Social Issues and

Environment
 Introduction
We live in a Natural as well as social
world
Development cannot be of only the
rich nor it means only high living
standards.
Also not just ECONOMIC development
It has to be a holistic approach.
Social aspects, development and
environment have a strong relation.
 From Unsustainable to
Sustainable
G.H Bruntland, Director of World
Health Organisation : Meeting the
needs of present without
compromising the ability of
future generations to meet
their own needs
 Current status
Earth Summit in Rio de
Janerio in 1992 (UN Conference
on Environment and Development
- UNCED)
Agenda- 21 proposed
Everyone talks and walks
sustainability
Many programmes have
been initiated.
Key aspects of Sustainable
development
Inter- generational equity
Stop overuse
Reduce Impacts
Maintain ecological balance
Hand over a safe, healthy and resourceful
environment to our future generations
Intra-generational equity
Minimize gap between and within nations
Support economic growth of poorer
countries
Provide technological help
Measures for Sustainable
development
Using appropriate technology:
concept of Design with nature
3-R approach: Minimization of
resource use, use again and
process to get new product from
same material.
Promoting environmental
awareness and education
Carrying capacity: Supporting and
Assimilative
Indian Scenario
Tremendous Population
Tremendous natural diversity
Hence makes planning sustainably
all the more important but complex.
National Council of Environmental
Planning and Coordination set up in
1972.
Ministry of Environment and Forests
set up in 1985.
 Social Issues
Urban problems related to ENERGY
WATER CONSERVATION
Resettlement and Rehabilitation
issues
Environmental ethics
Climate Change
Global Warming
Acid Rain and Ozone layer Depletion
Nuclear Accidents and Holocaust
Wasteland Reclamation
Consumerism and waste products
1. Urban problems related to
energy
Cities are the main centers of
Economic growth, trade, education,
employment
Now 50% population lives in Urban
areas
Urban sprawl
Difficult to accommodate
Uncontrollable and unplanned growth
Densely populated, consume more
resources, NEED MORE ENERGY
 Energy demanding
activities
Residential and Commercial
lighting
Private and Public transport
Modern life style: electronic
gadgets
Industries
Waste disposal
Prevention and Control of
pollution
 Effects
Unequal distribution of energy
Power cuts and load shedding
Demand energy from other state
Overall society suffers
Economic development hampere
Water Conservation
Water is a vital resource.
Majority of water resources
are polluted heavily
Its amount is limited for use
So conservation is Extremely
important
Water conservationrefers to reducing th
usage of water and recycling of waste wat
for different purposes such as cleaning,
manufacturing, and agricultural irrigation.
 Actions
Some researchers have suggested that
water conservation efforts should be
primarily directed at farmers, in light of
the fact that crop irrigation accounts for
70% of the world's fresh water use.
Drip irrigation instead of sprinkle irrigation.
Common strategies include:
publicoutreachcampaigns,tiered
water rates (charging progressively
higher prices as water use increases),
or restrictions on outdoor water use
such as lawn watering and car washing.
100s of ways to conserve water
Rain Water Harvesting
 Introduction
In urban areas, the construction of houses,
footpaths and roads has left little exposed earth
for water to soak in.
In parts of the rural areas of India, floodwater
quickly flows to the rivers, which then dry up soon
after the rains stop. If this water can be held back,
it can seep into the ground and recharge the
groundwater supply.
This has become a very popular method of
conserving water especially in the urban areas.
Rainwater harvesting essentially means collecting
rainwater on the roofs of building and storing it
underground for later use. Not only does this
recharging arrest groundwater depletion, it also
raises the declining water table and can help
augment water supply.
 Status
Town planners and civic authority
in many cities in India are
making rainwater harvesting
compulsory in all new structures.
No water or sewage connection
would be given if a new building
did not have provisions for
rainwater harvesting
A number of government
buildings have been asked to go
in for water harvesting in Delhi
and other cities of India.
