Essay Example on ANALYSING ENVIRONMENTAL RISK IN INDIA

ANALYSING ENVIRONMENTAL RISK IN INDIA In today s fast paced world the business sector and people are constantly evolving and developing Sometimes this development happens at the cost of other living beings whether it is people being displaced from their houses in order to clear out space for new plants and factories or whether it is at the risk of polluting the environment and contributing to its degradation In today s time environmental risk has become a crucial topic that needs to be addressed According to the Global Risks Report 2017 which studies the impact of the changing dynamics in the world and assesses a list of catastrophic risks which have a probability of affecting people globally stated that the top five in terms of their likelihood to happen included a geopolitical risk weapons of mass destruction and the rest were all environmental risks extreme weather events failure of climate change crisis due to water depletion and major natural disasters Identifying the problem With a population of over 1 3 billion which is growing at a rate of 2 11 percent every year India will soon overtake China to become the most populous country in the world With an ever growing population there comes a strain on the scarce natural resources which ultimately lead to their depletion 

Furthermore various environmental concerns tend to crop up with an increasing population which if not tackled immediately can be detrimental The various risks faced by India today include Deforestation When the population first started growing land was cleared out in order to cater to the growing needs of food production Currently India has a forest cover of about 24 as against the target of 33 cover set by the Forest Policy Resolutions 1952 Even though deforestation does have a positive impact and results in more land for food production and housing it also has various negatives consequences including loss of biodiversity excessive floods droughts and incessant climate changes amongst other things source livemint source livemint Global Warming Global warming is one of the most widely discussed topic in today's time Countries have traced a bulk of all environmental risks including floods droughts water shortage and ozone depletion back to global warming Greenhouse gas emissions the main reason for global warming have worsened the air pollution conditions across the world along with resulting in glaciers melting which in turn have an impact on the rising sea levels Water Crisis Given the current scenario in India because of no regulation of usage of water there will soon come a time when there will be acute water shortage in the country 

A mixture of industrial effluents sewage disposal and over utilisation of water have led to a lack of water for basic purposes like drinking and irrigation The rivers as well as groundwater have become highly polluted with the onslaught of high population and over usage of both renewable as well as non renewable resources Moreover global warming has led to a fall in annual rainfall received which further contributes to the country's water crisis Existing Actions taken by the Government The Indian Government has undertaken various reforms to mitigate the various environmental risks and walk hand in hand with the other countries to make this world a better place to live in India came out with the National Action Plan on Climate Change NAPCC to deal with the deteriorating environment It is an 8 step measure which focuses on promoting the country's economic growth but not at the cost of the climate s health but instead intends to promote a healthy environment 

The missions include National Solar Mission The aim is to promote the use of solar energy as a source of power generation instead of coal in order to reduce the usage of coal and in turn reduce air pollution National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency This mission mandates specific reduction in energy consumption in specific industries along with energy incentives like tax incentives and allowing companies to trade energy saving certificates National Water Mission The main objective is to tackle the water crisis in the country and improve water utilisation by about 20 National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change The plan intends to establish a new Climate Science Research Fund in order to understand the impacts and challenges related to climate and promote international collaboration National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture The NAPCC aims is to develop climate resilient crops Green India Mission 

The objective is to promote afforestation and increase India's forest cover from the current 23 to 33 National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem With global warming resulting in the glaciers of the world melting NAPCC aims to protect the Himalayan glaciers from melting National Mission on Sustainable Habitat The NAPCC aims to promoting more sustainable habitat for living by laying a special emphasis on recycling and reusing along with waste management The government has also come up with other initiatives like The Forest Conservation Act 1980 to ensure that forest land is not used for industrial activities or other purposes To tackle water conservation woes it has come up with various policies including The National Water Policy for optimum utilisation of water resources Bharat Nirman which was adopted in 2005 with the aim of providing safe drinking water in rural areas National Mission for Clean Ganga was established with an aim to clean the river and its tributaries National Water Mission 2011 to minimise water wastage and promote its conservation Hamara Jal Hamara Jeevan in 2015 with the objective of promoting awareness about water conservation amongst the masses