ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

Environmental pollution can be defined as any undesirable change in the physical, chemical or
biological characteristics of any component of the environment ( air, water, soil), which can cause
harmful effects on various forms of life or property.

Pollutant are defined as matter or energy which leads to undesirable changes in the environment.
Pollutants include solid, liquid or gaseous substances present in greater than natural abundance
produced due to human activity, which have a detrimental effect on our environment. From an
ecological perspective pollutants can be classified as follows:

1) Degradable or non-persistent pollutants: These can be rapidly broken down by natural

processes. Eg: domestic sewage, discarded vegetables etc.

2) Slowly degradable or persistent pollutants: Pollutants that remain in the environment for
many years in an unchanged condition and take decades or longer to degrade. Eg: DDT and
most plastics.

3) Non-degradable pollutants: These cannot be degraded by natural processes. Once they are
released into the environment they are difficult to eradicate and continue to accumulate. Eg:
toxic elements like lead or mercury.

Environmental Pollution could be of various types:

1) Air Pollution: Air pollution occurs due to the presence of certain substances (including the
normal constituent in excess) in concentration which can cause undesirable effects on human
health, property and structure. These substance include gases, particulate matter, radioactive
substances etc.

Classification of Air Pollutants: Based upon their origin air pollutant are classified into two type:

a) Primary Pollutants: Pollutants that are emitted directly from identifiable sources are produced
both by natural events (for example, dust storms and volcanic eruptions) and human activities
(emission from vehicles, industries, etc.). There are five primary pollutants that together
contribute about 90 percent of the global air pollution. These are carbon oxides (CO and CO 2),
nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, volatile organic compounds (mostly hydrocarbons) and
suspended particulate matter.

Major primary pollutant:

1) Particulate matter: Particulates are small pieces of solid material (for example, smoke particles
from fires, bits of asbestos, dust particles and ash from industries) dispersed into the
atmosphere. The effects of particulates range from soot to the carcinogenic (cancer causing)
 effects of asbestos, dust particles and ash from industrial plants that are dispersed into the
atmosphere.

2) Hydrocarbon: Hydrocarbons are a group of compounds consisting of carbon and hydrogen

atoms(methane, ethane, tolune, n-butane, acetylene) . They either evaporate from fuel supplies or are
remnants of fuel that did not burn completely. They act as precursor for the production of secondary
pollutant.

3) Nitrogen oxides: Nitrogen oxides are found in vehicular exhausts. Nitrogen oxides are significant, as
they are involved in the production of secondary air pollutants such as ozone. They are also
important component of acid rain.

4) Sulfur oxides: are produced when sulfur containing fossil fuels are burnt. They are major
source of increase acidity in the atmospheric rain, a phenomenon known as acid rain.

5) Carbon monoxide: is a colorless, odorless and toxic gas produced when organic materials such as
natural gas, coal or wood are incompletely burnt. Vehicular exhausts are the single largest source of
carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is however not a persistent pollutant. Natural processes can
convert carbon monoxide to other compounds that are not harmful.

6) Carbon dioxide: It is a component of atmospheric system and currently make 0.038 per cent of the
atmosphere. It is important for maintaining the biotic system as source of carbon. However during
past decade its concentration is increasing in atmosphere due to burning of fossils fuel and land use
changes. It shows property of green house gas, thereby results into a phenomenon known as global
warming.

Beside these primary pollutant there are certain pollutant which are not a natural component of
atmosphere, however it is introduced by human activities, such as CFC, MIC (methyl isocyanate).

b) Secondary Pollutant: Pollutants that are produced in the atmosphere when certain chemical
reactions take place among the primary pollutants are called secondary pollutants. Eg: sulfuric acid,
nitric acid, carbonic acid, etc.

Some more example of Secondary pollutant:

a) Tropospheric Ozone: The majority of tropospheric ozone formation occurs when nitrogen oxides
(NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as xylene, react in the
atmosphere in the presence of sunlight. NOx, CO, and VOCs are called ozone precursors.
 b) Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN): Acyl peroxy nitrates, or Peroxyacyl nitrates (also known as APNs, or
PANs), are powerful respiratory and eye irritants present in photochemical smog.

CH3C(O)OO· + NO2 → CH3C(O)OONO2

General equation:

Hydrocarbons + O2 + light → CxHyC(O)OO· CxHyC(O)OO· + NO2 → CxHyC(O)OONO2

Sources of Air Pollutants: It is mainly divided into two types:

a) Natural sources: The natural sources of air pollution are volcanic eruption, forest fire, sea salt
sprays, biological decay, pollen grains of flowers, spore etc. Radioactive material present in
earth crust are the sources of radioactivity in the atmosphere.

b) Man-made (Anthropogenic sources): it include thermal power plant, industrial units, vehicular
emissions, fossil fuel burning, agricultural activities etc.

Human can be affected by both indoor or outdoor air pollution. The most important indoor air
pollutant is radon gas ( causing lung cancer) a radioactive atomic gas that results from the
radioactive decay of radium, which may be found in rock formations beneath buildings or in
certain building materials (bricks, concrete, tiles etc) themselves. Beside radon carbon
monoxide, sulphur dioxide and hydrocarbon released due to incomplete combustion of fossil
fuel, wood for cooking purpose are other major air pollutant.

Effect of air pollution: Air pollution has adverse effects on living organisms and materials.

1) Effects on human health:

• Air pollutants especially particulate matter( PM) is related to respiratory disease in human
being. Particles come in a wide range of sizes. Those less than 10 micrometers in diameter
(PM10) are so small that they can get into the lungs, potentially causing serious health
problems. Suspended particulates can cause damage to lung tissues and diseases like asthma,
chronic bronchitis and emphysema( damage of air sacs leading to loss of lung elasticity and
acute shortness of breath. Metal in form of PM like lead, Asbestos etc also cause cancer or
affect vital organs like kidney, liver, spleen etc.

• Carbon monoxides combine with hemoglobin of blood to form carboxyhaemoglobin, due to

which oxygen carrying capacity to various part of the body decrease which may results into
suffocation, dizziness, unconsciousness and even death.

• Hydrocarbon emission from vehicle or industrial units ( benzene, formaldehyde etc.) may
results into mutation, reproductive problem or even cancer.

• Effects on Plant: Air pollution affects plant by entering through stomata (leaf pores through
which gases diffuse), destroy chlorophyll and affect photosynthesis. Gaseous pollutant like SO2,
 ozone etc can leads to necrosis( dead areas of leaf), chlorosis( yellowing of leaf due to reduction
of chlorophyll), abscission ( dropping of leaves).

• Effects on aquatic life: Air pollutants (SOx and NOx) when mix up with rain can results into acid
rain which reduces the pH of fresh water lakes especially in the higher latitude. This reduction
in pH has adverse effect on aquatic biotic life.

• Effects on materials: Metal parts of building, vehicle, bridges, wires and railway tracks are
affected due to corrosion by particulate matter which further get accerlated in presence of SO2
and moisture. Acid rain also affect the structure made up of marble and limestone. Example:
Yellowing of Tajmahal in Agra. Ozone in the atmosphere can cause cracking of rubber tyres.

Beside these effect, air pollutants also leads to stratospheric Ozone depletion which results into
increase UV-rays exposure on earth surface and Global warming due to green house gases are major
environmental problem .

Control of Air Pollution: Air pollution can be controlled by applying various measures such as:

1) Zonation in landuse pattern: Industries should be set up far away from the residential areas
and Industries should be located in places so as to minimize the effects of pollution after
considering the topography and the wind directions.

2) Dilution of emission: It can be done by increasing stack height, beyond inversion layer. Wind
current will disperse the pollutant.

3) Low Sulphur coal in industries to reduce emission of SOx from coal burning.

4) Installment of pollutant control equipment such as cyclones, bag house filters etc to reduce
pollutant emission from industry.

5) Establish vehicular emission norm to reduce emission from vehicles, regular tuning of engines,
installing catalytic converters, engine modification to have fuel efficient (lean) mixture to
reduce CO and hydrocarbon emission, slow and cooler burning of fuels to reduce NOx emission(
Honda Technology).

Using mass transport system, bicycles etc.

Air Pollution control through pollution control equipment:

1) Particulate matter: Many devices are available for removal of particulate matter and choice of which
depend upon characteristics of particulate matter, flow rate, collection efficiency, costs etc.

A) Cyclone: These are employed for large size particle. The gas with particle in it enters tangentially at
the top of cylinder and spin forming a vortex. Due to centrifugal force, particle strike the wall of
cylinder.
B) Bag house filter: It contain large number of filter bags made of fabric. Dirty gas is passed through the
filter bags which leaves the bags through their pores. The dust particle get deposited on the inner
surface of the bag filters and may form a cake which can be removed by shaking.