Process
 Case study
The area surrounding the River Ruparel in Rajasthan,
is an example of proper water conservation. The site
does not receive even half the rainfall received by
Cherrapunji, but proper management and
conservation have meant that more water is
available than in Cherrapunji.
The water level in the river began declining due to
extensive deforestation and agricultural activities
along the banks and, by the 1980s, a drought-like
situation began to spread.
Under the guidance of some NGOs (non-government
organizations), the women living in the area were
encouraged to take the initiative in building johads
(round ponds) and dams to hold back rainwater.
 Gradually, water began coming
back as proper methods of
conserving and harvesting
rainwater were followed.
The revival of the river has
transformed the ecology of the
place and the lives of the people
living along its banks. Their
relationship with their
natural environment
has been strengthened.
Water Harvesting: A Great
Success At Kalakhoont,
(Jhabua, MP), 2001
For the first time in India drought proofing, rather
than drought management, was the focus of the
state Governments (Madhya Pradesh & Gujarat).
For two years these state governments took up
water conservation activities in the hope that
monsoon this year would not be wasted even if it
rained below the normal level.
Kalakhoont village of Jhabua district in Madhya
Pradesh (MP) spin out of the poverty cycle with
the beginning of rainy season this year. Four
days of the rain filled up to the brim the long-
forgotten tank. Now almost the entire village is
enriched by water overflowing from the tank.
Way to Success
Crippled by two consecutive droughts, when an
NGO, Action for Social Advancement (ASA),
offered to renovate the tank, it was hard for the
residents to decide to contribute 25 percent of the
tanks renovation cost of Rs. 3 lakh.
Three meters of silt, which had erroded from the
surrounding hills, was removed from the tank. This
was used as manure in farmlands and the tank
was soon renovated. The decision paid rich
dividends and to changed the lives of the villagers
forever.
According to Nana Basna, President of the Lift-
irrigation Society formed to regulate water use in
the village there is enough water for the next
three years. The stored water is enough to
irrigate more than 61 hectares (ha) of land. The
recharged wells will be an additional source. Now
water is overflowing from the dam and residents
are planning to revive a defunct lift irrigation point
as a result of which three villages will be irrigated.
WATER SHED
MANAGEMENT
Concept of Watershed
Watershed is a geo hydrological unit or
piece of land that drain at a common
point.
A watershed is defined as any spatial
area from which rain or irrigation water
is collected and drained through a
common point.
Thewatershed and drainage basin are
synonymous term indicating an area
surrounded by a ridge line that is
drained through a single outlet.
 A watershed is simply the land
that water flows across or
through on its way to a common
stream, river, or lake.
A watershed can be very large
(e.g. draining thousands of
square miles to a major river or
lake or the ocean), or very
small, such as a 20-acre
watershed that drains to a
pond.
 Objectives of watershed
management
1. To control damaging runoff and degradation and
thereby conservation of soil and water.
2. To manage and utilize the runoff water for useful
purpose.
3. To protect, conserve and improve the land of
watershed for more efficient and sustained
production.
4. To protect and enhance the water resource
originating in the watershed.
5. To check soil erosion and to reduce the effect of
sediment yield on the watershed.
6. To rehabilitate the deteriorating lands.
7. To moderate the floods peaks at down stream
areas.
8. To increase infiltration of rainwater.
9. To improve and increase the production of timbers,
fodder and wild life resource.
10. To enhance the ground water recharge, wherever
applicable.
 Watershed
management practices
Watershed management involves
many techniques
The techniques can be summarized
as : Grassland development, Gully
Plugs, Tree plantation and contour
trenching on hill tops and slopes,
Contour bunding, Water conservation
structures, Lift irrigation schemes,
Land leveling etc.
Public participation and awareness
INTEGRATED WATERSHED
DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
The Integrated Watershed Development Project
(Hills-II) started in April 1999.
It has a budget of US$24.4 million and is being
run by experts from different line departments.
