Contents

Unit- 5
Environmental Policy, Legislation &EIA

Dr.S.Srilalitha
Professor of Chemistry
 Contents

Sustainable Development

The term sustainable development refers to the development that meets

the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future
generations to meet their own needs.
Measures for Sustainable Development

• Effective planning for population control

• Reducing per capita demand of natural resources

• Using efficient technological devices

• Following the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycling)

approach

• Promoting environmental awareness through education

• Effective planning for regeneration of natural resources

 Urban Problems Related to Energy
The energy requirement in urban areas is many times greater than that in
rural areas because of the following reasons:

i) Activities that require large amounts of energy (industries,

institutions, transportation, etc.) are concentrated in urban areas.

ii) Urban people have a higher standard of living compared to rural

people and hence demand more energy for comfortable living.
 Water Conservation

Water Conservation in Irrigation

Water Conservation in Homes

 Rainwater Harvesting

Rainwater harvesting is a technique of water conservation in which the

recharge of ground water is increased through capturing and storing rainwater.

Objectives

• To fulfil the demand of water in domestic, industrial, and agricultural sectors

• To raise the water table by recharging ground water

• To minimize ground water pollution

• To reduce soil erosion, flooding, and run off

• To reduce incidence of floods

 Some Traditional Water Harvesting Techniques

• Kunds of Rajasthan

• Tanks in Gujarat

• Temple Ponds

• Talabs

• Wadis
 Watershed Management
Proper utilization of land and water resources for optimum production without
damaging the natural resources is known as watershed management.

Objectives
• To minimize soil erosion and maintain moisture retention to ensure good
productivity

• To facilitate water conservation for domestic water supply, irrigation,

hydropower generation, etc.

• To minimize the risk of floods, droughts, and landslides.

• To utilize the natural resources in sustainable agricultural practices with

a view to improve rural economy of the region and socio-economic
conditions of rural people
Benefits of Watershed Management
• Ensure ecological balance

• Stabilize income even under unfavourable weather conditions

• Minimize the risks of drought, landslides, and floods and help to

reduce soil erosion and sediment production.

• Enable proper utilization of marginal or waste lands through alternate land use
systems

• Maximize productivity per unit area, per unit time, and per unit of water

• Rehabilitate the watershed through proper land use adopting conservation

strategies

• Manage the watershed for beneficial developmental activities such as domestic

water supply, irrigation, hydropower generation, etc.

• Develop rural areas in the region with clear plans for improving the economy
of the region
 Resettlement and Rehabilitation

Reasons for Displacement of Human Habitation

Natural hazards – Earthquakes, cyclones, landslides, floods, drought,

volcanic eruptions, and epidemic diseases

Anthropogenic factors – Developmental activities such as construction

of dams, roads, tunnels, etc., which increase the risks of calamities
such as floods and landslides. Other factors include accumulation of
wastes and environmental pollution
Problems Faced by Displaced People

• The compensation for the lost land is often not paid or the payment is
delayed.

• Basic infrastructure and amenities are not provided in the new area.

• Very often, temporary camps become permanent settlements.

• Ethnic and caste differences make it difficult for the refugees to live
peacefully with the communities already living in the area.
 Environmental Ethics

Creating a moral sense of environmental conservation in each person

is called environmental ethics.
 Contents

The Contrasting Views

• Utilitarian justification (also known as individualistic ethics)

• Ecological justification (also known as moral justification)

Environmental Equity and Priority Principle

Always respect nature except in cases where strong human rights

are at stake
 Global Climate Change

Weather

Weather is the condition of the atmosphere at a particular place and time.

Climate

Climate change refers to the variation in Earth's global climate

or in regional climates over time.
 Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming

The term greenhouse effect is used to indicate a heat-trapping process

caused by gases such as carbon dioxide, and water vapour which are
transparent to incoming solar radiations but re-emit the infrared
radiations from Earth's surface.