C) Wet scrubber: Dirty gas is passed through water in the chamber or water is sprayed on the gas.
Particles are made wet and are removed from the gas stream which leaves from thetop of scrubber.

D)Electrostatic precipitator: It can be plate type or cylinder type. Vertical wires are placed between the
parallel plates or wires is hung along the axis of the cylinder. Higher negative voltage is applied to the
wire. Dust particle while passing from the lower end get negatively charged and are collected on the
positively charges surface. Electrostatic precipitators utilize electric energy and can efficiently remove
even submicroscopic particles.

2) Gaseous pollutant: Gaseous pollutant can be reduced by physical absorption on porous solid
materials like activated charcoal, silica gel etc. Effluent gases can be absorbed in liquid absorbent,
example: SO2 absorbed in ammonia solution.

Legal aspects of air pollution control in India:

The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act was legislated in 1981. The Act provided for
prevention, control and abatement of air pollution. In areas notified under this Act no industrial
pollution causing activity could come up without the permission of the concerned State Pollution
Control Board.

To regulate vehicular pollution the Central Motor Vehicles Act of 1939 was amended in 1989. Following
this amendment the exhaust emission rules for vehicle owners were notified in 1990 and the mass
emission standards for vehicle manufacturers were enforced in 1991 for the first time. The mass
emission norms have been further revised for 2000.
 WATER POLLUTION
When the quality or composition of water changes directly or indirectly as a result of man’s activities
such that it becomes unfit for any purpose it is said to be polluted.

Water pollution can be defined as alteration in physical, chemical or biological characteristics of water
making it unsuitable for the designated use in its natural state.

Source of water pollution: Water pollution can be divided into two broad category depending upon
source nature:

1) Point sources: When a source of pollution can be readily identified because it has a definite
source and place where it enters the water it is said to come from a point source. Eg. Municipal
and Industrial Discharge Pipes.

2) Non-point sources: When a source of pollution cannot be readily identified, such as agricultural
runoff, atmospheric deposition , etc, they are said to be non-point sources of pollution.

Source of water pollution can be different for both ground water and surface water.

1) Ground water Pollution: While surface water pollution is highly visible and often gets a lot of
media attention, a much greater threat to human life comes from our groundwater being
polluted which is used for drinking and irrigation. Major source of ground water pollution are:

a) Urban run-off of untreated or poorly treated waste water and garbage.

b) Industrial waste storage located above or near aquifers.

c) Agricultural practices such as the application of large amounts of fertilizers and pesticides,
animal feeding operations, etc. in the rural sector.

d) Leakage from underground storage tanks containing gasoline and other hazardous substances.

e) Leachate from landfills.

Poorly designed and inadequately maintained septic tanks.

Beside these sources of ground water pollution, high metal concentration in ground water in some part
of country is also very serious environmental issue. The high Arsenic concentration in ground water in
West Bengal is known today as the worst case of groundwater pollution.

The arsenic poisoning was first noticed by K C Saha, former professor of dermatology at the School of
Tropical Medicine, Kolkata when he began to receive patients with skin lesions that resembled the
symptoms of leprosy which was in reality not leprosy. Since all the patients were from the district of
24-Parganas, Saha along with others began to look for the cause and found it to be arsenic toxicity.
There are two theories that have been put forth to explain this unusually high content of arsenic in
groundwater.

a) According to the first hypothesis, arsenic probably originates in the Himalayan headwaters of the
Ganga and the Brahmaputra rivers and has been lying undisturbed beneath the surface of the region’s
deltas for thousands of years in the thick layers of fine alluvial mud across the banks of these rivers.

The mud in these areas is thicker, wider and flatter than almost anywhere else on earth. It can thus
take hundreds or thousands of years for underground water to percolate through the mud before
reaching the sea and thus it absorbs arsenic for a long period.

b) Other researchers feel that the excess amount of arsenic in groundwater can be contributed to by
the high rate of groundwater extraction. Their hypothesis called the pyrite oxidation thesis describes
how arsenic can get mobilized in the groundwater. In this hypothesis arsenic is assumed to be present
in certain minerals (pyrites) that are deposited within the aquifer sediments. Due to the lowering of the
water table below the deposits, arseno- pyrite which is oxidized in a zone of the aquifer called the
Vadose zone releases arsenic as arsenic adsorbed on iron hydroxide. During the subsequent recharge
period, iron hydroxide releases arsenic into groundwater.

Arsenicosis or arsenic toxicity develops after two to five years of exposure to arsenic contaminated
drinking water depending on the amount of water consumption and the arsenic concentration in water.
Initially the skin begins to darken (called diffuse melanosis) which later leads to spotted melanosis
when darkened sports begin to appear on the chest, back and limbs. At a later stage leucomelanosis
sets in and the body begins to show black and white spots.

Surface water pollution: The major source of surface water pollution are:

1) Sewage: Domestic waste mostly dumped into the nearby surface water bodies through drain
and sewers are major source of pollution especially near the big cities.

2) Industrial effluents: waste emerging out of industrial units are major source of toxic chemicals,
acids, alkalis, metallic salts, organic material to the surface water bodies.

3) Synthetic detergents: They are used in washing and cleaning processes in domestic and
industrial unit and are major source of phosphate to surface water bodies.

4) Agrochemicals: Chemicals like fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides applied in the agricultural
land or urban garden areas washed away with rainwater and surface runoff from these area are
major pollution source.

5) Oil: Oil spillage into sea-water during drilling and shipment transport are major source of water
pollution.
6) Waste heat: Thermal pollution occurs when industry returns the heated water to a water source. The
warm water not only decreases the solubility of oxygen but changes the breeding cycles of various
aquatic organisms.

Water pollutants are classified into different class depending upon their nature:

1) Oxygen demanding waste: These are organic wastes that can be decomposed by aerobic (oxygen
requiring) bacteria. Large populations of bacteria use up the oxygen present in water to degrade
these wastes.

The amount of oxygen required to break down a certain amount of organic matter is called the
biological oxygen demand (BOD). The amount of BOD in the water is an indicator of the level of
pollution. If too much organic matter is added to the water all the available oxygen is used up. This
causes fish and other forms of oxygen dependent aquatic life to die.

2) Disease-causing agents: It include bacteria, viruses, protozoa and parasitic worms that enter
water from domestic sewage and untreated human and animal wastes. Human wastes contain
concentrated populations of coliform bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Streptococcus faecalis.
These bacteria are not harmful in low numbers. Large amounts of human waste in water, increases
the number of these bacteria which cause gastrointestinal diseases.

3) Inorganic plant nutrients: These are water soluble nitrates and phosphates that cause excessive
growth of algae and other aquatic plants. The excessive growth of algae and aquatic plants due to
added nutrients is called eutrophication. While excess fertilizers cause eutrophication, pesticides
cause bioaccumulation and biomagnification. At each link in the food chain these chemicals which
do not pass out of the body are accumulated and increasingly concentrated resulting in
biomagnification of these harmful substances

4) Water soluble inorganic chemicals: It includes acids, salts and compounds of toxic metals such as
mercury and lead. High levels of these chemicals can make the water unfit to drink, harm fish and
other aquatic life, reduce crop yields and accelerate corrosion of equipment that use this water.

The disease called Minamata disease occurred due to consumption of methyl mercury contaminated
fish caught from Minamata bay in Japan. The disease claimed 50 lives and permanently paralysedover
700 persons.

Pollution from hevy metal cadmium had caused the disease Itai-Itai in the people of Japan. This disease
was caused by cadmium contaminated rice. In this disease bones, liver, kidney, lungs, pancreas and
thyroid are affected.

5) organic chemicals: It include oil, gasoline, plastics, pesticides, cleaning solvents, detergent and
many other chemicals. These are harmful to aquatic life and human health.

6) Sediment of suspended matter: These are insoluble particles of soil and other solids that become
suspended in water. This occurs when soil is eroded from the land. High levels of soil particles
 suspended in water, interferes with the penetration of sunlight. This reduces the photosynthetic
activity of aquatic plants and algae disrupting the ecological balance of the aquatic bodies.

7) Water soluble radioactive isotopes: These can be concentrated in various tissues and organs as
they pass through food chains and food webs. Ionizing radiation emitted by such isotopes can
cause birth defects, cancer and genetic damage.