It is World Bank-funded and operated in
Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab,
Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal.
One of its working areas lies in northeast
Haryana in the most degraded watersheds of
the Siwalik hills and their adjoining piedmont
plains. The project area has been identified as
one of Indias eight most degraded rainfed
agro-ecosystems.
 The Sukhomajri - Water
Shed Management
Project : A Success Story
of Participatory Approach
Sukhomajri, a small hamlet of about
one hundred families with average
land holding of 0.57 ha, is located in
the foothills of Shivaliks in
Panchkula district of Haryana.
It is at a distance of about thirty
kilometers by road to the north-east
of Chandigarh.
Central Soil & Water Conservation
Research and Training Institute,
Chandigarh.
 Until 1975, Sukhomajra had no source of
regular irrigation. The entire agricultural land
(52 hectares) was under rain-fed single
cropping.
Small land holdings (less than one hectare
per family) coupled with frequent crop
failures due to erratic distribution of rainfall,
made agriculture least dependable as a
means of adequate livelihood.
Consequently, the people of Sukhomajri were
forced to keep a large number of sheep,
goats and cows to eke out a living.
But, once the domestic animals, especially
the goats and cows, were allowed to graze
freely in the nearby hills, followed by
indiscriminate felling of trees for fuel and
other domestic consumption, the hill
slopes, once covered with lush green
vegetation, soon became bare and not
 In the year 1975, the continuing problem of
silting of the prestigious man-made Sukhna
Lake in Chandigarh drew the attention of the
Central Soil and Water Conservation Research
and Training Center, Chandigarh.
A reconnaissance survey conducted by the
Centre under the leadership of Shri P.R. Mishra,
the then Officer-in-Charge, revealed that the
major source of sediment was about twenty-six
per cent of the catchment area located in the
close proximity of Sukhomajri and a few nearby
villages.
Sedimentation was caused by the erosion of the
bare hill slopes caused by over-grazing
particularly by goats whose rearing had been
the traditional occupation of the Gujjars
inhabiting the village.
 To address the problem the Research Center
applied soil conservation techniques developed
by comprising of mechanical and vegetative
measures.
This reduced the runoff sediment from the highly
eroded Shivaliks at a spectacular rate from
eighty tonnes to less than one tonne per hectare,
within a short span of a decade.
The vegetative measures consisted of planting of
tree species like khair (Acacia catechu) and
shisham (Dalbergia sissoo), in pits and bhabbar
grass (Eulaliopsis binata) at mounds of trenches,
and also Agave americana and Ipomea cornea, in
critical areas to protect the soil against erosion.
However, all these measures for containing the
sediment in situ did not succeed in the absence
of the willing cooperation from the people of
Sukhomajri, who depended for their sustenance
on the resources available in the catchment area.
 Hence, to promote agriculture and water
availability in the area earthern dams were
constructed. This resulted in rain water
harvesting & storage which could be used by
the villages for agriculture through out the
year.
Villagers agreed to protect the hilly
watersheds from grazing and illicit cutting of
vegetation and in turn, were allowed to cut
grass to stall feed their cattle and collect dry
and dead wood or pruned branches for their
domestic fuel consumption.
As a result, the forest areas which had a
desolate look in the beginning of the project
were covered with grass and trees within a
period of 10 to 15 years. Grass production
increased more than double in the same
period (from 3.82 t/ha to 7.72 t/ha).
 At Sukhomajri, four earthen dams have
been built between 1976 and 1985.
These serve three main purposes;
to check instantly the gully formation in
agricultural fields and, thereby,
effectively prevent silting through the
erosion of soil;
to store surplus rainwater from the
catchment area to be used later for
irrigation after the withdrawal of
monsoon and
rehabilitation of the catchment.
LESSONS FROM SUKHOMAJRI
Peoples participation must be ensured right
from the beginning.
The needs and the problems of the people
must be identified at the outset.
