed to have turned man-eater and killed 13
people in the last two years in Yavatmal district Pandharkawada area, was shot
dead in Borati forest.
● An incident of a train colliding with an elephant.

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Reasons behind ● Changing times + Ever-increasing population = the lines between human
growing cases of settlements and forests have started to blur => a greater number of conflicts.
Man-Animal ● rapid urbanization and industrialization have led to diversion of forest land
Conflict: to non-forest purposes => wildlife habitat is shrinking. This habitat
fragmentation may be the result of construction of roads, especially big
Highways and canals passing through dense jungles and the big mines.
● Encroachment in the forest lands by local people => shrinkage of wildlife
habitats, especially on the fringes which has increased the pressure on the
limited natural resources in the forest areas.
● Increased disturbance due to collection of fuel wood, fodder, NTFPs, water
etc. from the forests. There are numerous incidences where the cattle grazers
were killed/ mauled by tiger/ panther/ bear.
● Livestock grazing in the forest areas
● Increase in area under cultivation around wildlife habitats and changed
cropping pattern. People have started growing commercial crops like sugarcane
and banana, which provide good hiding place for wild animals like wild boar,
sloth bear and panther.
● Infestation of wildlife habitat by the invasive exotic weeds (like Lantana,
Eupatorium and Parthenium etc.) have resulted in decreased availability of
edible grasses for wild herbivores. As a result, herbivores come out of forest
area and cause depredation of agricultural crops on the fringes.
● Monoculture of teak in the large-scale forest plantations has also adversely
affected the wildlife habitat value of the forest areas.
● During summer, water becomes scarce. The livestock and wild animals have to
share the limited water sources on the fringes or inside forest. Human
interference with the natural drainage system in forest areas and diversion
of water towards habitation has further complicated the issue.
● Poaching of herbivores => Decreased prey base => Carnivores moving out of
forest in search of prey and indulge in cattle lifting.
Measures that ● Stop fragmentation of wildlife habitat and wildlife corridors. While going
can be taken to for construction of dams, long canals for irrigation and Highways through the
mitigate Man- forest areas, ensure that the connectivity through wildlife corridors is not
Animal Conflict: disturbed.
● One method is to make a mixture of oil, used car grease, fresh elephant dung
and crushed chili (piri piri), which is slathered on ropes which are strung around
fields of crops. When elephants run into these ropes the substance burns their
skin and the pungent odor repels them.
● Ensure that both humans and animals have the space they need. Protecting key
areas for wildlife, creating buffer zones and investing in alternative land uses
are some of the solutions.
● Control poaching: Poaching of wild animals should be stopped so that the
number of wild animals can stabilize at its carrying capacity which would reach

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equilibrium in the ecosystem and this equilibrium between the numbers of prey
animals and predators in the forest ecosystem would be maintained.
● Stop plant monoculture of species like teak; instead go for mixed plantations
of miscellaneous, bamboo and fruit species which will provide
● To increase water availability in the forests, soil and moisture conservation
measures (SMC) like vegetative checks dams, loose boulder check-dams,
cement plugs, nala bunding, water tanks, should be taken in the forest.
● Providing LPG to villagers who frequently go to the forest areas specially
wildlife habitats to fetch fuel wood.
○ Maharashtra Forest Department has started in a big way to distribute
LPG to villagers residing on the fringes under Joint Forest
Management Program and Village Eco-Development Program.
● Eco-development activities in villages to elicit the cooperation of the local
community in the management of the Protected Areas.
● Eco-Tourism = create an alternate source of income for local people = it can help
in minimizing man-animal conflict on account of crop depredation or livestock
killing.
● Awareness Raising through meetings and pamphlets etc. that they should avoid
going deep into the forest areas. If they have to go in any case, they should go in
groups and they should keep talking to each other to detract the wild animals.
School children in vulnerable villages should be educated about the importance
of wildlife and human coexistence with it.
● Stone fencing or Solar Fencing around agriculture fields situated near
wildlife habitat/forest areas.
● Controlling crop pattern. Crops like sugarcane, Banana, Bajra, tuhar should
not be allowed to be grown near forest areas. These crops attract wildlife for
food as well as good hiding place.
● Paying ex-gratia/Compensation to victims of wildlife attack so that the
people will not become enemy of the wild animals.
○ Otherwise people tend to take revenge from the wild animals by killing
them by poison, trap, hacking or shooting as has been noticed in many
cases.
● Relocation/Rehabilitation of problematic and disadvantaged wild animal
should be considered.
Guidelines for The management of human-animal conflict is handled by State Government as per
the management Rules, Guidelines in vogue. Some of the mechanisms in mitigation of human animal
of human- conflict include:
animal conflict ● Provisions under Section 11 of Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 empower the
Chief Wildlife Warden and authorized officer to take necessary steps to
handle problematic wild animals.
● Standard Operating Procedures/guidelines for management of major
problematic animals like tigers, elephant, leopard, rhino etc. are being used by
the respective state governments.