8) Hot water: Water is used for cooling purpose in Thermal power plant and other industries.
Thermal pollution occurs when industry returns the heated water to a water source. This
heated water, which is at least 15oC higher than the normal is discharged back into the water
body. The warm water not only decreases the solubility of oxygen but changes the breeding
cycles of various aquatic organisms.

Control of water pollution:

Non-point sources are difficult to control in respect to point sources, discharge from point sources can
be controlled by using different treatment process.

Non-point pollution can be reduced by reducing use of chemical fertilizer, pesticides and insecticides
applied to agricultural field. By reducing the amount of surface runoff by lining the street with
percolating materials and prevent the mixing of storm water with the sewer water to avoid overflowing
of sewer line.

Waste water treatment :

A waste water treatment plant should have a number of units namely-

Screening

Grit chamber

Primary sedimentation tank

Aeration tank

Secondary sedimentation tank

Chlorination tank

Thickener

Anaerobic digester

Sludge dewatering

Waste water treatment plants are usually designated as providing primary, secondary or advanced
treatment depending on the degree of purification.
 1. Primary treatment plants utilize physical processes such as screening, gritting and
sedimentation to remove pollutants that will settle or that are too large to pass through simple
screening devices. A separate unit known as skinning can remove the floating pollutants like oil
and grease. As primary treatment utilizes the physical process it is called as the physical
treatment. Primary treatment usually removes about 60% suspended solids.
2. In secondary treatment of wastewater microbial oxidation of waste takes place and so this
treatment process is known as biological treatment. There are different kinds of biological units
namely trickling filer, activated sludge process and oxidation ponds. All the biological units take
the advantage of the ability of micro-organisms to convert the organic wastes into the stabilized
low energy compounds. Secondary treatment plant removes nearly 90% of suspended solids.
3. After the secondary treatment water must be discharged to the natural stream. Chlorination
should be done to kill the germs before discharge. It provides degree of safety by disinfections.

After the primary and secondary treatment wastewater sill may contain certain amount of nitrates and
phosphates which are responsible for the eutrophication. To remove these pollutants from the
wastewater a special unit is needed and this treatment is called tertiary treatment.

Primary treatment:

These treatment plants use physical processes such as screening and sedimentation to remove
pollutants that will settle, float or, that are too large to pass through simple screening devices. This
includes, stones, sticks, rags, and all such material that can clog pipes.

A screen consists of parallel bars spaced 2 to 7cms apart followed by a wire mesh with smaller
openings. After screening the wastewater passes into a grit chamber. The detention time is chosen to
be long enough to allow lighter, organic material to settle. From the grit chamber the sewage passes
into a primary settling tank (also called as sedimentation tank) where the flow speed is reduced
sufficiently to allow most of the suspended solids to settle out by gravity. Primary treatment normally
removes about 35 percent of the BOD and 60 percent of the suspended solids.

Secondary treatment:

There are three commonly used approaches: trickling filters, activated sludge process and oxidation
ponds. Secondary treatment can remove at least 85 percent of the BOD.

Trickling filter:

It consists of a rotating distribution arm that sprays liquid wastewater over a circular bed of ‘fist size’
rocks or other coarse materials. The spaces between the rocks allow air to circulate easily so that
aerobic conditions can be maintained. The individual rocks in the bed are covered with a layer of slime,
which consists of bacteria, fungi, algae, etc. which degrade the waste trickling through the bed.

Activated sludge process:

The sewage is pumped into a large tank and mixed for several hours with bacteria rich sludge and air
bubbles to facilitate degradation by micro- organisms. The water then goes into a sedimentation tank
where most of the microorganisms settle out as sludge. This sludge is then broken down in an
anaerobic digester where methane-forming bacteria slowly convert the organic matter into carbon
dioxide, methane and other stable end products.

Oxidation ponds

These are large shallow ponds approximately 1 to 2 meters deep where raw or partially treated sewage
is decomposed by microorganisms. They are easy to build and manage and accommodate large
fluctuations in flow and can provide treatment at a much lower cost. They however require a large
amount of land and hence can be used where land is not a limitation.

Advanced sewage treatment:

This involves a series of chemical and physical process that removes specific pollutants left in the water
after primary and secondary treatment. Sewage treatment plant effluents contain nitrates and
phosphates in large amounts. These contribute to eutrophication. Thus advanced treatment plants are
designed to specifically remove these contaminants. Chlorination of water is generally done to kill
harmful bacteria and some viruses. Advanced treatment plants are very expensive to build and operate
and hence are rarely used.

Thermal Pollution
It is defined as presence of waste heat in the water which can cause undesirable changes in the natural
environment.

Causes of thermal pollution:

Heat producing industries i.e., thermal power plant, nuclear power plants, refineries, steel mills, etc are
the major sources of thermal pollution. Power plants heat water to convert it into steam, to drive the
turbines that generate electricity. For efficient functioning of the steam turbines, the steam is
condensed into water after it leaves the turbines. This condensation is done by taking water from a
water body to absorb the heat. This heated water, which is at least 15oC higher than the normal is
discharged back into the water body.

Effect of Thermal Pollution:

1) The dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) of water is decreased as the solubility of oxygen in water is
decreased at high temperature.

2) Toxicity of pesticides, detergents and chemicals in the effluent increases with increase in
temperature.

3) The composition of flora and fauna changes because the species sensitive to increased
temperature due to thermal shock will be replaced by temperature tolerant species.
 4) Metabolic activities of aquatic organisms increase at high temperature and require more
oxygen, whereas oxygen level falls under thermal pollution.

5) Discharge of heated water near the shores can disturb spawning and can even kill young
fishes.

6) Fish migration is affected due to formation of various thermal zones.

Control of Thermal Pollution: Thermal pollution are control by using following majors:

1) Cooling ponds: Water from condenser is stored in ponds where natural evaporation cools the water
which can then be recirculated or discharged in nearby water body.

Cooling ponds

2) Spray Ponds: The water from condenser is received in spray ponds. Here the water is sprayed
through nozzles where fine droplets are formed. Heat from these fine droplet is dissipated to the
atmosphere.

3) Cooling towers: It can be of two types:

a) Wet cooling tower: Hot water is sprayed over baffles. Cool air entering from sides take
away the heat and cools the water. This cool water can be recycled or discharged.

b) Dry cooling tower: The heated water flow through pipes. Air is passed over these hot
pipes with fans. It is costlier than wet cooling tower.

Marine Pollution
Marine pollution can be defined as the introduction of substances to the marine environment directly
or indirectly by man resulting in adverse effects such as hazards to marine biota, obstruction of marine
activities and lowering the quality of sea water.

Sources of Marine Pollution:

1) The municipal waste and sewage from residences and hotels in coastal towns are directly
discharged into the sea.

2) Pesticides and fertilizers from agriculture which are washed off the land by rain, enter water
courses and eventually reach the sea.

3) Petroleum and oils washed off from the roads normally enter the sewage system but storm
water overflows carry these materials into rivers and eventually into the seas.

4) Oil release due to Ship accidents and accidental spillages at sea can be very damaging to the
marine environment.
 5) Offshore oil exploration and extraction also pollute the seawater to a large extent.

Pollution due to oil:

Oil pollution of the sea normally attracts the greatest attention because of its visibility. There are
several sources though which the oil can reach the sea.

1) Tanker operations: After a tanker has unloaded its cargo of oil it has to take on seawater as
ballast for the return journey. This ballast water is stored in the cargo compartments that
previously contained the oil. load-on- top system and ‘crude oil washing’ are used to reduced
the amount of oil in the ballast water.

2) Dry docking: All ships need periodic dry docking for servicing, repairs, cleaning the hull, etc.
During this period when the cargo compartments are to completely emptied, residual oil finds
its way into the sea.

3) Bilge and fuel oils : This generates in the process of emptying fuel tanker.

4) Tanker accidents: Tanker accidents are major source of oil-spillage in the sea.

5) Offshore oil production: Oil that is extracted from the seabed contains some water. Even after
it is passed through oil separators the water that is discharged contains some oil, which adds to
marine pollution. Uncontrolled release of oil from the wells can be catastrophic events resulting
in oil pollution.

6) Effects of marine pollution:

7) When liquid oil is spilled on the sea it spreads over the surface of the water to form a thin film
called an oil slick. The rate of spreading and the thickness of the film depends on the sea
temperature and the nature of the oil.

8) Oil slicks damage marine life to a large extent. Salt marshes, mangrove swamps are likely to
trap oil and the plants, which form the basis for these ecosystems thus suffer.

