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.