Unless a project is aimed at meeting their
needs, solving their problems and mitigating
their hardship, it may not succeed.
Watershed Management Projects should have
short gestation period. The benefits should be
available in shortest possible period.
Constitution of a village society (HRMS) must
be a pre-requisite before taking up such
projects.
The emphasis should be on sustainability and
equity, i.e., all the common property resources
must be available to all sections of the society.
Resettlement and
Rehabilitation
 Intro
Development projects essential
To have development natural
resources are utilized.
Most affected are locals or
native people
Poorest of poor and
underprivileged people
Various types of project lead to
displacement of locals
Displacement due to dams
Need space for such huge project.
Locals, tribals and natives are affected.
Families have to leave the ancestral
place and need to settle elsewhere.
Hirakund dam: 20000 people in 250
villages
Bhakra Nangal : not even half of
displaced resettled.
Sardar Sarovar: 41,000 families will get
displaced due to reservoir.
Tehri dam: 10000 people of Tehri town
 A review by the World Bank
posits that an average of
13,000 people are displaced by
each new large dam
constructed currently (Cernea
1996b).
By this estimate, Indians
displaced by the countrys
3000+ large dams would
number over 39 million.
Displacement due to
mining
Several thousand hectares of land
are covered in Mining operations
Mining accidents also cause
displacement.
Jharia Coal Mines, Jharkhand: 0.3
million people asked to leave the
place
Reason: Underground fires
No alternative provided yet.
Cost of R& R: 18000 crores
Displacement due to
creation of Protected
area
Displacement also takes place where
protected areas are established as
compensatory measures for the forest lands
and natural habitats that are lost.
A welcome step for natural resource
conservation
But tribals loose the right to their natural
homes
Entry is prohibited in core areas.
Valmiki Tiger reserve: 142 villages in Bihar
of Tharu Community
Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary: 53,472 tribal
families in Kerala.
 Rehabilitation- issues and
policies
Right to housing a basic human right
Government acquires land for various
reasons
Already poor tribals most affected.
Loss of land, food, home, jobs, property
assets, social isolation
Cash compensation not enough, Tribals
are unaware so might be a case of
cheating.
Communal settlement does not happen.
 Policy
Department of Land Resources, Ministry of
Rural Development has formulated a National
Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation for
Project Affected Families, 2003 with the
objectives to:
Minimize displacement and to identify non-
displacing or least-displacing alternatives;
Plan the resettlement and rehabilitation of
Project Affected Families, (PAFs) including
special needs of tribals and vulnerable
sections;
Provide better standard of living to PAFs; and
Facilitate harmonious relationship between the
Requiring Body and PAFs through mutual
cooperation.
National Policy on Rehabilitation and
Resettlement 2007
 Cases
Sardar Sarovar Project
Pong Dam
Resettlement and Rehabilitation of the
Urban Poor:
the Mumbai Urban Transport Project
Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra and
the commercial capital of India, has a
population of 12 million people.
The suburban rail system is the lifeline
of the city and it is estimated that 7.4
million passenger trips are made daily
at an average distance of 25 kms. per
trip.
Over 88% of all commuters in the city
travel by suburban trains or buses.
About 4500 passengers travel in a 9-car
rake during peak hours as against a
rated carrying capacity of just 1700.
 There are three suburban rail lines in
Mumbai: Central, Western and Harbour
that link the central business districts of
Bombay Island with the so-called
suburban areas in the North of the city.
The Central line from CST to Thane has
about 8,000 families living alongside the
track; the Western line from Churchgate
to Dahisar has about 3000 slum families
and the Harbour line from CST to
Mankhurd around 13,000.
These families have been living along
the tracks for more than two decades. In
some cases, their huts are hardly a
metre away from the tracks and the
passing trains.
 Many new lines are to be laid and slum
dwellers along the railway tracks to be
resettled.
About 15000 families living along the
tracks will have to be resettled
This case study looks at the resettlement
and rehabilitation (R&R) of more than
10,000 families along the railway tracks.
