Pollution

Modern business houses are often referred as soulless corporations. This is because they pose a threat to the environment and violate environment laws often. Pavan Sukhdev heads the United Nation’s investigation into how to stop destruction of the natural world. He states those business corporations often tend to pollute the environment as they place more importance to achieving their short term goals. In the process, they ignore the long term environmental hazards.

The government of India has enacted stringent environmental laws to combat environmental pollution in the country. However, India still relies mainly on fossil fuels, for its electricity supplies. Based on the reports of the International Energy Agency, India will become world’s third largest carbon emitter, by 2020, with a yearly CO2 emission of 2 billion tons. There are many environmental issues that we are facing in India. We have faced 18 life-threatening heat waves between the years 1980 and 1998. About 3000 people died in Andhra Pradesh, because of these heat waves. Global warming has become a serious issue across the world and one that is much talked about. The recurring climate change patterns continue to cause worry because it paves the way for various health hazards, such as heat stress, respiratory illness and other communicable diseases.

India legal news reports indicate that all’s not fizzy with Coca-Cola in Kerala. The company is facing a serious legal charge in Kerala. The Kerala government will soon set up a tribunal to recover Rs.216.26 crores from the world famous soft drink giant. The amount is sought as a compensation, for environmental harm and violation of environmental laws, by the company. The damage was caused because of their bottling plant and it affected the people of a village called Plachimada of Palakkad district. The company is reported to have caused serious environmental harm through its bottling plant, which is already closed, following sustained protests and stand taken by the court. The state government’s cabinet decided to set up the tribunal based on the report submitted by a panel headed by K. Jayakumar, the Additional Chief Secretary.

Environment laws are doing little to implement actual changes in the way a society conducts its activities. Rising pollution and increasing levels of deforestation continue to play havoc with our environment.  Be it air or water, pollution is prevalent everywhere. It puts us in danger, each and every one in this country is affected by it. In recent years, water pollution has become a serious problem across the country, mostly  due to the presence of untreated effluents, chemicals and pesticides in it.

In the recent times, noise pollution has become a serious health hazard to all living beings, be it humans or animals. The Government of India has developed Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, to overcome the issue of noise pollution. The rules include setting up the Ambient Air Quality Standards, which specifies different permissible levels of sound (measured in dB (A) Leq*) for different areas:

The word noise originated from the Latin word ‘nausea’ meaning seasickness. Noise is any unwanted sound that disrupts environmental equilibrium. Noise is measured in decibels. A major source of noise is the horns of motor vehicles, aircrafts, fire-crackers, sirens, loud speakers and machinery.

The Sections 6 and 25 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, set by the Central Government, provides for the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986. The main objective of the rules is to protect and improve the quality of environment (pollution protection) and prevent environmental degradation caused by pollution. There are specific standards to restrict the amount of pollutants emitted by industrial operations.

Hazardous or toxic substances are those chemicals that pose a threat to the health and safety of living creatures and pollute the environment. Such substances include dust, mixtures, paints, fuels and solvents. Workers in several factories are routinely exposed to poisonous fumes and hazardous pollutants. Hazardous pollutants are often managed and dealt with in an extremely unsafe manner and frequently dumped in the open to get rid of them.

Waste refers to a material that has no utility for a person. Although natural waste can be disposed off and recycled or composted, it is the toxic, non-degradable waste of plastic and electronic goods that is becoming a mounting problem for India and other developing nations. Besides the contribution of households, garbage is also generated by industries, agriculture and mining. Urban India is currently facing a severe problem regarding the disposal of hazardous waste, which must be solved by understanding the dangers of excess and toxic waste. Although Indian laws aim to regulate the movement and generation of hazardous waste, there is no law to deal with the e-waste.

The polluter pays principle is a popular concept which means that if a person causes pollution, he is liable to clean it up and pay for it. The polluter pays principle emphasizes on a curative approach and on repairing the ecological damage done to the environment. The cost of causing damage to the environment is decided by the authorities and borne by the polluter.