INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AND ECOLOGICAL ISSUES
INTRUDUCTION
Nowadays a lot of attraction is paid to ecological
situation in the world. And its reasons are well understood. The reasons to
speak about it are not necessary to be named. Everybody knows them quite well.
The human progress together with the development of technology is causing a
great influence of the global ecosystem, changing it forever.
There are not that many virgin lands on the earth where
people can definitely say how that areas had looked before, because the
influence of human on world system of nature has changed many places to no
possibility of being recognized: “These unprecedented rates of growth,
which could have alarming effects on the environment and the life support
system of the planet, have renewed the debate about the future prospects for
human societies.
The purpose of industrial development of any region is to
provide opportunities of better living and employment to the people. While
industrial development almost inevitably creates more employment in the region,
the possibilities of adverse effects on the environment also increased if these
adverse effects are not properly contained or reduced to minimum. Thus there
occurs a situation in which the material goods increase but the quality of life
deteriorates. In the past, environmental aspects of industrial developments
were usually not taken into account seriously, as it was believed that this was
almost inevitable and almost necessary for the economic development. Environmental
movement, for all purpose, had its beginning in 1972, the year of the Stockholm
Conference. After Stockholm Conference of 1972 even the erstwhile
underdeveloped countries have realized the environmental degradation can be
disproportionately more than economic development unless suitable safeguards
are not provided from the beginning. It has also been felt that the effects of
pollution in all its aspects may not remain limited to the boundaries of
developed and developing nations. The hazards of Green House effects and the
depletion/disruption of ozone layer of the world atmosphere have become more
real than just postulations. In India, our environmental thinking took its cue
from the developed countries and perceived the preservation of the threatened
species - both flora and fauna. Later two areas related to prevention of any
further degradation and depletion of basic natural resources and life support
system of land, water and vegetation were identified. The need to preserve the
country’s production base and to combat industrial pollution and insanitation
in the interest of public health has been felt. Institutional arrangements such
as National Committee for environmental planning and coordination was set up in
1972 which was followed a little later by the creation of Central Pollution
Control Board.
Environmental degradation affects developing countries
more fundamentally, than it does the developed world. It is universally recognized,
in developing countries, that, while economic development is an essential
process to erase poverty and hunger, at the same time, it is equally important,
to protect the environment from pollution at regional as well as national and
global levels. As such, effective measures are called for
at all levels of production, to combat pollution and to save the environment,
from degradation. In India, our efforts to provide to a vast and growing
population, with food, and comforts, could be sustained in the long run, only
if we protect and preserve our environment, from further degradation
INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to
the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and
transport had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions
starting in the United Kingdom, then subsequently spreading throughout Europe,
North America, and eventually the world. The onset of the Industrial Revolution
marked a major turning point in human history; almost every aspect of daily
life was eventually influenced in some way.
- Textiles – Cotton spinning using Richard Arkwright's water frame, James Hargreaves's Spinning Jenny, and Samuel Crompton's Spinning Mule (a combination of the Spinning Jenny and the Water Frame). This was patented in 1769 and so came out of patent in 1783. The end of the patent was rapidly followed by the erection of many cotton mills. Similar technology was subsequently applied to spinning worsted yarn for various textiles and flax for linen.
- Steam power – The improved steam engine invented by James Watt and patented in 1775 was initially mainly used for pumping out mines, but from the 1780s was applied to power machines. This enabled rapid development of efficient semi-automated factories on a previously unimaginable scale in places where waterpower was not available.
- Iron founding – In the Iron industry, coke was finally applied to all stages of iron smelting, replacing charcoal. This had been achieved much earlier for lead and copper as well as for producing pig iron in a blast furnace, but the second stage in the production of bar iron depended on the use of potting and stamping (for which a patent expired in 1786) or puddling (patented by Henry Cort in 1783 and 1784).
INDUSTRIAL
POLLUTION
Industrial :
About 57,000 polluting industries in India generate about 13,468 mld of
wastewater out of which nearly 60% (generated from large & medium
industries) is treated
Air
Pollution
Industrialization and urbanization have resulted in a
profound deterioration of India's air quality. Of the 3 million premature
deaths in the world that occur each year due to outdoor and indoor air
pollution, the highest number are assessed to occur in India. According to
the World Health Organization, the capital city of New Delhi is one of the
top ten most polluted cities in the world. Surveys indicate that in New Delhi
the incidence of respiratory diseases due to air pollution is about 12 times
the national average.
According to another study, while India's gross
domestic product has increased 2.5 times over the past two decades, vehicular
pollution has increased eight times, while pollution from industries has
quadrupled. Sources of air pollution, India's most severe environmental
problem, come in several forms, including vehicular emissions and untreated
industrial smoke. Apart from rapid industrialization, urbanization has resulted
in the emergence of industrial centers without a corresponding growth in
civic amenities and pollution control mechanisms.
Regulatory reforms aimed at improving the air pollution
problem in cities such as New Delhi have been quite difficult to implement,
however. For example, India's Supreme Court recently lifted a ruling that it
imposed two years ago which required all public transport vehicles in New
Delhi to switch to compressed natural gas (CNG) engines by April 1, 2001.
