CBSE Class 12 Geography Geographical Perspective on Selected Issues and Problems Notes

Environmental Pollution

The release of substances and energy from waste products of human activities causes environmental pollution. Generally, types of pollution are classified on the basis of medium through which pollutants have transported and diffused into the environment. The types of pollution are
(i) Water pollution
(ii) Air pollution
(iii) Noise pollution
(iv) Land degradation

Water Pollution

Rise in the pollutants in the water bodies leads to water pollution, which makes it unfit for human use. For example, water bodies like lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and groundwater, etc. are being increasingly polluted by human activities. Quality of water has degraded due to indiscriminate use of water because of the increasing population and industrial expansion. Surface water in rivers, canals, lakes, etc is not pure. It contains small quantities of suspended particles, organic and inorganic substances. When concentration of these substances increases the self-purifying capacity of water is unable to purify the water in these water bodies.

Sources of Water Pollution

Water pollutants are created from natural as well as human sources
- Natural Sources These sources include erosion, landslides, decay and decomposition of plants and animals, etc. These sources make water polluted.
- Human Sources Through industrial, agricultural andcultural activities, human beings pollute water. Pollutants from human activities are the major cause of concern.

These sources are classified into
(i) Industrial Sources Industries are the most significant contributor in pollution. Industries are source of a number of undesirable products including industrial wastes, polluted wastewater, poisonous gases, chemical residuals, numerous heavy metals, dust and smoke, etc. These industrial wastes are disposed in water bodies like rivers or lakes from where these poisonous elements spread to other water bodies like reservoirs, lakes, rivers etc. This ultimately destroys the bio-system and pollute water at a larger scale. Industries like leather, pulp and paper, textiles and chemicals, etc are the major water polluting industries.

(ii) Agricultural Sources Agriculture has modernised with the use of various types of chemical fertilisers like inorganic fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides, etc.
These pollutants are washed down to rivers, lake, tanks and pollute them. These harmful chemicals also infiltrate the soil from where they reach the goundwater. Fertilisers lead to an increase in the nitrate content in surface waters. In India, almost all the surface water sources are contaminated and unfit for human use.

(iii) Cultural Activities Activities like pilgrimage, religious fairs, tourism, etc are also contributing factors that cause water pollution.

Diseases Caused Due to Water Pollution
Water pollution causes a number of water- borne diseases. The common diseases caused by water pollution are diarrhoea, intestinal worms, hepatitis etc. Data from the WHO shows that almost one-fourth of the communicable diseases1 in India are water-borne.

Pollution in Ganga
The pollution of river Ganga, flowing through one of the most populous regions of India is a cause of concern. To improve the conditions of the river, National Mission for Clean Ganga was initiated. The Namami Gange Programme was launched for the same.

Namami Gange Programme
Ganga is a river of national importance. Due to high pollution in the river Ganga, it requires cleaning by controlling the pollution of its water. The Union Government has launched the ‘Namami Gange Programme’ with the following objectives :
• Developing sewerage treatment systems in towns.
• Monitoring of industrial effluents.
• Development of river front.
• Afforestation along the bank of the river to increase biodiversity.
• Cleaning the river surface.
• Development of ‘Ganga Grams’ in Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
• Creating public awareness to avoid adding pollutants in the river even in the form of rituals.

Air Pollution

A larger proportion of pollutants present in the air for a long duration is known as air pollution. Pollutants like dust, fumes, gas, fog, odour, smoke or vapour present in the air in substantial proportion and duration are considered as air pollutants. These pollutants are harmful for flora, fauna and to property.

Sources of Air Pollution

The main sources of air pollution are combustion of fossil fuels, mining and industries. These processes release oxides of sulphur and nitrogen, hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, lead and asbestos. With increasing use of varieties of fuels as source of energy, there is a marked increase in emission of toxic gases into the atmosphere resulting in the pollution of air.