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● Construction/erecting physical barriers, such as barbed wire fence, solar

powered electric fence, bio-fencing using cactus, boundary wall etc. to prevent
the entry of wild animals into crop field.
● Improvement of wildlife habitats by augmenting the availability of food and
water in forest areas to reduce the entry of animals from forest to human
habitations.
● The Ministry has issued guidelines in the context of human-wildlife conflict to
the Chief Wildlife Wardens of all the State
Steps taken by A network of Protected Areas namely viz., national parks, Sanctuaries, Conservation
the Reserves and Community Reserving covering important wildlife habitat have been
Central/State created all over the country under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act,
Governments 1972.
for ● Financial assistance is provided to the State/Union Territory governments
improvement of under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes of ‘Integrated Development of
natural habitat Wildlife Habitats’, ‘Project Tiger’ and ‘Project Elephant’ for providing better
of wild animals protection to wildlife, and improvement of its habitats.
includes: ● The MoEF&CC, with financial assistance from Ad-hoc Compensatory
Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), has
formulated a scheme to provide assistance to the States for ‘Augmentation
of Fodder and Water in Protected Areas/Forest Areas’, aimed at improving
habitat in the areas by making provision for augmenting grass, fodder and water
to the wild herbivores.
● The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 provides regulatory functions for taking
up activities in National Parks and Sanctuaries to protect the wildlife habitats.
● Payment of ex-gratia amount to victims of wild animal attack is provided with
a view to reduce retaliatory killings.
● Periodic awareness campaigns to sensitize guide and advise the general public
on man-animal conflict, including dissemination of information through
various forms of media.
● Financial assistance is provided under Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of
Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (IDWH) and Project Tiger for
voluntary relocation of villages from within Protected Areas. This helps in
moving people away from wildlife rich habitats and thus reducing conflict
situations.

Recently (Oct 2018), in possibly the first-of-its-kind move, the Uttar Pradesh
government has made the man-animal conflict a 'State Declared Disaster' bringing
such incidents under the ambit of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to ensure better
coordination and relief during such mishaps in the state.
Issues with the Majority of the States awarded compensation for loss of livestock, human injury and
government death. Only 18 states provided compensation for property damage.
intervention to ● 22 states provide for compensation for crop loss (states like Gujarat and
Rajasthan do not provide compensation for crop loss)

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mitigate man- ● Inconsistencies in eligibility, application, assessment, implementation and

animal conflict: payment procedures across States in giving compensation.
● Discrepancies in eligibility procedure for filling compensation for loss.

Source: 2010 to 2015 data by Bengaluru Centre for wildlife studies on man-human
conflict
Way forward for
the government

6. EUTROPHICATION
Concept and Inorganic plant nutrients are water soluble nitrates and phosphates that cause
Meaning excessive growth of algae and other aquatic plants. The excessive growth of algae
and aquatic plants due to added nutrients is called eutrophication.