This ruling, however, led to the disappearance of some 15,000 taxis and
10,000 buses from the city, creating public protests, riots, and widespread
"commuter chaos." The court was similarly unsuccessful in 2000,
when it attempted to ban all public vehicles that were more than 15 years old
and ordered the introduction of unleaded gasoline and CNG. India's high
concentration of pollution is not due to a lack of effort in building a sound
environmental legal regime, but rather to a lack of enforcement at the local
level. Efforts are currently underway to change this as new specifications
are being adopted for auto emissions, which currently account for
approximately 70% of air pollution. In the absence of coordinated government
efforts, including stricter enforcement, this figure is likely to rise in the
coming years due to the sheer increase in vehicle ownership.
Waste
and Water Pollution
Water pollution has many sources. The most polluting of
them are the city sewage and industrial waste discharged into the rivers. The
facilities to treat waste water are not adequate in any city in India.
Presently, only about 10% of the waste water generated is treated; the rest
is discharged as it is into our water bodies. Due to this, pollutants enter
groundwater, rivers, and other water bodies. Such water, which ultimately
ends up in our households, is often highly contaminated and carries
disease-causing microbes. Agricultural run-off, or the water from the fields
that drains into rivers, is another major water pollutant as it contains
fertilizers and pesticides.
During the last fifty years, the number of industries
in India has grown rapidly. But water pollution is concentrated within a few
subsectors, mainly in the form of toxic wastes and organic pollutants. Out of
this a large portion can be traced to the processing of industrial chemicals
and to the food products industry. In fact, a number of large- and
medium-sized industries in the region covered by the Ganga Action Plan do not
have adequate effluent treatment facilities. Most of these defaulting
industries are sugar mills, distilleries, leather processing industries, and
thermal power stations. Most major industries have treatment facilities for
industrial effluents. But this is not the case with small-scale industries,
which cannot afford enormous investments in pollution control equipment as
their profit margin is very slender.
Chemical
Pollution
As rapidly developing countries such as India
industrialize, the dangers to local communities from pollution are often
overlooked until there is a major disaster such as occurred in Bhopal.
The effects of chemical pollution is being rapidly felt
across India. It has found that the incidence of diseases related to nervous,
circulatory, respiratory, digestive and endocrine systems was one to four times
higher in heavily industrialized areas as compared to unindustrialized areas.
Many cases of congenital deformity and chromosomal abnormalities were also
reported, in addition to 11 cases of different kinds of cancer. Skin
disorders are also rampant.
The wave of industrialization that began in the late
1970s has changed the complexion of India's once placid landscape. Lakes,
streams, as well as the groundwater are laced with toxic heavy metals and
chemicals, as proved by several studies by government agencies and research
institutions including the National Geophysical Research Laboratory.
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SOIL
POLLUTION
Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation
that is unusually acidic, i.e. elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). It
can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure through
the process of wet deposition. Acid rain is caused by emissions of compounds of
ammonium, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur which react with the water molecules in
the atmosphere to produce acids. Governments have made efforts since the 1970s
to reduce the production of sulfuric oxides into the Earth's atmosphere with
positive results. However, it can also be caused naturally by the splitting of
nitrogen compounds by the energy produced by lightning strikes, or the release
of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere by volcano eruptions.
INDUSTRIAL
WASTES
Toxic waste is waste material that can cause death or
injury to living creatures. It can be spread quite easily and can contaminate
lakes and rivers. The term is often used interchangeably with “hazardous
waste”, or discarded material that can pose a long-term risk to health or
environment.
As with most pollution problems, toxic waste began to be
a significant issue during the industrial revolution. It usually is the product
of industry or commerce, but comes also from residential use (e.g. cleaning
products, cosmetics, lawn care products), agriculture (e.g. chemical
fertilizers, pesticides), the military (nuclear weapons testing, chemical
warfare), medical facilities (e.g. pharmaceuticals), radioactive sources, and
light industry, such as dry cleaning establishments.
Health effects
Toxic waste
Toxic wastes often contain carcinogens, and exposure to
these by some route, such as leakage or evaporation from the storage, causes
cancer to appear at increased frequency in exposed individuals. For example, a
cluster of the rare blood cancer polycythemia vera was found around a toxic
waste dump site in northeast Pennsylvania in 2008.
MEASURES
- Turn off Sound pollution
- Keep the volume of your T.V., music system low.
- Honk the car horn sparingly.
- Discourage use of loudspeakers.
- Avoid the use of band, crackers in wedding processions.
- Get all to practise laws regarding Sound pollution.
Vaporise Air pollution
- Keep smoke emission from homes, factories, vehicles to minimum.
- Avoid use of firecrackers.
- Dispose garbage in bins, do not bum it.
- Use spittoons or flowing drains for spitting.
- Get all to practice laws regarding Air pollution.
Purify Water pollution
- Never dump garbage near communal taps, wells and other water bodies.
- Do not tinker with public water pipes.
- Immerse holy idols in authorized places.
- Get all to practice laws regarding Water pollution.
Dispose off Chemical pollution
- Prefer organic manure to chemical fertilizers, paper to polythene, cotton, jute to polyester.
- Dispose polythene bags through proper channel.
- Plant more trees and vegetation.
- Get all to practise laws regarding Chemical pollution.
CONCLUSION
Even though the industrial development changes our life
style and culture it is important to control pollution caused by the
industries by whatever means and to save the environment from pollution.
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