Pollution : An Obstacle for India

 

Pollution: An Obstacle for India

India is considered as one of the emerging superpower in the world. The Republic of India is growing rapidly in almost every sector to improve the quality life and cost of living for the people. It is working on every field to achieve a glorious position in every sector but India is lacking in one thing which should not be ignored as it is affecting the lifestyle of the people and that’s pollution. One of the major issue in the country. According to the data of IQAir India has been ranked as the 3^rd polluted country in the world. If we talk about the most polluted cities in the world. The most polluted city is Xinjang in China tops the list but in these list of top 10 other nine cities are from India according to the business standards which is a big reason to worry about. In India around 51% of the pollution is caused by the industries, 27 % of pollution by the commercial vehicles, and 17% by the burning of the crops and remaining 5 % by the fireworks. The industrial pollution should be put under control as it is affecting the life and creating a negative impact on the health of humans.

Delhi (capital of India) tops the chart on being one of the most polluted city in the world. According to the Swiss organisation IQ air presented a report in which it states that out of 30 world most polluted cities 22 cities are from the India and Delhi has been ranked as 10^th most polluted city and tops the chart as the most polluted capital city in the world. According to a study due to pollution there are around 1.7 million deaths which occur in India in the year 2019. The statics were down in 2020 due lockdowns but if the life comes back to normal phase and people will resume to their works then there would be a chances of increase in pollution. The pollution is a major issue for the people who live in urban areas. Most of the people suffer from lung disease or respiratory problems who are from the urban areas of India. The concern of rising pollution level in India is certainly a headache for the government. The main contributors to the pollution levels in India are the vehicles running on petrol or diesel. Minimum usage of these vehicles can be beneficial for decrease in pollution levels. One of the Seven Wonders of the World TajMahal which is an applauded and accolade by the numerous peoples but unhappy to say that this beauty has also faced devastating effects of pollution. According to CPCB ( Central Pollution Control Board ) has measured the quality index of Agra and found that the air quality is above 400 which is considered to be severe in terms of pollution , due to which the white marble of Taj Mahal is turning yellow which turned out to be the reason for demolishing the beauty of  the wonder.

Sources of Air pollution in India

There are various sources which causes pollution:-

1)    The pollution emitted by the vehicles. In India there are around 295 million vehicles which are registered. The main substance which are being used as the fuel are petrol and diesel in India. There are different types of vehicles such as from two wheelers to four wheelers and also oversized vehicles. As to preserve these vehicles fuel has being used which is considered to be a major contributor of rising pollution. There are numerous gases and components which are being released through vehicles like carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), some photochemical oxides and  toxics such as aldehydes, benzenes (C₆H₆) , 1,3 butane (C₄H₆) , lead (Pb), hydrocarbon (HC), oxides of sulphur (SO₂) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) these are some air pollutants which are seen as the health hazards for humans. According to the UrbanEmissions.info the pollution through vehicles contributes 30% in Delhi. The exhaust of pollution emitted in India is observed to be a major contributor to rise of deaths due to air pollution. There were around 3.8 lakhs deaths due to air pollution worldwide out of which 74000 deaths materialized India. According to a study which uncovers that diesel which is used as a fuel for the transport vehicles is one of the health hazards for people living in India. As the diesel emissions can cause serious concerns related to health. For the stability of pollution government has to look upon making of some new jurisdictions for vehicles. In today Covid era government has increased the prices of fuels such as petrol and diesel. In my opinion it may not be a good solution of increasing the prices of fuels but it could exacerbate the situation. The increase of prices leads to the operation of bearing the losses and certainly creating a headache for the people. Instead the government should introduce some new course of action or strategy to overcome this obstacle.

 

2)    Industries are main source of escalation in rising levels of air pollution. India is a developing country which needs to develop a structure and administration for an uninterrupted development within the country. India also has been laying out new industries in order to make itself – reliable. Due to which it is cladding huge projects and investments in the country. But there is a major concern air pollution which will be caused during the establishment of these manufacturing hubs and thus giving a rise in pollution index of the country. The talk is still not over yet as after the establishments it will act as a supplemental to the environment which needs to set down.  According to CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) has recognised 17 categories of industries which contributes to pollution index.

 

Categories are:-

Ø Sugar industry

Ø Cement industries

Ø Distillery ( place where alcohol products are manufactured)

Ø Petrochemical industry

Ø Pulp and papers

Ø Fertilizers

Ø Tannery ( a place where animal skins are processed)

Ø Pesticides

Ø Thermal power station

Ø Caustic soda

Ø Pharmaceuticals

Ø Dye and Dye stuffs

Ø Refinery

Ø Copper smelter

Ø Iron and steel

Ø Zinc smelter

Ø Aluminium

 

The categories which are listed above are the industries which are main concern to the environment. Solution for this issue is still unsolved but may be in future the technology could find some new answer for this issue.

 

3)    Forest Fires:

 

Forest Fires can be described as the things which are out of control or out of our hands. Forest fires occurs naturally where it occurrence cannot be stopped from happening. These fires generally come into action due to lightning but it is easily extinguishes due to the rain and further it doesn’t create any crucial damage to the flora and fauna.

 

Another reason due to which these come about is due human activities or artificial steps which causes wildfire. These happens due to negligence of humans. As humans have set up many infrastructures for development and growth but one of the infrastructure like power supplies which has been setup point -to- point from one city to another. Sometimes due to inaccuracy shown by the people which ushered these negligence as the cause of Wildfires or Forest fires. Use of cigarettes, bidi and other flammable substances should kept out of reach as it is also a reason to light up the forests. According to the data exhibited by WHO (World Health Organisation) around 6.2 million people who are affected by the wild fires and volcanic activities which also caused 2400 deaths due to suffocation, Injuries and burns.

 

 

What can we do on the individual level?

 

On the Individual level we cannot stop the forest fires nor the industries to reduce the pollution but we can take care of some activities which are conducted by us.

·        The use of cars running on petrol or diesel should be minimized as it causes emitting of gases as stated earlier. The use of vehicles which runs on electric or CNG are the best alternatives for the vehicles running on the fuel.

·        Use of public transport should be more often to reduce the crowd on the roads. But in these Covid times it might not be possible to travel but while try to take precautions all the necessary precautions as prescribed by government.

·        Create an awareness on the social media about the pollution levels as more and more would be able to understand the situation especially younger peoples.

·        Try to minimize use of products like cigarettes and bidi which are harmful for the environment as well as your health.

 

In these Covid era most of the people have lost their jobs and facing hardships in their life but you should never lose the hope that one day everything will be fine.

Try to be happy and Stay safe.

 

 

If you like my blog please comment below if you had anything to learn or just you realized what our country is suffering from.

Any suggestions or if you find it inappropriate feel free to contact me through my mail ID as mentioned in the description.