Eutrophication is characterized by excessive plant and algal growth due to the

increased availability of one or more limiting growth factors needed for
photosynthesis such as sunlight, carbon dioxide, and nutrient fertilizers.
● Eutrophication occurs naturally over centuries as lakes age and are filled in
with sediments.
● However, human activities have accelerated the rate and extent of
eutrophication through both point-source discharges and non-point
loadings of limiting nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, into
aquatic ecosystems (i.e., cultural eutrophication), with dramatic
consequences for drinking water sources, fisheries, and recreational water
bodies.
Factors ● Use of fertilizers: Agricultural practices and the use of fertilizers in the soil
responsible contribute to the accumulation of nutrients. When these nutrients reach high
behind concentration levels and the ground is no longer able to assimilate them, they
eutrophication: are carried by rain into rivers and groundwater that flow into lakes or seas.

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● Adding fertilizers to enhance primary productivity and increase the density

and biomass of recreationally and economically important fish via bottom-up
effects on higher trophic levels.
● Discharge of waste water into water bodies:
○ wastewater is discharged directly into water bodies such as rivers,
lakes and seas.
○ The result of this is the release of a high quantity of nutrients which
stimulates the disproportionate growth of algae.
○ When water is treated by means of water treatment plants before
discharge into the environment, the treatments applied are not always
such as to reduce the organic load, with the consequent accumulation
of nutrients in the ecosystem.
● Reduction of self-purification capacity:
○ Over the years, lakes accumulate large quantities of solid material
transported by the water (sediments).
○ These sediments are such as to be able to absorb large amounts of
nutrients and pollutants.
○ Consequently, the accumulation of sediments starts to fill the basin
and, increasing the interactions between water and sediment, the
resuspension of nutrients present at the bottom of the basin is
facilitated. This phenomenon could in fact lead to a further
deterioration of water quality, accentuating the processes connected
with eutrophication.

Fig: Eutrophication process

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Consequences of Impact on human life:

Eutrophication ● They may interfere with the use of the water by clogging water intake pipes,
changing the taste and odour of water and cause a buildup of organic matter.
● Poisonings of domestic animals, wildlife, and even humans by blooms of toxic
cyanobacteria
● Disappearance or significant reduction of quality fish with very negative
effects on fishing
● Prohibition of touristic use of the lake and bathing, due to both the foul
odour on the shores caused by the presence of certain algae, as well as the
turbidity; bathing is dangerous because certain algae cause skin irritation.

Impact on environment:
● Creation of dense blooms of noxious, foul-smelling phytoplankton that
reduce water clarity and harm water quality
● Algal blooms limit light penetration, reducing growth and causing die-offs
of plants in littoral zones while also lowering the success of predators that
need light to pursue and catch prey
● Furthermore, high rates of photosynthesis associated with eutrophication can
deplete dissolved inorganic carbon and raise the pH to extreme levels
during the day.
○ Elevated pH can in turn ‘blind' organisms that rely on perception of
dissolved chemical cues for their survival by impairing their
chemosensory abilities
● When these dense algal blooms eventually die, microbial decomposition
severely depletes dissolved oxygen, creating a hypoxic or anoxic ‘dead zone'
lacking sufficient oxygen to support most organisms.
● Some algal blooms produce noxious toxins (e.g., microcystin and anatoxin-
a).
Measures to ● Pass legislations to regulate point-source loading of nutrients
control ● Need to employ a variety of strategies for (1) diversion of excess nutrients, (2)
Eutrophication altering nutrient ratios, (3) physical mixing, (4) shading water bodies with
opaque liners or water-based stains, and (5) application of potent algaecides
and herbicides.
● Water quality can often be improved by reducing nitrogen and/or
phosphorus inputs into aquatic systems
● Use of algaecides such as copper sulfate = effective at reducing HABs
temporally
○ Criticism: algaecides are expensive to apply and do not control the
primary cause of the problem
● The alteration of a food web to restore ecosystem health secondary
consumers (planktivorous fishes) are removed either through the addition of
tertiary consumers (piscivorous fishes) or harvesting, which allows for the

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dominance of large-bodied, generalist grazers (e.g., Daphnia) to control

phytoplankton
Way Forward: Improvement of the purifying performance of wastewater treatment plants,
installing tertiary treatment systems to reduce nutrient concentrations;
● Implementation of effective filter ecosystems to remove nitrogen and
phosphorus present in the run-off water (such as Phyto-purification plants);
● Reduction of phosphorus in detergents;
● Rationalization of agricultural techniques through proper planning of
fertilization and use of slow release fertilizers;
Use of alternative practices in animal husbandry to limit the production of waste water.

