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Volume 1, Issue 2, August 2014 International Journal of Academic Research

Published by Sucharitha Publications Visakhapatnam – 530 017 Andhra Pradesh – India website : www.ijar.org.in

EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief

Dr. T. V. RAMANA Andhra University Campus, Kakinada -533 005

Andhra Pradesh, India ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Dr. K. Victor Babu T.S.E. Rani

ADVISORY COUNCIL

1. Prof. M. Sundara Rao, Chairman, Board of Studies, Dept of Economics, Andhra University, VisakhaPatnam

2. Dr. P. Subba Rao, Director (i/c), Centre for Study of Social Inclusion and Exclusive Policy, Andhra University, VisakhaPatnam

3. Prof. J.V.K.V. Pandit, Dept. of .Political Science &Public Adnm, Andhra University Campus, Kakinada

4. Prof. D.Satyanarayana, BVC Institute of Technology & Science, Amalapuram, AP

5. Dr. A. Srinivas, Rajiv Ganghi Institute of Law College & Dept. of Humanities, University College of Engineering, JNTUK

6. Dr.S.Viswanatha Reddy , Department of Psychology, SVU College of Sciences, Tirupati

7. Dr. C. Jaya Subba Reddy, Department of Mathematics, SVU College of Sciences, Tirupati

8. Dr. E.Ashok Kumar, Department of Education North- Eastern Hill University, Shillong

9. Dr.Merina Islam, Department of Philosophy Cachar College, Assam

10. Dr. R. Dhanuja, PSG College of Arts & Science Coimbatore

11. Dr. Bipasha Sinha, S. S. Jalan Girls’ College University of Calcutta-Calcutta

12. Dr. K. John Babu, Department of Journalism & Mass Comm. Central University of Kashmir, Kashmir

13. Prof. S.Mahendra Dev, Vice- Chancellor , Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research Mumbai

14. Prof. (Dr.) Sohan Raj Tater , Former Vice Chancellor, Singhania University, Rajasthan

15. Dr. R. Dhanuja, PSG College of Arts & Science Coimbatore

16. Dr. Bipasha Sinha, S. S. Jalan Girls’ College University of Calcutta-Calcutta

17. Dr.Merina Islam, Department of Philosophy Cachar College, Assam

18. Dr.S.Ramanjaneyulu, Dept of Economics, VSM College Ramachandrapuram AP

19. Mr. K.V.Ramana Murty, Dept of Management Studies, Andhra University Campus, Kakinada

20. Mr. M.Satyanarayana, Dept of political Science & public Administration, Andhra University Campus, Kakinada, AP

21. Dr.V.V.S.Rama Krishna, Dept. of Economics, Andhra University Campus, Kakinada,AP

22. Dr.M.Mani Sekhar, MHRM, Andhra University Campus, Kakinada,AP

23. Dr. T.Ashok, Dept of English, Andhra University Campus, Kakinada, AP

24. Dr. D.Thirupathaiah,S.K.R.B.R College,Narasaraopet, Guntur - district, A.P

25. Dr V.V.Ratnaji Rao Chowdary, Management Studies, VSM College Ramachandrapuram, AP

26. Prof. Roger Wiemers, Professor of Education Lipscomb University, Nashville, USA

27. Dr.K.Chaitanya,Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Chemistry Nanjing University of Science and Technology People’s Republic of China

28. Prof. Josef HOCI-ITL, Department of Political Economy University of Vienna, Vienna & Ex. Member of the Austrian Parliament, Austria

29. Prof. Alexander Chumakov, Chair of Philosophy Department Russian Philosophical Society

30. Prof. Fidel Gutierrez Vivanco, Founder and President Escuela Virtual de Asesoria FilosOfica

31. Prof. Igor Kondrshin, Member of the Russian Philosophical Society, the Russian Humanist Society and Expert of the UNESCO, Moscow, Russia

32. Dr. Zoran Vu , ISI Rector ,St. Gregory Nazianzen Orthodox Institute Universidad Rural de Guatemala, GT,U.S.A

33. Swami Maheshwarananda, Founder and President, "Shree Vishwa Deep Gurukul Swami Maheshwarananda Ashram Education & Research Center", Rajasthan, India

34. Dr. Momin Mohamed Naser, Department of Geography Institute of Arab Research and Studies Cairo University, Egypt

35. Mr. I. Ketutdonder, Depasar State Institute of Hindu Dharma, Indonesia

Editor-in-Chief, IJAR – August, 2014 Typeset and Printed (Sucharitha publications) in India:

IJAR, Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic Research, concentrates on critical and creative research in multi disciplinary traditions. This journal seeks to promote

original research and cultivate a fruitful dialogue between old and new thought. Views expressed in the articles is exclusively of the authors, thus, journal is not responsible

of it in any case

Visit: www.ijar.org.in

C O N T E N T S

Volume 1 Issue 2 August 2014

S. No Page

No 1. Food security: Antagonistic Effects of Climate Change

Dr. P.V. Ramesh Babu, Dr. G. Vijay Kumar,A. Chandrakala,

D.G.M. Saroja

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2. Interdependency of Climate and Indian Agriculture in relation to National Food Security

Dr. G. Vijay Kumar,Dr. P. V. Ramesh Babu, A. Chandrakala

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3. Radio Pollution CH Rajani Chandra, Lavanya, Y. Ratna Kumar

23

4. Effects of EM Radiation on Human Health: P.Raju, T.S.H.Balaji Rao, Y. Ratna Kumar

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5. Climate Change: Effects on Sustainable Livelihoods -Environmental Education and Awareness:

Dr.T.Sharon Raju, Kate. Dandesh Kumar

42

6. A Dispense on Global Climate Change Perspective: Is it too late to Prevent the Warmness

Nikhil Bansal, Pankaj Sevta, Abhinav Anand

54

7. Critical Appraisal of National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 Muhammad Riyazul Ameen, Abhinav Dahariya

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8. Menace of Electronic Waste: An inquiry into a need for effective and efficient Legal framework

Ashish Patel, Manasi Khare

85

9. Climate Change effects on Sustainable livelihoods- Role of Civil society, Media and Advocacy Groups

Ganta Suman

110

10. Effects of Nuclear Radiation: A Silent Killer Ayushi Agrawal

122

11. Development, Displacement and Resettlement Anjaly Jolly

138

12. Human Health Perspective on Climate Variations Akash Tiwari, Nandini Kumar

150

13. Environment Education of Teacher Educators and Teachers Through Technology

Dr.R.S.S.Nehru

170

14. Management of Hazardous Waste: Policies and Legal Framework - A Critical Analysis

Sumit Kapoor

184

Editorial ……..

IJAR- A Common Platform of Voice of Intellectuals as Change Agents for better Society. IJAR for Change and Development is a quarterly journal publishing in multi Language from Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. The well acknowledged editorial and advisory committee speaks of strong backbone and its conscious action to deliver the best to the society, state, nation and the world by its unique features covering the areas of Social Science, Humanities and Technology. To add to this thought and idea, with the contributors from various university Professors and institutions of national and international importance, IJAR establish its credibility with the continuous effort to deliver the qualitative aspect of International repute.

IJAR enriches the world by adding the committed researchers and wish to utmost cooperation from the readers and intellectuals of institutions, universities, colleges etc. in enrich the journal. IJAR believes that this special issue - CLIMATE CHANGE: EFFECTS ON SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS, edited by Dr. P.Subba Rao, Director (i/c), Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, enriches the aim of the journal.

At the movement, it is great privilege to convey my sincere gratitude and gratefulness to Prof. Dr. G.S.N.Raju garu, Vice Chancellor, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam for his encouragement and delivered valuable message to the journal.

I would especially like to thank Dr.K.Victor Babu, Guest Faculty, Department of Philosophy, Andhra University Visakhapatnam; Chief Editor of IJMER and Associate Editor of IJAR for his mentoring in all stages of the journal. Last but not least, I convey my thanks to one and all that who are encouraged me in this regard

Editor-in-Chief

CLIMATE CHANGE: EFFECTS ON SUSTAINEBLE LIVELIHOODS

Edited by Dr.P.Subba Rao

Director (i/c) Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy

Andhra University Visakhapatnam

International Journal of Academic Research ISSN: 2348-7666 Vol.1 Issue.2, August, 2014

www.ijar.org.in

Food security: Antagonistic Effects of Climate Change

Dr. P.V. Ramesh Babu, Research Associate, Central Research Institute for Dry land Agriculture, Santhosh Nagar, Hyderabad

Dr. G. Vijay Kumar, District Consultant APSWIP, Prakasam Dt. A. Chandrakala, Subject Matter Specialist, ATMA, Prakasam Dt

D.G.M. Saroja , Technical Officer CRIDA, Hyderabad.

ABSTRACT

Climate is a primary determinant of agricultural productivity. Temperature, precipitation, atmospheric carbon dioxide content, the incidence

of extreme events and sea level rise are the main climate change related drivers which impact agricultural production. Indian agriculture is fundamentally dependent on climate for higher productivity. The problems of Indian Agriculture are urbanization of farmland, water rights and usage, environmental concerns and the procurement of government subsidies. The

environmental impacts of ecological diseases causes land erosion, loss of soil fertility, depletion of nutrient reserves, salinization and alkalinization, pollution of soil and water systems, loss of crop, pest resurgence and genetic resistance to pesticides, chemical contamination and destruction of natural control mechanisms. It is clear that there is no choice but to produce more with

less. Environmental sustainability in agriculture is no longer an option but an imperative. There are three crucial environmental challenges in the agriculture sector; conservation of biodiversity, mitigation of climate change and the global shift towards bio-energy.

1. Introduction

Food insecurity and climate change are already inhibiting human well-being and economic growth throughout the world and these problems are poised to accelerate.29 Countries vary in

their vulnerability to climate change, the amount and type of GHGs they emit and their opportunities to reduce GHG emissions and improve agricultural productivity. According to scientific survey, in order to meet

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global demands we will need 60-70 per cent more food by 2050. The Director of Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) reported that every one degree rise in temperature is reducing agricultural yield by 10%, and rice and wheat are some of the

important victim crops of climate change. Rice production in India could decrease by almost a tonne per hectare if the temperature goes up 20C, while each 10C rise in mean temperature could cause wheat yield losses of 7 million tonnes per year (Beddington et al, 2012).

Before the introduction of Green Revolution, the country faced massive food shortages and depended heavily on food imports and aid. The current food scenario

is completely the changed. Now we are producing huge food grain surpluses that tend to accumulate as public buffer stocks to the extent that the government is subsidizing exports of grain. Recent data shows that except for edible oils and pulses, import dependence is extremely low for most agricultural commodities. Net availability of cereals has been on an increasing

trend and that of pulses is on a decreasing trend over the years. In the recent years since 1996 there appears to be a declining trend in the per capita net availability of cereals (Howes and Murgai, 2003). In the case of pulses the trend has been a secular decline in per capita

net availability. Increases in food production were mainly achieved by the use of high yielding varieties (HYVs) of rice and wheat, accompanied by expansion of irrigated areas. More than the expansion of cultivated area, rise in productivity was responsible for this phenomenal increase in production. Government policy which included subsidies on fertilizers, irrigation and power along with price support for the produce played an important role in achieving self-sufficiency in food

grains.

2. Food Security as a Social Right

India is now one of the

world's leading producers of rice and wheat and emerged as a regular exporter of rice in recent times. However it continues to

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depend on imports for its requirements of pulses and edible oils. It is the biggest producer of milk in the world and ranks among the top producers of fruits and vegetables. Its production of exportable horticultural products has risen sharply in recent years.

India is a net exporter of agricultural products. Its exports include rice, oil meals, cotton, coffee, fruits, vegetables and marine products. Imports include edible oils, pulses, dried fruits, and nuts. Currently we are in a paradoxical situation where huge food surpluses at the aggregate national level coexist with large undernourished and poor population. Aggregate cereal consumption trends as given by the past rounds of national sample surveys indicate that total

consumption of cereals is on a declining trend. Most of this is due to the decline in the consumption of coarse cereals as the consumption of rice and wheat remained stagnant or even decreasing. The prices of cereals have been growing at faster rate compared to other commodities. The increase in prices

is evident even for the food grains supplied through PDS . The rising trend in procurement prices of wheat and rice led to increases in food prices from the whole sale to retail level. What do these aggregate trends mean in terms of nutrient intakes? A comparison of

results from the latest two consumption surveys indicates that per capita nutrient intakes of households have not improved much between 1993-94 and 1999-2000 (Umali-Deininger and Deininger, 2001). Intake levels of both calories and proteins remained below the corresponding levels of recommended dietary allowance (RDA). Fat intake increased in both rural and urban areas between the two time points. Although the urban intake is above the RDA the rural intake remained below RDA.

In terms of stability of nutrient availability we see that the supply of calories from cereals has become more stable in the recent decades Agriculture could also have a negative influence on food security outcomes as agricultural incomes are relatively more uncertain. The net impact of agriculture could be

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positive or negative and can be resolved only empirically.

3. Synergistic effects of Climate Change on Agriculture

The increased global temperature coupled with CO2 content may likely to increase the crop production to a certain limit. Food security lies not only huge production of food grains but also its judicious distribution to cope with upliftment of socio-economic

conditions of impoverished people. To adapt to climate change and ensure food security, major interventions are required to transform current patterns and practice for food production, distribution and consumption. The scientific community has an essential role to play in informing concurrent, strategic investments to establish climate resilient agricultural production systems, minimize greenhouse gas emissions, make efficient use of resources, develop low-waste supply

chains, ensure adequate, encourage healthy eating choices and develop a global knowledge system for sustainability. Hence, the World

Bank presents cross-country econometric evidence to show that investment in agriculture, in which smallholder farmers participate as managers and labourers, has double the impact on poverty reduction as investment in any other sector. Future impacts of

climate change on the incomes and food security of poor households will very much depend on whether resultant losses in agricultural yields are local or widespread. Moreover, climate is not the only determinant of food security: rapid environmental, economic and political changes may be connected globally but have disparate impacts in different locales. Agriculture is also a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions both directly and as a proximate driver of land use change (Subramanian

and Deaton, 1996). The challenge is to mitigate these emissions without compromising food and livelihood security.

4. Antagonistic effects of Climate Change on Agriculture

Average temperature effects are important, but there are other

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temperature effects too. Increased night-time temperatures reduce rice yields, for example, by up to 10 percent for each 1°C increase in minimum temperature in the dry season. Increases in maximum temperatures can lead to severe yield reductions and reproductive

failure in many crops. In maize, for example, each degree day spent above 30 °C can reduce yield by 1.7 percent under drought conditions. Higher temperatures are also associated with higher ozone concentrations. Ozone is harmful to all plants but soybeans, wheat, oats, green beans, peppers, and some types of cotton are particularly susceptible. Changes in temperature and rainfall regime may have considerable impacts on agricultural productivity and on the ecosystem provisioning services

provided by forests and agro forestry systems on which many people depend. There is little information currently available on the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and subsequent effects on productivity in either forestry or agro forestry systems. Globally, the negative effects of climate

change on freshwater systems are expected to outweigh the benefits of overall increases in global precipitation due to a warming planet. The atmospheric concentration of CO2 has risen from a pre-industrial 280 ppm to approximately 392 ppm in 2010,

and was rising by about 2 ppm per year during the last decade. Many studies show that there is a CO2- related yield increase (“CO2 fertilization”) for C3 crops but that this effect is limited, if not insignificant, on C4 plants such as maize and sorghum. There remains considerable uncertainty about the impact of increased CO2 concentrations on plant growth under typical field conditions. While increased CO2 can have a beneficial effect on yields, it might also affect negatively nutrient

composition for the crop (see discussion below) and also depends on whether plant growth is limited by other factors such as water or nutrients. In some crops such as bean, genetic differences in plant response to CO2 have been found, and these could be exploited through breeding. Increased CO2

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concentrations lead directly to ocean acidification, which (together with sea-level rise and warming temperatures) is already having considerable detrimental impacts on coral reefs and the communities that depend on them for their food security.

Vegetables are generally sensitive to environmental extremes and high temperatures and limited soil moisture are the major causes of low yields in the tropics. These will be further magnified by climate change. Little is known in general about the impacts of climate change on the pests and diseases of crops, livestock and fish, but they could be substantial. Within some limits, insects reproduce more rapidly with higher temperatures, and are more likely to over winter in temperate locations. Many weeds

perform well under increased CO2 concentrations. For example, yams and cassava are crops that are known to be both well adapted to drought and heat stress (Mruthyunjaya et al., 2002), but it is thought that their pest and disease susceptibility in a changing climate could severely affect their

productivity and range in the future. Potato is another crop for which the pest and disease complex is very important and how these may be affected by climate change (including the problems associated with increased rainfall intensity) is not well understood.

Climate change will result in multiple stresses for animals and plants in many agricultural and aquatic systems in the coming decades. There is a great deal that is yet unknown about how stresses may combine. For example, in rice there is some evidence that a combination of heat stress and salinity stress leads to additional physiological effects over and above the effects that each stress has in isolation. Most studies of the biological effects of climate change on crop production have focused on

yield. A second impact, much less studied, is how the quality of food and forages are affected by climate change; i.e., the composition of nutrients in the individual food items and the potential for a changing mix of foods as crops and animals respond in different ways to a changing climate. Grains have

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received the most attention – with both higher CO2 levels and temperature affecting grain quality (Srinivasan and Jha 2001).

5. Consequences of Climate Change and Agriculture on Food Security

The food system faces additional pressure as the global population grows to around 9 billion by 2050. This dramatic increase in global population will be accompanied by major shifts in the regional distribution of our planet’s

inhabitants. From 2010 to 2050, the population in Asia is estimated to grow from 1 billion to 2.2 billion. From 1950 to 2050, the population ratio for developing countries to developed countries is projected to shift from 2:1 to 6:1. as the world population has grown, the land available per capita has shrunk from 13.5 ha/person in 1950 to 3.2 ha/person in 2005, and is projected to diminish to 1.5 ha/person in 2050. Food systems contribute 19%–29% of global anthropogenic

greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, releasing 9,800–16,900 mega tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent

(MtCO2e) in 2008 (Ahluwalia 1993). Agricultural production, including indirect emissions associated with land-cover change, contributes 80%–86% of total food system emissions, with significant regional variation. The impacts of global climate change on food systems are

expected to be widespread, complex, geographically and temporally variable, and profoundly influenced by socioeconomic conditions. Historical statistical studies and integrated assessment models provide evidence that climate change will affect agricultural yields and earnings, food prices, reliability of delivery, food quality, and, notably, food safety. Low-income producers and consumers of food will be more vulnerable to climate change owing to their comparatively limited

ability to invest in adaptive institutions and technologies under increasing climatic risks (Dev, 1995). Some synergies among food security, adaptation, and mitigation are feasible. But promising interventions, such as agricultural intensification or reductions in waste, will require careful

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management to distribute costs and benefits effectively. Low-income producers and consumers of food will be more vulnerable to climate change owing to their comparatively limited ability to invest in adaptive institutions and technologies under increasing

climatic risks. Some synergies among food security, adaptation, and mitigation are feasible. But promising interventions, such as agricultural intensification or reductions in waste, will require careful management to distribute costs and benefits effectively.

6. Specific recommendations

Apart from the obvious focus needed on soil health, water conservation and management, and pest management, agriculture and food production will need to become sustainable and ecologically sound to adapt to climate change turbulence. A special package for

adaptation should be developed for rainfed areas based on minimising risk. The production model should be diversified to include crops, livestock, fisheries, poultry and agro forestry; homestead gardens supported by nurseries should be

promoted to make up deficits in food and nutrition from climate-related yield losses; farm ponds, fertilizer trees and biogas plants must be promoted in all semi-arid rainfed areas which constitute 60% of our cultivated area. (Gaiha, R., 2000). A knowledge-intensive

rather than input-intensive approach should be adopted to develop adaptation strategies. Traditional knowledge about the community’s coping strategies should be documented and used in training programmes to help find solutions to address the uncertainties of climate change, build resilience, adapt agriculture, and reduce emissions.

Conserving the genetic diversity of crops and animal breeds, and its associated knowledge, in partnership with local

communities, must receive the highest priority. Breed improvement of indigenous cattle must be undertaken to improve their performance since they are much better adapted to adverse weather than high-performance hybrids. Balancing feed mixtures, which research shows has the

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potential to increase milk yields and reduce methane emissions, must be promoted widely. An early warning system should be put in place to monitor changes in pest and disease profiles and predict new pest and disease outbreaks. The overall pest control strategy

should be based on integrated pest management because it takes care of multiple pests in a given climatic scenario. A national grid of grain storages, ranging from pusa bins and grain goals at the household/community level to ultra-modern silos at the district level, must be established to ensure local food security and stabilise prices. Agricultural credit and insurance systems must be made more comprehensive and responsive to the needs of small farmers. For instance, pigs are not

covered by livestock insurance despite their potential for income enhancement of poor households. The following adaptation and mitigation support structures should be established at each of the 128 agro ecological zones in the country (Haddad, 2000). A centre for climate risk research,

management and extension should prepare computer simulation models of different weather probabilities and develop and promote farming system approaches which can help minimise the adverse impacts of unfavourable weather, and

maximise the benefits of a good monsoon. A farmer field school to house dynamic research and training programmes on building soil health, integrated pest management, water conservation and its equitable and efficient use. The school should engage in participatory plant and animal breeding; there should be a focused research programme to identify valuable genetic traits like drought-, heat- and salinity-tolerance and disease resistance available in the agro biodiversity of the region.

