Environmental Pollution - Essay, UPSC MAINS | Course for UPPSC Preparation - UPPSC (UP) PDF Download

Environmental Pollution

structure

(1) Opening    —    ‘Quote’.

(2) Body    —    Definition of pollution, Types.

—    Sources of Pollution—industry, man, agriculture.

—  Harms—health, wild life, plants, quality of life, productivity, efficiency, ozone layer.

— Prevention—Necessity. Earth summit, Sustainable development, afforestation, wasteland development, prevention using ESP, better process, products.

—    Mass movement—‘Parya-varan Vahini’, legal, social forestry, mass media campaign, education and training, Eco mark, Natural cultivation etc.

(3) Closing    —    Urgency and Importance. Ways.

“The entire Universe is one piece. Do not covet it. Relish it with restraint.”

When the heads of over 100 governments met in 1992 in Rio, they had one goal—to save the earth from the ravaging human civilization. The truth that was understood by Indian sages centuries ago was finally being realised by the world leaders that man must live harmoniously with nature. If he fails to do so, the very existence of human civilization will be in danger. Unfortunately, since the Industrial Revolution, man has been doing just this. He has been freely broking nature’s delicate balance, destroying other forms of life and exploiting natural resources endlessly. All this has sent alarm bells ringing all over the world. Enlightened and concerned citizens are searching for ways and means to stop this madness.

One of the biggest problems that is plaguing mother nature is the problem of pollution. Man is just one of millions of life forms existing on the earth, albeit a very intelligent one. But this does not entitle him to interfere in nature’s law of ecological balance. He is as much dependent upon other living forms as they are on him. When man (or anyone else) introduces something extraneous in the natural cycle which positively harms life and creates imbalance, it is known as pollution. Since man is the only life form who has been able to understand nature to some extent, he is the only one in position to cause pollution and unfortunately, he has been doing it at his own free will.

Pollution can be of many types. One of them is the Air Pollution. The very air we breathe in and which sustains life is being poisoned by exhausts from automobiles, smoke from chimneys, dust from mining and construction activities and numerous other sources of dangerous gases and vapours. Air should have a certain composition which is mostly Nitrogen, Oxygen and very little of other gases but these sources emit carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, hydro carbons and radio active vapours. This disturbs the composition of air and harms all the biological processes dependent upon it.

Another type of pollution is water pollution. 90% of our body is water. We need water for cooking, drinking, bathing, cleaning, industrial processes and cooling etc. Many types of life forms live in it. All animals and plants need water for survival. In fact, presence of water is one main reason why life exists on earth. But man has not spared even this life giver. Sewage effluents, chemical discharges, dyes, agricultural wastes (fertilizers etc.), fuels of ships etc. have converted clean, sparkling water of rivers, lakes and seas into dull, rotting mass of sludge. The acquatic life is being destroyed, dirty water has become the sources of epidemics, diseases and foul smell. Fresh water bodies are being converted into chemical ponds.

Yet another type of pollution is the land pollution. Agricultural chemicals, sewage effluents, chemical discharges from industry, mining and construction activities have denuded the surface of earth. Once lush green land has been converted into a desert. Land subsidence, floods, ground water pollution, dust and fumes are all the results of land pollution. Wild life is being deprived of its habitat and the very trees man used to worship once, are today becoming victims of his greed and carelessness.

While on one hand, atomic power is being used in innumerable ways for mankind’s benefit, on the other hand, the same is becoming a major and highly hazardous source of pollution called Radiation Pollution. In this case it is not the atomic power plants but atomic explosions that are the real culprits. Harmful rays and particles emitted can create abnormalities in body, birth deformities, mutations, skin cancer, blood cancer and a number of other diseases.

A brief survey of pollution done above shows very clearly that it is man himself who is responsible for his doom. His insatiable greed and use of a poor model of development are responsible for bringing things to such a pass today. It is not that this is the only way that development can be pursued. There are better and more sustainable ways existing. Such a development which bases itself on man’s harmony with nature is aptly called ‘sustainable development’. It defines development as betterment of human life without jeopardising the ability of the future generations to live a healthy life. It has many aspects and if implemented can help us live a better life, materially, aesthetically and spiritually.

Implementation of such a model calls for mass participation. This in turns means that awareness and understanding needs to be generated among common people regarding environment and its protection. For example, the scheme of ‘Paryavaran Vahini’, which includes establishing a committed cadre of environmentally conscious and aware citizen who will help in protecting environment and bringing pollutants to book, is one step in this direction. Voluntary agencies, citizens, government and industry should join hands in such an endeavour. For example, use of organic fertilizers, environment friendly chemicals, bio-fertilizers, bio- pesticides, optimum use of water etc. by agriculturists can be done if they are informed, trained and helped by government, voluntary agencies etc. Use of ESPs in chimneys, treatment plants, use of eco-friendly products etc. can be done by the industry.

Time is running out fast. We have only one earth to live in and if we do not do something to save it, we can only start the reverse count. Let it be a duty of each one of us to do our best to save and improve environment. We can plant trees, use eco-friendly products, bio-degradable packings, eco-marked goods, spread the awareness and prevent others from polluting earth. Else the day is not far when clean water, safe air, undisturbed land may become a rarer commodity than gold. May be then, even man will be found only in museums.