7. BIOACCUMULATION AND BIOMAGNIFICATION

Concept and ● Bioconcentration and bioaccumulation occur within an organism, but
Meaning biomagnification occurs across levels of the food chain.
● Bio amplification (or biomagnification) refers to an increase in the
concentration of a substance as you move up the food chain.
1. This often occurs because the pollutant is persistent, meaning that it
cannot be, or very slowly, broken down by natural processes.
2. These persistent pollutants are transferred up the food chain faster
than they are broken down or excreted.
● In contrast, bioaccumulation occurs within an organism, where a
concentration of a substance builds up in the tissues and is absorbed faster
than it is removed.
● Bioaccumulation often occurs in two ways:
1. by eating contaminated food, and
2. by absorption directly from water. This second case is specifically
referred to as bioconcentration. Bioconcentration is the
accumulation of a chemical in or on an organism when the source
of chemical is solely water.

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Mechanism ● While excess fertilizers cause eutrophication, pesticides cause

bioaccumulation and biomagnification.
● Pesticides which enter water bodies enter into the aquatic food chain.
● Later they are then absorbed by the phytoplankton and aquatic plants.
● These plants are eaten by herbivorous fish which are in turn eaten by the
carnivorous fish which are in turn eaten by the water birds.
● At each link in the food chain these chemicals which do not pass out of the
body are accumulated and increasingly concentrated resulting in
biomagnification of these harmful substances.
Consequences Impact on environment:
● One of the effects of accumulation of high levels of pesticides such as DDT is
that birds lay eggs with shells that are much thinner than normal.
○ This results in the premature breaking of these eggs, killing the chicks
inside.
○ Birds of prey such as hawks, eagles and other fish-eating birds are
affected by such pollution.
● Although DDT has been banned in India for agricultural use and is to be used
only for malaria eradication, it is still used in the fields as it is cheap.

Impact on Humans
● The toxic elements like mercury, cadmium, arsenic, etc. through these
processes can enter the food chain. They have harmful effects on human
health. It slows down human cognition, causes diseases like cancer and
tumors.
● Mercury through the process of magnification can cause Minamata disease.
Measures to ● Effectively banning DDT.
control ● Controlling industrial effluents outflows into oceans and rivers.
● Passing legislation to ban those toxic substances that have the potential to
biomagnify and cause detrimental health effects.

8. CORAL BLEACHING
CONCEPT Corals live in tropical waters throughout the world, generally close to the surface where
the sun’s rays can reach the algae.
● While corals get most of their nutrients from the byproducts of the algae’s
photosynthesis, they also have barbed, venomous tentacles they can stick out,
usually at night, to grab zooplankton and even small fish.
How coral reefs ● Coral polyps are tiny, soft-bodied organisms related to sea anemones and
are formed? jellyfish.
● At their base is a hard, protective limestone skeleton called a calicle, which
forms the structure of coral reefs.

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● Reefs begin when a polyp attaches itself to a rock on the seafloor, then divides,
or buds, into thousands of clones.
● The polyp calicles connect to one another, creating a colony that acts as a single
organism.
● As colonies grow over hundreds and thousands of years, they join with other
colonies and become reefs.