Consequences of Air Pollution
- Various diseases related to respiratory, nervous and circulatory systems are caused by air pollution.
- A visible cover of smoky fog over the cities called as urban smog2 is caused by air pollution. The smog has a harmful effect on human health.
- Acid rain is also caused by air pollution. According to rainwater analysis of urban environment, pH value of the first rain after summer is always lower than the subsequent rains. The first rain is comparatively more acidic than the subsequent rains.

Noise Pollution
It is the harmful level of noise that creates a state which is unbearable and uncomfortable to human beings.

Sources of Noise Pollution
Major sources of noise pollution are various factories, mechanised construction and demolition works, automobiles, aircrafts, etc. Besides these, there are also some periodic but polluting sources of noise like sirens, loudspeakers, etc which are used in various festivals, programmes associated with community activities. The level of noise is measured by sound level expressed in terms of decibels3 (dB). The biggest nuisance of noise pollution is the noise produced by traffic.
The intensity and nature of noise produced by traffic depends upon factors such as the type of aircrafts, vehicles, trains etc. In the case of automobiles, it depends upon the quality and condition of road and the automobile. In sea traffic, the noise pollution is confined to the harbour due to loading and unloading activities. Intensity of noise pollution from industries depends upon the type of industry. Noise pollution is location specific and its intensity declines with increase in distance from the source of pollution that is industrial areas, arteries of transportation, airports etc.

Consequences of Noise Pollution
Noise pollution is hazardous in many big cities and metropolitan regions in India. Increase in environmental noise pollution can cause hearing impairment, hypertension, annoyance, mental problems or disorders and sleep disturbance etc.

Increase in Noise Pollution in Oceans
As per the study done by Scripps Institute of Oceanography the noise pollution in oceans has increased tenfold since the 1960s. Many oceanologists from Whale Acoustics, Colorado studied declassified US Navy documents and concluded that the noise levels in 2003-2004 were about 10 to 12 decibels higher than in 1964-1966. The reason for this noise pollution in oceans could be
• Population increase at global level.
• Vast increase in the global shipping trade.
• A number of ships plying the oceans.
• Higher speed fo vessels (Ships).

Land Degradation

Land degradation in general term, refers to a temporary or a permanent decline in productive capacity of the land. Agricultural land is facing an increasing pressure not only due to the limited availability but also by deterioration (destruction) of quality of agricultural land.

Land degradation is caused by soil erosion, water-logging, salinisation and alkalinisation of land. If land is consistently used without managing its fertility, it becomes degraded and its productivity also declines. Though not all degraded land comes in wasteland category, but when process of degradation is not checked it leads to the conversion to wasteland.
The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) has classified the wastelands by using remote sensing techniques. The wastelands have been categorised according to the processes that have created them. These are:

Wasteland formed by Natural Agents
These are the wastelands which are primarily caused by natural agents such as gullied/ravine land, desertic or coastal sands, barren rocky areas, steep sloping land and glacial areas.

Wasteland formed by Natural and Human Factors
This land includes water logged and marshy areas, land affected by salinity and alkalinity and land with or without scrub, which have largely been formed by both natural as well as human factors.

Wasteland formed by Man-made Processes
These are wastelands caused by human action which includes degraded shifting cultivation area, degraded land under plantation crops, degraded forests, degraded pastures, and mining and industrial wastelands, etc.

Methods of Preventing Land Degradation
Various methods are employed to prevent land degradation and improve the quality of soil. One of the methods is the watershed development.

Implementing watershed management programmes that would acknowledge the linkages between land, water and vegetation and aims to improve livelihoods of the people through natural resource management and community participation. An important example of this programme being used to revitalise the land is in the Jhabua district in Madhaya Pradesh. The Bhils in the Petlawad Block of Jhabua district (Sat Rundi hamlet of Karravat Village) have revitalised large parts of their common property resources through their own efforts. Each household planted and maintained one tree on the common property. They also planted fodder grass on the pasture land so that it would provide fodder for their cattle in the future.