9) If liquid oil contaminates a bird’s plumage its water repellent properties are lost. Water thus
penetrates the plumage and displaces the air trapped between the feathers and the skin. This
air layer is necessary as it provides buoyancy and thermal insulation.

10) Birds often clean their plumage by preening and in the process consume oil which depending
on its toxicity can lead to intestinal, renal or liver failure.

Control measures for oil pollution:

The natural process of emulsification of oil in the water can be accelerated through the use of chemical
dispersants which can be sprayed on the oil. The oil pollution control has physical strategy i.e.
mechanical booms or barriers are spread around an oil slick to check it progress. Natural material like
peat moss, straw, sawdust, and pine bark can be used as dispersants. Bioremediation is fast emerging
technology for cleaning the clean oil spill by using strain of microbes which decomposes oil.

Control of marine pollution:

1) Toxic pollutant from industries and sewage treatment plant should not be discharged in
coastal area.

2) Run off from non-point sources should be prevented to reach coastal area.

3) Ecological sensitive coastal area should be protected from oil-drilling activities.

4) Oil Ballast should not be dumped to the sea.

Soil Pollution
Soil is a thin covering over the land consisting of a mixture of minerals, organic material, living
organisms, air and water that together support the growth of plant life.

Sources of soil pollution:

• Dumping of domestic and industrial waste on soil surface results into soil pollution. Domestic
waste include garbage, rubbish material like glass, plastic, metallic can, paper, fibers etc.

• Industrial wastes are effluent discharged from industries

and type of contaminant are dependent upon the type of Industry
present. For example: paper and pulp industry mostly generate organic waste, Thermal power
plant generate fly ash, or precipitate forms during treatment
of pollutant gas produced due to combustion processes.

• Application of fertilizers and Insecticides into agricultural land are other important category of
soil pollution. Persistent pesticides once applied are effective for a long time. However as they
do not break down easily they tend to accumulate in the soil and in the bodies of animals in
the food chain.

• Soil also receive excreta from animals and humans. The sewage sludge contain many
pathogenic organism, bacteria, viruses and intestinal worm which cause pollution in the soil.

• The source of radioactive substances in soil are explosion of radioactive devices, radioactive
waste discharged from industries and laboratories, aerial fall out etc. The main isotopes are
radium, uranium, thorium, strontium etc.

Effects of soil pollution:

 • Sewage and industrial effluents which pollute the soil ultimately affect human health. One
example is Itai-Itai disease which occurs due to consumption of Cd containing rice. The
chemical discharge on soil such as acid and alkali also affects the soil fertility.

• Some of the persistent toxic chemicals target the non-target organisms, soil flora and fauna
and reduced soil fertility. These chemical accumulates in food chain and ultimately affect
human health.

• Radioactive fallout on soil are source of radio-isotopes which enter the food chain. Some of
these replace essential elements in the body and cause abnormalities. Example: strontium-90
instead of calcium gets deposited in the bones and tissue.

• Nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizers in soil reach nearby water bodies with agricultural
run-off and cause eutrophication.

Control of Soil Pollution:

1) Effluent should be properly treated before discharging them on the soil.

2) Solid waste should be properly collected and disposed off by appropriate method.

3) Biodegradable organic waste ( cattle waste, human faeces) should be used for generation of
biogas.

4) Microbial degradation of biodegradable substances is also employed for reducing soil pollution.

Nuclear Hazards
Radioactive substances undergo natural radioactive decay in which unstable isotopes spontaneously
give out fast moving particles, high energy radiation or both, at fixed rate until a new stable isotope is
formed.

The isotopes release energy either in the form of gamma rays (high energy electromagnetic radiation),
or ionization particles i.e. alpha particles and beta particles.

Sources of Radioactivity: It can be both natural or man made sources:

1) Natural sources: It includes cosmic rays from outer space, radioactive radon-222, soil, rocks, air,
water and food , which contain one or more radioactive substances.

2) Anthropogenic sources: It includes nuclear power plants, nuclear accidents, nuclear weapon
testing, X-rays, diagnostic kits, research laboratories etc.

Effect of Radiations: Ionization radiations can affect living organisms by causing harmful changes in
body cells and also damage at genetic level.
 1) Genetic damage: It includes mutation in the DNA, thereby affecting genes and chromosome.
The damage can be transmitted up to several generation.

2) Somatic damage: it includes burns, miscarriage, eye cataract and cancer of bone, thyroid, lungs
and skin. Example: Radioactive iodine (I131) accumulates in thyroid gland and causes cancer.
Strontium-90 accumulates in the bones and causes leukemia or cancer of bone marrow.

The damage cause by different type of radiation depends on the penetration power. The Alpha
particles cannot penetrate the skin to reach internal organs whereas beta particles can damage the
internal organs.

Greater threat is posed by radioisotopes with intermediate half-lives as they have long time to find
entry inside the human body.

The radioactive material present in the earth crust or fall down as dry deposition from atmosphere
enters the crop grown there and ultimately in Human beings. Radionuclide enters the water bodies
such as ground water by coming in contact with the radionuclide bearing rocks.

Control of Nuclear Pollution:

1) Siting of nuclear power plants should be carefully done after studying long term and short term
effects.

2) Proper disposal of wastes from research laboratory and hospital involving in the use of
radioisotopes should be done.

3) Complete ban on Nuclear weapon testing should be imposed.

Noise pollution
Sound is a form of energy which is emitted by a vibrating body and on reaching the ear causes the
sensation of hearing through nerves. Sounds produced by all vibrating bodies are not audible. The
frequency limits of audibility are from 20 HZ to 20,000 HZ.

A type of sound may be pleasant to someone and at the same time unpleasant to others. The
unpleasant and unwanted sound is called noise.

The discrimination and differentiation between sound and noise also depends upon the habit and
interest of the person/species receiving it, the ambient conditions and impact of the sound generated
during that particular duration of time. There could be instances that, excellently rendered musical
concert for example, may be felt as noise and exceptional music as well during the course of the
concert!

The intensity of sound is measured in sound pressure levels

(SPL) and common unit of measurement is decibel, dB. The SPL is logarithmic ratio of the
sound pressure to a reference pressure. If the sound levels are measured in terms of pressure, then,
sound pressure level, LP is given by,

LP = 20 Log10 (P/Po) dB(A

Sources of noise

The sources of noise may be domestic (movement of utensils, cutting and peeling of fruits/vegetables
etc.) natural (shores, birds/animal shouts, wind movement, sea tide movement, water falls etc.),
commercial (vendor shouts, automobiles, aeroplanes, marriages, laboratory, machinery etc.) industrial
(generator sets, boilers, plant operations, trolley movement, transport vehicles, pumps, motors etc.).

Effects of noise pollution on physical health

The most direct harmful effect of excessive noise is physical damage to the ear and the temporary or
permanent hearing loss often called a temporary threshold shift (TTS). Permanent loss, usually called
noise induced permanent threshold shift (NIPTS) represents a loss of hearing ability from which there is
no recovery. Some of the adverse effects are summarized below:

Annoyance: It creates annoyance to the receptors due to sound level

fluctuations. The aperiodic sound due to its irregular
occurrences causes displeasure to hearing and causes annoyance.

Physiological effects: The physiological features like breathing amplitude,

blood pressure, heart-beat rate, pulse rate, blood cholesterol are effected.

Loss of hearing: Long exposure to high sound levels cause loss of hearing. This is mostly unnoticed, but
has an adverse impact on hearing function.

Human performance: The workingperformance of workers/human will be affected as

they'll be losing their concentration.

Nervous system: It causes pain, ringing in the ears, feeling of tiredness, thereby effecting the
functioning of human system.

Sleeplessness: It affects the sleeping there by inducing the people to become restless and loose
concentration and presence of mind during their activities.

Damage to material : The buildings and materials may get damaged by exposure to infrasonic /
ultrasonic waves and even get collapsed.

The variations in the emission of noise levels in a particular environment can be assessed from the
statistical distribution of noise levels in that environment. To draw a statistical distribution curve,
terms like L10, L50 and L90 play an important role. The Sound levels exceeding 10%, 50% and 90% of the
total time intervals during a particular period are designated as L 10, L50 and L90 respectively.

The equivalent noise levels, Leq can also be calculated as

Leq = L50 + (L10 - L90)2 / 60

Noise Pollution during Diwali: There has been a great concern over the noise levels generated during
Diwali. Noise generated by various firecrackers is beyond the permissible noise levels of 125 decibels
as per the Environmental Protection (second Amendment) Rules,1999. Supreme Court in a Writ
petition(civil) of 1998 concerning noise pollution had passed the following direction as an interim
measure:

1) The manufacture, sale or use of fire-crackers generating noise level exceeding 125 dB(AI) or
145 dB(C)pk at 4 meter distance from the point of bursting shall be prohibited.

