Are we doing enough to protect the environment?

Every year June 5 is observed as the World Environment day to raise awareness and enhance action on environmental issues. Many meetings and seminars were arranged all over India and abroad to observe this day. Bhopal also had similar meetings and rallies as reported yesterday. Shri O N Shrivastava, retired Governor of Meghalaya and Nagaland, while participating in the seminar at Senior Citizens Forum advised the senior citizens to take up environment protection as the core activity by personally not using polythene bags and also raise their voice to protect trees, save the lakes of Bhopal from pollution and prevail upon their family and their friends to avoid wastage of energy and control emission.
Major current environmental issues include climate change, pollution, environmental degradation, and resource depletion. It is vast subject as it includes right from agriultural practices to use of environment non-friendly practices in the course of the life of each individual. Developments process includes house construction, roads, dams, power stations, power distribution. Wastage of water and power, air polution, smoke generation of vehicles, polution of the sources of drinking water, ground water level degradation, use of paints, use of pesticide, beauty products, electronic waste generation and dispopsal, noise polution from various sources are all causing the environment to be polluted. According to a recent UN report, one third of plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction. Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, at individual, organizational or governmental level. What we are trying to save is the natural environment and impact on the life of humans. Pressure of population and technology are the two main causes of environmental degradation. Environment protection and development have to go hand in hand. We all want cement roads without being concerned about its bad impact on ground water recharging or felling of trees. Many houses are being constructed without leaving any space around that is against rules. Municipal Corporation inspectors turn (or made to turn!) blind eyes to such flouting of rules, as influential people may be involved. The colonies that had trees in and around all houses are now just a concrete jungle.

We have to build in a way that minimum energy is wasted, no pollution is caused and at the same time the internal environment and health issues are given top priority rather that luxury or extra comfort. As per a recent survey, Indians are most concerned about air pollution (62 per cent), water pollution and water shortages concerns come next with 61 per cent. One area that is however ignored is the noise pollution and electronic waste generation. These areas are directly linked ‘GDP growth” through higher production of automobiles and electronic gadgets and their marketing. New models with better features are being created every day and users are also increasing. Sunita Narayan, the well-known environmentalist states in her recent report that 400,000 tons of electronic waste is being generated in our country alone during a year!
Starting from the actual users (that is each one of us), societies worried about the environment, political parties and governments at state and central level, all have to take courage to enforce environment protecting decisions even if the powerful people and Corporate oppose them in the name of freedom, growth and development. The objective of "all-inclusive" growth has to be with minimum pollution of environment and wastage of natural resources. The ‘haves’ will have to be inconvenienced for the sake of ‘have-nots’. What practices are required to be followed are all good in theory but become contentious in practice. We need to move to rules-based approaches and rely less on discretion-based decision-making. Political clouts are used primarily to allow the activities that are against rules. All clearances affecting the environment must be on go/no-go basis with NO discretion in future.