Sources Of River Pollution

The sources of pollution of Ganga or for that matter any other river can be classified broadly into two categories namely;

(i) Point sources - these are organised sources of pollution where the pollution load can be measured e.g. surface drains carrying municipal sewage or industrial effluents, sewage pumping stations and sewerage systems, trade effluents from industries etc.


(ii) Non-point sources - these are non-measurable sources of pollution such as run-off from agricultural fields carrying chemicals and fertilizers, run-off from areas used for dumping of solid waste and open defecation, dumping of unburnt/half burnt dead bodies and animal carcasses, dhobi ghats, cattle wallowing, mass bathing, floral offerings etc.

Bitter Harvest

There is a high price you are paying for putting food on the dinner table. And it's not just the money; experts say the environmental costs of producing food have been steadily rising. That, in the long term, is one of the biggest threats to food security in the country.

These costs aren't restricted to the greenhouse gas emissions associated with modern agriculture industry. In the past few decades, farming has led to depletion of resources, soil degradation and pollution. On all these counts, the country's "breadbasket" belt of Punjab and Haryana — the region that lifted India out of foodgrain shortages in the 1970s —has scored poorly. And, the scores aren't getting better.

As economist and Planning Commission member, Abhijit Sen, puts it, "In the case of Punjab and Haryana, we have actually mined the area. We knew the problems but ignored them as these states were producing the food."
Take the case of water. According to the Central Groundwater Board, the water table is receding in 80% of Punjab and 70% of Haryana. The average depletion rate per year is 30-40 cm and goes up to 1 metre at some places. In other words, a proportion of Indians consume food grown with water that belongs to our children. In the long term, the International Water Management Institute estimates shrinking of ground water will reduce India's grain output by one fourth.

Experts feel policy interventions should have come long back to soften the adverse environmental impact of agriculture. Says Ashok K Gulati, Asia director of International Food Policy Research Institute, "Much of the water depletion in Punjab and Haryana is due to water-sapping paddy cultivation. This is a semi-arid region not suited for paddy. High-yield paddy cultivation should shift east, where there's comparative advantage for the crop."

Ramesh Chand of National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research agrees that northwest India wasn't the most suited region for Green Revolution's thrust for raising paddy yields. "Punjab and Haryana farmers, through hard work, 'earned' the comparative advantage in paddy. But it has had its consequences. Now, farmers there should be encouraged to adopt the new rice intensification technique that needs less water. There has to be a gradual shift away from paddy."

Both Gulati and Chand stress that free power to farmers has also led to water wastage through indiscriminate pumping. In Punjab, there are over 10 lakh tubewell connections. "We have to have a policy that accounts for electricity used by farmers," says Gulati.

Water is one aspect of the problem. There's evidence that soil quality in these intensive farming areas is deteriorating. Says food analyst Devinder Sharma, "The micro-nutrient level in soils from Punjab has been found to be 0.1%. It should ideally be 2%." This has come about due to a skewed fertiliser policy that gives more subsidy to certain nutrients, leading to disproportionate use by farmers.

Then there are pesticides that enter the food cycle due to indiscriminate use. A study by PGIMER Chandigarh linked the growing number of cancer cases in some Punjab districts to pesticides. Says Sharma, "We have been using chemicals even where they aren't needed. For instance, the International Rice Research Institute has concluded that in Asia, pesticide use in rice was a waste of time and money."

Sharma says the country needs to rethink the high-input chemical-based Green Revolution model. Other experts say a gamut of measures and policy initiatives are needed for a shift towards sustainable agriculture – intensive linkages between researchers and farmers, and adoption of a holistic approach that looks at soil health, conservation and better quality of life for farmers.

Climate change predictions have injected urgency to these moves. A 2006 study by the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology says the rainfall pattern in India is changing, with more events of heavy rainfall replacing light rains. The implication is dire: Less light rainfall means less recharging of ground aquifers. More events of heavy rain will lead to an increase in natural disasters.

Last week, representatives from 90 countries met at Johannesburg for an intergovernmental plenary on agriculture. After sustained debate, the International Assessment of Agriculture Science and Technology for Development released 'blueprints' for agriculture's survival. The report on south Asia says: "Climate change and variability will emerge as major threats to the agricultural sector in most of the region. With a plateau of productivity in key Green Revolution areas, achieving increases in food and other agricultural production necessitates broadening the base of agricultural growth."

India was a signatory to the document. Now is the time to put the words into action.
Amit Bhattacharya

amit.bhattacharya@timesgroup.com
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Deep_Focus/Bitter_Harvest/articleshow/2964353.cms

Mumbai, Delhi among world's dirtiest cities

Mumbai and Delhi are among the 25 dirtiest cities in the world while the four Indian metros and Bangalore are among the 20 densest cities, according to the Forbes magazine.

The US business magazine also lists Sukinda in Orissa and Vapi in Gujarat among the 10 most polluted places globally.

While listing Mumbai as the seventh dirtiest, the magazine also cites a recent private sector proposal, Vision Mumbai, which seeks $1 billion government aid for infrastructure, pollution control and economic growth strategy.

Delhi at No.24 fares little better but gets drubbing for the pollution in Yamuna river, which is devoid of marine life and where "garbage and sewage flow freely, creating a rich environment for the growth of water-borne diseases contributing to extremely high rates of infant morbidity."

In neighbouring Bangladesh, Dhaka, with lead-poisoned air and water pollution from pesticide use, gets the dubious distinction of being the second dirtiest city in the world.

The top slot as the dirtiest city in the world is taken by Baku in Azerbaijan, suffering life-threatening levels of air pollution emitted from oil drilling.

The list, now on the magazine's website, is based on Mercer Human Resource Consulting's ranking of over 200 cities worldwide on levels of air pollution, waste management, water potability, hospital services, medical supplies and the presence of infectious diseases. New York was used as the norm.

In an earlier Forbes list of the 20 densest urban areas in the world, Mumbai and Kolkata occupied the top two slots, packing in over 23,000 people per square kilometre.

India and China combine to claim nine of the 20 slots, according to 2007 statistics from citymayors.com.

Chennai is at No.8, Delhi at No.13 and Bangalore at No.19 in the list of densely populated cities. Karachi in Pakistan is at No.3.

Living in a dense place affects quality of living, unless you have loads of money and the place is gentrified like Tokyo and New York, the magazine commented. Dense is, however, a relative term. "A Mumbai native visiting New York is bound to feel like a New Yorker vacationing on a Wyoming dude ranch," it added.

In Forbes' list of 10 most polluted places on earth, two Indian towns figure. In Sukinda, Orissa, large swathes of the area's surface water and drinking water contain very high covalent chromium levels, potentially affecting 2.6 million people, the magazine said.

Sukinda is home to almost all of the country's chromite ore deposits and one of the largest opencast chromite ore mines in the world.

In Vapi, the pollutants are chemicals and heavy metals from industrial estates, potentially affecting over 70,000 people. Mercury in the groundwater here is reported to be 96 times higher than the World health Organisation (WHO) standards.

Local produce can contain up to 60 times more heavy metals, such as copper, chromium, cadmium and zinc than non-contaminated produce in control groups, Forbes reported.

China and Russia contributed another two cities each to the 10 most polluted places list, prepared by the non-profit Blacksmith Institute.

"In some towns, life expectancy approaches medieval rates, and birth defects are the norm, not the exception," according to the institute. "In others, children's asthma rates are measured above 90 percent and mental retardation is endemic."

Forbes added: "Fast-track economic growth and years of unregulated mining and chemical production have laid waste to the homes of millions."

HINDUSTAN TIMES