2) The use of firecrackers shall not be permitted except between 6.00p.m. and

10.00 p.m.

3) Fire crackers shall not be used at any time in silence zones( Silence zone in an area comprising
not less that 100 meters around hospitals, education institutions, courts, religious places or any other
area which is declared as such by the competent authority).

Noise Control techniques

There are four fundamental ways in which noise can be controlled:

• Reduce noise at the source,

• Block the path of noise,

• Increase the path length

• Protect the recipient.

In general, the best control method is to reduce noise levels at the source.

Noise Control at Source: The noise pollution can be controlled at the source of generation itself by
employing techniques like-

Reducing the noise levels from domestic sectors: The domestic noise coming from radio, tape
recorders, television sets, mixers, washing machines, cooking operations can be minimized by their
selective and judicious operation.

Maintenance of automobiles: Regular servicing and tuning of vehicles will reduce the noise levels.
Fixing of silencers to automobiles, two wheelers etc., will reduce the noise levels.

Control over vibrations: The vibrations of materials may be controlled using proper foundations, rubber
padding etc. to reduce the noise levels caused by vibrations.
Prohibition on usage of loud speakers: By not permitting the usage of loudspeakers in the habitant
zones except for important meetings / functions. Now-a-days, the urban administration of the metro
cities in India, is becoming stringent on usage of loudspeakers.

Maintenance of machines: Proper lubrication and maintenance of machines, vehicles etc. will reduce
noise levels. Similarly is the case of machines. Proper handling and regular maintenance is essential not
only for noise control but also to improve the life of machine.

Control in the transmission path

The change in the transmission path will increase the length of travel for the wave and get
absorbed/refracted/radiated in the surrounding environment.

The available techniques are briefly discussed below.

Installation of barriers: Installation of barriers between noise source and receiver can attenuate the
noise levels. For a barrier to be effective, its lateral width should extend beyond the line-of-sight at least
as much as the height.

The barrier may be either close to the source or receiver, subject to the condition that, R <<D or in
other words, to increase the traverse length for the sound wave.

Green belt development: Green belt development can attenuate the sound levels. The degree of
attenuation varies with species of greenbelt. The statutory regulations direct the industry to develop
greenbelt four times the built-up area for attenuation of various atmospheric pollutants, including
noise.

Using protection equipment: The usage of protective equipment and the worker's exposure to the high
noise levels can be minimised by –

Job rotation: By rotating the job between the workers working at a particular noise source or isolating a
person, the adverse impacts can be reduced.

Exposure reduction: Regulations prescribe that, noise level of 90 dB (A) for more than 8 hr continuous
exposure is prohibited. Persons who are working under such conditions will be exposed to occupational
health hazards.

Hearing protection: Equipment like earmuffs, ear plugs etc. are the commonly used devices for hearing
protection. Attenuation provided by ear-muffs vary widely in respect to their size, shape, seal material
etc. Literature survey shows that, an average noise attenuation up to 32 dB can be achieved using
earmuffs.

ROLE OF AN INDIVIDUAL IN PREVENTION OF POLLUTION

A small effort made by each individual at his own place will have pronounced effect at the global level. It
is aptly said, ‘ Think globally act locally’. Each individual should change his or her lifestyle in such a way
as to reduce environmental pollution. Few of the suggestion are as follows:

• Lay greater emphasis on pollution prevention than pollution control.

• Use ecofriendly products. example: use CFC free refrigerators, use the chemical derived from
peaches and plums to clean computer chips and circuit board instead of CFCs.

• Reduce the dependency on fossil fuel especially coal or oil, promote the use of non-
conventional source of energy such as solar energy, biomass energy etc.

• Promote Reuse and Recycling wherever possible and reduce the production of waste. Improve
energy efficiency to reduce the amount of waste energy.

• Save electricity by not wasting it. Shut off the lights and fans when not needed.

• Do not litter the roads and surroundings just because the sweeper from the Municipal
Corporation will clean it up. Take care to put trash into dustbins or bring it back home with you
where it can be appropriately disposed.

• Try to avoid asking for plastic carry bags when you buy groceries or vegetables or any other
items. Use your own cloth bag instead.

• Try to lobby and push for setting up garbage separation and recycling

programs in your localities.

• Advocate organic farming by asking your grocery store to stock vegetables and fruits grown by
an organic method. This will automatically help to reduce the use of pesticides.

• Reduce the use of wood and paper products wherever possible. Manufacturing paper leads to
pollution and loss of forests which releases oxygen and takes up carbon dioxide. Try to recycle
paper products and use recycled paper wherever possible.

• Set up a compost bin in your garden or terrace and use it to produce manure for your plants to
reduce use of fertilizers.

Solid waste management

Change in the standard of living of ever increasing population has resulted in an increase in the quantity
and variety of waste generated. Management of solid waste has, therefore become very important in
order to minimize the adverse effect of solid wastes. Solid waste( waste other than liquid and
gaseous) can be classified as municipal (MSW), industrial, agricultural, mining waste and sewage sludge.
Sources of solid waste:

1) Waste from homes( Domestic waste) : It can contain food waste such as vegetable
and meat material, leftover food, eggshells etc which is classified as wet
garbage as well as paper, plastic, tetrapacks, plastic cans, newspaper, glass bottles,
cardboard boxes, aluminum foil, metal items, wood pieces, etc. which is classified as dry
garbage.

2) Biomedical waste: It includes anatomical wastes, pathological wastes,

infectious waste etc.

3) Construction/ demolition waste: includes debris and rubbles, wood,

concrete etc.

4) Horticulture waste and waste from slaughter houses: include vegetable part, residual and
remains of slaughtered animals, respectively.

The MSW can be divided into biodegradable wastes( that can be degraded by micro-organism) and
non-biodegradable wastes( can not degrade).

5) Industrial waste: The type of waste generated varies depending upon the type of industry for
example: Mining industry solid waste will contain loose earth material, Thermal power plant
will produce solid waste in form of fly ash and slurry produce during the treatment of flue gas.

In Europe and North America the environmental laws are very strict regarding solid waste disposal,
thereby these countries started exporting their solid waste to less developed
countries like Asian and African countries for dumping.

Effects of Solid waste:

Municipal solid wastes heap up on the road due to improper disposal system. These type of dumping
allows biodegradable materials to decompose under uncontrolled and unhygienic conditions. This
produces foul smell and breeds various types of insects and infectious organisms besides spoiling the
aesthetics of the site.

Industrial solid wastes are sources of toxic metals and hazardous wastes, which may spread on land
and can cause changes in physico-chemical and biological characteristics thereby affecting productivity
of soils. Toxic metals can also leach or percolate to contaminate the ground water.

If MSW get mixed with industrial waste , this make segregation and disposal of waste very difficult.
Burning of some of the solid material produce dioxins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls, which
have the potential to cause various type of ailments including cancer.

Management of solid waste: An integrated waste management strategy includes three main
components. For waste management stress is on three R’S’- Reduce, reuse and recycle before
destruction and safe disposal of solid waste.
 1) Source reduction: is one of the fundamental ways to reduce waste. This can be done by using
less material when making a product, reuse of products on site, designing products or
packaging to reduce their quantity. On an individual level we can reduce the use of unnecessary
items while shopping, buy items with minimal packaging, avoid buying disposable items and
also avoid asking for plastic carry bags.

2) Recycling of materials: is reusing some components of the waste that may have some
economic value. Metal, paper, glass and plastics are recyclable. Mining of new aluminum is
expensive and hence recycled aluminum has a strong market and plays a significant role in the
aluminum industry. Paper recycling can also help preserve forests as it takes about 17 trees to
make one ton of paper. Crushed glass (cullet) reduces the energy required to manufacture new
glass by 50 percent. The problems associated with recycling are either technical or
economical.

Collection, sorting and transport account for about 90 percent of the cost of paper recycling. The
processes of pulping, deinking and screening wastepaper are generally more expensive than
making paper from virgin wood or cellulose fibers.

3) Disposal: It is done most commonly through a sanitary landfill or through incineration.

a) Sanitary landfill: is a depression in an impermeable soil layer that is lined with an

impermeable membrane. The three key characteristics of
a municipal sanitary landfill that distinguish it from an open dump are:

• Solid waste is placed in a suitably selected and prepared landfill site in a carefully prescribed
manner.

• The waste material is spread out and compacted with appropriate heavy machinery.