Figure shows types of coral reefs

What is coral ● Coral bleaching is the loss of intracellular endosymbionts (Symbiodinium,
bleaching? also known as zooxanthellae) through either expulsion or loss of algal
pigmentation.
● When a coral bleach, it is not dead.
● Why coral bleaching: When corals are stressed by changes in conditions
such as temperature, light, or nutrients, they expel the symbiotic algae living
in their tissues, causing them to turn completely white.
Factors ● Increased (most commonly) or reduced water temperatures: Warm water
responsible for prompts algae inside the coral to leave, which starves coral and turns it white.
coral bleaching ● Oxygen starvation caused by an increase in zooplankton levels as a result of
overfishing.
● Increased solar irradiance (Photosynthetically Active Radiation and
ultraviolet band light).
● Changes in water chemistry (acidification).
○ Major part of pollution comes from land-based runoff, oil spills,
nutrients and pesticides from agriculture, wastewater, industrial
effluent, untreated sewage and others.
○ Toxic chemicals like POPs and PAHs can destroy or damage reef
communities by affecting coral's reproduction and growth.

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● Marine debris like plastic, glass, metal, rubber abandoned fishing nets and
other gear often get entangle and kill reef organisms and break or damage
them.
● Increased sedimentation due to silt runoff
● Bacterial infections
● Changes in salinity
Case study: The Great barrier reef:
Bleaching in ● It is the world’s largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual
Australia’s Great reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres over an area of
Barrier Reef: approximately 344,400 square kilometres.
● The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
● This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms,
known as coral polyps. It was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981.
● What has happened:
○ Incidents of mass bleaching has killed more than a third of the coral
in the northern and central parts of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
○ Coral along large swathes of the 2,300-kilometre reef have been
killed by rising sea temperatures linked to climate change, leaving
behind skeletal remains.
○ The northern reaches of the reef suffered an unprecedented two
successive years of severe bleaching in 2016 and 2017.
● Factors responsible: Experts say the bleaching has been triggered by
○ global warming and El Nino, a warming of parts of the Pacific
Ocean that changes weather worldwide.
○ Farming runoff
○ Development
○ Predatory crown-of-thorns starfish
● Suggested solutions
○ Reducing the exposure of corals to physical stressors
○ Boosting coral regeneration rates by cultivating reef-building coral
larvae that attract other important marine species
Measures to ● Effective implementation of the Paris Agreement so as to limit the average
Control Coral temperature rise within 1.5 C compared to pre-industrial levels through
Bleaching proper adherence to INDC targets.
● Controlling ocean water pollution by restricting flows of untreated industrial
effluents, oil leakages, etc.
● Phasing out ocean bottom trawling by deep ocean fishing.
● Controlling and eliminating introduction of invasive alien species.
● Ensuring that the developmental projects like Carmichael coal mine in
Australia, Bharat Sethum Project in Gulf of Mannar, etc. does not leads to
destruction or bleaching of coral reefs.
● Practice safe and responsible diving and snorkeling

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9. GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISM(GMO)

Concept A GMO or genetically engineered organism is an organism whose genetic material
has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. An organism in which one
or more genes (called transgenes) have been introduced into its genetic material
from another organism using recombinant DNA technology.
Examples of Bt Cotton (Genetically modified cotton)
GMOs ● It was developed to reduce the heavy reliance on pesticides.
● The Bacterium Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt) naturally produces a chemical
harmful only to a small fraction of insects (larvae of moths and butterflies,
beetles, and flies etc) and harmless to other forms of life.
● The Gene coding for (Bt) toxin has been inserted into cotton, causing
cotton to produce this natural insecticide in its tissues.

Bt Brinjal
● A transgenic brinjal created by inserting a crystal protein gene (Cry1Ac) from
the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis into the genome of various brinjal
cultivators.
● Itis developed to give resistance against lepidopteran insects, in particular the
Brinjal Fruit and Shoot Borer (FSB).
● The insertion of the Gene, along with other genetic elements like promoters,
terminators and an antibiotic resistance marker gene into the brinjal plant is
accomplished using Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation.

Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11)

● A genetically modified variety of mustard.
● Developed by the Delhi University’s Centre for Genetic Manipulation of
Crop Plants under a government-funded project.
Difference ● a Living Modified Organism is capable of growing, and typically refers to
between a Living agricultural crops.
Modified ● Genetically Modified Organisms include both LMOs and organisms which
Organism (LMO) are not capable of growing, i.e. are dead.
and a GMO
Arguments in Impact on farmers:
support of ● GM Crops offer improved yields, enhanced nutritional value, longer shelf
Genetically life and resistance to drought, frost or insect pests.
Modified (GM) ● Herbicide/Pest/Viral/Fungal/bacteria resistance = reduce any loss in yields
crops => increasing profitability for farmers.
● slow-ripening + Quality improvement (protein and oil)
● Herbicide resistance + Disease resistance + Cod tolerance + Salinity tolerance
● Desired change can be achieved in very few generations.
● Allows greater precision in selecting characteristics.

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Impact on human health:

● Value addition (Vitamins, micro-and macro-elements).
● Additional access to minerals can be provided and thus deficiencies can be
curbed (Especially in women and children)

Impact on food security:

● GM food => eradicate hunger. “It is better to die eating GM food instead of
dying of hunger”.
● Better flavour and colour + Early maturing + All year availability
● Regulatory mechanism in India is adequate. Government can reject a GM
crop for commercial cultivation if field trials find the product is not suitable
for the environment or human consumption.
Potential benefits ● Genetically engineered resistance to pests and diseases could greatly reduce
for the the use of pesticides and insecticides needed for crop protection. => reduce
environment: environmental impact
● unsustainable irrigation practices => Large areas of crop-land have become
saline = Genetic modification could produce salt-tolerant varieties.
Arguments in ● Introduction of GM Mustard may reduce dependence on edible oil.
support of ○ India is the world’s 2nd largest consumer of edible oil after China
introduction to ○ 14.5-15.5 million tonnes of the total 20-21 million tonnes annual
GM mustard consumption is imported.
Arguments ● Unintended environmental impacts:
against ○ harming non--target and/or beneficial species in the case of crops
Genetically with engineered insecticidal properties
Modified (GM) ○ The potential for pests to evolve resistance to the toxins produced by
crops GM crops.
○ The likelihood of transgenes escaping from cultivated crops into
wild relatives.
○ The risk of these toxins affecting non-target organisms.
● At present, there is no evidence to suggest that GM foods are unsafe.
However, there are no absolute guarantees, either.
● Impact on farmers:
○ Autonomy of farmers affected because the seeds of these tech
crops are monopolized and are marketed by big private firms. If he
is unable/does not provide us the requisite seeds, we have a problem.
○ Genetic erosion of our local varieties.
● Higher costs for farmers, as well as lost premiums and markets.
● The danger of unintentionally introducing allergens and other anti-
nutrition factors in foods.
● According to data provided by FAO, the highest yields in mustard are from
the five countries which do not grow GM mustard — U.K., France, Poland,
Germany and Czech Republic — and not from the GM-growing US or
Canada.

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● Reduced effectiveness of pesticides

● Playing with nature and its mechanisms.
Counter- ● Yields claims are not reliable: The yield claims on which GM mustard has
arguments to GM been cleared are not reliable. They are based on comparisons with 30-year-old
mustard’s high cultivars, and not on more recent high-yielding hybrids.
● If India wants to increase mustard production yield rapidly and safely, then
yield
the government can adopt the practice of “System of Mustard
Intensification”, for which successful trials have been done in Bihar through
a World Bank project. Results showed higher yields and better income. And
all of this was done without the spraying of any toxic herbicides.
● No. GM technology has already been commercialized in India through Bt
Is the objection to cotton.
GM justified? ○ country’s cotton production has gone up more than 2½ times since
Bt hybrids were first planted in 2002.
○ No evidence of Bt cotton causing any adverse human or animal health
effects has emerged.
● Argument against GM Mustard: cotton is not a food crop, while mustard is
India’s largest edible oil-yielding crop.
[Counter Argument]: cotton-seed yields not only fibre (lint), but also oil and
oilcake (meal) fed to animals.
● Cotton-seed oil = 2nd largest produced edible oil in the country (1.4
million tonnes) after mustard (2 million tonnes). That makes cotton
also a food crop.
● 95% of India’s cotton production is Bt = its harmful toxins would
already have been consumed directly or indirectly during the last
decade and more.
● India imports soybean oil and rapeseed oil = they are predominantly
GM.
● Developer of GM Mustard = is a government-funded institution.
Bt cotton = proprietary technology of an MNC Monsanto
Worldwide ● GM crops have been gaining acceptance.
Practice: ● However, their use still remains highly skewed.
○ Only 29 countries allow commercial cultivation of GM crops
while a similar number also allow their import.
○ And most of the 170 million hectares under GM crops are in the
USA, Brazil, Argentina, India and China.
○ Moreover 98% of GM cultivation falls under four main crops:
soybean, maize, cotton and canola.
What needs to be ● Crops should be released only after full satisfaction on the assessment of their
done? impact on plants, animals and human beings.
● Field trials in India must ensure that there are sufficient safeguards against
such violations.