According to the recommendations of
the Task force, which were accepted
by the GOM, each project affected
family was to get a 225 sq. ft.
tenement free of cost or, where
shifting had to be done urgently,
transit accommodation of 120 sq. ft.
with basic amenities.
 The safety zones (30 feet on either side of
the tracks) of the 3 rail corridors in Mumbai
have been cleared of all slums. More than
10000 families have been resettled, about
40% in permanent and the rest in transit
accommodation, without the use of any
municipal or police force.
Secure tenure and basic amenities of water,
sanitation and electricity are assured.
As a consequence, more trains are running
on the same tracks and at greater speeds.
Traveling time has been reduced and the rail
systems performance improved.
All of this was done in just over a year by
June 2001.
 Climate change
Climate is average weather of an
area
Control temperature, evaporation
rate, seasons, moisture content.
Conditions if prevail for 30
yearsits said to be the climate
of an area
Currently Climate is Changing
GLOBAL WARMING
Overall increase in temperature by a
few degrees.
It happens when greenhouse gases
(carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous
oxide, and methane) trap heat and
light from the sun in the earths
atmosphere, which increases the
temperature.
This hurts many people, animals, and
plants.
Many cannot take the change, so
they die.
 Facts
Unsustainable consumption patterns
of the rich industrialized nations are
responsible for the threat of climate
change.
Only 25% of the global population lives in
these countries, but they emit more than
70% of the total global CO 2 emissions and
consume 75 to 80% of many of the other
resources of the world.
Impacts are already being seen in
unprecedented heat waves, cyclones,
floods, salinisation of the coastline and
effects on agriculture, fisheries and health.
Climate change Evidence
Intergovernmental Panel On Climate
Change.
Published evidence of climate change
Observed that earths climate has
changed over years.
Average temperatures have fluctuated
by 0.5 to 1 0 C.
Anthropogenic activities are affecting
climate
Its not uniform in all places. Poles will
be more warmer
 Why should India be
Concerned about Climate
Change?
India is home to a third of the worlds poor, and climate
change will hit this section of society the hardest.
Set to be the most populous nation in the world by
2045, the economic, social and ecological price of
climate change will be massive.
The three main categories of impacts are those on
agriculture, sea level rise leading to submergence of
coastal areas, as well as increased frequency of
extreme events. Each of these pose serious threats to
India.
Indias main energy resource is coal. With the threat of
climate change, India is called upon to change its
energy strategy based on coal, its most abundant
resource, and to use other energy sources (e.g. oil, gas,
renewable and nuclear energy) which may turn out to
be expensive.
Green House Effect
The greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring
process that aids in heating the Earth's surface
and atmosphere.
It results from the fact that certain atmospheric
gases, such as carbon dioxide, water vapor,
and methane, are able to change the energy
balance of the planet by absorbing longwave
radiation emitted from the Earth's surface.
Without the greenhouse effect life on this planet
would probably not exist as the average
temperature of the Earth would be a chilly -18
Celsius, rather than the present 15 Celsius.
 Anthropogenic activities increa
concentration of green house g
Enhanced green house effect
Carbon dioxide from emissions
Chloroflurocarbons
Methane
Nitrogen oxides
 Effects
Change in Wind current patterns
Ocean currents will change
Hydrological cycle will intensify
Sea level rise: submergence of area
Changed agricultural production
Cases of flood, droughts, cyclones o
rise.
 Global warming is affecting many parts of the
world. Global warming makes the sea rise, and
when the sea rises, the water covers many low
land islands. This is a big problem for many of
the plants, animals, and people on islands.
The water covers the plants and causes some of
them to die. When they die, the animals lose a
source of food, along with their habitat..
When the plants and animals die, people lose
two sources of food, plant food and animal
food. They may also lose their homes. As a
result, they would also have to leave the area or
die. This would be called a break in the food
chain, or a chain reaction, one thing happening
that leads to another and so on.