Village resource centres with satellite connectivity from where value-added weather data from the government’s Agromet service should be made available to farmers through mobile telephony, giving them information on rainfall and weather in real-time. A network of community-level seed

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banks with the capacity to implement contingency plans and alternative cropping strategies depending on the behaviour of the monsoon. Decentralised seed production programmes involving local communities, to address the crisis of seed availability. Seeds of

the main crops and contingency crops (for a delayed/failed monsoon, or floods) as well as seeds of fodder and green manure plants specific to the agro ecological unit must be produced and stocked. Technical and financial investments must be made in climate adaptation and mitigation research. Some priority areas identified by the conference are:

Evaluation of traditional

varieties and animal breeds for valuable traits like tolerance to higher temperatures, drought and salinity, feed conversion efficiency and disease resistance, for use in breeding new varieties and breeds.

Developing balanced ration and

feed-and-fodder regimes that will increase milk yields of

indigenous cattle and reduce methane emissions.

Participatory and formal plant

breeding to develop climate-resilient crop varieties that can tolerate higher temperatures, drought and salinity.

Developing short-duration crop

varieties (especially wheat) that can mature before the peak heat phase sets in.

Selecting genotypes in crops

that have a higher per day yield potential to counter yield loss from heat-induced reduction in growing periods.

Developing (the more heat-

tolerant) durum wheat varieties for rabi cultivation in north India, to supplement diminishing wheat yields from existing wheat cultivars, and for durum wheat’s chapatti making qualities.

To adapt to climate change and ensure food security, major interventions are required to transform current patterns and practices of food production,

distribution and consumption. The

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scientific community has an essential role to play in informing concurrent, strategic investments to establish climate-resilient agricultural production systems, minimize greenhouse gas emissions, make efficient use of resources, develop low-waste supply

chains, ensure adequate nutrition, encourage healthy eating choices and develop a global knowledge system for sustainability.

References:

1. Ahluwalia, D. 1993. Public distribution of food in India: Coverage, targeting and leakages, Food Policy, February, 18(2), 33-54.

2. Beddington J R, Asaduzzaman M, Clark M E, Megan E C, Bremauntz A F, Guillou M D, Jahn M M, Lin E, Mano T, Negra C, Nobre C, Scholes R

J, Sharma R, Van Bo N and Wakhungu J. 2012. The role for scientists in tackling food insecurity and climate change’ Agriculture and Food Security 1: 10-18.

3. Dev, S. M. 1995, India’s (Maharashtra) Employment

Guarantee Scheme: Lessons from Long Experience, Joachim von-Braun, ed. Employment for poverty reduction and food security,

International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C. pages 108-43.

4. Gaiha, R. 2000, On the targeting of the Employment Guarantee Scheme in the Indian state of Maharashtra, Economics of Planning 33(3): 203 – 19

5. Haddad, L. 2000. A Conceptual Framework for

Assessing Agriculture-Nutrition Linkages, Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 21(4): 367-373.

6. Howes, S., and R. Murgai.2003. Incidence of Agricultural Power Subsidies, Economic and Political Weekly, April 19, pp. 1533-1535

7. Mruthyunjaya, P.K. Joshi and Suresh Pal. 2002. Agricultural Biotechnology in India: addressingIssues of Food

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Security and Safety, ICRIER-ICAR-IFPRI Conference on “Economic Reforms and Food Security – The Role of Trade and Technology” New Delhi, April 24-25.

8. Srinivasan, P.V., and S. Jha. 2001. Liberalized Trade and

Domestic Price Stability: The case of Rice and Wheat in India, Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 65, 417-441.

9. Subramanian, S., and A. Deaton.1996. The Demand for Food and Calories, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 104, No. 1, pp. 133-162.

10. Umali-Deininger, D.L., and

K.W. Deininger. 2001. Towards Greater Food Security for India’s Poor: Balancing Government Intervention and Private

Competition, Agricultural Economics, Vol. 25, 321-335.

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Interdependency of Climate and Indian Agriculture in relation to National Food Security

Dr. G. Vijay Kumar, District consultant, APSWIP, Prakasam Dt Dr. P. V. Ramesh Babu, Research Associate, CRIDA, Hyderabad.

A. Chandrakala, Andhra Pradesh Water Sector Improvement Project, Prakasam Dt. [email protected]

ABSTRACT

An attempt is made in this chapter to analyse the Indian agriculture and climate interdependency. The analysis is based on the national food security report and various studies in this regard. This paper highlights the importance of climate change and exploitation of natural resources and

importance of agriculture as an important contributor to global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). Scientific evidences show that temperature changes and increased extreme events such as flooding and drought, are likely to have profound negative consequences for the natural systems and their functioning and provisioning of ecosystem services, for the human society and national

economy. Thus, the paper stressed that mitigation and adaptation to climate change is essentially needed and suggested that a holistic approach should be made to achieve food security keeping all inter-dependable factors on climate as well as sustainable agriculture.

Key words: Climate, Food Security, soil erosion, livestock, energy

INTRODUCTION

Climate and Agriculture are interdependent factors playing a pivotal role in achieving food security not only to mankind but also all other living beings. As change is inevitable, Climate

Change is expected to influence crop and livestock production, hydrologic balances, input supplies and other components of agricultural systems. The nature of biophysical effects and the human responses to them are complex and

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uncertain. Climate change may also change the types, frequencies, and intensities of various crop and livestock pests; the availability and timing of irrigation water supplies; and the severity of soil erosion. Being managed eco-systems, agricultural systems are critical to

understanding and estimating the effects of climate change on production and food supply. These are also dynamic producers and consumers are continuously responding to changes in crop and livestock yields, food prices, input prices, resource availability, and technological change. Accounting for these adaptations and adjustments is difficult but necessary in order to measure accurately climate change impacts. Failure to account for human adaptations, either in the form of

short-term changes in consumption and production practices or long-term technological changes, will overestimate the potential damage from climate change and underestimate its potential benefits. Interest in this issue has motivated a substantial body of

research on climate change and agriculture over the past decade.

India is one of the most important countries in the world with regard to climate change sources and impacts. Continuing dependence upon agriculture for food and livelihood 25% of GDP and

60% of labour force (2002 and 1999 estimates) makes the Indians particularly vulnerable to climate variability and change. The rising temperatures and carbon dioxide and uncertainties in rainfall associated with global warming may or may not have serious direct and indirect consequences on crop production. Studying the potential socioeconomic impacts of climate change involves comparing two future scenarios, one with and one without climate change. Uncertainties involved in such an

assessment include: (1) the timing, magnitude and nature of climate change; (2) the ability of ecosystems to adopt either naturally or through managed intervention to the change; (3) future increase in population and economic activities and their impacts on natural resources

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systems; and (4) how society adapts through the normal responses of individual, businesses and policy changes that after the opportunities and incentives to respond. The uncertainties, the long periods involved and the potential for catastrophic and

irreversible impacts on natural resources systems raise questions as to how to evaluate climate impacts, investments, and other policies that would affect or be affected by changes in the climate. In India, substantial work has been done in last decade aimed at understanding the nature and magnitude of change in yield of different crops due to possible climate change.

Objectives:

The objective of the present review is to examine the present status of the knowledge of climate change impact on Indian

agricultural production, and to discuss the uncertainties and limitation of these studies in Indian conditions and identifying future research needs.

Climate Change Scenarios

The anthropogenic increases in emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere result in a change in the radioactive forcing and a rise in the Earth’s temperature. The bottom-line conclusion of the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC,

2001) is that the average global surface temperature will increase by between 1.4 and 3 0C above 1990 levels by 2100 for low emission scenarios and between 2.5 and 5.8 0C for higher emission scenarios of greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere. Lal et. al. (1995) presents a climate change scenario for the Indian subcontinent, taking projected emissions of greenhouse gases and sulphate aerosols into account. It predicts an increase in

annual mean maximum and minimum surface air temperatures of 0.7 0C and 1.0 0C over land in the 2040s with respect to the 1980s. Since the warming over land is projected to be lower in magnitude than that over the adjoining ocean, the land-sea thermal contrast that drives the monsoon mechanism

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could possibly decline. However, there continues to be considerable uncertainty about the impacts of aerosols on the monsoon. Recently, Lal et al., 2001 estimated that CO2 level will increase to 397–416 ppm

by 2010s from the present CO2 level of 371 ppm and this would further increase by 605–755 by 2070s. They projected between 1 to 1.4 0C & 2.23 to 2.87 0C area-averaged annual mean warming by 2020 and 2050 respectively. Comparatively, increase in temperature is projected to be more in rabi than in kharif crop growing season. A large uncertainty is associated with projected rabi rainfall than kharif

rainfall in 2050s. Moreover, the standard deviation of future projections of area-averaged monsoon rainfall centred on 2050s is not significantly different relative to the present-day atmosphere implying thereby that the year-to-year variability in mean rainfall during the monsoon season may not significantly change in the future. More intense rainfall spells are, however, projected over the land regions of the Indian

subcontinent in the future thus

increasing the probability of extreme rainfall events in a warmer atmosphere.

Crop Production and Climate Change

Changes in climate are expected to affect the crop production and aggregate demand for factors of production such as water, labor, energy, equipment, and materials. Climate change is analogous to technological change

in agriculture which can increase or decrease the total productivity of factors collectively and can increase or decrease the productivity of one factor relative to another.

A few research studies in India showed that there was a decline of 600–650 grains m−2 in wheat crop with every 1 0C increase in mean temperatures above 17–17.7 0C during the terminal spikelet initiation to anthesis. Integrated impact of a rise in temperature and CO2 concentration on yield of crops may be negative (Sinha and

Swaminathan,1991). They estimated that a 2 0C increase in mean air temperature could decrease rice yield by about 0.75

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ton/hectare in the high yield areas and by about 0.06 ton/hectare in the low yield coastal regions. Further, a 0.5 0C increase in winter temperature would reduce wheat crop duration by seven days and reduce yield by 0.45 ton/hectare. An increase in winter temperature of

0.5◦Cwould thereby translate into a 10% reduction in wheat production in the high yield states of Northern India. Achanta (1993) simulated irrigated yields for Pantnagar district under doubled CO2 and increased temperature and concluded that the impact on rice production would be positive in the absence of nutrient and water limitations.

In a detailed study, Aggarwal and Kalra (1994) developed and evaluated the WTGROWS crop simulation model

to estimate the effect of climate change on productivity of wheat in India was simulated for normally sown crops at three levels of production (potential, irrigated and rainfed). The CO2 level of 425 ppm and temperature rise options of 0, 1 and 2◦C were assumed. At 425 ppm CO2 concentration and no rise in

temperature, grain yield at all levels of production increased significantly at all places. One degree Celsius rise in mean temperature had no significant effect on potential yields. Irrigated yields however showed a small increase in most places where

current yields were greater than 3.5 t/ha. In central and peninsular India, where current irrigated yields were between 2 to 4 t/ha, the response varied from a significant decrease to a significant increase. Rainfed yields, however, showed a significant increase. An increase of 2◦C in temperature reduced potential yields at most places. The magnitude was, however, less at places with low potential productivity. In fact, for a few locations there was a small increase or no significant effect. In sub-

tropical (above 23◦N) environments there was a small decrease in potential yields (1.5 to 5.8%) but in tropical locations the decrease was 17–18%. In the same study, mean simulated yield of wheat for current and changed climate scenario (2◦Crise and CO2 level of 425 CO2 ppm) in different

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latitudinal ranges was evaluated. Irrigated yields slightly increased for latitudes greater than 27◦N but were reduced at all other places. The decrease in yield was much higher in lower latitude. These results were closely related to the effects of changed climate on crop

duration. Depending upon the magnitude of temperature increase, crop duration, particularly the period up to anthesis was reduced.

The positive effects of increased CO2, if any, were masked by the adverse effects of predicted increase in temperature resulting in shortened crop growing seasons. The study also has shown that the effects of climate change on the same crop would depend upon the season it is grown. Mohandass et al.

(1995) used ORYZA1 model to simulate rice production in India under current and future climates. They predicted increase in rice production under the GCMs scenarios used. This was mainly due to an increase in yields of main season crops where the fertilizing effect of the increased CO2 level is more than able to compensate the crop for any detrimental effects of

increased temperatures. Although large decreases were predicted for second season crops at many of the locations due to high temperatures being encountered, the relatively low proportion of total rice produced in this season meant that its overall effect on the rice

production was small.

Strategy to Food Security and for Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change

The important mitigation and adaptation strategies required

to cope with anticipated climate change impacts include adjustment in sowing dates, breeding of plants that are more resilient to variability of climate, and improvement in agronomic practices. The country faces major challenges to increase its food production to the tune of 300 million tones by 2020. The problem has become acute due to because urbanization and industrialization have rapidly dwindled the per capita availability of arable land

from 0.48 ha in 1950 to 0.08 ha by 2020. Attri and Rathore (2003) suggested the adaptation strategies

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for sustainable production of wheat and ensuring food security. Adaptation measures to mitigate the potential impact of climate change included possible changes in sowing dates and genotype selection. Enhancement of sowing by 10 days in late-sown cultivars

and delaying of sowing by 10 days in normally sown cultivars resulted in higher yields under a modified climate, whereas a reduction in yield was observed.

Discussion and Conclusion

Studies on inter-annual and long-term variability of monsoon and annual rainfall have found that the variation in rainfall for the subcontinent is within statistical limit (Srivastava et al., 1992). However, analysis of past weather data indeed indicates a warming trend at many places in India and

changes in rainfall (statistically not significant) pattern in different parts of the country. Therefore, it is very difficult, at this juncture, to convince the planner and development agencies to incorporate the impact of climate change into their projects and agricultural system. However, 60%

of the total cropped area is still rainfed in India and dependent on uncertainties of monsoon. The country’s food grains production during 2002–03 had slumped to 174.19 Mt, due to widespread drought, from the record level of 212.02 Mt in 2001–02; which shows

the dependency of Indian agriculture on climate in spite of recent technological development. Therefore, given the potential adverse impacts on agriculture that could bring about by climate change, it is worthwhile to conduct more in-depth studies and analyses to gauge the extent of problems that the country may face in future. For this more studies are needed on direct or indirect effect of climate change on crop growth, uncertainties of onset of rainfall, spatial and temporal rainfall

variability, duration and frequency of drought and floods, availability of irrigation, changes in groundwater level, soil transformations, crop-pest interaction and submergence of coastal land due to sea level rise.

The crop-pest-weather interaction and socio-economic

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components are relatively weaker, and need to be strengthened. Generally the studies reviewed in this paper used dynamic crop simulation models to simulate yield impacts. With the development of science and technology, dynamic crop simulation models have been

developed, tested and have become the main method of analyzing the potential impacts of climate change on agriculture. As a tool to assess the vulnerability and adaptation of agriculture to climate change, it is more accurate. Increase in food grain production during last three decades made India self sufficient and contributed tremendously to their food security. The later, however, is now at risk due to increased demand of continuously increasing population. Also the situation is grim as decline in soil

fertility, decline in groundwater level, rising salinity, resistance to many pesticides, degradation of irrigation water quality and genetic diversity of the popular varieties in the farmers field has been rapidly decreasing. It is however of paramount importance to sustain the natural resource. Enhancing

the organic matter content of soils will ensure better soil fertility, irrigation pricing in the western Indo-Gangetic plains will ensure the efforts to increase the efficiency of water use and improve other associated environmental impact. However, since this adversely

affects income from the rice-wheat system, there is considerable sociopolitical resistance to its implementation. In recent years, the prospect of climate changes has stimulated considerable research interest in attempting to predict how production of crops will be effected. The purpose of this review was to provide overview of the likely effect of the climate change on food production in India. Several studies projected increase or decrease in yields of cereal crops (rice, wheat, maize and sorghum),

Oilseed and pulses crops (soybean, groundnut, chickpea, mustard and pigeon pea) depending on interaction of temperature and CO2 changes, production environment, season and location in India. Still the climate change impact studies have not conducted on several important crops in India such as

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sugarcane, cotton, jute, sunflower, potato and onion etc., which may be done in future for better assessment of vulnerability of Indian agriculture due to climate change. However, these studies have indicated that the direct impacts of climate changes would

be small on ‘kharif’ crops but overall ‘kharif’ agriculture will become vulnerable due to increased incidence of weather extremes such as onset of monsoon, duration and frequency of drought and floods, and pest incidence and virulence. Production of ‘rabi’ crop is relatively more risky due to projection of larger increase in temperature and higher

uncertainties in rainfall. Unless considerable adaptation takes place, this would result in decreased winter or ‘rabi’ production. An index of sustainability that included economic (Agricultural production, income, and risk) and environmental (ground water level, land degradation and biodiversity) indicators clearly shows that the agricultural production is under

threat and needs immediate

attention (Joshi et al., 2003) Although, the effect of climate change on crop productivity could be biased depending upon the uncertainties in crop models used for impact assessment, climate

change scenarios, region of study, technological changes and the agronomic management, the integrated assessment of climate change impact on different sectors of Indian economy is very important to determine future strategies for sustainable development, adaptation and other policy decisions. It is worthwhile to note that Kumar and Parikh (2001) projected that with 2◦C increase in temperature and 7% increase in the precipitation the net-revenue of India will be decline by 8.4%. It is

also important that losses expected from the climate change on Indian agriculture will be more. This should be due to the warmer temperature that the Indian farmers face under the present climatic conditions and also the relatively low level of management because small and marginal farmers with less land holding are more than 60% of the total farmers.

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Such an assessment on agriculture and therefore policy responseto manage climate change impacts will not be complete unless the biophysical, environmental and socioeconomic sectors of agro-ecosystems are studied together.

Global integrated impact

assessment models though provide such a framework, but are inadequate for regional policy planning because these are not validated at that scale and due to their inherent inter-and intra-sectoral conflicts. We need to urgently develop our own integrated assessment simulation models in which cropping systems; water use and socioeconomic parameters need to be brought together for assessing the impact of environmental change in diverse regions of the country. It may be

developed in collaboration with several stakeholders including policy makers, agricultural and environmental scientist, climatologist, economist, administrators, industry and farmers organization. In future studies, only when the uncertainties and limitations

discussed above have been considered in the crop simulation modeling and climate change scenarios, the assessment of climate change on Indian agriculture can be more precise and provide sound basis for regional policy planning.

However, it is expected that the fast improvement of climate and crop model across the global and regional level in the last decades to be sustained. It is not too distant future; these models should yielding reliable results on regional scale for the nature of climate change in response to various factors.

References:

Achanta, A. N. 1993. An assessment of the potential impact of global warming on Indian rice production, In Achanta A N (ed). The

Climate Change Agenda: An Indian Perspective, TERI, New Delhi.

Aggarwal, P. K. and Kalra, N. 1994. Simulating the effect of climatic factors, genotype and management on productivity

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of wheat in India, Indian Agricultural Research Institute Publication,New

Delhi, India, pp. 156.

Attri, S. D. and Rathore, L. S. 2003. Simulation of impact of projected climate change on wheat in India, Int. Journal of Climatology 23, 693–705.

Joshi, P. K., Joshi, L., Singh, R. K., Thakur, J., Singh, K. and

Giri, A. K.: 2003, Analysis of procuctivity changes and future sources of growth for sustaining rice – wheat cropping system, NATP Report submitted to the Irrigated Ecosystem. National Centre for Agricultural

Economics and Policy Research, New Delhi.

Kaur, P. 1993. Dynamic simulation of groundnut growth and yield with “PNUTGRO” model, M.Sc. Thesis (Unpublished), PAU, Ludhiana, India, pp. 125.

Kumar KSK and Parikh J. 2001. Indian Agriculture and Climate sensitivity, Global

Environmental Change 11 (2): 147-154.

Lal, M., U. Cubasch, R. Voss and J. Waszkewitz.1995. Effect of transient increases in greenhouse gases and sulphate aerosols on monsoon climate, Current Science,

69(9), 752–763.

Mohandass, S., Kareem, A. A., Ranganathan, T. B. and Jeyaraman, S. 1995. Rice production in India under current and future climates. in Matthews R. B., Kropff M. J, Bachelet D. and Laar van H. H.(eds.), Modeling the

impact of climate change on rice production in Asia, CAB International, U.K. pp. 165–181.

Sinha, S. K. and Swaminathan, M. S. 1991. Deforestation climate change and sustainable nutrients security. Clim.

Change 16, pp. 33–45.

Srivastava, H. N., Dewan, B. N., Dikshit, S. K., Rao, G. S. P., Singh, S. S. and Rao, R.: 1992. Decadal trends in Climate over India, Mausam 43, 7–20.

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Radio Pollution

CH Rajani Chandra M Tech(BME), Lavanya M Tech(BME)

Y. Ratna Kumar, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Bio Medical Engg Andhra University, Vishakhapatnam

Abstract:

Electromagnetic energy represented by electromagnetic fields. The world is saturated with presence of EM waves due to advancement of technology wireless communication. The other EM devices like radars are also responsible for such EM waves around us. These EM waves are generated intentionally or unintentionally. These waves are generated to meet certain objectives namely fast communication, detection of objects anywhere in the globe. However these waves are creating lot of pollution on living human being. In this paper the effects of such unconventional pollutions are described.