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● If GM food is allowed to be sold to consumers, they must have the right to

know what they are buying, and labelling should be made mandatory.
● A strong regulatory authority should also be established for overseeing
matters related to GM crops.
● Dependence on GM crops is a risky proposition. Hence, India can use other
technologies = increase productivity by molecular breeding and integrated
pest management.

10. ACID RAIN

Concept and When rain falls through polluted air, it can pick up some of the pollutants (oxides of
meaning nitrogen and sulphur) and turn more acidic thus producing acid rain.

Air pollution converts the rain into a weak acid.

The reaction behind formation of Acid Rain
Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide undergo oxidation and then they
react with water resulting in the formation of sulphuric acid and nitric acid
respectively.
2SO2 (g) + O2 (g) + 2H2O (l) → 2H2SO4 (aq)
4NO2 (g) + O2 (g) + 2H2O (l) → 4HNO3 (aq)
Causes of Acid Mixing of Sulfur and Nitrogen particles with the wet components of rain. Thus,
Rain sources of Sulfur and Nitrogen particles are
● Emissions given out from industries
● Burning of fossil fuels
● Lightning strike in the atmosphere releases nitrogen ions
● Sulphur is released from volcanic eruptions also.
Impacts of Acid Impact on Environment
Rain ● When acid rain accumulates in lakes or rivers, it gradually turns the entire
water more acidic.
● Fish thrive only in water that is neutral or slightly acidic (typically with a pH
of 6.5–7.0).
● Once the acidity drops below about pH 6.0, fish soon start to die—and if the
pH drops to about 4.0 or less, all the fish will be killed.
● It also causes the death of forests, reduces the fertility of soil, and damages
buildings by eating away stonework

Impact on humans
Affects human health
Difficulties in ● It can happen over very long distances.
Tackling Acid ● In one notable case, sulphur dioxide air pollution produced by power plants in
Rain the UK was blamed for causing acid rain that fell on Scandinavian countries

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such as Norway, producing widespread damage to forests and the deaths of

thousands of fish in acidified lakes.
Case study: Impact Agra has many power plants and industries which emit oxides of sulphur and
of acid rain on the nitrogen in the atmosphere.
Taj Mahal ● People continue to use low-quality coal and firewood as domestic fuel
● All these led to acid rain.
● Acid rain reacts with the marble (calcium carbonate) of Taj Mahal. This
caused damage to this wonderful structure

CaCO3 + H2SO4 → CaSO4 + H2O + CO2

Steps taken by Government to protect Taj Mahal

● Agra will be converted into a city that relies only on “biofuel”.
● The government has set a deadline for addressing the water pollution that
affects the iconic monument.
● Establishment of Taj Trapezium Zone
○ It is an area of 10,400 sq. km around the Taj Mahal to protect the
monument from pollution.
○ The Supreme Court has banned the use of coke/coal in industries
located in the TTZ with a mandate for switching over from coke/coal
to natural gas, relocating them outside the TTZ or shutting down.

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