Global warming is a long-term rise in the average temperature of

Earth as a whole as a result of greenhouse effect.
 Contents

Greenhouses Gases

• Carbon dioxide

• Methane

• Nitrous oxide

• Chlorofluoro carbons
Activities Responsible for Emission of Greenhouse Gases

• Fossil-fuel burning

• Industrial processes

• Deforestation

• Livestock

• Paddy fields

• Biomass burning

• Coal mining
Environmental Effects of Global warming

• Weather extremes

• Rise in sea level

• Agricultural production

• Storms

• Adverse effects on human health

• Loss of ecosystems and biodiversity

Control measures
• Reduction in the use of fossil fuels

• Shifting to the renewable energy sources that do not emit greenhouse

gases

• Increasing the use of energy efficient and cleaner production

technologies and practices

• Reducing deforestation, adopting better forest management practices,

and undertaking afforestation to sequester carbon
Kyoto Protocol
Stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at
a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference
with the climatic system
 Acid Rain

Acid rain refers to a condition in which natural precipitation becomes

acidic after reacting chemically with pollutants in the air.

Causes of Acid Rain

Burning of the fuel as well as the use of nuclear weapons leading

to the evolution of large amounts of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and
nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which get converted to sulphurous acid
and nitric acid, respectively.
Adverse Effects of Acid Rain

• Reduction in population of aquatic biota

• Damage to terrestrial ecosystems

• Corrosion of buildings

• Effect on human beings

 Ozone Layer and Its Depletion

The decrease in the concentration of ozone (O3) in stratosphere is known

as ozone layer depletion.

Chief Cause

Widespread use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

CFCs
CFCs are powerful O3 destroyers. They are used in the following
ways:

• As coolants in the compressors of refrigerators and air

conditioners.
• To clean electronic circuit boards used in computers,
telephones, etc.
• In the manufacture of foams for mattresses and cushions,
disposable styrofoam cups, packaging material, cold storage,
etc.
Ozone Hole

The thinning of ozone layer or reduction in concentration of ozone

especially over the area of Antarctic continent is known as ozone hole,
which covers approximately seven million square kilometer.
Mechanism of Ozone Layer Depletion

UV
a) CFC   Cl

b) O2 UV
 C
 O  O

O 2  O 
 O3

O3 UV
 B
 O 2  O

Cl  O 
 ClO

c) ClO  ClO 

 ClOOCl (dim er)

d) ClOOCl 
 Cl2  O2

e) Cl 2 Cl + a
Environmental Effects of O3 Layer Depletion

• Damage to land plants

• Decrease in population of aquatic community

• Increase in the rate of skin diseases and cancers in human beings

• Disturbance in climate patterns

• Corrosion of materials
 Cts

Control Measures

• Evolving substitutes for CFCs

• Development of hydrochloroflourocarbons and

hydrofluorocarbons

Montreal Protocol

Designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of a

number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion
 Wasteland Reclamation

Utilizing wastelands for agricultural purposes is known as wasteland

reclamation.

Types of Wasteland

• Culturable Wasteland

• Non-culturable Wasteland
 Co
Strategies for Wasteland Reclamation

• Social forestry and farm forestry approaches should be adopted.

• Quickly harvestable, more-wood-producing tree species should be

planted .

• Tree crops may be mixed with leguminous plants which can also
improve soil fertility.

• Application of biofertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers should

be preferred.

• The wasteland development programme should be given a high

priority for repair and restoration of both ecological and natural
resource base of the country.

• Public awareness, which can play an important role in sustainable

ecological development of wastelands, should be created.
 C
Consumerism and Waste Products
Consumerism means increase in consumption of resources. It has
caused a devastating decrease in the Earth's water supplies, natural
resources, and ecosystems due to the disposal of a plethora of
disposable cameras, plastic garbage bags, and other cheaply made
goods with built-in product obsolescence, and use of cheaply made
manufactured goods that lead to a "throw away" mentality.
 Contents
Environmental Legislation

THE ENVIRONMENT (PROTECTION) ACT, 1986

THE AIR (PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF POLLUTION) ACT,

1981

WATER (PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF POLLUTION) ACT, 1974

THE WILDLIFE (PROTECTION) ACT, 1972

THE FOREST (CONSERVATION) ACT, 1980

 Ctents

Issues Involved in the Enforcement of Environmental Legislation

• Exponentially growing population

• Illiteracy

• Lack of awareness

• Insufficiency of laws

• Economic reasons

• Religious customs
HUMAN POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
Population Growth

The increase in the number of individuals in a population is

known as population growth.

