State of India’s Environment 2017 – Part 2

Here are some more facts from the Annual State of India’s Environment 2017, released by the Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi:

Coral bleaching:

·      In 2016, coral reefs across the entire tropical belt bleached due to higher sea temperatures.

·      Coral bleaching has occurred in the Lakshadweep archipelago four times over the past two decades. But, in 2016, for the first time, large and ancient corals (over 500 years old) succumbed to bleaching.

Montreal Protocol:

·      The Agreement to phase down HFCs arrived at in Kigali, Rwanda in October 2016, is a rare victory for the world and India.

·      India’s strategic give-and-take approach during the negotiations brought about an effective and binding agreement.

·      India pledged to reduce HFC-23 emissions equivalent to 100 m tonnes of CO2 by 2030. This placed additional pressure on the US and China to respond, as these two countries are responsible for most of the global HFC-23 emissions.

Sanitation:

·      India continues to rank first in the world in open defecation. Over 560 million Indians defecate in the open.

·      In order to meet the sanitation target of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBM), 65,000 toilets have to be built every day until September 2019. There is no sign of such sustained activity.

Air pollution:

·      The government has made an unprecedented move to skip Euro V emission norms for vehicles and leap directly to Euro VI (or Bharat Stage VI) standards by 2020.

·      The Ministry of Road Transport has notified the BS VI Standards for all vehicles nationwide.

Disaster management (Floods):

·      India’s flood management capacity has remained unchanged for 40 years even as climate variability has multiplied the impact of floods.

·      Over Rs. 11.25 lakh crore was spent on flood control measures during 1953-2011. Yet, flood-affected areas rose by 160% between 1960 and 2011.

This post relates to different chapters in the book.

State of India's Environment 2017

The Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, releases an Annual State of India’s Environment. Here are some key indicators taken from their 2017 Report:

State of land and agriculture:

·      Soil Health Card Scheme (Chapter 10 of the book)

o   As on October 18, 2016, only 23% of the target had been met with respect to the number of cards issued.

o   25 of the 33 states had met less than 50% target.

·      Nearly 30% of land in India is degraded. Of the total geographical area of 328 million ha, 96 million ha is under desertification.

·      26 states have reported an increase in the area undergoing desertification over the past 10 years.

State of forest clearance:

·      Between January and September 2016, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change granted clearances for forest diversion to 249 projects covering an area of 10,000 ha.

·      36% of the total forest land approved for diversion was for irrigation projects and 20% was for mining projects.

State of urban water bodies:

·      Urban floods are on the increase since the wetlands, which work as sponges during floods, have been built over.

·      Loss of water bodies has been severe (more than 50% in area) in cities such as Srinagar, Delhi, Guwahati, Udaipur, Surat, Kolhapur, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Thiruvananthapuram.

State of public transport:

·      State bus services are outdated and incapable of meeting the increasing demand.

·      India has just two buses for every 1000 people.

·      The average occupancy ratio in state bus services is 71%.

·      46 state bus companies have losses to the tune of Rs.10,800 crores.

State of wildlife:

·      In 2016, India recorded a 25% increase in tiger deaths, 98 compared to 78 in 2015.

State of energy:

·      Although power deficit reduced from 8.5% in 2010-11 to 2.10% in 2015-16, India’s diesel generator market has been growing steadily, especially in the residential sector.

This post relates to Chapter 1 of the book.