With COVID-19 in the scenario, the pollution levels of the world have gone down, but nonetheless, India still lies 5th in the world in terms of being the most polluted country in the world.
What Contributes To The Pollution
At the very basic level, the explosive population causes above-average pollution of air, water, land and even noise.
The Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests has identified 64 industries that are considered to be under the “Red Category” which include tanneries, firecrackers, smelting plants of various metals and even animal slaughterhouses and oil refineries.
India is being exposed to polluted air on a daily basis and surviving it. We breathe in air with pollutants worth 25 micrograms/cubic metre of the air averaging a 24-hour cycle. Maybe the generation that was responsible for the current scenario did not even realize how much trouble we are in.
All of the above factors eventually boil down to one very important aspect, which is the population.
Since there are more people utilizing water, there is a scarcity of clean water, more people are bursting crackers every year on any occasion, making the air we breathe more polluted, more plants and animals are killed to feed more of the human population.
The curve is entirely dependent on the mere number of our existences.
Also Read: Placenta With Plastics: Microplastic Pollution Reaches The Unborn Babies
The Pollution We Cannot Measure
Apart from all the toxicity that we know about, let me introduce you to the one you may have not heard about – “Mental Pollution”. It is defined as the “contamination of the mind due to social, cultural, linguistic, psychological” factors.
It can range from “violent or sexually suggestive images to comedic commercial advertisements”. The industries responsible for this would be entertainment and advertisement.
India, being a land of multiple cultures, many reports of assault, rape, molestations and taboos surrounding sex, we succumb to a cultural shock or a toxic environment more often than we would like to admit.
The fact that the LGBTQIA+ community is still seen as taboo, or the fact that sex cannot be discussed openly, with no proper education, eventually leads up to people feeling hated and bullied and has a severe impact on their mental health.
This is why inclusivity of all people would make the world a slightly better place. We already have a lot of physical damage to the environment, the mental ones can be and should be avoided.
India Has Environment Protection Laws
Well, India has had laws protecting the environment since 1986. A few of the laws are “The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986” which was amended in 1991 and “The Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986”. These laws form a framework for the protection of the environment.
Besides these laws, the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCB) have been ordered by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to take into account the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) which allocates weightage to various pollutants, ambient pollutant concentrations, receptors and additional high-risk elements.
As of today, the Supreme Court, High Courts and NGT work together to closely monitor the implementation and enforcement of environmental laws. A National Action Plan on Climate Change enforces the plans for a cleaner and safer environment for all while reducing pollution and making India sustainable.
Image Sources: Google
Sources: Central Pollution Control Board, NCBI, Thomson Reuters
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This post was tagged under: pollution, industrial pollution, national action plans, air pollution, water pollution, land pollution, what India does to counter pollution, mental pollution, lgbtq, taboos in India regarding sex, physiological factors leading to mental pollution, advertising and its polluting effects, environmental laws in India, pollution control and green tribunal working together, India under red category