Demography

The study of human population trends is called demography.

Factors Contributing to the Growth or Decline of Population

Birth Rate

Number of births per thousand people in a geographical area

Death rate

Number of deaths per thousand people in a geographical area

Migration

Rate of population change for a specific area

Causes of Population Growth

• Availability of cure for many life-threatening diseases

• High infant mortality

• Poverty

• Preference for sons

• Custom of early marriages

• Improvement in public health

• Illiteracy
Effects of Population Growth

• Excessive exploitation of natural resources

• Unemployment

• Lack of proper health and sanitation facilities

• Environmental pollution
Factors Affecting Variation of Population

• Age of human settlement

• Availability of means of transport and communication

• Cultural factors

• Type of soil

• Climatic conditions

• Natural resources
Influences on Human Health Cotents
 Human Rights

The concept of human rights came into existence after

United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UNDHR) in December 1948.

UNDHR empowers humans with rights to life, freedom,

security, law, freedom of thought and expression, equal
pay for equal work, education, health care, and rest.
 Human Rights and Environment
First draft on human rights and environment was declared on May 16, 1994
at Geneva.
Part I – It deals with human rights for an ecologically sound environment,
sustainable development, and peace for all.

Part II – It mainly deals with human rights related to an environment free

from pollution and degradation.

Part III – It deals with right of every person to environmental information,

education, awareness, and also public participation in environment decision
making.

Part IV – It deals with the duties to protect and preserve the environment
and prevent environmental damage.

Part V – This lays stress on social justice and equity with respect to use of
natural resources and sustainable development
 HIV/AIDS

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a deadly

epidemic that has spread all over the world.

It was first recognized as a disease in 1981 and is caused by a

retrovirus called the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Transmission of HIV/AIDS

• Sharing needles or syringes used by/on an infected person

• From an infected person to a healthy person via blood transfusion

• To children born out of infected mothers

Symptoms of HIV/AIDS

AIDS has no specific symptoms. The following are some

opportunistic infections that easily affect HIV positive people. Merely
the presence of these symptoms does not indicate that the person is
HIV positive.

• Lack of energy
• Weight loss
• Frequent fevers and sweats
• Persistent or frequent yeast infections
• Persistent skin rashes or flaky skin
• Short-term memory loss
• Mouth, genital, or anal sores from herpes infections
Protection Against HIV/AIDS

• Always use sterile needles, syringes, and other instruments.

• Always use blood that is certified HIV negative.

• Avoid pregnancy if infected with HIV.

• Always remain alert and fully aware regarding the causes and
prevention of AIDS.
 Women Welfare
Important Laws and Rules in India to Safeguard the Interests of
Women

• The Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment At Workplace Bill,

2007

• Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act,2005

• Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961

• Dowry Prohibition Rules

• Indecent Representation of Women

• The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act and Rules

• National Commission for Women Act

 Child Welfare
Important Laws and Rules in India to Safeguard the Interests of Children
• The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000

• The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules

•  The Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005

• National Commission for Protection of Child Rights Rules,2006,

• The Commissions For Protection of Child Rights (Amendment) Act, 2006

• The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929

• The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006

• Notification issued by the MWCD regarding enforcement of IMS Amendment

Act

• The Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles, and Infant Foods (Regulation of
Production, Supply, and Distribution) Amendment Act, 2003

• National  Guidelines on Infant and Young Child Feeding

Role of Information Technology in Environment and Human Health
IT provides us with information regarding the following:

• probable dangers related to indiscriminate use of natural resources

• hazardous results due to the use of various pesticides and germicides

• animal products (hide, bone, milk, etc.) and plant resources in an area

• effective control of population growth

• soil erosion and conservation

• education and public awareness

• changes in the health care delivery system

• community health information networks