Key words: Pollution, progression, development

1. Introduction

Pollution is the result of progression and development that is occurring on a regular basis.

With the growth of technology more and more development is taking place in order to improve the quality of human life. This series is certainly giving high level of comfort and a rich lifestyle to all humans but is sadly diminishing the worth of human health; the need to have a good and healthy environment is ignored. Many new inventions and introductions are

causing a danger to human life as they are done artificially. Environmental pollution is any

discharge of material or energy into water, land, or air that causes or may cause acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term) detriment to the Earth's ecological balance or that lowers the quality of life.

2. Radiation Pollution

Radiation is a form of energy on the move. Radiation is electromagnetic in nature. We live in a radiation

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world and are exposed to both natural and man-made radiation.

3. Types of electromagnetic radiation:

_ Ionizing radiation

It contains enough energy to cause ionization. Ionization is a process by which electrons are stripped from atoms and molecules. Its interaction with matter can change chemical reactions in the body that leads to damage in biological tissues including effects on DNA

(deoxyribonucleic acid) – the

genetic material. Gamma rays and x-rays are two forms of ionizing radiation.

_ Non-ionizing radiation (NIR)

It does not have sufficient energy to cause ionization in living matter. It causes some heating effect, but usually not enough to cause any kind of long-term damage to tissues. Radiofrequency energy2,

visible light and microwave radiation are considered non-ionizing.

Figure: 1.

There are various forms of electromagnetic radiation. These differ only in frequency and wave length.

Heat waves

Radio waves

Infrared light

Visible light

Ultraviolet light

X rays

Gamma rays

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Most of the more familiar types of electromagnetic radiation (e.g. visible light, radio waves) exhibit “wave-like” behavior in their interaction with matter (e.g. diffraction patterns, transmission and detection of radio signals).

Figure: 2. Particulate

4. Specific forms of ionizing radiation:

Particulate2 radiation consisting of atomic or subatomic particles (electrons, protons, etc.) carries energy in the form of kinetic energy or mass in motion.

Electromagnetic radiation in which energy is carried by oscillating

electrical and magnetic fields travel through space at the speed of light.

Alpha particles and beta particles are considered directly ionizing because they carry a charge and can, therefore, interact directly

with atomic electrons through coulombic forces (i.e. like charges repel each other; opposite charges attract each other).

The neutron is an indirectly ionizing particle. It is indirectly ionizing because it does not carry an electrical charge. Ionization is

caused by charged particles, which are produced during collisions with atomic nuclei. The third type of ionizing radiation includes gamma and X rays, which are electromagnetic, indirectly ionizing radiation. These are indirectly ionizing because they are electrically neutral (as are all electromagnetic radiations) and do not interact with atomic electrons through coulombic forces.

5. Dose

Only the amount of energy of any type of ionizing radiation that imparted to (or absorbed by) the human body can cause

harm to health.

To look at biological effects, we must know (estimate) how much energy is deposited per unit mass of the part (or whole)

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of our body with which the radiation is interacting.

The international (SI) unit of measure for absorbed dose is the gray (Gy), which is defined as 1 joule of energy deposited in 1 kilogram of mass. The old unit of measure for this is the

rad, which stands for "radiation absorbed dose." - 1 Gy = 100 rad.

Equivalent dose – the biological effect depends not only on the amount of the absorbed dose but also on the intensity of ionisation in living cells caused by different type of radiations.

Neutron, proton and alpha radiation can cause 5-20 times more harm then the same amount of the absorbed dose of beta or gamma radiation.

The unit of equivalent dose is

the sievert (Sv). The old unit of measure is the rem. - 1 Sv = 100 rem.

6. Sources of Radiation Exposure

Radiation is permanently present throughout the

environment, in the air, water, food, soil and in all living organisms.

Large proportion of the average annual radiation dose received by people results from natural environmental sources.

Each member of the world

population is exposed, on average, to 2.4 mSv/yr of ionizing radiation from natural sources.

In some areas (in different countries of the world) the natural radiation dose may be 5 to 10-times higher to large number of people.

Electromagnetic energy is a term used to describe all the different kinds of energies released into space by stars such as the Sun. These kinds of energies include some that you will recognize and

some that will sound strange. They include:

Radio Waves

TV waves

Radar waves

Heat (infrared radiation)

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Light

Ultraviolet Light (This is what causes Sunburns)

X-rays (Just like the kind you get at the doctor's office)

Short waves

Microwaves, like in a

microwave oven

Gamma Rays

7. Electromagnetic fields and public health: mobile phones

Mobile or cellular phones

are now an integral part of modern telecommunications. In many countries, over half the population use mobile phones and the market is growing rapidly. At the end of 2009, there were an estimated 4.6 billion subscriptions globally. Mobile phones communicate by transmitting radio waves through a network of fixed antennas called base stations. Radiofrequency4 waves are electromagnetic fields, and unlike ionizing radiation such as X-rays or gamma rays, can

neither break chemical bonds nor cause ionization in the human

body. A large number of studies have been performed over the last two decades to assess whether mobile phones pose a potential health risk. To date, no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use.

8. Short-term effects

Tissue heating is the principal

mechanism of interaction between radiofrequency energy and the human body. At the frequencies used by mobile phones, most of the energy is absorbed by the skin and other superficial tissues, resulting in negligible temperature rise in the brain or any other organs of the body. A number of studies have investigated the effects of radiofrequency fields on brain electrical activity, cognitive function, sleep, heart rate and blood pressure in volunteers. To date, research does not suggest any

consistent evidence of adverse health effects from exposure to radiofrequency fields at levels below those that cause tissue heating. Further, research has not been able to provide support for a causal relationship between

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exposure to electromagnetic fields and self-reported symptoms, or “electromagnetic hypersensitivity”.

9. Long-term effects

Epidemiological research examining potential long-term risks from radiofrequency exposure has mostly looked for an association between brain tumors and mobile phone use. However,

because many cancers are not detectable until many years after the interactions that led to the tumor, and since mobile phones were not widely used until the early 1990s, epidemiological studies at present can only assess those cancers that become evident within shorter time periods. However, results of animal studies consistently show no increased cancer risk for long-term exposure to radiofrequency fields.

While an increased risk of brain tumors is not established, the

increasing use of mobile phones and the lack of data for mobile

phone use over time periods longer than 15 years warrant further research of mobile phone use and brain cancer risk. In particular, with the recent popularity of mobile phone use among younger people, and therefore a potentially longer lifetime of exposure, WHO

has promoted further research on this group. Several studies investigating potential health effects in children and adolescents are underway.

10. Exposure limit guidelines

Radiofrequency exposure limits for mobile phone users are given in terms of Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) – the rate of radiofrequency energy absorption per unit mass of the body. Currently, two international bodies have developed exposure guidelines for workers and for the general public, except patients undergoing medical diagnosis or treatment. These

guidelines are based on a detailed assessment of the available scientific evidence.

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11. Effects of electromagnetic radiation on children1:

Figure 3. Children can be exposed to radiation by a variety of routes.

The biological effects of ionizing radiation are the combined result of direct absorption of energy at molecular level and the

indirect oxidative damage produced by the reactive oxygen species ("free radicals") produced through a process called water radiolysis. (i.e. direct and indirect effects). Direct and indirect effects may lead to recognizable damage particularly when they affect molecules of biological importance. Biological effects also depend on the radio-sensitivity of the tissue exposed. Two kinds of effects of radiation on

tissues are observed.

-Deterministic effects (or "tissue reactions") occur when a large number of cells have been damaged and as a result of that, the tissue

structure or function is affected. These effects occur at doses above a certain threshold, with the frequency and the severity of effects increasing sharply above this threshold.

To the extent that the organism is able to compensate for the loss of cells, the harm may be temporary. Examples of deterministic effects are nausea, diarrhoea, skin damage and sterility.

-Stochastic effects3 occur when cells

are not killed, but are modified.

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Some of the changes may persist in daughter cells. Examples of stochastic effects are cancer in the individuals who have been exposed to radiation if the transformation

occurred in a somatic cell, and hereditary diseases in descendants of individuals exposed, if the transformation occurred in a germ cell (i.e. oocytes or sperm cells).

Table 1. Effects of whole body exposure to IR

These values are presented as an example, but they have been estimated for an average population and dose would probably be lower for children.

12. Radiation associated with cancers:

Epidemiological studies have shown that moderate and high dose exposure to ionizing radiation leads

to an increased risk of cancer. Exposure in childhood, in particular, increases risk of leukemia, breast and thyroid cancer. Age dependence for these cancers, which are among the diseases most readily induced by radiation, is complex, and generally tracks changes in background

rates, i.e. increase in the risk due to radiation is proportional to the

Whole body dose(Gy)

Symptoms Survival time

20 Damage to cardiovascular and central nervous system

Hours to a few days

8-20 Damage to gut About two weeks 3.5 Bone marrow damage LD50/60(50% will die

within months if not treated

0.5-3 Bone marrow damage causing transient reduction in the blood cells

All survive, but possible later damage or death(moderate high probability of stochastic effects)

<0.5 Stochastic effects may occur later in life

All survive, but possible later damage or death(low probability of stochastic effects)

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overall increase in cancer risk due to aging.

Leukaemia: Studies of survivors

of atomic bomb explosions (Life Span Study / LSS) showed an increased risk in both incidence of leukaemia and associated mortality. Furthermore, the risk of leukaemia from radiation is higher than for

other risk factors and occurs earlier than for solid cancers. Leukaemia risk is best described by non-linear fit; risk is higher for exposures that occur in childhood, but tends to begin to decrease 10–15 years after exposure.

Breast cancer: Breast cancer risk

was associated with radiation exposure in the LSS cohort and among several medically exposed groups. The risk increases with dose linearly and is particularly high for those exposed at young ages. The risk of breast cancer was increased in women who were

under 10 years of age at the time of the atomic bomb explosion – a time when girls have little or no breast tissue.

Thyroid cancer: Thyroid gland

tissue is highly susceptible to

radiation during childhood. In the LSS cohort, a significant association was found between radiation dose and risk of thyroid cancer for those exposed before 19 years of age. Irradiation in childhood for benign conditions, as well as therapeutic exposure, can

increase the risk of thyroid cancer. Risk is highest for children and decreases with increased age at exposure.

Brain cancer Ionizing radiation is

related to brain tumours, although the relationship is weaker than for the cancers described above. Most brain tumours associated with ionizing radiation are benign. Japanese data show no association with brain cancers, but an increase in malignant brain tumours has been observed in patients who received radiotherapy. The evidence is strongest for those

exposed before 20 years of age.

13. Safety measures for men

Shields, special clothing, goggles must be used by the personnel working in a potentially hazardous areas. In addition

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awareness training must be given.

High power installations must

be located atleast 150miles away from the fueling operations.

All areas in which the energy

levels exceed the safety limits should be considered hazardous. Accordingly admittance to areas where the exposure levels exceed the above limits should be restricted and warning signs posted.

14. Protective methods for devices

Physical isolation which reduces

the strength of the EMR energy. It consists of separating the source and receiver so that the EMR effects are reduced.

Filtering which reduces the

effects of conducted EM energy at particular frequencies.

Bonding or grounding which

reduces the possibility of

equipment acting as an antenna.

Shielding which absorbs or

reflects unwanted radiation fields.

References:

1. Habash, R.W.Y. Electromagnetic Fields and radiation: Human Bio effects and safety; Marcel Dekkar: New York, NY, 2001

2. Moulder, J.E. Biological studies of power – frequency fields and carcinogenesis. IEEE Engg.

Med. Biol. 1996, 15, 31-40.

3. Foster, K.R. Electromagnetic field effects and mechanisms. IEEE Engg. Med. Biol. 1996, 15, 50-56.

4. Adair, P.K. Constraints and biological effects of weak extremely low-frequency Electromagnetic fields. Phy. Rev. Lett. 1991, A43, 1039-1048.

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Effects of EM Radiation on Human Health

T.S.H.Balaji rao, M Tech (BME), P.Raju ,M Tech (BME)

Y. Ratna Kumar, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Bio Medical Engg Andhra University, Vishakhapatnam.

Abstract: The electromagnetic environment consists of natural radiation and

man-made electromagnetic fields that are produced either intentionally or as by-products of the use of electrical devices and systems. The natural background is orders of magnitude below local field levels produced by man-made RF-sources considered here. Sources generating high levels of electromagnetic fields are typically found in medical applications and at certain workplaces.

Medical devices used for magnetic resonance imaging, diathermy, hyperthermia, various kinds of RF ablation, surgery, and diagnoses may cause high levels of electromagnetic fields at the patients position or locally inside the patient’s body. In addition, some of these medical applications may produce high fields at certain workspaces. For broadcasting high RF power is generally

required to maximize the area of coverage. It is suggested that exposure systems for laboratory studies need to fulfil certain criteria in order to prevent or at least minimize any non electromagnetic fields exposure related interference of the system itself with the study subject.

Key words: Environment, hyperthermia, ablation, surgery

1. Introduction

Interaction of non-ionizing EM waves with biological bodies and

tissues results in thermal heating as well as non-thermal effects such as field-force effect, polarization and depolarization of body cell

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membranes. Maximum recommended safe power limit for long-term human exposure has been specified as 10 mW.cm-2 [1]. Yet use of power densities up to 590 mW.cm-2 is common in routine diathermy treatments [1]. So it is important to understand the limits

of EM power exposure that human body can sustain without any crucial biological damage.

2. An overview

In the frequency range of 1 MHz to 300 GHz, wave lengths of EM waves are in the range of 300 m to 1 mm and are larger compared to the cell size. Hence there is little scattering of EM waves by a human body in this frequency range. Normal laws of reflection and transmission of waves can be applied in this range. As EM waves propagate through a human body, propagating EM energy can get absorbed by muscles and tissues

producing localized heating. Fields in the EM waves also may cause other non-thermal effects such as electromechanical field force in the cells and polarization and depolarization of cell membranes. The heating in tissues possibly

results from both ionic conduction and vibration of the dipole molecules of the water and the protein in tissue cells. Continuous temperature rise leading to severe damage of tissues can happen if the absorbed power is greater than the normal metabolic output of a

human body. The normal metabolic heat production for a 70 kg man on a 2500 Calorie diet is around 4x10-4 calorie per gram per second [2]. Maximum power density, safe for long term exposure to the human body was decided to be 10 mW.cm-2 [2]. Higher values for radiation power density can be used if exposure time is brought down [2]. Based on the maximum power density, Schawn [3] estimated current density that can be induced inside a human body without causing any thermal hazard.

Assuming an exposed area of 1 m2, total power received for a 10 mW.cm-2 radiation exposure is 100W = I2R = J2ρA2.L.A-1. Here A is exposed area, I is current, J is current density, L is thickness of a human body = 10 cm and ρ is resistivity of human body. It can be seen that J2ρ = 1 mW.cm-3. For ρ =

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100 ohm cm [3], J ≈ 3 mA.cm-2. Apparently resistivity of the human body tissue is frequency dependent and decreases with frequency. So 3 mA.cm-2 limit will go up at the higher frequencies. Therefore, current density of 3 mA.cm-2 can be taken as a safe upper limit for

induced current density to avoid damaging body heating due to long term exposure of a human body to EM radiation. It is also found that induced electric field inside a human body can depolarize the cell membranes if it is greater than a certain threshold value. It is reported that induced electric field strength greater than 500 kV.cm-1 can polarize or depolarize body cell membranes [3].

Heating due to EM power absorption in human body is non-uniform. Heating inside a

particular tissue depends on the dielectric and conductive properties of that tissue. High water content tissues normally have high conductivity, whereas those with low water content have low conductivity. Absorption is high and depth of penetration is low in tissues of high water content.

Standing wave pattern causing severe hot spots has been reported to result in the interface of muscles and fat. The relative heating produced at and near the fat-muscle interface. Skin burns and even deep burns of the tissues under the skin have been found in

test animals [4]. Heating of body tissues called diathermy by using RF power to give a therapeutic temperature rise in the range of 430 C to 450 C has been in practice. But this temperature range is very close to the temperature range where a little increase in temperature may lead to destructive damage of body tissues [2].

There are non-thermal effects of EM radiation as well. EM waves can result in alignment of cells, because of the induced dipole charges in those cells. Frequency at

which this effect is important may be different for different cells. Also intense microwave field can cause polarized side chains of macromolecules to line up with the direction of the E field, leading to possible breakage of hydrogen bonds and to alterations of the hydrogen zone. Such effects can

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cause denaturizing or coagulation of molecules [3]. This effect is also known as field force effect. Different muscle movements in the human or an animal body is caused by depolarization and polarization of cell membranes. Induced electric field can result in substantial

potential difference to develop across cell membranes causing unwanted polarization and depolarization.

3. EM Wave Effects on Biological Tissues at the Molecular Level

EM waves cause two types of effects at the molecular level. One is the oscillation of the free charges or ions and the other is the rotation of dipole molecules at the frequency of the incident wave. First one gives rise to conduction current and the second one cause’s displacement current with an associated loss due to viscosity. Conductivity and dielectric properties of a tissue decide which current would dominate in that

tissue. Conductive current is higher in conductors whereas displacement current (charging and

discharging current) is higher in tissues with high relative permittivity values.

4. EFFECTS OF CELL PHONES:

The cell phones operate by emitting and receiving electromagnetic waves. Human being cannot see, touch, smell, taste or hear the electromagnetic waves. All the five senses of human beings are not useful to identify the

presence of electromagnetic waves. Such waves have harmful and hazardous effects on humans. The cell phone is called electromagnetic weapon. The cell phone effects on humans are ridiculed first, secondly, they are violently opposed, thirdly, they are accepted after they became self evident. Most of the people do not know the facts about the dangers of cell phones.

The wireless network keeps emitting an ever-increasing and dangerous levels of microwave

radiations. The antennas which are the sources of electromagnetic waves from cell towers are still created on the house tops, in the

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vicinity of residential areas in the work places, schools, and most dangerously near the hospitals. It is evident from research and literature that there are about 80 immune system disorders.

One must understand and remember that the users of cell

phones become sick gradually. The host of illnesses includes Alzheimers, allergies, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, insomnias, depression, infertility, leukemia, breast cancer, brain tumors, miscarriages, birth defects and several other illnesses

Dr. George Carlo [3] reported the dangers posed by cell phones. He uses the analogy of putting a frog in water. A frog in a boiling water jumps. But the frog in cold water lives happily. If the water is heated gradually, the frog is cooked

as the frog’s body adjusts to the slight changes in temperature and the frog does not notice that it is cooked.

The same thing happens to the people who do not know the dangers of cell phones, other wireless networks, high frequency

radiation coming from cell towers, microwave towers, radar antennas etc. In the early stages of exposure, the following are effects are reported.

Decreased stamina

Memory problem

Fatigue

Sleep disturbances

Headaches

Eye sensitivities

Increased allergies

Dizziness

Irritability

Concentration problems

Nausea and

Restlessness etc.

The above problems depend on frequency, duration and exposure levels.

The high exposure levels leads to Unexplained anxiety

Insomnia

Swollen lymph nodes

Depression

Loss of appetite

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Hypoxia (lack of oxygen getting to the tissues)

Hyper activity

Dry eyes

Vision problems

Weaken immune system

Frequet urinals

Night sweats

Extreme thirst

Weight gain or weight loss

Testicular pain etc.

Microwave exposure induces oxidative damage which leads to Depletion of the body’s natural production Stored number of antioxidative enzymes etc when the body becomes depleted in antioxidants, free radicals – aka reactive oxygen species will wreck havoc on the body’s cellular systems.

The cellular system includes cell wall, DNA etc. The oxidative

damage leads to premature aging, weakened immune system, sticky blood and other serious problem. The depressed level of antioxidants in the blood leads to the formation

of plaque on arterial wells. This also leads to more viscous blood. This in turn causes blood clots. The blood clot leads to strokes and heart attacks.

Microwave exposures depending on the frequency, are found to affect an abnormal flux of calcium into or

out of cells. Microwave exposure is found to induce mitochondria dysfunctions. These mitochondria are the power of the cell. The dysfunctional mitochondrion is found to interfere with the cellular energy production and leads to fatigue and obesity.

Microwaves depolarize the body’s red blood cells. This leads to diminishing flow of oxygen to brain cells and the body’s other organs. This in turn causes nausea, dizziness, inability to concentrate and headaches etc. The microwaves

induce protein destruction from the cellular membrane of red blood cells.

Microwave exposure is also found to induce decreased numbers of natural killer cells. The killer cell is a form of white blood cell. It is the body’s first line of defense against

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pathogens. This leads to the body’s weakened ability to recover from viral and other types of infections.

Microwave exposure is found to induce subliminal stress causing the adrenal glands to excrete an abnormally greater amount of cortisol and adrenaline.

Excretion of adrenaline can lead to irritability and a feeling of hyperactivity. The feeling of hyperactivity is very common in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Microwave exposure is found to induce decrease levels of the brain hormone.

It disturbs the sleep

It drops melatonin levels which lead to breast cancer.

It increases restlessness.

It increases allergies.

It produces more histamine – a

chemical responsible for allergic reaction.

It affects the heart and heart irregularities and responsible for triggering heart attacks.

It opens the blood brain barriers (BBB). It protects brain from foreign substances like viruses, bacteria and clinical toxins in the blood which may injure brain. Thus exposure to microwave radiation leads to viral and bacterial infections of the brain.