The given table indicates that wastelands caused by man made processes are more important natural processes.

Types and Sources of Pollution

Urban Waste Disposal

Urban areas are marked by overcrowding, congestion, inadequate facilities for growing population, poor sanitary conditions and foul air. These areas have a variety of sources which generate huge amount of wastes. Environmental pollution by solid wastes has now become a cause of concern due to enormous quantity of wastes generated in the country. Solid waste refers to various old and unused articles such as small stained metal pieces, broken glassware, plastic containers, polythene bags, CDs, floppies etc dumped at different places. These discarded are also termed as refuse garbage and rubbish. India is facing a serious problem of urban waste disposal. About 90 per cent of the solid waste is collected and disposed off in metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, etc.
But on the other side, in most of the cities and towns in the country about 30 to 50 per cent of the wastes generated are left uncollected and untreated which accumulate on the streets, in open spaces between houses, in wastelands etc.

Sources of Solid Wastes

The sources of solid waste are categorised into two types Household or Domestic Establishment Wastes generated by domestic establishment is disposed off either on public lands or on private contractor’s sites.
Industrial or Commercial Establishments Municipal bodies collect the solid wastes of industrial units and dispose these off at low lying public grounds (landfill areas). Disposal of industrial wastes has increased because of the high concentration of industrial units in and around urban centres. Industries, thermal power houses and building constructions or demolitions are contributing with more turn out of ashes and debris in solid wastes.

Effects of Improper Management of Solid Waste

The huge amount of ashes, debris from industries, thermal power houses and building constructions or demolitions pose serious problems. These are
- Solid wastes are threat to human health and can cause various diseases. It creates foul smell and harbours flies and rodents that can cause typhoid, diphtheria, diarrhoea,malaria, cholera and other diseases.
- Solid waste can create inconvenience rapidly if they are not properly handled. Rainwater and wind can spread this waste and cause further problems. Industrial solid waste can cause water pollution as it is dumped intowater bodies. River pollution from untreated sewage from city based industries also results into various health problems.
- Untreated wastes release various poisonous biogases such as methane. These wastes can be used as resources by generating energy from them. By compositing these wastes, problem of energy and urban waste management could be solved.

A Case Study: A Role Model to Restore the Ecology and Safeguard Human Health in Daurala (Meerut)

In Daurala near Meerut, people took initiatives to restore the ecology and safeguard the human health on the basis of the Universal law ‘Polluter pays’.
It is a collective participation of Daurala Industries officials, NGOs, Government officials, other stakeholders, their powerful logics, authentic studies and pressure of people of the village. The major problem of this village was that Daurala sites were suffering from contaminated groundwater with heavy metals in the year 2003. Its main reason was that the untreated waste water of Daurala industries was leaching to the groundwater table. This condition was impound after three years when Meerut based NGO had developed a model for ecological restoration.

The measures taken to improve this condition are
• The NGO conducted a door to door survey of the health status of the residents and collected data.
• The organisation, the village community and people’s representatives sat together to find out sustainable solutions to the health problem.
• The industrialists showed a keen interest towards checking the deteriorating ecology.
• The overhead water tank’s capacity in the village was enhanced and a 900m extra pipeline was laid to supply potable water to the community.
• The silted pond of the village was cleaned and recharged by desilting it.
• Large quantity of silt was removed paving way to large quantity of water so that it recharged the aquifers.
• Rainwater harvesting structures have been constructed at different places which has helped in diluting the contaminants of the groundwater after the monsoons.
• 1000 trees have also been planted which have improved the environment.

Rural-Urban Migration
Movement of people from one place to another is called migration. Rural to urban migration trend is very common now a days. This trend of migration takes place due to a number of factors like
- High demand for labour in urban areas.
- Low job opportunities in rural areas.
- Unbalanced pattern of development between urban and rural areas.
- Poor people usually prefer to settle in mega cities for their livelihood. The reason for this is that smaller and medium cities provide low opportunities, thus they by-pass these cities and directly come to mega-cities for their livelihood.
- Rural-urban migration is the major factor for rapid increase of population in Indian cities.