• The waste is covered each day with a layer of compacted soil.

The problem with older landfills are associated with groundwater pollution. Pollutants seeping out
from the bottom of a sanitary landfill (leachates) very often percolate down to the groundwater
aquifer. Advanced sanitary landfill sites are equipped with suitable bottom
liners and leachate collection systems along with the
installation of monitoring systems to detect
groundwater pollution.

it has become increasingly difficult to find suitable land filling sites that are within economic hauling
distance and very often citizens do not want landfills in their vicinity.

Incineration: is the process of burning municipal solid waste in a properly designed furnace under
suitable temperature and operating conditions. For complete oxidation the waste must be mixed with
appropriate volumes of air at a temperature of about 815o C for about one hour. Incineration can
reduce the municipal solid waste by about 90 percent in volume and 75
percent in weight.

The risks of incineration however involve air quality problems and toxicity and disposal of the fly and
bottom ash produced during the incineration process.

Vermicomposting:

Vermicomposting is a simple biotechnological process of composting, in which certain species of

earthworms are used to enhance the process of waste conversion and produce a better end product.
It is a mesophilic process, utilizing microorganisms and earthworms that are active at 10– 32°C. The
process is faster than composting; because the material passes through the earthworm gut, a
significant transformation takes place, whereby the resulting earthworm castings (worm manure) are
rich in microbial activity and plant growth regulators, and fortified with pest repellence attributes as
well!

DISASTER MANAGEMENT: FLOODS, EARTHQUAKES, CYCLONES, LANDSLIDES

The Indian subcontinent is very vulnerable to droughts, floods, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides,
avalanches and forest fires. Among the 36 states and Union territories in the country,22 are prone to
disasters.

Among all the disasters that occur in the country, floods are the most frequently occurring natural
disasters, due to the irregularities of the Indian monsoon. Approximately 40 million hectares of land in
the country has been identified as being prone to floods. Major floods are mainly caused in the Ganga-
Brahmaputra-Meghna basin which carries 60 percent of the total river flow of our country.

India has a long coastline of 5700 kms, which is exposed to tropical cyclones arising in the Bay of Bengal
and the Arabian sea. The Indian Ocean is one of the six major cyclone prone regions of the world. In
India, cyclones occur usually between April and May and also between October and December.

Earthquakes are considered to be one of the most destructive natural hazards. About 50 to 60 percent
of India is vulnerable to seismic activity of varying intensities. Most of the vulnerable areas are located
in the Himalayan and sub- Himalayan regions.

From management to mitigation of disasters

Till very recently the approach towards dealing with natural disasters has been post disaster
management involving problems such as evacuation, warnings, communications, search and rescue,
fire-fighting, medical and psychiatric assistance, provision of relief, shelter, etc.

Natural occurrences such as floods, earthquakes, cyclones, etc. will always occur. They are a part of the
environment that we live in. However destruction from natural hazards can be minimized by the
presence of a well functioning warning system combined with preparedness on part of the community
that will be affected.
Disaster management is a multidisciplinary area in which a wide range of issues that range from
forecasting, warning, evacuation, search and rescue, relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation are
included. It is also multi- sectoral as it involves administrators, scientists, planners, volunteers and
communities. These roles and activities span the pre-disaster, during disaster and post disaster plans.

The early warning systems for a range of natural hazards are available at present however they are
not enough to ensure communities are safe from disasters. This is where disaster mitigation
can play an important role.

Mitigation means lessening the negative impact of the natural hazards. It is defined as sustained action
taken to reduce long term vulnerability of human life and property to natural hazards.

The main elements of a mitigation strategy are as follows:

a) Risk assessment and Vulnerability analysis: This involves identification of hot spot areas of prime
concern, collection of information on past natural

hazards, information of the natural ecosystems and information on the population and infrastructure.
Once this information is collected a risk assessment should be done to determine the frequency,
intensity, impact and the time taken to return to normalcy after the disaster. The use of Geographical
Information Systems (GIS) a computer program can be a valuable tool in this process as the primary
data can be easily updated and the corresponding assessments can be made.

(b) Applied research and technology transfer

There is a need to establish or upgrade observation equipment and networks, monitor the hazards
properly, improve the quality of forecasting and warning, disseminate information quickly through the
warning systems and undertake disaster simulation exercises.

© Public awareness and training

One of the most critical components of a mitigation strategy is the training to be imparted to the
officials and staff of the various departments involved at the state and the district level. The success of a
mitigation strategy will depend to a large extent on the inter-sectional, inter-departmental
coordination and efficient teamwork.

Institutional mechanisms

The most important need at the National level is to strengthen or develop the capacity to undertake
disaster mitigation strategies. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) establish in
1999 perform such a task.

(e) Incentives and resources for mitigation

To a very large extent the success of mitigation programs will depend upon the availability of
continued funding. There is thus a need to develop mechanisms to provide stable sources of funding
for all mitigation programs.

(f) Landuse planning and regulations

Long term disaster reduction efforts should aim at promoting appropriate land

-use in the disaster prone areas. Special maps for Costal regulation zones, earthquake prone region
and river flood plain should be prepared and introduced into land use planning.

(g) Hazard resistant design and construction

In areas that are prone to disasters protection can be enhanced by careful

selection of sites and the way the buildings are built.

Structural and constructional reinforcement of existing buildings

It is also possible to reduce the vulnerability of existing buildings through minor adaptations or
alterations thereby ensuring their safety. This can be done by insertion of walls on the outside of the
building, buttresses, walls in the interior of the building, portico fill-in-walls, specially anchored frames,
covering of columns and beams, construction of new frame system etc.

Floods and mitigation measures

Floods can be caused by natural, ecological or anthropogenic factors either individually or as a

combined result. Anthropogenic activities such as deforestation and shifting cultivation can also
contribute to floods. The mitigation measures for floods include both structural and non-structural
measures. Structural measures includes:

1) Reservoirs for impounding monsoon flows to be released in a regulated manner after the peak
flood flow passes.

2) Prevention of over-bank spilling by the construction of embankments and floodwalls.

3. Improvement of flow conditions in the channel and anti-erosion measures.

The non-structural measures include:

1) Flood plain management such as Flood Plain Zoning and Flood Proofing including Disaster
Preparedness

2) Maintaining wetlands

3) Flood forecasting and warning services

Earthquakes and mitigation measures

Earthquakes occurs due to sudden movements of earth’s crust. The earth crust has several tectonic
plates of solid rock which slowly moves along with their boundaries. Some time due to friction fracture
formation take place along the boundaries or fault line within the plate.

Mitigation measures:

The critical factors responsible for the high seismic risk in India has prioritized six sets of critical
interventions; as the six pillars of earthquake management. They are to:

1) Ensure the incorporation of earthquake-resistant design features for the construction of new
structures.

2) Facilitate selective strengthening and seismic retrofitting of existing priority and lifeline
structures in earthquake-prone areas.

3) Improve the compliance regime through appropriate regulation and enforcement.

4) Improve the awareness and preparedness of all stakeholders.

5) Introduce appropriate capacity development interventions for effective earthquake

management (including education training, R&D, and documentation).

6) Strengthen the emergency response capability in earthquake-prone areas.

Cyclones and mitigation measures

Tropical cyclones are the worst natural hazards in the tropics. They are large revolving vortices in the
atmosphere extending horizontally from 150 to1000 km and vertically from the surface to 12 to 14 km.
These are intense low- pressure areas. Strong winds spiraling anti clockwise in the Northern
Hemisphere blow around the cyclone center at the lower level.

They generally move 300 to 5000 km per day over the ocean. While moving over the ocean they pick
up energy from the warm water of the ocean and some of them grow into a devastating intensity. One
of the requirement for formation of tropical cyclones is that the sea surface temperature (SST) should
be above 26°C.

On an average about 5 to 6 tropical cyclones form in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea every year
out of which 2 to 3 may be severe. More cyclones form in the Bay of Bengal than in the Arabian Sea.

The main dangers from cyclones are very strong winds, torrential rains and high storm tides. Most of
the causalities are caused by coastal inundation by storm tides. This is often followed by heavy rainfall
and floods. Storm surges cause the greatest destruction.

mitigation measures: Some of the mitigation methods are as follows:

1) Installation of early warning systems: Such systems fitted along the coastlines can greatly
assist forecasting techniques thus helping in early evacuation of people in the storm surge
areas.

2) Developing communication infrastructure: Communication plays a vital role in cyclone disaster

mitigation and yet this is one of the first services that gets disrupted during cyclones. Amateur
Radio has today emerged as a second line unconventional communications systems and is an
important tool for disaster mitigation.