It increases brain tumors and other cancers.

References

1. Curtis C. Johnson and Arthur W. guy, “Nonionizing Electromagnetic Wave Effects in Biological Materials and systems,” in Biological Effects of Electromag-netic Radiation, IEEE Press, 1983, pp. 47-73.

2. W. W. Mumford, “Some technical aspects of microwave radiation hazards,” in Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Radiation, IEEE Press, 1983, pp. 455-475.

3. H. P. Schwan, “Interaction of Microwave and Radio Frequency Radiation with Biological Systems,” IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory

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Tech., vol. MTT-19, March 1971, pp.146-152.

4. Arthur W. Guy, “Electromagnetic Fields and Relative Heating Patterns Due to a Rectangular Aperture Source in Direct Contact with Bilayered Biological Tissue,”

IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., vol. MTT-19, March 1971, pp. 214-223.

5. John W Strohtech, “Hyperthermia and cancer therapy,” IEEE, BME – 31, No. 12, December 1984.

6. H.C. Nants, “Pyrogen therapy of cancer,” Proc. Int Symp. Cancer therapy by hyperthermia and radiation, 1976, pp 239-250.

7. G.M. Hahn, “Hyperthermia and cancer,” New York, Planum, 1982.

8. N.B. Hornbeck, Hypertherma and cancer : Human Clinical trial experience, Vol. I and II, FL CRC Press, 1984.

9. G.S.N. Raju, “Electromagnetic Field Theory and Transmission Lines,” Pearson Education

(Singapore) Pte. Ltd., New Delhi, 2005.

10. William T. Joines, “Frequency dependent absorption of electromagnetic energy in biological tissue,” IEEE Trans. on biomedical engineering, Vol. BME-31, No. 1, January 1984.

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Climate Change: Effects on Sustainable Livelihoods - Environmental Education and Awareness

Dr.T.Sharon Raju- Assistant Professor, IASE, Andhra University,

Visakhapatnam. Kate. Dandesh Kumar- Research Scholar in Education, Department of

Education, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam.

Abstract: This paper discus about the present context of Environment, climate change and its effects mean while giving awareness to this current topic. Environmental education is a central aspect of the process of change towards sustainable development. It is time we realized that the environment is not just a factor in this game, but a game in itself; a game in which we are all players and on which our future existence depends. Environmental problems such as climate change jeopardize our prosperity and our economic development. We all contribute to environmental problems and, as a result, we can only solve them on the basis of cooperative action. Environmental education, like education for sustainable development, is based on building awareness and identification with personal living environments. It is therefore not merely the conveyance of knowledge, but a process of learning about the concept of political action. Environmental education is a process that aims at the development of environmentally literate citizens those who can compete in global economy those who have the skills and knowledge and inclinations to make well informed choices concerning the Environment, and those who exercise the rights and responsibilities of the members of a community environmental knowledge contributes to a understanding and appreciation of the society technology and productivity and conservation of natural and cultural resources of their own environment. We need the school children to share and develop the motivation from school about various environmental issues which are the challenges of today and prepare them for the future. Key Words: Sustainable, Awareness, Inclinations, Productivity, Appreciation. 1. Introduction:

It is our foremost duty to conserve our environmental

resources. The ultimate goal of environmental education whether it is formal or non-formal is to create awareness among the

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citizens of a country. It emphasizes the basic aim of environmental education as, “To develop a world population that is aware of and concerned about the environment, its associated problems, so that the population will have the knowledge, skill, attitudes, motivation and

commitment to work individually and collectively towards the solutions of current problems and prevention of new ones” . Global concern regarding the steadily deteriorating state of the environment has emphasized the need for environmental education. Obviously a powerful vehicle bringing about change, a Panacea of all evils and a potent weapon for prevention plays a central role in the society.

India, a country with the seventh largest landmass in the

world, is a land of ancient traditions. With over a billion people and at least 17 major languages, the diversity of India in terms of culture and biological wealth is enormous. In spite of rapidly changing lifestyles, the traditions of living in harmony with nature and of environmentally

sound practices underpin the lives of most people. It is against this backdrop that the country's EE strategy has been evolved. The Constitution of India explicitly makes environmental conservation a duty. The Central Government and all states within India now

have a Ministry or Department of Environment. Education departments recognize EE as an essential part of education. The law courts of the country have been sympathetic to environmental causes. India has a very large number of very active NGOs who are involved in a variety of activities from policy analysis to school programs; from participatory natural resources management to activism. India continues to be rich in its biodiversity. Agricultural

revolution has ensured that food-grain production has not just kept pace with the population increase, but has rather grown faster. With better nutrition and health care, the life expectancy has gone up by almost 3 times since the independence. The per capita

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income has grown almost 45 times during this period.

The pursuit of sustainable development and environmental conservation policies, objectives and targets requires the public to be sufficiently sensitized about the multiple dimensions of

environment and development. Awareness and understanding of environmental issues provide the basis and rationale for commitment and meaningful action towards environmentally sound and sustainable development. Environmental education is increasingly a prominent part of primary, secondary and tertiary education in Asia and the Pacific. The formal education sector plays a vital role in environmental education and awareness by exposing the younger generation to

the information, issues, analyses and interpretations on environment and development.

2. Objectives:

1. To understand environmental education and its importance.

2. To understand the causes for environmental hazards and pollution.

3. To understand the need for remedial ways to protect the environment in daily life and its application.

4. To acquire knowledge of

environmental issues and policies in India.

5. To acquire knowledge about the different methods of teaching in environmental Education.

3. Methodology:

Secondary information on the status of environmental education and awareness concept was obtained from government documents, reports and available literature. The nature of the investigation was quantitative and qualitative.

4. Environmental information and awareness:

Environmental monitoring by government agencies and institutions in many countries has focused on certain environmental

concerns, such as the quality of air, water and other natural resources.

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Monitored data are transformed into information that shows environmental trends and effectiveness of past mitigation measure which are vital for environmental management. This information is also utilized in the state of environment reports;

NGOs and community-based organizations also play a significant role in collecting and disseminating information to the community and to all spheres of government. Recognition is growing that many environmental issues and challenges are common to more than one country in the region and that countries and communities can learn from each other in their responses to similar situations and problems.

5. Formal Environmental Education and awareness:

Though formal education is the mandate of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), the Ministry of

Environment & Forests has been interacting with the MHRD, NCERT, and State Departments of Education etc. to ensure that

environmental components are adequately covered at the school levels by infusion into the school curricula at various levels. The major initiatives taken by the Ministry in this direction recently are mentioned below:

6. Environment Education in School System:

Under this project, which was initiated in 1999, an exercise to strengthen environment education

in the formal school curriculum has been undertaken. During the first phase of this project, a comprehensive study was conducted to assess the status of infusion of environment content in the school curriculum in the country and to assess the effectiveness of classroom teaching. The study was conducted in all the States/UTs of the country and textbooks of all the classes from standards I to XII were analyzed. Based on the findings of the study, the textbooks in Science, Social

Science and Languages of middle school level in eight States (100 schools in each State) are being modified to strengthen the infusion

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of environmental concepts. The modified textbooks would be used for one academic session (2002-2003) in the selected schools of the selected States on pilot basis. The concerned teachers of the selected schools would also be trained to effectively teach the modified

textbooks. The States participating in this project are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab and Uttaranchal.

7. Non-formal Environment Education and Awareness:

Environmental Education, Awareness and Training plays a significant role in encouraging and enhancing people's participation in activities aimed at conservation, protection and management of the environment, essential for achieving sustainable development. The Ministry, therefore, accords priority for the promotion of non-formal environment education and creation of awareness among all

sections of the society through diverse activities using traditional and modern media of communication. Some of the major

activities undertaken in this regard are as follows:

8. National Environment Awareness Campaign (NEAC):

The NEAC was launched in mid 1986 with the objective of creating environmental awareness at the national level. It is a multi-media campaign which utilizes conventional and non-conventional methods of communication for disseminating environmental messages to a wide range of target

groups. Under this campaign, nominal financial assistance is provided to registered NGOs, schools, colleges, universities, research institutions, women and youth organizations, army units, State Government Departments etc. from all over the country for organizing/ conducting awareness raising activities. These activities which include seminars, workshops, training programmes, camps, padyatras, rallies, public meetings, exhibitions,

essay/debate/painting/poster competitions, folk dances and songs, street theatre, puppet shows,

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preparation and distribution of environmental education resource materials etc., are followed by action like plantation of trees, management of household waste, cleaning of water bodies etc. Eco-clubs (National Green Corps):

The main objectives of this programme are to educate children about their immediate environment

and impart knowledge about the eco-systems, their inter-dependence and their need for survival, through visits and demonstrations and to mobilize youngsters by instilling in them the spirit of scientific inquiry into environmental problems and involving them in the efforts of environmental preservation.

Since the modification of the scheme in 1993, more than 10,000 Eco-clubs had been provided grants until 2000-2001 in various parts of the country. Considering that the total number of schools covered

was grossly inadequate compared to the total number of schools in the country and keeping in view the potential of this programme in sensitizing the school students. It was decided to intensify this

programme to cover each and every district of the country.

The Government of India provides financial assistance for establishment of Eco clubs @ Rs.1000 per Eco-club, Training of Master Trainers, teacher training and distribution of resource

materials.

9. Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE):

The GLOBE is an International Science and

Education Programme, which stress on hands-on participatory approach. India joined this programme during the August, 2000. This programme, which unites students, teachers and scientists all over the world, is aimed at school children. The students of GLOBE schools are required to collect data about various basic environmental parameters under the supervision of a GLOBE trained teacher and use it for explaining hypothesis as

well as to enhance their scientific understanding of the earth. This data is also used by the scientists in

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their research work. The GLOBE also provides an opportunity to the students to interact not only with the GLOBE scientists but also with the students from GLOBE schools in other parts of the world. About 100 schools spread over different parts of the country have already

joined this programme. The teachers of these schools have also been trained in various GLOBE protocols. An International training workshop for trainers was successfully organized at New Delhi during January, 2002. The participants at this workshop, which included representatives from Nepal and Thailand besides India, were trained in Basic and Advanced GLOBE Protocols by a training team from GLOBE Headquarters in USA.

10. Environmental Communication and Awareness:

Environmental communication has now emerged as strong complementary practice

to environmental education. A broad definition of environmental communication would be, “the

sharing of information, insights and opinions on environmental issues, trends, conditions and solutions using any means of communications, ranging from inter-personal methods to means of mass communication using the modern as well as traditional

media”. In this sense, environmental educators constantly engage in environmental communication. However, an important distinction is that, while all environmental educators are communicators, not all environmental communicators are necessarily educators.

Mass Awareness:

Despite great efforts to spread environmental awareness by the Ministry through several schemes, it is felt that a large population especially in rural areas

is still left out. The best way to reach out to them and make them aware of the environmental problems is through media, particularly the electronic media. "Mass Awareness" has therefore been identified as one of the thrust areas of the Ministry, not only to intensify the efforts already being

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made in this direction but also to launch new initiatives. The Doordarshan and few other television channels are proposed to be extensively used for telecasting environment based programmes and infomercials. Professional Media agencies which are hired to

assist the Ministry in carrying out the campaign also play a major role. To encourage individual efforts in producing films/ documentaries on environment/ wildlife related themes in the country, the Ministry has sponsored organization of a

film festival "Vatavaran � 2001" by

Centre for Media Studies, Delhi in April 2002.

Awareness Campaigns:

In India, sustained campaign efforts have also used the method of yatras or long marches by groups of people – sometimes stretching across hundreds of kilometers – which attract news media interest, and expose

thousands of people in communities along the way to the messages of the campaign. Government agencies also use campaigns to rally public support for specific

environmental issues. Singapore has a well established practice of environmental campaigns like the Clean and Green Week, and its calls to Save Energy and Save Water.

Print Media:

Environmental reporting is now well-established within the region’s print media, newspapers

and magazines. Investigative journalism on environmental issues has resulted in exposing environmentally damaging plans, polices or practices. Newspaper exposures and subsequent public pressure have forced governments, local authorities, industries and others to change their plans, to tighten laws and regulations, and to abandon certain development projects whose environmental and social costs outweighed any benefits. The Nation newspaper has a recognized tradition of

covering groundbreaking environmental stories, and the production of a weekly environmental page, Earth Focus. Producing special publications for children is another important strategy.

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Broadcast Media:

The broadcast media, radio and television, in all their variations, have established themselves as the most pervasive and powerful forms of mass media in Asia and the Pacific today. They represent a major channel through which information on environment can be conveyed to the people.

Recognizing the need for programmes in the regional language and context, major international media groups have associated with regional and national companies. A wide range of activist groups and media organizations also produce television and radio programmes on environmental issues, using the media as a means to raise awareness.

Community Radio: A Growing Cacophony of Local Voices:

Community radio stations are designed to encourage participation by a large representative sample of the

various socioeconomic levels, organizations and minority groups within a community. The stations

facilitate the free flow of information and opinions, encouraging freedom of speech and enhancing dialogue. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of local or community radio stations usually characterized by their low transmission power

and restricted audience.

The Internet and World Wide Web:

Recent years have seen the

extremely rapid growth and development of the Internet as an information provider. According to the International Data Corporation, the number of Internet Web users in the Asian and Pacific Region will rise from 6.5 million in March 1998 to 29.3 million by the year 2001 .However, large disparities in access and use of the Internet exist across the region and in individual nations. Major constraints remain that hinder the rapid expansion in Internet access in developing

countries such as: poor telecommunications (lack of working phone lines); an inability to afford computers; and the higher

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cost of providing Internet services. However it is predicted that the Internet will move from a minority to a mass medium, with wide accessibility in a short period of time.

Traditional Media:

For many years, environmental communicators have recognized the value and

power of using folklore and traditional media, such as, dance, songs, drama, puppetry and miming, to take environment and development messages to the public. Historically, traditional or folk media have often played a role in the communication and promotion of new ideas, apart from its traditional role of preserving and teaching established values. Today, in spite of advances in the modern forms of mass media, many people still relate more readily and easily to traditional media, which

are closer to their local cultures, and are often more interactive and participatory than the regular forms of mass media. Various forms of traditional media are being used or adapted to convey environmental

messages to children, communities and specific target groups.

Media and Citizen Volunteers:

Environmental communication and awareness rising is also taking place through citizen volunteers, through the efforts of the corporate sector, and through law and faith-based approaches. Each of these

approaches has wide ranging applications across the region. Mobilizing volunteer action is a time-tested tradition in environmental management and activism. Volunteers may be drawn from different sections of society; some will bring in specialized skills and knowledge; others will provide a donation of labor and time. The system has contributed greatly to increasing public awareness of environmental issues through public relations, monitoring, reporting, and by accommodating

public views and opinions. While the vast number of people involved was a positive development, it also posed management difficulties.

Working with the Corporate Sector:

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Today, environmental communication initiatives often work closely with the corporate sector. Recognizing that business, commerce and industry are key players in achieving sustainable development and equitable growth, environmental educators have

started to form partnerships with socially and environmentally responsible corporations. Increasingly, the corporate sector is initiating environmental awareness, communications and education activities on its own, as part of their community outreach or service programmes. In some cases, large corporations underwrite the cost of environmental communications activities initiated by inter-governmental organizations.

Faith and Law based Approaches:

Public interest environmental litigation is increasingly popular in the region.

In this, a group of lawyers or an NGO would initiate legal action for and on behalf of a local community directly affected by a specific

instance of environmental degradation. The strengthening of environmental legislation and the increased awareness on environmental rights has fuelled this process.

11. Conclusion:

It is clear that a new surge of interest, enthusiasm and activity is underway on many fronts to

place environmental education, training and communication higher on the public agenda in countries of the region. Although a considerable amount of work has been done and achievements, many challenges remain. As many countries of the region struggle to overcome the social, economic and cultural barriers placed on them by poverty and underdevelopment, and at the same time face up to the new challenges of economic globalization, the priority assigned to environmental issues and

conservation is at risk of being overlooked or traded off for more immediate benefits, and for survival needs. The environmental educators and communicators of the region need, therefore, to be vigilant and active to ensure that

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government, industry and other key players in the sustainable development arena remain mindful of their international and national commitments to environmental conservation, in addition to ensuring that sufficient investments of resources, time and

attention are made to consolidate the achievements.

References:

1. A Course Approach to Environmental Education: Changing Perceptions. Almora,Uttaranchal, India.

2. Centre for Environment Education: In Pursuit of Excellence; Storm Over Silent Valley.

3. Environmental Education and Sustainable Development. Environment and Development: Traditions,

1. Concerns and Efforts in India-National Report to UNCED

June 1992.

4. Securing our Future in the New Century: Lessons from India. The Green Teacher: Ideas Experiences and

Learning’s in Educating for the Environment. India 1999-A

5. Reference Annual; Centre for Environment Education, India. New Delhi: Indian Environmental Society.

6. Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India;

Centre for Environment Education, India. Centre for Environment Education, Ahmadabad, India.

7. Centre for Environment Education, India. Government of India.

8. http://www.oneworld.org/cse; Centre for Science and Environment, NewDelhi, India.

9. http://envfor.gov.in; Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, India.

10. http://envfor.nic.in/cpcb/; Central Pollution Control

Board, India.

11. http://rediffmail.com/news/july2000

12. http://www.goodnewsindia.com/Pages/content/inspirational/tbs.h

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A Dispense on Global Climate Change Perspective: Is it too late to Prevent the Warmness?

Nikhil Bansal, National Law University, Odisha, Pankaj Sevta, National

Law University, Odisha and Abhinav Anand, National Law University, Odisha

Abstract There is no shadow of doubt that in the instant scenario

environmental issues have gained global significance and atmospheric problems is one such burning issue, bringing nations at confront. However, the solutions to environmental problems are hard to come by as they involve multiple stake holders at national and international level. Of all such issues, climate change is the most contentious. The concerned piece of scratch in the form of a paper puts light on one such issue i.e. global climate change which even though may be less relevant to a particular nation but its impact may be global. Developing countries are at the receiving end of regulations to prevent climate change. Nowadays most scholars and scientists agree that earth’s temperature has been affected in a discernible manner by various pollutants, but the extent of the change or whether it would bring global or regional detrimental effects is still severely contested. Authors, through the present paper have attempted to provide an up to minute vision on the relevant legislative instruments, conventions, principles and guidelines. Moreover, this paper at the closing stages comes up with productive suggestions and active conclusion on the concerned issue.

Key words: Environment, ecosystem, management, soil pollution, civil society

1. Introduction

“We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers but borrowed it from future generation” -Moses Henry Cass

This is a wonderful expression that evokes images of the past, present and future all in

one sentence. We are, I believe, stewards of the planet and its

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resources. We've not seen it in that light, overall, and have lost track of the fact that it is nature's services that sustain us. Without a healthy planet, we cannot live, grow, love. The decision we are making and will make in the next 10 - 20 years is critical in determining what kind

of a world will exist in the future. We exist on a planet where some of the resources are finite, yet we've not acted accordingly.

This field of international environmental law has prolonged swiftly in recent decades to encompass many issues of grave fundamental concern to law scholars and practitioners, environmental lawyers, and civil society. To serve these various audiences, this essay introduces the major international legal rules, and treaties apprehensive with

protecting the environment as a whole. (Woodley, 2009) (Penner, 2008). In this growing environmental catastrophe, International Environmental Law and guidelines take on added pressure and there is evident need to place environmental problems at the core of social and economic

issues. Adding up, international institutions and civil society need to play an increasing role in developing international obligations and monitoring compliance with them. The potential for law and policy to improve the environment can be

seen in some of the positive developments of recent years. (Bodansky, 2010)

Starting from how the International Environmental Law has evolved their objectives and moving to practical issues associated with the climate, then discussing the various Principles’ of general international law, Treaties and their outcomes, this paper also covers a wide range of suggestions. (Kramer) It further describes and analyses the move towards integrated protection and

ecosystem management, as well as efforts to include environmental considerations in other international legal regimes. In this analysis we also present first, a layout of the key issues, and recent changes (including any implications for future change).

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2. “Environment” Vis-À-Vis “Environmental Law”: The Notion with Boundaries

Prior to 1960’s, environment law did not exist as a discrete domestic and international legal category. Modern environmental protection has some roots in nineteenth century public health and resources conservation laws as well as private legal actions for pollution damage. Aradigm-breaking books and articles such as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and Garrett Hardin’s

‘The Tragedy of the Commons’

galvanized individual countries and the international community into action. A series of catastrophes added fuel to the environmental fire: thalidomide caused congenital deformations in babies, the Torrey Canyon spilled oil along France’s picturesque northern coast, and Swedish scientists charged that the death of fish and other organisms in thousands of the country’s lakes resulted from the long-range transport of air pollution from

Western Europe. In the 1960s, environmental issues began to emerge within countries. In the United States, this new

environmental awareness led to the adoption of the first major piece of federal environmental legislation, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 , which initiated the environmental impact statement.