Mostly daily wage workers like welders, carpenters, etc move to other cities for work. They send remittances to their families for daily consumption, healthcare, schooling of children, etc. Some part of the money is also used for agriculture, purchasing land, building houses etc. Though this significantly improves the living standard and economic conditions of their families but they also have to bear the pain of separation as the jobs are temporary and transferable. These poor, semi-literate and unskilled people migrating from rural to urban areas usually end up performing low paid menial jobs in the informal sector. As the wages are very low to support the whole family at the place of destination, the spouses are left behind in rural areas to look after the elderly and children. That is why rural-urban migration stream is dominated by the males.

Trends of Urbanisation
About 47 per cent of the world’s six billion population lives in cities and more will join them in near future. This proportion is estimated to go up to 50 per cent by 2008. This will put pressure on governments to make urban areas better places to live with optimum infrastructure facilities for desirable quality of life.
By 2050, an estimated two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas, imposing even more pressure on the space infrastructure and resources of cities, which are manifested in terms of sanitary, health, crime problems and urban poverty.

Urban population grows as a result of natural increase4 (when birth rate exceeds death rate), net in-migration5 (when people move in than out), and sometimes re-classification of urban areas. In India, it is estimated that after 1961 around 60 per cent of the urban growth has been attributed and 29 per cent of them from rural areas to urban migration.

Development of Slums in India

The rural and urban areas in India have different functions, sometimes complementing each other. Rural and urban areas have also evolved into two separate cultural, social, political, economic and technological entities.
Rural population constitutes approximately 69 per cent of the total population of India in 2011. According to Mahatma Gandhi, villages are considered as the ideal republics of India.

But still most of the villages are in poor condition which are engaged in primary activities. In India villages form hinterland of the core urban centres and are attached to these closely.
As compared to rural areas, the urban centres are more similar in their composition (homogeneous). But in case of India, here urban centres are more differentiated in terms of the socio-economic, polico-cultural and other indicators of development than any other areas.

There is a hierarchy that has developed in the urban areas.
- At the top of the hierarchy there are farm houses and high income group localities which have well-developed urban infrastructures, like wide roads, streetlights, water and sanitation facilities, play grounds, provisions for individual security and right to privacy.
l At the other extreme of it are the slums like jhuggi-jhopri clusters and colonies of shanty structures which are occupied by poor people. These areas are inappropriate for living and are degraded.
- They are marked by unregulated drainage system and open defecation.
- Slums (jhuggi-jhopari) are the clusters and colonies of shanty structures.
- Slums are occupied by those migrants who were forced to migrate from the rural areas to the urban centres in search of livelihood but due to high rent and high cost of land, they could not afford proper housing.
- Thus, they are forced to live in environmentally incompatible and degraded areas. For example,Dharavi slum of central Mumbai is the Asia’s largest slum.

Problems of Slums in India

Slums are the residential areas of least choice, which have the following problems
- Dilapidated (broken-down) houses.
- Poor hygenic conditions.
- Poor ventilation
- Lack of basic amenities like drinking water, light and toilet facilities.
- Slums are overcrowded having narrow street pattern prone to serious hazards from fire.
- They are marked by unregulated drainage system and open defecation.
- Besides this, most of the slum dwellers engage in low paid, high risk-prone unorganised sectors of the urban economy. Because of such situation they are undernourished, prone to different types of diseases and illness.
- Due to abject poverty situation, slum dwellers are unable to give proper education to their children.
- Poverty has also made these people vulnerable to drug abuse, alcoholism, crime, vandalism, escapism, apathy and ultimately social exclusion.

The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)

The Swachh Bharat Mission is a part of the urban renewable mission launched by the government of India to improve the quality of life in urban slums. It was launched in 2014 to improve sanitary conditions in the country.