3) Developing shelter belts: Shelter belts with plantations of trees can act as effective wind and
tide breakers. Apart from acting as effective windbreakers and protecting soil crops from being
damaged they prevent soil erosion.

4) Developing community cyclone shelters: Cyclone shelters at strategic locations can help
minimizing the loss of human life. In the normal course these shelters can be used as public
utility buildings.

5) Construction of permanent houses: There is a need to build appropriately designed concrete

houses that can withstand high winds and tidal waves.

6) Training and education: Public awareness programs that inform the population about their
response to cyclone warnings and preparedness can go a long way in reducing causalities.

7) Land use control and settlement planning: No residential and industrial units should be ideally
permitted in the coastal belt of 5 km from the sea as it is the most vulnerable belt.

8) Effects of Cyclones

9) i. Tropical cyclones cause heavy rainfall and landslides.

10) ii. They cause a lot of harm to towns and villages, causing severe

11) damage to kuccha houses.

12) iii. Coastal businesses like shipyards and oil wells are destroyed.

13) iii. They harm the ecosystem of the surrounding region.

14) iv. Civic facilities are disturbed.

15) v. Agricultural land is severely affected, especially in terms of water supply and soil erosion.

16) vi. It causes harm to human, plant and animal life.

17) vii. Communication systems are badly affected due to cyclones.

18)
Landslides and mitigation measures

Landslides occur as a result of changes on a slope, sudden or gradual, either in its composition,
structure, hydrology or vegetation. The changes can be due to geology, climate, weathering, land-use
and earthquakes.

Landslides are recurring phenomena in the Himalayan region. In the recent years however intensive
construction activity and the destabilizing forces of nature have aggravated the problem.

Type of Land slide:

The term "landslide" describes a wide variety of processes that result in the downward and outward
movement of slope-forming materials including rock, soil, artificial fill, or a combination of these. The
materials may move by falling, toppling, sliding, spreading, or flowing.

The various types of landslides can be differentiated by the kinds of material involved and the mode of
movement

LANDSLIDE CAUSES: It can be characterize into three major type:

1) Geological: It can be due to presence of weak or sensitive materials, sheared, jointed, or

fissured materials, contrast in permeability and/or stiffness of materials etc..

2) Morphological causes: It can be due to Tectonic or volcanic uplift, Fluvial, wave, or glacial
erosion of slope toe or lateral margins, Vegetation removal (by fire, drought) etc.

3) Human causes: It is mainly due to Mining, Deforestation, Irrigation, Drawdown (of reservoirs)
etc.

mitigation measures: Some of the mitigation measures are:

1) preventing the exposure of population and facilities to landslides.

2) Developmental programs that involve modification of the topography, exploitation of natural

resources and change in the balance load on the ground should not be permitted in the
landslide prone region.

3) Some critical measures that could be undertaken to prevent further landslides are drainage
measures, erosion control measures such a bamboo check dams, terracing, jute and coir
netting.

4) Rock fall control measures such as grass plantation, vegetated dry masonry wall, retaining wall
and most importantly preventing deforestation and improving afforestation.
 Sustainable development
It is defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs. This definition was given by the Norwegian Prime Minister
G.H.Brundtland.

• To ensure sustainable development, any activity that is expected to bring about economic
growth must also consider its environmental impacts so that it is more consistent with long
term growth and development.

• The nations of the world came to clearly understand sustainable development at the Rio
Conference in 1992. Several documents were created for the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED), which brought out the fact that environment and
development were closely connected and that there was a need to ‘care for the Earth’.

• The Rio Declaration aims at ‘ a new and equitable global partnership through the creation of
new levels of cooperation among states’. In this conference Agenda-21 was proposed which
emphasis on a global programme of action on sustainable development in social, economic and
political context for 21st century.

• The key aspect of sustainable development are:

• Inter-generation equity : This emphasizes that we should minimize any adverse impacts on
resources and environment for future generations. This can be only possible only if we stop
over-exploitation of resources, reduce waste discharge and emissions and maintain ecological
balance.

• Intra-generation equity: This emphasizes that the development processes should seek to
minimize the wealth gaps within and between nations. The Human Development report of
United Nations(2001) emphasizes that the benefits of technology should seek to achieve the
goal of intra- generation equity. The technology development should address towards creating
drought tolerant varieties, vaccines for infectious diseases, clean fuels for domestic and
industrial use.

• Measures for Sustainable development: some of the important measures for sustainable
development are as follows:

• 1) Using appropriate technology: The technology should use less of resources and should
produce minimum waste. It should be locally adaptable, eco-friendly, resource efficient and
culturally suitable.

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle approach: The 3-R approach reduce pressure on our resources as well
as reduce waste generation and pollution.
 • Prompting environmental education and awareness: It will help in changing the thinking and
attitude of people toward our earth and the environment. ‘Earth thinking will gradually get
incorporated in our thinking and action which will greatly help in transforming our life style to
sustainable ones.

• Resource utilization as per carrying capacity: Any system can sustain a limited number of
organism on a long term basis which is known as carrying capacity. Sustainability of a system
depends largely upon the carrying capacity of the system. If the carrying capacity of a system is
crossed, environmental degradation starts and continues till it reaches a point of no return.
Carrying capacity has two basic component:

• Supporting capacity: the capacity to regenerate.

• Assimilative capacity: the capacity to tolerate different stresses.

• Consumption should not exceed regeneration and changes should not be allowed to occur
beyond the tolerance capacity of the system.

URBAN PROBLEMS RELATED TO ENERGY

Urban areas are the main centers of economic growth, trade, education, innovation and employment.
Now about 50% of the world population lives in urban areas and there is increasing movement of rural
folk to cities in search of employment. In contrast to rural set-up the urban set-up is densely
populated, consumes a lot of energy and materials and generates a lot of waste. The energy
requirements of urban population is much higher than that of rural ones. The energy demanding
activities include:

1) Residential and commercial lighting.

2) Transportation means including automobiles and public transport system.

3) Modern life-style using a large number of electrical gadgets.

4) Industrial plants using a big proportion of energy.

5) A large amount of waste generation which disposal required energy.

CLIMATE CHANGE

• Climate is the average weather of an area. It is general weather condition such as temperature,
rainfall, wind pattern, seasonal variations and extremes of weather in a region. These condition
when average over a long period (at least 30 years) is called climate.

• The average temperature in many regions has been increasing in recent decades. The global
average surface temperature has increased by 0.6° + 0.2° C over the last century.
 • Many countries have experienced increases in rainfall, particularly in the countries situated in
the mid to high latitudes. In some regions, such as parts of Asia and Africa, the frequency and
intensity of droughts have been observed to increase in recent decades.

• All these are signs that the earth is sick. Its climate is changing, making it more difficult for
mankind to survive. The earth is losing its ability to balance itself due to the imbalances created
by human activities.

How do we monitor climate change

Projections of future climate change are derived from a series of experiments made by computer
based global climate models.

These are worked out on estimates of aspects such as future population growth and energy use.
Climatologists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have reviewed the results of
several experiments in order to estimate changes in climate in the course of this century.

Surface air temperature anomaly in 2011 relative to the 1951-1980 base period at

Consequences of climate change:

• Global mean sea level is projected to rise by 9 to 88 cm by the year 2100. More than half of the
world’s population now lives within 60km of the sea. Some of the most vulnerable regions are
the Nile delta in Egypt, the Ganges- Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh, and many small islands
including the Marshall Islands and the Maldives, (WHO, 2001).

• Human societies will be seriously affected by extremes of climate such as droughts and floods.
A changing climate would bring about changes in the frequency and/or intensity of these
extremes, which will leads to reduction in water resource along with crop productivity.

• Food and water shortages may lead to conflicts in vulnerable regions, with serious implications
for public health. Climate change related impacts on human health could lead to displacement
of a large number of people, creating environmental refugees and lead to further health issues.

• Changes in climate may affect the distribution of vector species (e.g. mosquitoes) which in turn
will increase the spread of disease, such as malaria and filariasis, to new areas which lack a
strong public health infrastructure.

Mitigation measures for Climate Change

• To prepare data inventory to monitor the climate change in term of global mean temperature
increase for future prediction of its negative consequences.

• Monitoring of infectious diseases and disease vectors to detect early changes in the incidence
of diseases and the geographical distribution of vectors.
 • Environmental management measures such as reduction of fossil fuel burning, incorporating
alternative source of energy for power generation to reduce risk of climate change.