The science based idea that the biosphere was a fragile system

vulnerable to human-induced impairment only became widely accepted world war II. When the idea gained wide acceptance in late 1960s, legal protection of air, water, soil, and ecosystems, such as wetlands and forests, quickly followed, particularly in USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand Since then, environmental protection has become an important element of the domestic legal systems of all developed countries and many developing ones. Since 1980s, environmental

law has also become an important and evolving component of international law. Environmental law is not well integrated into either domestic legal systems or in international law because it is a modern, parasitic field of law with minimal roots in either common law, the western constitutional

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tradition, civil law, Asian or customary law. If environmental law is said to be an emerging permanent body of law with a core of universal principles, than there needs to be a permanent paradigm shift. (Leelakrishnan, 2008) People should perceive that Earth is more

than a globe and it needs to be protected from threats to its well being both human and natural. People should recognize a commitment to care for it in perpetuity. (Gilbert F. White, 1994)

There is considerable evidence that core principles on environmental law have been widely adopted by a broad range of countries. As one surveys the laws of all countries of the world that they have made environmental protection a political priority, there is considerable uniformity in objectives, policy

instruments and basic legal principles. Reason is simple, the core problem that give rise to environmental degradation, pollution and the loss of biodiversity are basically similar throughout the world and variations in response come more at the enforcement rather than

legislative level. International environmental law has developed predominantly through the establishment and evolution of highly dynamic environmental treaty systems. Such treaty systems are issue-specific institutional structures that are purposively

established, and maintained, by their member states to govern specific area of environmental relations. Typically, they address collective action problems with a strong transnational, in some case even global, dimension. Environmental law is ultimately the product of environmentalism which can be roughly defined as a value system that seems to redefine humankind’s relationship to nature. (Newton, 2009)Specifically, environmentalism seeks to induce human to act as stewards of nature,

rather her exploiters, and therefore to respect the functioning of natural systems by limiting activities which disturb these systems.

Humans have long speculated about natural systems and their relationship to them but two attitudes, fatalism or domination,

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prevented the development of an environmental ethics and thus environmental law until well after the European Enlightenment. For centuries human beings were dependent on nature for survival and thus developed theories of their relationship to it. People were, to

varying degrees, conscious that the choices that they make about the use of nature could have an impact on society. However, by late antiquity the idea that humans could adapt, nature o their own purposes by knowledge and technology had begun to take root, although modern domination of nature is a product of the enlightenment and the industrial revolution that it produced because these two developments produced both the knowledge and the technology to modify natural

systems on a previously unprecedented scale. The ultimate objective of environmental law is to change the system of resource use incentives from those that induce unsustainable development to those that induce environmentally sustainable development. (Singh, 2011) Environmental law is thus

fundamentally a new concept with more discontinuity than continuity with past legal and intellectual traditions. Most of the values advanced by the environmental regulation are not tied to enhancement of human dignity, human welfare, the protection of

property or the maintenance of social order, rather environmentalism seeks to radically redefine the relationship between humans and nature by partially subordinating initiative to benefit two communities-ecosystem and future generation. Like all emerging areas of law, environmental law is therefore an unsystematic, synthetic and unstable mix of rules from other areas, recently enacted positive laws, and new but contested normative principle. Because

environmental law is a by-product of rise of environmentalism as a political force throughout the world since the 1960s, it has three highly linked universal primary objectives:

1. The remediation and prevention of air, water and soil pollution that causes both demonstrable damage and

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involuntarily exposes persons to socially unacceptable risk levels. (Stanley, 2011)

2. The conservation of biodiversity, landscape, heritage for present and future generation.

3. The promotion of

environmentally sustainable development.

4. Climate Change

Climate change refers to any significant change in the measures of climate lasting for an extended period of time. In other words, climate change includes major changes in temperature, precipitation, or wind patterns, among other effects, that occur over several decades or longer. Earth's average temperature has risen by 1.4°F over the past century, and is projected to rise another 2 to 11.5°F over the next hundred years. Small changes in

the average temperature of the planet can translate to large and potentially dangerous shifts in climate and weather.

Rising global temperatures have been accompanied by changes in weather and climate. Many places have seen changes in rainfall, resulting in more floods, droughts, or intense rain, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves. The planet's oceans and glaciers

have also experienced some big changes - oceans are warming and becoming more acidic, ice caps are melting, and sea levels are rising. As these and other changes become more pronounced in the coming decades, they will likely present challenges to our society and our environment. Over the past century, human activities have released large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The majority of greenhouse gases come from burning fossil fuels to produce

energy, although deforestation, industrial processes, and some agricultural practices also emit gases into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases act like a blanket around Earth, trapping energy in the atmosphere and causing it to warm. This phenomenon is called the greenhouse effect and is

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natural and necessary to support life on Earth. However, the build up of greenhouse gases can change Earth's climate and result in dangerous effects to human health and welfare and to ecosystems. The choices we make today will affect the amount of greenhouse gases we

put in the atmosphere in the near future and for years to come.

5. The Truth: Climate Change Affects Everyone

Our lives are connected to the climate. Human societies have

adapted to the relatively stable climate we have enjoyed since the

last ice age which ended several thousand years ago. A warming climate will bring changes that can affect our water supplies, agriculture, power and transportation systems, the natural environment, and even our own health and safety. Some changes to the climate are unavoidable. Carbon dioxide can

stay in the atmosphere for nearly a century, so Earth will continue to warm in the coming decades. (Louka, 2006) The warmer it gets, the greater the risk for more severe

changes to the climate and Earth's system. Although it's difficult to predict the exact impacts of climate change, what's clear is that the climate we are accustomed to be no longer a reliable guide for what to expect in the future. We can reduce the risks we will face from climate change. By making

choices that reduce greenhouse gas pollution, and preparing for the changes that are already underway, we can reduce risks from climate change. Our decisions today will

shape the world our children and grandchildren will live in.

6. Key to Crisis: Sustainable Development

The term "Sustainable Development" emerged from the Brundtland Commission entitled Our Common Future.

The World Commission on Environment and Development was initiated by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1982, and its report, Our Common Future,

was published in 1987. It was chaired by then–Prime Minister of Norway Gro Harlem Brundtland,

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thus earning the name the “Brundtland Commission.”

7. Economic Development

Sustainable development and Economic growth could be mutually exclusive if we measured both concepts with a new one that is work or human activity. Paid work, such as we know it, speeds up economic growth but does very

little to contribute to sustainable development. The idea is to revalue human activity, to find the meaning of it, to point the goals and concrete solutions realised by human work that would support sustainability. (Bosselmann, 2008) After all, human activity is something that cannot be left out of the debate on growth and development. But instead of viewing the field of work as a consequence of a possibly changed concept of development, work could be the driving force behind

choosing sustainable development over catastrophic consequences of praising economic growth.

Economic growth, measured in productivity and consumption, is actually rising with the rate of

Pollution. And again, we are caught in a circle in which we emphasise sustainable development as a solution to avoid destruction, but we see the solution in unchanged economic growth. The suggestion here is to step out of this circle by reviewing it from a distance, to

recognise the core of the problem and to give a (or part of the) solution, which favours sustainable development over economic growth.

Environmental Protection

There is much debate over how to define the term environmentally sustainable development with many definitions emphasising some, or many, of the economic, political, social and ecological dimensions associated with the term. In recent years there has been a marked shift from an emphasis on the notion of the ‘sustainability’ of socio-ecological systems to a focus on the notion of

the ‘resilience’ of the ecosystem, and people’s capacity to diversify their livelihoods to facilitate the ecosystem’s recovery from shocks and stresses. ESD, or environmentally sustainable development, is becoming

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increasingly important in our everyday life. It is our responsibility towards future generations to ensure what we enjoy today can be protected for them to enjoy in the future. ‘Environmental sustainability’ refers to the maintenance of the ecosystem and the natural resource

base. Environmental degradation signifies failure in this regard. It takes three forms: depletion of resources; pollution, or overuse of the waste-absorbing capacity of the environment; and reduction in biodiversity - a loss of some types of resources.

Social Development

‘Social Sustainability’ is the term used to refer to the social conditions necessary to support environmental sustainability (Hardoy et al. 1992). This stresses the fact that natural resources are used within a social context and that it is the rules and values

associated with this context that determine the distribution of resources within the present generation and the next.

The concept of “socially sustainable development” has

received less attention than the concept of “environmentally sustainable development”. What

would constitute socially sustainable development? I would argue that it is development that it:

meets basic needs for food, shelter, education, work, income and safe living and working conditions;

is equitable, ensuring that the

benefits of development are distributed fairly across society; (Mclntyre, 2007)

enhances, or at least does not impair, the physical, mental and social well-being of the population;

promotes education, creativity and the development of human potential for the whole population;

preserves our cultural and biological heritage, thus strengthening our sense of

connectedness to our history and environment; (Gillespie, 2007)

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promotes conviviality, with people living together harmoniously and in mutual support of each other;

is democratic, promoting citizen participation and involvement, and

Is liveable, linking "the form of

the city's public places and city dwellers' social, emotional and physical well-being". (Lenard)

Considering that the concept of sustainable development is now enshrined on the masthead of Environment magazine, featured on 8,720,000 Web pages, and enmeshed in the aspirations of countless programs, places, and institutions, it should be easy to complete the sentence, but the most widely accepted definition is creatively ambiguous:

“Humanity has the ability to make

development sustainable—to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own

needs.”

As with previous efforts, the report was followed by major international

meetings. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 (the so-called “Earth Summit”) issued a declaration of principles, a detailed Agenda 21 of desired actions, international agreements on

climate change and biodiversity, and a statement of principles on forests. (E. A. Parson and P. M. Haas, 1992). In the interim, sustainable development as a concept, as a goal, and as a movement spread rapidly and is now central to the mission of countless international organizations, national institutions, corporate enterprises, “sustainable cities,” and locales.

“The concept of sustainable development does imply restrictions—not absolute limits but limitations imposed by the present state of technology and social organization on environmental resources and by the ability of the biosphere to absorb the effects of human activities”.

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Sustainable development can be viewed as a social movement—

“A group of people with a common ideology trying

together to achieve certain general goals”

Table 1. Broad Community Sustainability Goals by Layer

8. Legislative Instruments- Convention On Climate

The Climate Change Convention is a framework convention. Its

purpose is to set the general tone

for the future climate change

discussions and to compromise in a single text the often irreconcilable interests and ideologies of state parties. Because of this reality – a reality for every framework

Layer Systems Sustainability Goals

Natural

Flora, Fauna, Water Sheds, Air , Mineral And Other Natural Resources

Protecting, Preserving And Restoring The Adaptive Capacity Of Bio- Regional Systems

Economic

Firms, Market, Economies, Currency Labour Market, Technology

Designing Built Environments

that Reduces the Consumption of Natural Resources

Social

Governance, Media, Neighbourhood Organizations, Informal Associations, Politics , Government, Education, Social Services, Art

Creating Opportunities and Capacity For Citizens to Participate in the Shaping of Their Future; And Creating Educational, Health, Human Services, Spiritual and Other System to Support Human Growth and Renewal

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convention – the convention straddles the world of firm commitments and vague hortatory articulations (Jones, 1995). Provisions include the obligation of parties to formulate, implement, and publish national and regional programs designed to mitigate

climate change and climate change effects, to promote transfer of technology, and to promote the development of sinks. The convention also provides that developed countries must report on national policies and measure to limit emissions and to increase the number of sinks within six months after the entry into force of the convention. (Sullivan, 2011)

Some have characterized convention as a comprehensive convention, in that it attempts to regulate all greenhouse gases and

not just carbon dioxide. The convention is also comprehensive because it focuses on net emissions- that are total emissions by sources minus the removal by sinks.

9. Policy Implications

An all out shift to a broad range

of adaptive response policies is

urgently needed. Climate change will force re evaluations of present day governance agreements on trade, finance, food supply, security, development, environment, and similar sectors.

Easy to understand scientific

data driven visualizations and culturally appropriate interpretations of probable future conditions are needed to facilitate realistic adaptive policy responses from all levels

of governance.

Harmonization of international, national, sub national, and local policies for the orderly resettlement of coastal

populations should begin now. This will become a chronic condition involving very large numbers of people. Improved and coordinated policies are needed for refugee services and related issues of migration and integration as well as planning for land use change and infrastructure development.

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10. Conclusion

In many countries irrespective of rich and poor it can be noticed that there is perception that sustainability is expensive to implement and ultimately a brake on development. Poor countries for their part usually lack the physical infrastructure, ideas and human capacity to integrate sustainability

into their development planning. Besides, they are often quite sceptical about rich countries’ real commitment to sustainable development and demand a more equitable sharing of environmental costs and responsibilities. Many people also believe that environmental problems can wait until developing countries are richer. It is sad that even ten years on, there is still no widely shared vision of what sustainable development might mean in practice. India sees

the idea of a light ecological footprint as part of its cultural heritage. Japan, on the other hand, is debating whether the emphasis should be on the “sustainable” or on the “development” half of the equation. (Summit, 2002)

References:

Environmental Law [Book] / auth. Bangalore N. L.. - [s.l.] : National Printing Press., 1998. - Vol. II : p. 9.

Environmental Policy: Implementation and Enforcement. [Book] / auth. Hawke Neil. - [s.l.] : Ashgate, 2002. - p. 96.

Environmental Law Handbook [Book] / auth. Sullivan Thomas F.P.. - [s.l.] : The Scarecrow Press, 2011. - 21th Edition. - 978-1-60590-725-3.

Environmental Law in India [Book] / auth. Leelakrishnan P. - [s.l.] : Lexis Nexis Butterworths Wadhwa, 2008. - 3rd Edition. - 978-81-8038-177-5.

Environmental Law in India [Book] / auth. Singh Gurdip. - [s.l.] : Macmillan Publishers India Ltd., 2011. - 1st Edition : p. 34. - 978-1403-92490-2.

Environmental Policy: Implementation and Enforcement [Book] / auth. Hawke Neil. - [s.l.] : Ashgate, 2002. - p. 12. - 0-7546-2067-0.

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Environmental Pollution International Perspective [Book] / ed. Usha A. - [s.l.] : The ICFAI University Press, 2008. - 1st Edition. - 978-81-314-1827-7.

Environmental Protection of International Water Courses under International Law [Book] / auth.

Mclntyre Owen. - [s.l.] : Ashgate, 2007. - 1st Edition. - 978-0-7546-7055-1.

Environmental Rights Law, Litigation & Access to Justice [Book] / ed. Dyssli Sven Deimann & Bernard. - [s.l.] : Cameron May London, 1995. - 1st Edition. - 1-874698-11-2.

Guide to International Environmental Law [Book] / auth. K. Shelton and A.. - [s.l.] : Martinus Nijhoff Publishers., 2007. - 1st Edition : p. 32.

Guide to International

Environmental Law [Book] / auth. Shelton Alexandre Kiss & Dinah. - [s.l.] : Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2007. - 1st Edition : p. 32. - 978-1-57105-344-2.

History of Climate Change Law and Policy [Journal] / auth. Climate

Change Peter D Cameron. - pp. 29-30.

International Environmental Law Fairness, Effectiveness and World Order [Book] / auth. Louka Elli. - [s.l.] : Cambridge University Press, 2006. - 1st Ed. : p. 356. - 978-0-521-68759-1.

Mozley & Whiteley's Law Dictionary / auth. Penner J.E.. - [s.l.] : Oxford University Press , 2008. - 12th Edition. - p. 125. - 978-0-19-954085-3.

Osborn's Concise Law Dictionary / ed. Woodley Mick. - [s.l.] : Sweet and Maxwell, 2009. - 11th Edition. - p. 165. - 978-1-84703-308-6.

Protected Areas and International Environmental Law [Book] / auth. Gillespie Alexander. - [s.l.] : Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2007. - 1st Edition. - 978-90-04-

16158-0.

Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development [Report]. - [s.l.] : The Brundtland Report, 1987.

The Art and Craft of International Environmental Law [Book] / auth.

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Bodansky Daniel. - [s.l.] : Harvard University Press, 2010. - 1st Edition : p. 57. - 978-0-674-03543-0.

The Principle of Sustainability [Book] / auth. Bosselmann Klaus. - [s.l.] : Ashgate, 2008. - 2nd Edition. - 978-0-7546-7355-2.

Australian Government Digest, Volume 2, Number 4, (1 October 1974 – 31 December 1974),

Link- http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/01/22/borrow-earth/ Accessed on 18/02/2013

Rachel Carson, SILENT SPRING (1963).

Garret Hardin, THE TRAGEDY OF COMMONS (1968).

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Critical Appraisal of National Green Tribunal Act, 2010

Muhammad Riyazul Ameen , B.A. LL. B (Hons.), Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur.

Abhinav Dahariya B.A. LL. B (Hons.), Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur.

Abstract In India some initial legislative support for creating the National Green

Tribunal already existed in the form of the National Tribunal Act 1995, though this went unimplemented, and also the National Environmental Appellate Authority Act 1997. The concept of environmental courts was initially and positively addressed in two major judgments of the Supreme Court of India. In M C Mehta v Union of India the Supreme Court stated that as environmental cases frequently involve assessment of scientific data, it was desirable to set up environmental courts on a regional basis with a legally qualified judge and two experts, to undertake relevant adjudication. Similarly, in Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v Union of Indiai the Supreme Court again floated the establishment of environmental courts with both civil and criminal jurisdiction in order to deal with environmental issues in a speedy manner.

Key words: Supreme Court, establishment, legal right, Conservation, implementation

Chapter: 1- object, origin & introduction of national green tribunal Act 2010. Object:

An Act to provide for the establishment of a National Green Tribunal for the effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources

including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected

therewith or incidental thereto. It would deal with all environmental laws on air and water pollution, the Environment Protection Act, the Forest Conservation Act and the Biodiversity Act. With this effort,

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India would join Australia and New Zealand, which have such specialized environment tribunals. It would monitor the implementation of environment laws.

Origin:

In India some initial legislative support for creating the National Green Tribunal already

existed in the form of the National Tribunal Act 1995, though this went unimplemented, and also the National Environmental Appellate Authority Act 1997. The 1997 Act authorises the limited role of examination of the complaints regarding environmental clearances. However, since 2000, no judicial members have been appointed under the 1997 Act. During the Rio De Janeiro summit of United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in June 1992, India vowed the

participating states to provide judicial and administrative remedies for the victims of the pollutants and other environmental damage.

The concept of environmental courts was initially and positively addressed in two major judgments of the Supreme Court of India. In M C Mehta v Union of India1 the Supreme Court

stated that as environmental cases frequently involve assessment of scientific data, it was desirable to set up environmental courts on a regional basis with a legally qualified judge and two experts, to undertake relevant adjudication. Similarly, in Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v Union of

India 1 the Supreme Court again floated the establishment of environmental courts with both civil and criminal jurisdiction in order to deal with environmental issues in a speedy manner. Again, in the judgment of A P Pollution Control Board v Professor M V

Nayudu1 the Court referred to the need for established environmental courts. Such courts would have the benefit of expert advice from technically qualified environmental scientists, as part of the judicial process. It was suggested that the Law Commission of India should examine this matter in detail.

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There lies many reasons behind the setting up of this tribunal. After India's move with Carbon credits, such tribunal may play a vital role in ensuring the control of emissions and maintaining the desired levels. This is the first body of its kind that is

required by its parent statute to apply the "polluter pays" principle and the principle of sustainable development.

Introduction:

National Green Tribunal Act (NGT) was established in 2010, under India's constitutional provision of Article 21, which assures the citizens of India, the right to a healthy environment under Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which affirms the right to life. The tribunal itself, is a special fast-track court to handle the expeditious disposal of the cases

pertaining to environmental issues. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) was officially passed by the legislature on 19 October 2010 with its Chairperson, Justice Lokeshwar Singh Panta taking charge of his office here. By virtue of this law,

the National Environmental Tribunal Act and the National Environment Appellate Authority Act were repealed. The legislate Act of Parliament defines the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 as follows,

An Act to provide for the

establishment of a National Green Tribunal for the effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto1.

Parliament passed the NGTA in June 20101. The NGTA implements the commitments of

India made in the Stockholm Declaration of 1972 and in the Rio Conference of 1992. India committed to take appropriate steps for the protection and improvement of the human environment and to provide effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings,

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including redress and remedies. This included also the development of national laws regarding liability and compensation for the victims of pollution and other forms of environmental damage. In addition, and for the first time, the Act recognises the judicial exegesis of

the right to environment as part of the right to life1. In consequence, the Act provides for the establishment of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The Tribunal aims to adjudicate environmental protection and forest-conservation cases in an effective and expeditious manner, which includes enforcement of any legal right relating to the environment together with available relief and compensation for damages to persons and property.

The Tribunal is ‘one element’ of a reformist approach to environmental governance. There are some 5,600 environmental related cases pending throughout India. Consequently, the government proposes to create a circuit system for the new tribunal. The main bench is to be situated at

Bhopal in recognition of the city’s disastrous industrial history 1 . There will be four regional counterparts across the country. According to the Environment Minister; the main bench of the tribunal will be in Bhopal. This way the government and parliament

could show some sensitivity to the people of Bhopal, the site of the worst industrial disaster. We can never obliterate that tragedy from our memories but by setting the national green tribunal in Bhopal, I think we would send a signal that we mean business. A circuit approach would be followed to enable access for people. The court will go to the people. People would not come to the court1.