 The oceans are affected by global
warming in other ways, as well. Many
things that are happening to the ocean
are linked to global warming. One
thing that is happening is warm water,
caused from global warming, is
harming and killing algae in the ocean.
It is killing algae, but it is also
destroying many huge forests.
Global warming is also causing many
more fires that wipe out whole forests.
This happens because global warming
can make the earth very hot. In
forests, some plants and trees leaves
can be so dry that they catch on fire.
 Solution
Renewable energy
Biofuels
Afforestation
Reduce the current rate of CFCs
use
Trap methane for fuel
Potential of algae in Carbon
dioxide utilization
Sustainable agriculture
Acid Rain
 "Acid rain" is a broad term referring to a
mixture of wet and dry deposition (deposited
material) from the atmosphere containing
higher than normal amounts of nitric and
sulfuric acids.
Acid rain occurs when these gases react in
the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and
other chemicals to form various acidic
compounds. The result is a mild solution of
sulfuric acid and nitric acid.
When sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are
released from power plants and other
sources, prevailing winds blow these
compounds across state and national
borders, sometimes over hundreds of miles.
pH less than 5.6
 If The acid chemicals in the air are blown into
areas where the weather is wet, the acids can
fall to the ground in the form of rain, snow,
fog, or mist.
As this acidic water flows over and through
the ground, it affects a variety of plants and
animals.
The strength of the effects depends on
several factors, including how acidic the
water is.
In areas where the weather is dry, the acid
chemicals may become incorporated into
dust or smoke and fall to the ground through
dry deposition, sticking to the ground,
buildings, homes, cars, and trees.
Taj Mahal in Agra
Ozone layer depletion
Natural sunscreen: Ozone
layer
 The production and emission of
CFCs, chlorofluorocarbons, is by
far the leading cause.
CFCs in the stratosphere. There,
the chlorine atom is removed
from the CFC and attracts one of
the three oxygen atoms in the
ozone molecule. The process
continues, and a single chlorine
atom can destroy over 100,000
molecules of ozone.
In 1984, ozone layer hole was
discovered over Antarctica
 MONTREAL PROTOCOL
Phase out the use of CFCs

Increase risk of Skin cancer

Loss of phytoplankton: they
are sensitive to UV.
Fair people at higher risk
 Consumerism and
waste products
Consumption of resources by
people
Earlier human needs were
less, so was consumption
rate
Now changing lifestyles
demand more
Population also an issue
 People over -population
Consumption over- population

Model by Paul Ehlrich and John Hodlern:

Number x per capita x waste
of people use of generated = Overall
resources
environmental
impac
 ENVIRONMENTAL
LEGISLATION
India first country to have made provisions
for environment protection in its constitution
After Stockholm Conference , 1972
Many laws and rules have been made
Article 48- A : The state shall endeavour to
protect and improve the environment and to
safeguard forests and wildlife of the country.
Article 51 A (g): - It shall be the duty of every
citizen of India to protect and improve the
natural environment including forests, lakes,
rivers and wildlife and to have compasion for
living creatures
 ACTS
Wildlife (Protection ) Act, 1972
Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution)
Act, 1974
Forest (Conservation )Act, 1980
Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,
1981
The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
The Biomedical waste (Management and
Handling) Rules, 1998
The Municipal Solid Waste (Management
and Handling) Rules, 2000
The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control)
(Amendment)Rules,2002
The Biological Diversity Act,2002
Environmental Ethics
Ethical behaviour is of utmost
importance
We believe and think: Man is all
powerful and supreme creature of
the earth.
Nature has provided us with
resources and she nourishes us
like our mother, so we should
respect and nurture her
Live sustainably.
 Two views:
Anthropogenic and Eco centric.
Earth ethics or environmental
guidelines help us to protect our
mother earth.
DO NOTs and DOs
Having fewer wants = limits to
growth = good environment
 THANK YOU