• Disaster preparedness for floods or droughts; and their health related consequences which
include creating early warning systems and education for epidemic preparedness.

• Training of researchers and health professionals must become an essential part of the world
becoming more responsible towards the expected outcome of Global Climate Change (GCC).

Global warming:
About 75% of the solar energy reaching the Earth is absorbed on the earth’s surface which increases its
temperature. The rest of the heat radiates back to the atmosphere.

The major green house gases in troposphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4),
nitrous oxide (N2O), and halogenated compounds (mainly CFCs).

Why Global warming?

Anthropogenic activities suchas fossil fuel burning increase livestock population and land use
changes results into increase in green house gases concentration in the atmosphere resulting
into increase earth surface temperature during last century.

Effect of Global warming:

The enhanced greenhouse effect will not only cause global warming but will also affect various
other climatic and natural processes:

1) Global temperature increase: it is estimated that the earth’s mean temperature will rise
between 1.5 to 5.5°C by 2050 if input of greenhouse gases continues to rise at present rate.

2) Rise in sea level: Current models indicate that an increase in the average atmospheric
temperature of 3°C would raise the average global sea level by 0.2-1.5 meters over the next 50-
100 years.

3) Effect on human health: The global warming will lead to changes in the rainfall pattern in many
areas, thereby affecting the distribution of vector- born diseases like malaria, filariasis etc.

4) Effect on agriculture: Global warming also affect the precipitation pattern, which will in turn
affect the crop productivity, however affect will not be uniform over the globe and also
different for different crop.
 Acid rain
What is acid rain?

Normal rainfall = mild acidic (about 5.6)?

When rainwater pH fall below 5.6

Reason:

1) Burning of sulphur containing coal.

2) Automobile exhaust containing oxide of nitrogen

Damage from acid rain is widespread in North America, Europe, Japan, China and Southeast
Asia. In the US coal burning power plants contribute to about 70% of sulfur dioxide. In Canada
oil refining, metal smelting and other industrial activities account for 61% of sulfur dioxide
pollution.

Effects: Acid rain is known to cause widespread environmental damage:

1) Acid rain dissolves and washes away nutrients in the soil which are needed by plants. It can also
subsdissolve naturally occurring toxic subtances like aluminum and mercury, freeing them to
pollute water or poison plants.

2) Acid rain indirectly affects plants by removing nutrients from the soil in which they grow. It
affects trees more directly by creating holes in the waxy coating of leaves, causing brown dead
spots which affect the plant’s photosynthesis.

3) Acid rain that falls or flows as surface runoff to reach rivers, lakes and wetlands, causes the
water in them to become acidic. This affects plant and animal life in aquatic ecosystems.

4) Acid rain and dry acid deposition damages buildings, automobiles, and other structures made of
stone or metal. The acid corrodes the materials causing extensive damage and ruins historic
buildings.
 Mitigation measures for acid rain:

• The best way to stop the formation of acid rain is to reduce the emissions of sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere. It can be achieved by switching to cleaner burning fuels
such as using natural gas which is cleaner than coal or using coal with lower sulfur content.

• SO2 can be prevented from entering the atmosphere by using scrubbers in smokestacks in into
the polluting gases, recapturing the sulfur. industry. These spray a mixture of water and
limestone

• In catalytic converters, the gases are passed over metal coated beads that convert harmful
chemicals into less harmful ones. These are used in cars to reduce the effects of exhaust fumes
on the atmosphere.

• Once acid rain has affected soil, powdered limestone can be added to the

soil by a process known as liming to neutralize the acidity of the soil.

Ozone layer depletion:

Ozone in the upper atmosphere is vital to all life as it protects the earth from the sun’s harmful
ultraviolet radiation. The ozone layer in the upper atmosphere absorbs the sun’s ultraviolet
radiation, preventing it from reaching the earth’s surface.

Most ozone particles are scattered between 19 and 30 kilometers (12 to 30 miles) up in the
Earth's atmosphere, in a region called the stratosphere.

The most common stratospheric ozone measurement unit is the Dobson Unit (DU). named after
the atmospheric ozone pioneer G.M.B. Dobson. Dobson Units are measured by how thick the
layer of ozone would be if it were compressed into one layer at 0 degrees Celsius and with a
pressure of one atmosphere above it. Every 0.01millimeter thickness of the layer is equal to
one Dobson Unit.

The average amount of ozone in the stratosphere across the globe is about 300 DU. Highest
levels of ozone are usually found in the mid to high latitudes, in Canada and Siberia (360DU).

When stratospheric ozone falls below 200 DU this is considered low enough to

represent the beginnings of an ozone hole.

Why ozone layer deplete?

In the 1970s, scientists discovered that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) could destroy ozone in the
stratosphere. They simply do not break down in the

lower atmosphere and they can remain in the atmosphere from 20 to 120 years
 or more.

EFFECT OF OZONE LAYER DEPLETION

1) Effects on Human and Animal Health: Increased penetration of solar UV-B radiation is likely to
have profound impact on human health with potential risks of eye diseases, skin cancer and
infectious diseases. Experiments on animals show that UV exposure decreases the immune
response to skin cancers, infectious agents and other antigens.

2) Effects on Terrestrial Plants: In forests and grasslands increased UV-B radiation is likely to result
in changes in species composition (mutation) thus altering the bio-diversity in different
ecosystems.

3) Effects on Aquatic Ecosystems: High levels of UV-B exposure in tropics and subtropics may
affect the distribution of phytoplankton which form the foundation of aquatic food webs. UV-B
can also cause damage to early development stages of fish, shrimp, crab, amphibians and other
animals, the most severe effects being decreased reproductive capacity and impaired larval
development.

4) Effects on Bio-geo-chemical Cycles: Increased solar UV radiation could affect terrestrial and
aquatic bio-geo-chemical cycles thus altering both sources and sinks of greenhouse and
important trace gases, e.g. carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), carbonyl sulphide
(COS), etc.

Effects on Materials: An increased level of solar UV radiation is known to have adverse effects
on synthetic polymers, naturally occurring biopolymers and some other materials of
commercial interest. UV-B radiation accelerates the photo degradation rates of these materials
thus limiting their lifetimes.

INTERNATIONAL ACTIONS

A. Montreal Protocol: The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was
negotiated and signed by 24 countries and by the European Economic Community in September
1987. The original Protocol aimed to decrease the use of chemical compounds destructive to
ozone in the stratosphere by 50% by the year 1999.

United Nations Environment Programme: Has published several assess- ments of the
environmental effects of ozone depletion (United Nations Environment Programme, 1998;
World Meteorological Organization,2002

Environment Legislation:

India is the first country in the world to have made provisions for the protection and
conservation of environment in its constitution.
 Article 48-A : “The state shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to
safeguard forests and wildlife of the country”.

Article 51A(g) : “ It shall be duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural
environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for living
creatures.”

THE ENVIRONMENT (PROTECTION) ACT,1986

The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 not only has important constitutional implications but
also an international background. The spirit of the proclamation adopted by the United Nations
Conference on Human Environment which took place in Stockholm in June 1972, was
implemented by the Government of India by creating

this Act.

This act also provide the definition of environment and environmental pollution along with
hazardous substances.

1) Environment: includes water, air and land and their inter-relationships that exists among and
between them and human beings, all other living organism and property.

2) Environmental pollution: means the presence of any solid, liquid or gaseous substance present
in such concentration, as may be, or tend to be injurious to environment.

3) Hazardous Substances: means any substance or preparation which by its physico-chemical

properties or handling is liable to cause harm to human being, other living organisms,
property or environment.The most important functions of Central government under this act
include:

1) The standards of quality of air, water or soil for various

areas and purposes.

2) The maximum permissible limits of concentration of various

environmental pollutants( including noise) for different areas.

3) The procedure and safeguard for the handling of hazardous waste

4) The prohibition and restriction on the handling of hazardous substances in different areas.

5) The prohibition and restriction on the location of industries and to carry on process and
operations in different areas.

6) The procedures and safeguards for the prevention of accidents which can cause environmental
pollution and providing for remedial measures for such accident.
Under the Environmental (protection) Rules, 1986 the state Pollution Control Boards have to follow
some guideline such as:

1. They have to advice the industries for treating the waste water and gases with the best available
technology.
2. The industries must be encourage for recycling and reusing the wastes.
3. The State Boards have to take into account the assimilative capacity of the receiving water body.
4. The central and state Boards have to emphasize on the implementation of clean technologies by
the industries for reduction of waste generation.

The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 has also made provision for Environmental audit as a means of
checking whether or not a company is complying with the environmental laws and regulation.