Chapter:2- composition & jurisdiction of NGT composition:

A remarkable feature of the NGT is its composition. In view of earlier debate as to the specialist nature of environmental law and the multi-disciplinary issues

relating to the environment, the Tribunal will consist of both judicial and expert members. The

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judicial members will have been or will be judges of the Supreme Court or the High Court of India1. This reflects the significant, perceived status of the Tribunal and constitutes a commitment that the judicial bench will have the requisite legal expertise and

experience. Expert members will include either technical experts from life sciences, physical science, engineering or technology 1 . Interestingly, there appears to be no room for social scientists with appropriate specialisation or familiarity with environment or occupational risk. Members will need practical experience of not less than five years or will be an administrative expert with not less than 15 years experience of dealing with environmental matters. The minimum number of full-time

judicial and expert members will not be less than 10 with a maximum of 20 to each bench1. The Chairperson of the Tribunal will be appointed by the central government in consultation with the Chief Justice of India 1 . Members will be appointed on the recommendation of a selection

committee in such manner as may be prescribed by the central government1.

Although the ‘appointment of members’ provision appears appropriate there is a caveat. Action by the government to implement these provisions is

essential. Hopefully, there will be no repetition of its inactivity concerning the National Environmental Appellate Authority (NEAA) as described above. Although the NEAA was constituted as a quick-redress process for public grievances in relation to environmental clearances, without leadership it remained ineffective.

The ‘administrative experience of 15 years’ clause also raises significant issues based on the historic field performance of

such officers. The mismanagement and frequent failure to enforce the relevant legislative norms concerning the protection of the environment has contributed significantly to the backlog of complaints and current state of the environmental indifference. Had the enforcement officials proved

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diligent and effective in their duties, it might be argued that the need for a new procedure and tribunal might not have been so apparent. It remains to be seen whether this ‘administrative experience’ can be utilised more effectively within the new

parameters and procedures laid down in the NGT. There is a concern that these qualifications will allow the Tribunal to become a potential retirement home for senior civil servants who are not necessarily best placed to curb environmental maladministration. Much will depend upon the selection process, which must ensure that there is both transparency and accountability in the selection of tribunal membership. Public scrutiny minimises the possibility of

cronyism and will encourage independent and impartial decisions leading to effective environmental governance

Jurisdiction:

The Tribunal has original and appellate jurisdiction to settle environmental disputes. The

original jurisdiction covers all civil cases in which a substantial question relating to the environment is involved and which arises out of enactments specified in Schedule 1 of the National Green Tribunal Act1.

A substantial question

relating to the environment may be of two kinds. The first is where the community at large is affected or is likely to be affected by environmental consequences or where the gravity of damage to the environment or property is substantial or there is damage to public health as a result of direct violation of a specific statutory environmental obligation. The second relates to the environmental consequences that relate to a specific activity or point to the source of pollution1.

The Act confers significant jurisdictional powers to the Tribunal but these require clarification. For example, substantial damage to the environment needs to be quantified and public health should be defined in a tangible form whereby a consistent and uniform approach

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can be followed by the Tribunal. If precedent or guidelines are applied, this will reduce the likelihood of subjective and possibly contradictory conclusions in the determination of what constitutes the term ‘substantial’. As unreported administrative

decisions are prone to inconsistency, this is a matter of some importance. For example, there have been numerous grand judicial pronouncements concerning the environment but also some subjective statements by members of the judiciary which do not sit well with the overarching commitment to protect the environment1.

Prashant Bhushan has rightly argued that: the right to environmental protection has thus been whimsically applied by

individual judges according to their own subjective preferences usually without clear principles guiding them about the circumstances in which the court could issue a mandamus for environmental protection. It appears that when socio-economic rights of the poor come into conflict with

environmental protection the court has often subordinated those rights to environmental protection. On the other hand, when environmental protection comes into conflict with what is perceived by the court to be ‘development issues’ or powerful commercial,

vested interests, environmental protection is often sacrificed at the altar of ‘development’ or similar powerful interests 1 . The Tribunal cannot entertain an application for adjudication unless it is made within a period of six months from the date on which the cause of action in such a dispute first arose1. However, where there is sufficient cause, the Tribunal may allow a further period not exceeding 60 days. This time-limitation clause appears to be unduly restrictive in certain situations relating to health

and pollution. The effects of pollution are sometimes subtle and may take years to develop. For instance, the effects of asbestos fibres take around 20 years to manifest illness and evoke reactions. Consequently, the NGT

should be aware of long timescales before damage becomes apparent

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and must consider carefully issues of manifestation and discovery.

The Tribunal will have appellate jurisdiction against orders or decisions under the enactments specified in Schedule 1 1 . In contrast, civil courts will have no jurisdiction to entertain appeals in

respect of any matter which the Tribunal is empowered to determine under its appellate jurisdiction 1 . Significantly, this places government departments under the scrutiny of the NGT in clearing projects having environmental impacts. An important power granted to the Tribunal is its ability to impose damages for the restitution of the environment and order compensation for the damage inflicted on property and on the environment1.

Access:

The Act provides access for all

aggrieved parties to approach the Tribunal to seek relief or compensation or the settlement of environmental disputes 1 . This obviously includes a person who has sustained injury or an owner of

property to which damage has been caused or the legal representatives of the deceased where death has resulted from environmental damage. However, any person aggrieved has standing including, with the permission of the Tribunal, a representative body or

organisation functioning in the field of the environment, making the provisions sufficiently wide to allow enforcement by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) of all legal rights relating to the environment. In the original Bill, the provision in regard to access was limited in that it was silent on the right of individuals to approach the Tribunal as an aggrieved party. This evoked criticism from activists, particularly NGOs1 . It was also believed that the original Bill diluted the

objectives of both the Stockholm Declaration and the Rio Conference. The later changes to the Bill have ensured compliance, therefore, with international commitments.

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Chapter:3- procedure principles & of the tribunal Procedural issues:

The Act provides for an appeal to the Supreme Court of India by any aggrieved person concerning the award or order passed by the Tribunal1 . This right of appeal is limited to a period of 90 days from the date of communication of a decision. It can be on one or more grounds specified under s 100 of the Civil Procedure Code 1908 1 , although the Supreme Court may

allow an appeal even after 90 days if it is satisfied that sufficient cause exists. The appeal clause seeks to ensure that the Tribunal functions in accordance with the principles of fairness and does not act in a manner contrary to the public interest.

The Tribunal has the power to make such orders as to costs as it may consider necessary, including where the claim is not maintainable or false or vexatious1. On the one hand, this may act as a deterrent to

those seeking to use the Tribunal for improper personal or economic reasons but equally, imposing costs

might prove restrictive to impoverished individuals or organisations seeking to address the concerns of communities and affected peoples.

The NGTA provides a penalty for not complying with the Tribunal’s orders both for individuals and

companies. Failure on the part of an individual attracts imprisonment for three years or a fine of rupees 10 crores or both1. Corporate bodies are punishable by a fine of rupees 25 crores and relevant company officials may face personal liability1. The adequacy of corporate liability here needs re-examination in an era of corporate crime. The amount of rupees 25 crores seems to act as an insufficient deterrent in relation to irreparable environmental damage, biodiversity loss or serious injury to

public health. In a situation similar to Bhopal, the inadequacy of a fixed penalty of rupees 25 crores, unless accompanied by very strict remediation conditions, may dilute the very purpose of the Act which seeks to penalise the companies in proportion to the damage caused to present and future generations.

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Foundational principles:

It is mandatory for the Tribunal to apply the foundational principles of India’s environmental jurisprudence, namely, the principles of sustainable development, precaution and the polluter pays principle 1 . The Supreme Court has declared and reinforced this commitment in

several cases. For example, in Vellore Citizen’s Welfare Forum v Union of India, popularly known as the Tamil Nadu Tanneries Case 1 the Court dealt with the concept of ‘sustainable development’ and specifically accepted ‘the precautionary principle’ and ‘the polluter pays principle’ as part of India’s environmental law. According to the Supreme Court:

We have no hesitation in holding that sustainable development as a balancing concept between ecology and development has been accepted as a part of the customary international law though its salient features have yet to be finalised by the international law jurists. We are, however, of the view that ‘The Precautionary Principle’ and ‘The Polluter Pays Principle’ are the

essential features of ‘Sustainable Development’.

According to the Supreme Court in that case, both the ‘precautionary principle’ and the ‘polluter pays principle’ are accepted as part of the law of the land since Article 21 of the Constitution of India

guarantees protection of life and liberty1. The Court also elaborated what is meant by these principles and in particular ruled that the ‘polluter pays principle’ should be interpreted as meaning that: the absolute liability for harm to the environment extends not only to compensate the victims of pollution but also the cost of restoring the environmental degradation. Remediation of the damaged environment is a part of the process of ‘sustainable development’ and as such the polluter is liable to pay the

cost to the individual sufferers as well as cost of reversing the damaged ecology. Similarly in M C Mehta v KamalNath 1 the court observed that ‘It is thus settled by this Court that one who pollutes the environment must pay to reverse the damage caused by his acts’. When combined with the

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provisions of the Act, this case law ought to provide clear guidelines and limits to the Tribunal members and have the overall effect of strengthening the environmental regime.

Chapter:4- power & functions of the tribunal Power of the tribunal:

Section 19 (4) is concern with the power of the National Green Tribunal Act 2010. According to it following are the power vested upon the tribunal:

Sec. 19(4) The Tribunal shall have, for the purposes of discharging its functions under this Act, the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, while trying a suit, in respect of the following matters, namely:—

(a) Summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath;.

(b) Requiring the discovery and production of documents;

(c) Receiving evidence on affidavits;

(d) subject to the provisions of sections 123 and 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, requisitioning

any public record or document or copy of such record or document from any office;

(e) Issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents;

(f) Reviewing its decision;

(g) Dismissing an application for default or deciding its ex parte;

(h) Setting aside any order of dismissal of any application for default or any order passed by it ex

parte;

(i) Pass an interim order (including granting an injunction or stay) after providing the parties concerned an opportunity to be heard, on any application made or appeal filed under this Act;

(j) Pass an order requiring any

person to cease and desist from committing or causing any violation of any enactment specified in Schedule I;

(k) Any other matter which may be prescribed.

Functions of NGT

The Tribunal would have 4 circuit Benches. The Tribunal shall

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consist of both judicial and expert members. Judicial members must have been judges of the Supreme Court or High Courts. Expert members have to possess technical qualifications and expertise, and also practical experience. The Tribunal members would be chosen

by a committee.

The Tribunal shall hear only 'substantial question relating to environment'. Substantial questions are those which,

(a) affect the community at large, and not just individuals or groups of Individuals, or

(b) cause significant damage to the environment and property, or

(c) cause harm to public health which is broadly measurable.

"Persons aggrieved" who can move the courts allow for individuals to approach the

given tribunal. It also outline the "foundational principles" of polluter pays principle and principle of equity that would given the tribunal. The decisions of the tribunal can be appealed against in the

Supreme Court. The Act now specifies territorial jurisdiction. It balances the number of judicial and expert members, 10 each, with the authority to break a deadlock vesting the chairperson of the tribunal.

Key amendments in the national green tribunal bill:

This bill was passed in the Lok Sabha only after some necessary reforms were

incorporated by the environment minister Jairam Ramesh. Earlier, the bill had faced many objections from various political parties and other civil society groups.

A major amendment in the bill was incorporating benches of the tribunal on circuit basis and mobilizing these benches to make them approachable to the people living in far flung places.

Another amendment incorporated in the bill was modification of the criteria regarding those who can lodge a complaint with the tribunal.

Earlier, the bill allowed only a representative association working in the field of environment to file a case. At present, any person

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aggrieved, which also includes any representative organization, can file a case and claim for relief from the tribunal. The environment ministry has also included the three founding principles, which include:

The tribunals will adjudicate against a framework of

precautionary measures.

The liability to pay for any financial loss arising from an incident is put on the offender or the polluter.

The tribunal shall put the liability on the person or the group of persons under inquiry, to prove that their act will not cause any damage to the public or environment.

Chapter:5- problems & suggestions of the tribunal Criticism:

High Court of Chennai has been approached with a Public Interest Litigation challenging the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. A Division Bench of Madras High Court comprising Justice Elipe

Dharma Rao and Justice D.

Hariparanthaman have issued notice on the same just.

The petition has been filed by M. Naveen Kumar, a student pursuing B.A., B.L (Hons) Course at the School of Excellence in Law, The Tamilnadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai. The petition

has sought a declaration that the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 is unconstitutional. The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 enacted by the Parliament provides for constitution of the National Green Tribunal for the effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection. Naveen Kumar appearing in person submitted that the constitution of the Green Tribunal and exclusion of all environmental matters from ambit of the jurisdiction of High Court

and the Civil Courts would severely affect the right of access to justice to the poor and needy. It was further submitted that Section 3 of NGT Act only provides for constitution of a National Level Tribunal and Section 4(4) provides for circuit benches. It has been contended that there is no

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provision under the Act for providing a Tribunal for each state. This would also make it difficult for the litigants to approach the tribunal as the redressal process would be expensive, burdensome and complicated, added the petitioner.

Pointing out that the procedure for appointment of the members of the tribunal, especially the expert members is not in accordance with the well settled principles of law, the petitioner sought the High Court to grant interim direction thereby directing the Union Government not to appoint any further members, including expert members in constituting the National Green Tribunal and not to transfer any pending or fresh matters from the High Court to the Tribunal.

The petitioner contended that the exclusion of the power vested in the High Court under Article 227 to exercise judicial superintendence over decision of all courts and tribunals within their respective jurisdiction by Section 22 of the Act is also illegal,

unconstitutional and is against well settled principles of law.

Noticeably, another litigation arising out of an order of the Delhi High Court is pending before the Supreme Court of India where the government has assured the Apex Court to make

appointments at the tribunal to make it functional. However, In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of Section 1 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (19 of 2010), the Central Government hereby appoints the 18th day of October, 2010, as the date on which all the provisions of the said Act shall come into force.

Suggestions:

According to a critique by The Access Initiative-India (TAI-India), a global civil society coalition, the National Green Bill suffers the following limitations. The problems, along with their

suggested solutions, include:

The name “National Green Tribunal,” as provided in Clause (1) must be changed to “National Environmental Tribunal Bill.”

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There must be a tangible method for measuring or substantiating the impact on environment or public health - Clause 2 (1) (m).

The bill must mention a fixed time period for the law to come into effect.

The bill must specify that the tribunal can be considered functional only if it has a mix of judicial and technical members, the chairperson included. (Clause 3 and 4)

Bill must have the power to revoke clearance granted in terms of compensation of damaged property

Clause 16 (i) refers to “aggrieved person” as someone affected by action under the Forest (Conservation) Act and Water Act. However, this may

end up benefiting violators, such as mining companies and industrialists. Hence, this provision must be deleted.

Clause 18 (2) e vests too much discretion in the Tribunal, thus increasing chances of its

misuse. Hence, the suggestion for deleting this clause.

Clause 21 states that the decision of the tribunal is final. This, however, must be changed to provide for an appeal against its decision before the Supreme Court.

Imposing of cost against litigants should be removed, since this may discourage people from approaching the body.

In fact, the bill requires complete reconsideration, deliberation and redrafting so that it meets the aims of securing environmental justice and offering relief to those affected by environmental degradation.

Conclusion:

It is interesting that the debate in India has focused on the technical and scientific content of the subject matter before the courts in environmental cases. The

composition of the National Green Tribunal itself reflects this approach. One might argue that the technical content is no greater in this area than other areas of law

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(such as intellectual property or competition law) 1 . However, the true case in India may be that scientific expertise on the Tribunal itself produces an equality of arms and prevents powerful, corporate interests from outgunning claimants in producing expertise

which claimants cannot match in what is often public interest litigation.

It will be interesting to see both the type and volume of cases coming forward to the National Green Tribunal in India. This experience will also test the drawing of the boundaries in the Act in terms of what can be seen as ‘environmental’ and also, in an era of sustainable development, the extent to which environmental issues can be ring-fenced from wider social and economic concerns.

Finally, as suggested by comments on the composition of the National Green Tribunal, there is no guarantee of resolution of wider systemic problems of environmental enforcement in India or of freedom from capture of the Tribunal by narrow sectoral interests. This suggests that the

National Green Tribunal is unlikely to be a panacea for all environmental ills, but it could provide a lead in terms of new forms of environmental dispute resolution and do much to further the lead already given by the Sup development, the extent to which

environmental issues can be ring-fenced from wider social and economic concerns.

References:

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Menace of Electronic Waste: An inquiry into a need for effective and efficient Legal framework

Ashish Patel, Manasi Khare, BBA. LLB (H), National Law University Odisha, Cuttack

Abstract

Electronic waste (E-waste) in the context of solid wastes can be defined as the wastes which resulted by the electronic gadgets or system used for domestic, commercial and institutional purpose. The implications of the electronic wastes on the environment directly affect the human beings as well as disturb the ecological balance. Therefore for the sustenance of better survival there must be some framework or structure to limit the implications of the electronic waste. This paper will examine the separate legal framework under the existing Environment Protection Act to curb and control this problem. The paper will argue for the rights and protection of the workers who work for collecting the E-waste and then recycle them. The toxic substance and gases affect the physical and mental health of the workers. The paper will include the environmentally sound E-waste system which can be used for better disposal of waste and the protection of environment. The paper will analyse the pro and cons of Hazardous Waste Rules, 1989 which include the E-waste but do not provide any sufficient provisions or framework to regulate the E-waste system. The paper will analyse the existing international framework relating to the E-waste system and how other developed and developing counties are measuring and controlling the E-waste problem. At the end the paper will come up with some suggestions and recommendations.

Key words: Electronic waste, environment, Human beings, environment, natural resources

1. Introduction:

In the current age clean

environment is an essential requirement for the sustenance of healthy life. Human beings and environment are closely related to

each other. The degradation of environment will eventually lead to the end of human, animal and natural existence. Human beings and nature are inextricably connected and this fact has led to

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the view that protection of nature is prerequisite for the survival of mankind. However the ecology is getting affected in the name of development and electronic waste is one of the outcomes of development in the field of information and technology.

The contemporary world is ‘techno-savvy’. 1 In fact, electronics have become an integral part of twenty first century lifestyle. The world has witnessed an astounding change from transistor and black and white television to the high-tech world of computers such as desktop, laptops, notebooks, and palmtops, 3G mobile phones, and the new sensation, that is, the iPhone.2

The reaction of chemical substances of electronic items and the electronic mechanism lead to

the ecological disturbance and create the situations which affect the life of human beings. Like Lead and cadmium are found in printed circuit boards; lead oxide in cathode ray tubes which can cause brain damage, retardation, and impairment of cognitive and behavioural development, silicosis

cadmium can cause renal damage and severe ecological damage and atmosphere pollution.3 . A survey of 2011 revealed that some 53 million tons of electronic waste was generated worldwide in 2009 and only about 13% of it was recycled.4

So the mounting pressure of

environment pollution is alarming the requisite of such an electronic waste disposal system which can attribute to the protection of environment and can be used to eradicate the hazardous substances and chemical from the environment. This paper will subsequently discuss with the reflection and negative implication of E-waste and what are the suitable steps which can be taken to reduce the E-waste pollution. The Supreme Court of India has adopted the Basel Convention and

said that in the light of the conditions provided in the Basel Convention Technical Guidelines on ‘Trans boundary Movements of Electronic and Electrical Waste’, the Digital Multifunction Print and Copying Machines are not in the restricted category, at present.5

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2. Harmful Effects of Mounting E-waste Scrape on Human and Environment

Human who work in E- Waste recycling plants are known to suffer from many health issues. As some of the constituents of E- waste are very harmful for the humans such as Arsenic, Cadmium, and Chromium etc. Skin disease, lung cancer, brain damage, kidney disease and abortion are some of the harmful effects that they face.6

According to a group of scientists

who studied about the effect of E-waste in those areas, have discovered that in Guiyu which is the biggest E-waste recycling centre in China, has the highest level of cancer causing dioxin and abortion rate in the world. 7 Not

only adults that are affected, the children in that area are also suffering as well.8 The lead Levels in blood can result in lowered intelligence, reading and learning disabilities, impaired hearing, reduce attention span, hyperactivities and antisocial

behaviour.9

"When we burn, the smoke brings disease, so we don't like it. We need the smoke to come down, it is difficult, and we get sick." Mohamed Hassan, a scrap metal scavenger in Accra told Greenpeace. 10 Children reported constant respiratory complaints. Doctors warned that the longer-term toxic effects could harm brain development, the nervous systems and the children's developing reproductive systems.11

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Table: E-waste Toxin and Affected Human Body Parts

Components Constituents Affected Body Parts Printed circuit boards Lead and cadmium

Beryllium Nervous system, kidney, lever

Motherboards Lead oxide, barium and cadmium

Lungs, skin

Cathode ray tubes (CRTs)

Mercury Heart, lever, muscles

Switches and flat-screen monitors

Cadmium Brain, skin

Computer batteries Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

Kidney, lever

Capacitors and transformers

Brominated flame-retardant casings cable

Kidney, lever

Printed circuit boards, plastic

Polyvinyl chloride Kidney, lever

Cable insulation/coating Plastic housing

Bromine Immune system

Source: Electronic For You12

The most common form of cadmium is found in Nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries. These batteries tend to contain between 6 and 18% cadmium. The sale of Nickel-Cadmium batteries

has been banned in the European Union except for medical use. 13 When not properly recycled it can leach into the soil and harm microorganisms and disrupting the soil ecosystem.14 Exposure is caused

by proximity to hazardous waste sites and factories and workers in the metal refining industry. The inhalation of cadmium can cause severe damage to the lungs and is also known to cause kidney

damage.15 This is the dismal state of the people working in E- waste plants. That is why bringing us to the conclusion that effective steps need to be taken to tackle this growing problem.

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Table: How much waste is in 500 million Computers?16

Plastic 6.32 Billion Pounds

Lead 1.58 Billion Pounds

Cadmium 3 Million Pounds

Chromium 1.9 Million Pounds

Mercury 632,000 Pounds

1 Pound = 0.4536 Kilograms

3. Legislation related to an effective E-waste system:

The increasing density of electronic waste on the earth is giving rise to the ecological disturbance and the threat for the human and natural survival. Electronic waste affects the surrounding environment and causes major environmental problems. To curb ecological and human problems, it is essential for the government to come up with

concrete solution so that a healthy environment can be attained.17 The Court has observed that if the reusable computers have to be refurbished and if the non-functional computers have to be made re-usable it will result in heavy amount of e-waste generation.18

The ministry of Environment and forest under the government of India issues the rules in 2011 called as the E-waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2011, which deeply discussed the each and every

aspect of e-wastes. Prior to 2011 e-waste rules, there was Hazardous Waste Rules, 1989, which included the E-waste but do not provide any sufficient provisions or framework to regulate the E-waste system. The detail analyses of this rules is discussed below.

3.1. E-waste (management & handling) Rules, 2011:

A major concern of the 2011 rules is to reduce the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment by specifying threshold for use of hazardous material including lead, mercury

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and cadmium etc. in the rule 3 (1) (k) E-waste is defined as e-waste means electrical and electronic equipment, whole or in part or

rejects from their manufacturing and repair process, which are intended to be discarded. 19 The 2011 e-waste rules have been categorised in VI chapters which are discussed below.

3.1.1 Responsibilities of Producer and collection centre:

Rule 4 20 describes the responsibilities of the producer, who involves in the manufacturing

and the assembling of the electronic and electrical equipment. It is the producer responsibilities for the collection of e-waste and channelizing it for recycling or disposal. This rule talks about the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). EPR can be understood as extending the responsibility of producers beyond the factory gates and creating economic incentives to

achieve set targets for collection re-use and recycling, manufacturers should become more aware of the issues related to the end-of-life

management of their products. 21 Rule 4 (4) describes financing and organising a system to meet the costs involved in the environmentally sound management of e-waste generated from the ‘end of life’ of its own products and historical waste

available on the date from which these rules come into force. The financing arrangement of such a system shall be transparent. The producer may choose to establish such a system either individually or by joining a collective scheme. 22 The producer is duty bound to mention the information related to handling, hazardous constituent, accidental breakage instructions and affixing a visible and legible symbol which contains the usage of equipment and do’s and don’ts instructions.23 The collection centre

is bound to follow the procedure mentioned by the pollution control board and he is required to ensure that the e-waste collected by them is stored in a secured manner till it is sent to registered dismantlers or recycler.24

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3.1.2 Responsibilities of Dismantler and Recycler:

Every dismantler is required to be authorised and registered within the norms of the state pollution control board. While doing dismantling, it must be ensure that no environment damage is caused and no scope is left for polluting the ecological system. At the time of storage and transportation of the e-waste, the probability increases to

disturb the ecological balance. Rule 7 of the 2011 e-waste rules defines the responsibilities of the dismantler. It covers that the dismantling process do not have any adverse effect on the health and environment and for looking into this matter every dismantler is bound to follow the procedure of the pollution control board and ensure that the method which they are following is the registered and reliable method. There must be regular checking of the dismantler and the proceeding so that if any

fault is found out, can be corrected at the time for the prevention of big tragedy. The dismantler is bound to maintain the quality for the sake of

protection of environment and the humanity.

Like the dismantler, every recycler is bound to obtain the authorization and registration from the state pollution control board. Rule 8 (2) says that the recycler must ensure that the facility and

recycling processes are in accordance with the standards laid down in the guidelines published by the central pollution control board from time to time. The recycle plant is also bound to maintain the standard of quality in the recycling process and must adopt the adequate measure for the successful completion of the process.

3.1.3 Procedure for seeking authorization and registration for handling E-waste:

Rule 9, 10 and 11 of 2011 e-waste rules contain the whole procedure for the granting and termination of the authorization and termination for handling E-waste. Rule 9 describes the

procedure for grant of authorization. It says every producer of electrical and electronic

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equipment listed in schedule I of the 2011 rule, collection centre, dismantler and recycler of e-waste shall obtain an authorization from the state pollution control board or pollution control committee of union territories and they are required to make an application

within the 3 months of the commencement. After receiving the application the pollution board or committee will inquire into the appropriate facilities, technical capabilities and mechanism to handle the e-waste. Under the rule 9 (8) the state pollution control board in case of a respective state or the pollution control committee in case of union territories shall maintain a register containing particulars of the conditions imposed under these rules for environmentally sound

management of e-waste, and it shall be open for inspection during office hours to any person interested or affected or a person authorized by him on his behalf.25

The state pollution control board or the pollution control committee has power to terminate the authorization on the ground of

non-compliance of the conditions or any provisions of the act or violation of any procedure or hiding the material facts related to the e-waste, which may result into the disasters. The board or committee will give the reasonable chance to heard the part and will issue the

show cause notice for seeking the answer that why your authorization or registration should not be terminated or cancelled. And the person against whom the action is taken is bound to follow the directions of the pollution control committee or board.26

3.1.4. Reduction in the use of hazardous substances in the manufacture of electronic and electrical equipment:

The producer of electrical and electronic equipment is duty bound to ensure that the equipment does not contain the hazardous substance like Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Hexavalent, Chromin, Polybrominated Biphenyles. E-waste contains toxic substances that have an adverse impact on

human health and the environment

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if not handled properly. These hazardous arise due to the improper recycling and disposal process. It can have serious repercussions for those in proximity to places where e-waste is recycled or burnt. E-waste from the white and brown goods is less

toxic as compared with grey goods. A computer contains highly toxic chemicals like lead, cadmium, mercury and phosphorous compounds.27

In the 21st century the IT and electrical sector have achieved a lot and discovered the many new technical equipments , which are impossible to manufacture without using the mentioned substances. Provided that the producer must use at the minimum concentration of these hazardous substances so that it should not affect the

environment. The rule 13 (1) provides the use of quantity. It says a maximum concentration value of 0.1% by weight in homogenous materials for Lead, mercury, hexavalent chrimum, polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyle ethers and of 0.01% by weight in

homogenous materials for cadmium shall be permitted. 28

By this legislation it can be said that by require adequate and proper control measure the menace of e-waste can be handled. In developing nations like India, there are additional problems including

the dumping of hazardous waste from foreign nations. An example of this is when Supreme Court Monitoring Committee (SCMC) found that a Danish ship carrying hazardous waste was beached at the Alang ship-breaking yard in Gujarat.29 The carrying of the toxic waste was noticed by the Government of Denmark and they ordered the ship to remain there till its decontamination was complete. But the ship changed its name and went to India. The SCMC ordered it to return to its

country of origin.30 In case of non-functioning of the electric machines or equipment, the same should also be certified by the Chartered Engineer as these machines may have to be categorized as e-waste and have to be handled as per the Hazardous Waste Rules as

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they have to be treated as hazardous waste.31

4. The International Conventions and Framework Vis-à-vis E-waste Issue

4.1 History and need for the Convention:

"I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that ... I've always thought that under populated countries in Africa are vastly under-polluted."32

This statement was released from a memo of the chief economist of the World Bank and they had created a global outcry about the

ruthless insensitivity with which the ‘developed’ countries operate. The economic logic and convenience of the export of hazardous wastes from the rich industrialized countries of the North to the poorer less-industrialized countries of the South had already become amply clear to the global community before Mr. Summers wrote his infamous memo.33 Beginning in the mid-1980s headlines began

appearing announcing the discoveries of barrels of mixed industrial poisons dumped on tropical beaches, and vessels laden with toxic trash plying the coastlines of developing countries searching for a port-of-call. 34 Also certain developed countries

involved in exporting these waste materials for recycling to the other developing/ under developed countries.35

The Convention was initiated in response to numerous international scandals regarding hazardous trafficking that began to occur in late 1980s. 36 After two years of negotiations involving 116 countries, a conference convened under the auspices of UNEP adopted the Basel Convention on the Control of trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes

and their Disposal in 1989.37 As the developed countries progressed in their use of electronic goods and equipment, it became more and more evident that there needs to be an appropriate system of disposal of used, worn out equipment.

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4.2 The Basel Convention:

The Basel Convention establishes a global notification and consent system for the trans- boundary shipments of hazardous and other wastes among parties and requires Parties to manage and dispose of waste in an environmentally sound manner, providing the impetus for many

nations to revise or enact for the first time laws governing the import and export of dangerous wastes. It also prohibits Parties from trading in covered wastes with non- Parties.38

Basic Obligations of the Convention:

The convention places conditions on the export and import of covered wastes as well as strict notice, consent and tracking requirements for the trans-boundary movement of wastes. The United States is a non-party and, as a result, many countries that are parties to the convention are prohibited from exporting wastes to

or importing wastes from the US. This convention also commits parties to honour import bans

adopted by other parties and many governments have gone beyond the requirements of this convention to ban the import of certain hazardous wastes into their national territory.39

Parties are prohibited from exporting or importing hazardous

or other wastes if the exporting or importing country has a reason to believe that the wastes would not be managed in an “environmentally sound manner”. 40 Parties are also required to ensure that trans-boundary movements are only allowed where: a) the exporting country does not have the technical capacity or facility to dispose of the wastes in an environmentally sound manner; or b) the wastes being exported are required as a raw material for recycling or recovery in the state of import.41

Even where waste exports are allowed, Basel establishes a global written notice and consent regime for the trans-boundary movement of dangerous wastes. Parties may not initiate the export of such wastes without written confirmation. The notification must contain specific information

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identified in Annex V (A)42 of the convention, including information on the exporter of the material, generator of material, disposer of the material, intended carriers, competent authorities, and means of transport and content of material. 43 The waste shipments

must be accompanied by a movement document and must comply with applicable international packaging and labelling requirements. Parties are also obligated to re- import wastes under certain circumstances where wastes cannot be managed in an environmentally sound manner in a receiving country and in instances of illegal traffic. 44

Basel Ban Amendment:

Following the adoption of the Basel Convention, the negotiations on the introduction of a total or partial ban on trans-

boundary movements of hazardous wastes continued in the framework of the COP. They resulted in the adoption by COP 3 in 1995 of the Amendment to the Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (hereinafter

referred to as “the Ban Amendment”). 45

The Ban Amendment provides for the prohibition of exports of all hazardous wastes covered by the Convention that are intended for final disposal, reuse, recycling and recovery from

countries listed in annex VII to the Convention (Parties and other States which are members of the OECD, EC, Liechtenstein) to all other countries. But however, due to certain controversies the Ban Amendment has not yet entered into force. The evolution of the membership of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the emergence of new waste streams and techniques for recycling and resource recovery, and the increasing availability of state-of-

the-art recycling facilities in non-OECD countries has added new dimensions to the problem.46

Informal discussions were initiated at COP 9 in 2008 to identify a way to enable the entry into force of the Ban Amendment while addressing the concerns and needs of all countries in this

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context. The Basel Protocol on Liability and Compensation for Damage resulting from Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (hereinafter referred to as “the Basel Protocol”) was adopted by COP 5 in 1999. The Basel Protocol

regulates civil liability for damage resulting from the trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes and other wastes, including incidents occurring as a result of illegal traffic. 47 Each phase of a trans- boundary movement, from the point at which the wastes are loaded to their export, international transit, import and final disposal, is covered. Delegates at COP 5 also agreed on an interim arrangement to cover emergency situations until the Protocol enters into force. COP 6 approved the

Interim Guidelines for the Implementation of decision V/32 on the Enlargement of the scope of the Technical Cooperation Trust Fund.48

4.3 The Bamako Convention:

The Bamako Convention on the Ban of Import into Africa and the Control of Trans- boundary

Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa was signed by all 51 members of the Organization for African Unity (OAU, now known as African Union) on January, 1991 in Bamako, Mali. The Convention essentially bans the import of

hazardous waste generated outside of Africa. 49

Objectives: The objectives of the

Bamako Convention are to protect human health and the environment from dangers posed by hazardous wastes by reducing their generation to a minimum in terms of quantity and/or hazard potential.50

The OAU states argued that Basel failed to address adequately three important problems: 1) How to control shipments of mixed waste; 2) How to address instances where an importing State fails to dispose adequately of the waste;

and 3) How to prevent forgery and bribery from circumventing Basel’s notice and consent provisions.51

Despite initially refusing to sign the Basel Convention, African Countries could still receive waste from Basel parties through Basel’s

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Article 11 exception for exports by a party to a non- party pursuant to a separate bilateral or multilateral agreement. To eliminate this possibility, the OAU made use of Basel’s Article 4 provision forbidding a Party from shipping waste to a State that has banned all

hazardous waste imports or that belongs to an economic integration organization that has done so. Art. 4(2)(e).52

Bamako requires all Parties to prohibit under their own domestic law the importation of hazardous waste from outside Africa. The convention also requires Parties to adopt laws prohibiting the dumping of hazardous waste at sea or in territorial water, exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and continental shelf of each party.

This provision also declares ay dumping of hazardous wastes at sea, including incineration, to be illegal.53 Art. 4(2)(a). It exceeds the restrictions of Basel and could outlaw the kind of ocean dumping practiced in the Khian Sea incident, where a ship loaded with hazardous incinerator ash allegedly dumped

its cargo at sea after being refused docking rights by several nations. Bamako’s scope is broader than Basel’s.54

A waste will fall under the scope of the Convention if it is within the category of wastes listed in Annex I of the Convention and it

does exhibit one of the hazardous characteristics contained in Annex III.55 In other words it must both be listed and contain a characteristic such as being explosive, flammable, toxic, or corrosive. The other way that a waste may fall under the scope of the Convention is if it is defined as or considered to be a hazardous waste under the laws of either the exporting country or the importing country or any of the countries of transit.56

4.4 The Waigani Convention:

Objective of the Convention:

The Waigani Convention is a treaty that bans the exporting of

hazardous or radioactive waste to Pacific Islands Forum countries, and prohibits Forum island countries from importing such waste.57

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The overall objective is to protect, preserve and improve the environment of the South Pacific and the health of all peoples in the region by prohibiting the importation of hazardous and radioactive wastes into Pacific Island Developing Parties, and to

regulate and facilitate the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes in the region.

The objective of the Waigani Convention is to stop the import of hazardous and radioactive waste into the South Pacific region, to minimise production within the region and to ensure the environmentally sound management and disposal of already existing waste.58

The Waigani Convention provides a mechanism to stop waste

traders from using the South Pacific as a highway for hazardous waste or as a waste dump. Once party becomes the signatory of Waigani Convention than the country is eligible for technical and financial assistance to help in the management of hazardous or nuclear waste.59 There by creating

an effective regional mechanism to facilitate the clean-up of hazardous and radioactive waste.60

The Waigani Convention consists of 13 including countries such as Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, New Zealand, Niue,

Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.61

Obligations and rights:

Through the Waigani Convention, members agree to;

Provide the secretariat

information regarding any illegal activity on the importation of hazardous wastes and radioactive waste within areas under its jurisdiction, which will be co shared with other member states.

Ban the dumping of Hazardous

wastes and radioactive waste at sea

Within a member state

convention area, parties are obliged to ensure the production of hazardous waste

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is reduced at its source at a minimum, and to ensure that the disposal of waste is done in an environmentally sound manner and close to source as possible

Effective protective

mechanisms to stop waste traders from dumping waste into the Pacific and to clean up hazardous wastes in the region.

Agreeing to the Waigani

Convention also recognizes member states with other international convention such as the Basel Convention which serves as the primary international instrument governing the Trans boundary

movement of hazardous waste62.

The Convention covers the land territory, internal waters, territorial sea, continental shelf, archipelagic waters and

exclusive economic zones (EEZs) established in accordance with international law of 24 countries, including Forum Island Countries (FICs), Australia and New Zealand (referred to as Other Parties). It

also encompasses those areas of high seas which are enclosed from all sides by Parties’ EEZs, and other areas of the Pacific Ocean as may be included in the Convention Area (Article 1).63

5. E-waste Mechanism System of other Nations

5.1 E-waste Framework in the European Countries (WEEE):

In the European Countries they have directive on Waste Electronics and Electrical Equipment known as WEEE Directive. This directive came into force because of mounting

electronic waste in the European nations. 64 So as a result some member countries had formed their own legislation to control the e-waste which resulted into the common European countries directive for e-waste.65

The mission of WEEE forum is to provide for a platform for co-operation and exchange of best practices in e-waste mechanism. In doing so, optimise the effectiveness of the operations of the member organisations, while

striving for excellence and

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continuous improvement in environmental performance. 66 The WEEE forum seeks to be a centre of competence that allows members to make constructive contributions to the general debate on e-waste policy matters.67

The purpose of the WEEE

Directive is to prevent waste from arising, as well as to increase rates of re-use, recycling and recovery. It also aims to improve the environmental performance of producers, distributors and consumers involved in the life cycle of electrical and electronic equipment.68 After August 13, 2005, producers will be responsible for financing the collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally-sound disposal of waste from their own products.

WEEE directive involves

that system for the treatment of WEEE (which must be financed by producers) must use the best available treatment, recovery and recycling techniques. 69 They may operate by individual companies or be set up as part of a collective scheme involving a number of producers. As a minimum,

treatment is to include the removal of all fluids, plus appropriate treatment for specified forms of WEEE, e.g. the removal of batteries and components containing mercury.70

5.2 E-waste Framework of the USA:

United State of America is the world leader in producing the electronic waste about 3 million tons each year followed by china

producing 2.3 million tons. 71 Producing the largest amount of e-waste, USA is not a signatory of Basel Convention. The National Safety Council estimates that 250 million computers will become obsolete by 2009, and cell phones will be discarded at a rate of 130 million per year. 72 Environment Protection Agency (EPA) is the main body which regulates and keep eye on the environment pollution and seeks the way to reduce it. It issues the notifications and direction which are must to

follow by the people or corporation for the reduction of the environment pollution.73

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EPA has launched the plug-In to eCycling campaign, which seeks to increase the national recycling rate for used electronics. EPA is working with electronics manufacturers, retailers, and government agencies to reduce the environmental impacts of electronic

products during their production, use and disposal.74

The agency is implementing the e-cycling campaign through partnerships with industry, states, and environmental groups and through training, outreach, and technology assistance for business, governments, and citizen groups.75 The EPA in the assistance of the government keep changes the fee of recycling for providing the better method and policies. 76 The court has also determined that the EPA could not "extend the reach" of the

terms "solid waste" and "hazardous waste" to reach products that was still in functional reuse.77

In the USA, when electronic wastes are disposed, regulatory requirements under the federal or state hazardous waste programme will apply. There is Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

(RCRA) which sets forth a framework for the management of non-hazardous solid wastes. 78 Generators who send electronic wastes for disposal must make a hazardous waste determination, and if the e-waste exhibits a hazardous characteristics, then it

must be manifested and disposed in a permitted RCRA landfill.79

6. Conclusion

The effects of E-waste are considered as serious problem for the ecological balance. The mounting e-waste scraps is mounting the pressure on the environment and polluting the environment. In the 21st century, rapid development in the field of information technology and electronics, are also giving the major problem of E-waste. Computers and electronics equipments are designed without giving sufficient attention to the

aspects such as downstream impacts, and the ease of recycling. Thus, their dismantling is also extremely labour-intensive. 80 The hazardous substances present in the electronic and electrical equipment gives raise the

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hazardous pollutants which ultimately affects the environment. There are many technologies have been developed to curb the E-waste like the process of recycling and dismantler.

In the E-waste (Management and Handling ) Rules

2011, there is proper procedure has been described for getting the authorization and registration for the recycling plant and what method and precaution must be employed so that during the recycling process the environment does not get affected. The paper has discussed about the E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011 which describes the responsibilities on the producers, customers, dismantler and recycling plant. In spite of Indian e-waste Handling and Management

rules, there are international convention which particularly

focuses on the curbing and controlling the E-waste problems like Basel Convention, Bamako Convention and Waigani Convention. Other than this the European countries have adopted their separate law and directive which specially deals with the

electronic waste. The directive is known WEEE. The USA has Environment Protection Agency to control the environment pollution. It also controls the hazardous substances which may result into the environment pollutants and affects the environment.

We must undoubtedly be pro- development but for every step that we take forward we must ensure that nothing that we have left behind causes any worry to our progeny. So constantly keeping a watch on how best we can handle

the waste.

1 P.B. Sahasranaman, Handbook of Environmental Law, 254 (1st ed. 2009)

2 Ibid at 253

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3 “World resources institute” available at http://earthtrends.wri.org/features/view_feature.php?theme=3&fid=66

4 Ibid.

5 M/s. Anand Impex v. The Commissioner of Customs, (Seaport-Imports), 2012(192) ECR 3 (Madras)

6 Nanditha Krishna, “E- Waste: The dirty side of the digital World”, 13 (1st ed. 2004)

7 Ibid.

8 Ibid.

9 Vivek Vichare, “Harmful Effects of E waste”, Available at http://neurology.healthkosh.com/articles/post/e-waste-harmful-effects-67/

10 Mike Pflanz, “Toxic e-waste dumped in Africa harming Children”, available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2510712/Toxic-e-waste-dumped-in-Africa-harming-children.html

11 ibid

12 Sharma Pramila, Fulekar M.H. and Pathak Bhawana, “E-Waste- A Challenge for Tomorrow”, 89 Research Journal of Recent Sciences Vol. 1 (3)

2012 available at http://www.isca.in/rjrs/archive/v1i3/14.ISCA-RJRS-2012-041_Done.pdf

13 “Water Treatment Solution: Health effects of Cadmium”, available at http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/cd.htm#ixzz1MpuZHWfr

14 Ibid

15 Ibid

16 Research Unit (Larrdis) Rajya Sabha Secretariat New Delhi, “E-Waste in India” 25, available at

http://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/publication_electronic/E-Waste_in_india.pdf

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17 Shivam International, Sidhivinayak Corporation, Mahaveer Enterprises and JM International v. Commissioner of Customs, 2011 (272) ELT 693 (NULL)

18 Ibid

19 The E-waste (Management and Handling ) Rules 2011, §3 (1) (k)

20 Ibid § 4

21 Chris van Rossem, Naoko Tojo, Thomas Lindhqvist, “Extended Producer Responsibility: An examination of its impact on innovation and greening products”, available at http://www.greenpeace.org/international/PageFiles/24472/epr.pdf (last visited 15th March 2013)

22 Supra note at 19, §4 (4)

23 Supra note at 19, § 6

24 Supra note at 19, § 6

25 Supra note at 19 §9 (8)

26 Supra note at 19, §10 (1) and §10 (2)

27 See Justice T S Doabia “Environmental & Pollution Laws in India “, 713 (2nd ed. 2010 )

28 Supra note at 19, § 13 (1)

29 P.B. Sahasranaman, “Handbook of Environmental Law”, 257 (1st ed. 2009); See also Down to Earth, 30 June 2005 (Magazine published by society for environmental publications, New Delhi)

30 Ibid at 258

31 Vinay Auto Copier Machine and Ors. v. Union of India (UOI), 2011(274)ELT33(Mad.)

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32 Office Memorandum from Lawrence M. Summers, Ext. 33774, Subject: GEP, the World Bank/IFC/MIGA, 12 Dec. 1991

33 Jim Puckett, “The Basel Ban: A Triumph Over Business-As-Usual” available at http://ban.org/about_basel_ban/jims_article.html

34 Ibid

35 David Hunter, Salzman, Zaelke, “International Environmental Law and Policy”, 947 (4th ed. 2011)

36 “About the Basel Convention” available at http://www.ban.org/about-the-basel-convention/

37 Ibid.

38 James Salzman, “International Environmental Law and Policy”, 948 (4th ed. 2011).

39 UNEP, Basel Convention, “Minimizing Hazardous Wastes: A simple guide to the Basel Convention”, available at http://archive.basel.int/pub/simp-guide.pdf

40 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,

‘Trade Measures in The Basel Convention on The Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal” 27 Joint Session of Trade

and Environment Experts 28-May-1998 available at http://www.oecd.org/trade/envtrade/36789048.pdf

41 Ibid

42 Annex V (A) of the Basel Convention. available at www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/international/basel3.htm

43 Supra note at 36.

44 Ibid

45 About the Basel Convention available at http://ban.org/about_basel_ban/what_is_basel_ban.html

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46 Katharina Kummer Peiry, “Basel Convention On The Control Of Transboundary

Movements Of Hazardous Wastes And Their Disposal” Available at: http://untreaty.un.org/cod/avl/pdf/ha/bcctmhwd/bcctmhwd_e.pdf

47 Ibid

48 Ibid

49 Ibid at 965

50 Objectives of Basel Convention available at http://www.imo.org/blast/mainframemenu.asp?topic_id=1514&doc_id=7607

51 See John Ovink, “Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste, the Basel and Bamako Conventions: Do third World Countries Have a Choice?”, 13 Dick. J. Int’l 281 , 285

52 Ibid at 966

53 Russell H. Shearer, “Comparative analysis of the Basel and Bamako conventions on hazardous waste” Available at: https://litigationessentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&doctype=cite&docid=23+Envtl.+L.+141&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&key=2fd199cbf2f6bf3263ed328734a53454

54 IBID

55 Bamako Convention on the ban on the Import into Africa and the Control of Trans boundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa 1991, §1(a)

56 Ibid at §1 (b)

57 See “The Waigani Convention 2001”, available at http://www.saicm.org/ich/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33153:waigani-convention22&catid=243&Itemid=653 (Last visited 17 March 2013).

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58 See “About the Basel Convention”, available at http://ban.org/about_basel_ban/jims_article.html

59 Waigani convention to ban the importation into forum countries of hazardous and radioactive wastes and to control the trans-boundary movements and management of hazardous wastes within the south pacific region, available at http://www.ntn.org.au/cchandbook/waig_c5.html 2013)

60 Ibid

61 See “Treaties and International Law”, available at http://www.mfat.govt.nz/Treaties-and-International-Law/03-Treaty-making-process/2-National-Interest-Analyses/0-Waigani-Convention.php (Last Visited on 17 March 2013).

62 “Waigani Convention”, available at http://www.environment.gov.fj/waigani-convention

63 “Progress Regarding Waigani Convention Work Program”, available at

http://www.sprep.org/attachments/2012SM23/english/waigani-convention/6WCOP.4.4_-_Report_on_work_done_under_Waigani.pdf

64 European Association of Electrical and Electronic Waste: taking on Europe’s electronic waste challenge available at http://www.weee-forum.org/

65 Ibid

66 Ibid

67 Ibid

68 Directive 2002/96/EC of the European parliament and council of January 27,

2003 on waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE)

69 Justine Thornton & Silas Beckwith, “Environmental Law”, 203 (2nd ed. 2004)

70 Ibid

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71 United Nation Environment Programme on Urgent Need to Prepare Developing Countries for Surge in E-wastes available at http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=612&ArticleID=6471

72 Electronic product recovery and recycling Baseline report available at

http:// www.nsc.org/ehc/epr2/baseline

73 Ibid

74 Thomas F.P. Sullivan, “Environmental Law Handbook ”, 155 (21st ed.2011)

75 Ibid

76 Domenech v. National City Bank of New York , 294 U.S. 199, 205 (1935)

77 American Mining Congress v. EPA, 824 F.2d 1177 (D.C. Cir. 1987)

78 Supra note at 29

79 Ibid

80 See Research Unit (Larrdis) Rajya Sabha Secretariat New Delhi, “E-Waste in India”, available at

http://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/publication_electronic/E-Waste_in_india.pdf

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Climate Change effects on Sustainable livelihoods: Role of Civil society, Media and Advocacy Groups

Ganta Suman, Department of Education Andhra University, Visakhapatnam

Abstract:

A major function of civil society organizations is to serve as a force for social justice and social harmony. Social justice lies at the heart of civil society endeavor even though it takes a variety of forms in different settings and at different times. At a minimum, the pursuit of social justice means promoting respect for the worth of each individual and protecting basic human rights—the right to security of one’s person and property, freedom of belief, and freedom of association and expression. Beyond this, however, it has come to mean overcoming inequalities of opportunity and condition, and guaranteeing at least some minimum standard of living and a healthy and secure environment both for those living and those still unborn. How civil society organizations pursue their social justice mission can differ substantially from place to place depending on political traditions, levels of development, and cultures of participation. Nevertheless, there are enough similarities in the social justice role that civil society organizations perform in different settings to make a general statement of the sort offered here both possible and useful. More specifically, civil society organizations can pursue their social justice mission through at least two different, though inter-related, routes. The first is through the provision of services such as health care, education, and sustenance to those in need. This is a long-standing function of civil society organizations and retains its importance today. Key words: Social justice, Standard of living, Health care, Fundamentalist, Competition

1. Introduction

The concept of civil society goes back many centuries in Western thinking with its roots in

Ancient Greece. The modern idea of civil society emerged in the 18th Century, influenced by political theorists from Thomas Paine to

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George Hegel, who developed the notion of civil society as a domain parallel to but separate from the states (Cerothers, 1999). The 90s brought about renewed interest in civil society, as the trend towards democracy opened up space for civil society and the need to cover

increasing gaps in social services created by structural adjustment and other reforms in developing countries. Civil society has been widely recognized as an essential ‘third’ sector. Its strength can have a positive influence on the state and the market. Civil society is therefore seen as an increasingly important agent for promoting good governance like transparency, effectiveness, openness, responsiveness and accountability. 2. Civil Society in Developing Countries:

The issue of the small scale of the civil society sector in developing countries, where their

potential contribution to the achievement of MDGs is high, deserves further attention. If these organizations are to be strengthened, it is important to

understand what factors have historically hindered their growth.

Variation in the scale and nature of civil society sector in different countries is largely affected by the historical, cultural, social and political environment; a number of impediments to growth

of CSOs can be identified as follows: (Salamon and Anheier, 1997)

2. Authoritarian political control:

Perhaps the most basic factor accounting for the generally retarded pattern of the third sector development in many developing countries is the long history of authoritarian rule. In Latin America, for example, the nonprofit sector in Brazil has taken shape in the historical context characterized by a strong state and a weak civil society. As Landim (1998) puts it, “In Brazil, the state has always taken on itself the task of creating society, whether by arranging

groups and individuals… or by intervening to destroy autonomy.” Strong state control also figured prominently in the histories of

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Egypt and Ghana, in Africa. First under the Ottoman Empire and later under British colonial rule, Egypt was ruled by a succession of authoritarian leaders with only limited opportunity for effective democratic involvement. Similarly, in Ghana the pre-colonial societies

were organized in traditional tribal form with local chieftains exercising dominant control. In India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan (in South Asia) history is dominated by successive empires that rose, flourished and declined, with a hierarchical social form, with limited social organization outside the control of the state.

Given this pattern of authoritarianism, little room was left for a truly independent third sector in these societies. What charitable institutions emerged

therefore had to fit within the prevailing structures of political and social power and avoid posing serious challenge to the dominant political authorities. Passivity and dependence rather than empowerment and autonomy thus became the early watchword of nonprofit sector activity.

Authoritarian political control did not end in these countries with independence. Rather, it persisted. The upshot has been a persistent atmosphere of distrust between the nonprofit sector and the State in many of these countries. The State remains

highly watchful of its power and too easily interprets the emergence of CSOs as a challenge to its very legitimacy. In Egypt, for example, this distrust is currently fuelled by the antagonism between a strong secular State and Islamic fundamentalist groups that are using civil society institutions as a way to strengthen their links with the urban poor. In Brazil, State distrust is a residue of a recent authoritarian past and a social and economic policy that seeks to build up the private business sector and

still views the “citizen sector” as an antagonist. In Thailand and India has stronger tradition of partnership in emerging, though not without deep-seated reservations about the bonds that has formed between indigenous non-profit institutions and their foreign supporters. In Pakistan, the

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new NGO Bill is a reflection of the continued effort by government to “keep a close eye” on the CSOs.

3. Religion:

Religion has a multiple impact on the development of the nonprofit sector. In addition to the basic creed and the support it gives to acts of charity, crucial other facets of religion’s impact need to

be taken into account – its posture toward individualism, its commitment to institution building, and its relationship with State authorities. Indications are that while religions can share a positive orientation toward philanthropy, they may not generally be supportive of the emergence of CSOs.

For example, the church in Brazil functioned historically to reinforce secular authority and a monolithic system of social and cultural control, thereby sharply

reducing the opportunities for developing an independent nonprofit sector. In Pakistan, human right CSOs, particularly working on issues like women’s rights, are constantly challenged

and sometimes threatened by the dominant religious fundamentalist segments of society which continue to have influence over the state.

4. Colonialism:

Another factor that helps to explain the generally retarded pattern of third sector development in the third world is the recent history of colonial control. Like

religion, however, colonialism’s impact on third sector development has been multi-dimensional. What is more, it has varied somewhat depending on the national traditions and values of the colonial power. Colonialism has tended to undermine the independence of local social classes that might have provided the rallying point for civil society institutions. This was particularly true of the Spanish and Portuguese colonial traditions, which created especially authoritarian political and social

structures in their respective colonies. In much of Latin America, colonialism created a highly inhospitable environment for the emergence of truly autonomous civil society institutions that might have challenged the monopolistic

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power of the colonial regime and its local allies.

5. Low income and constrained social development:

Perhaps the most important impact of colonialism on some of the countries was the constraint it exercised on social development. One of the principal consequences of the colonial experience, in fact, was to limit the space that indigenous middle class elements could occupy in the developing

world. This was so because the colonial administration handled many governmental and commercial functions that might otherwise have been performed by the indigenous people, thereby restricting middle class professional opportunities. What middle class cadre emerged in these countries thus tended to be tightly bound to the colonial administrations and therefore lacked the independence characteristic of the urban commercial and professional middle

class elements that emerged in Western Europe during the dawn of the industrial era.

This situation persisted because of the general poverty and lack of development in these countries. As growth had gathered momentum in at least some regions, however, this situation is changing. Indeed, the significant upsurge of nonprofit activity in

countries like Brazil, Thailand and Egypt over the past two decades can be attributed in part to the emergence of a sizable new urban middle class as a result of recent economic growth.

Limited Resources: An important factor hindering the growth of the civil society sector is the scarcity of financial resources. Funding constraints limit the scale and functioning ofCSOs, significantly impairing their ability to deliver and maintain services. In case of large NGOs, in particular,

heavy reliance is frequently placed on funding from foreign donors. This is making CSOs more reflective of donor interests than those of their communities or designated target groups. Many CSOs have to review their missions or undertake work outside their mandate just to survive. The

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difficult economic conditions make local fundraising very difficult. Competition for scare resources is also limiting opportunities for coalition-building, long-term institutional development and other aspects of local capacity building. Their performance in

terms of poverty reach and popular participation is also compromised but in some instances, they have neglected the landless and other marginalized people, thereby failing to reach the poorest of the poor” (UN-NADAF, 1990-2001). Sometimes only certain regions are serviced by well-equipped CSOs, neglecting other areas more desperately in need.

6. Techniques for Effective Advocacy:

Policy monitoring and public accountability

Almost all effective policy-related advocacy efforts commence with observation and monitoring of the implementation and effectiveness of policies already in place. These might include, for

example, commitments to ICT infrastructure roll-out, universal

access policies, support for community-based ICT access centres, public interest broadcasting policies, or regulatory mechanisms to ensure fair pricing of services.

High profile ICT policy monitoring by civil society advocacy

groups can, on its own, contribute to improved policy implementation and effectiveness by highlighting public policy targets and drawing public attention to under performance or to policy failure. Governments and public bodies, especially in democratic societies, are sensitive to critical reports, and more so when these are based on robust evidence and analysis, come from a credible source, and are widely published and disseminated. Policy monitoring by civil society groups may be in the form of one-

off investigation into a particular area of interest; it may consist of a baseline study, perhaps at the commencement of a new policy, and a follow-up study later to establish what results were achieved; or it may be a periodic monitoring report, such as an annual review. Policy monitoring and public

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accountability are made easier where government departments and other public bodies, including regulatory organisations, maintain and publish data and reports in a timely fashion and undertake research and consultation to facilitate decision making in the

public interest. Where this is not the case, where the information is poor or unreliable, or where independent data is needed, civil society organisations and coalitions may organise their own research and data gathering, or they may rely on third party sources such as commercial and academic research.

Right to information laws can help and, in countries where such laws are weak or absent, their adoption or improvement has itself been a key demand of civil society organisations, not only those

working in the communication policy field. In some cases investigative journalism may be needed to root out and expose policy failings. Impact may often be enhanced by involving citizens and civil society organisations in the process of policy monitoring and review and

by gathering demand-side data using techniques such as citizen surveys, social audits and participatory policy review. Such social accountability mechanisms have gained increasing recognition as effective means of strengthening civic engagement in policy making

and policy monitoring.

Legal Treatment:

A further factor impending the development of the nonprofit sector in some developing countries has been the legal environment within which nonprofits must operate. Certainly in civil law countries such as Brazil, Thailand, and Egypt, where no “basic” right to organize is automatically recognized in law, formal law can shape the environment for action rather fundamentally. Reflecting the generally authoritarian politics that have characterized these countries during much if their

recent history, the legal structure for civil society activity has been quite restrictive. For example, the Religious Bodies Registration Act of 1981 in Ghana revoked the legal status of all religious CSOs and required them to reapply through a

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highly restrictive registration procedure. In Brazil, Law 91 of 1935, regulating the public utility statues of CSOs, was used as a means of political control and favoritism. In Egypt, Law 32 of 1964 establishes de facto government control of large

segments of the civil society sector and in Thailand, the Cremation Welfare Act of 1974 was passed by the military government to preempt feared infiltration by communists. The Act required all existing local cremation and related communal welfare societies to register with the central authorities in Bangkok and to submit to State supervision.

In other cases, the basic legal provision affecting CSOs in India, Pakistan and Ghana were borrowed from those in force in late

19th and early 20th century England through a system of legal ordinances. The environment for CSOs in these countries therefore appears quite open. To get around these general legal provisions, however, governments have added various restrictions to limit their general thrust and make them

more cumbersome. Thus, for example, tax laws and related legislation often establish significant obstacles to the operation of CSOs. What this makes clear is that establishing an enabling legal environment for civil society action is onlya first step

towards opening a way for a viable civil society sector. A variety of other obstacles can easily frustrate the intent of even the most supportive legal provisions.

Media:

By collecting and relaying vital information to the public, the media and other communication processes can provide the knowledge needed to improve the livelihoods of the population and to ensure participatory policymaking. Strategic/development communication is especially critical in reaching the communities most affected by poverty and those most

vulnerable to threats to their environment, health and economic productivity. Hence, professional and democratic media delivering well-researched information are essential to the fight against poverty, the building of strong

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public institutions, and constructive civic engagement. Coupled with an efficient communication infrastructure, informed debate, transparency, and the active participation of citizens, the media can contribute significantly to the shaping of

policies, attitudes, and behaviours that are needed to support sustainable livelihoods.

7. The Development Paradigm:

One other factor helping to explain the historically constrained pattern of civil society sector development in the third world is the changing fashion in development policy and development ideology. During the 1950s and 1960s, development thinking emphasized the importance of a State as the principal agent of modernizing reforms. As a consequence, considerable effort went into differentiating a sphere of State

action outside the pre-modern structures of tribe or community, and into creating modern, secular administrative structures that

could effectively operate in this sphere. This development framework included a sphere of business in addition to that of government, but it downplayed, if not excluded, CSOs which were viewed as only marginal in the frame of affairs.

The shift to “structural adjustment” in the 1980s did not change this fundamentally. To the contrary, the “structural adjustment” paradigm of development merely replaced government with the private business community as the mode of development. In the process, however, it reinforced an essentially two-sector model of society that left little room for a vibrant civil society sector. The lack of civil society growth is thus understandable given that it been

historically neglected in the central policy debate.

In short, the development of the third sector seems to have been inhibited by a long history of authoritarianism; by colonial heritage and a history of limited economic growth that restricted the growth of an independent urban

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middle class; by religious traditions that placed less emphasis on “modularity” and the fostering of independent institutional structures; by legal structures that often placed impediments in the way of civil society formation; and by development policies that

stressed the creation of a modernizing State and later the development of private enterprise rather the promotion of independent institutions outside the confines of the market and the State.

8. Increased Awareness and Coordination on Climate Change Issues:

Based on observations and public announcements, there is increased awareness of climate change issues within government ministries and departments at policy level. There is evidence that government, development partners, civil society have started mainstreaming climate change into their sectoral plans but it is in the

early stages. Increased awareness of climate change issues is yet to filter down to district, communities

and grassroots. More effort in raising awareness is required.

There is need for a central office to coordinate, provide sector guidelines, monitor and Marshall Resources for climate change activities. Worth noting is that there is now a Government of

Malawi/Donor Working Group on Climate Change. This group comprises representatives from the donor community and principal secretaries from government meant to have a cohesive approach in implementation of climate change activities. EP & D, UNDP and EAD are championing this effort.

9. Conclusion:

This needs assessment study aims to evaluate what is needed by poor rural populations in enable them to develop sustainable livelihoods that can cope with the impacts of climate change. Improvement of sustainable

livelihoods in this area is a key to alleviating poverty, but remains challenging. Thus, an understanding of how livelihoods are conducted and sustained, how resources can be better accessed to

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meet basic needs and generate income, is a crucial step in attaining genuinely sustainable development in these areas. The challenge of developing and maintaining sustainable livelihoods, and lifting the local population out of poverty, is

increasingly being compounded by the impacts of climate change. This study recognises that any efforts to support sustainable livelihoods will only be effective if they take into account the impacts of climate change, and build local communities’ resilience to these emerging threats.

The purpose of this study is to: identify the risks that climate change poses to understand the role of access to natural resources and access to markets in supporting their livelihoods and reducing their

vulnerability; and to recommend adaptation actions that can help increase the resilience and sustainability of poor people’s livelihoods in the face of climate change. The research was divided into five themes which are closely interlinked: water supply, irrigation and sanitation; land

access and management; value chains and access to markets; climate change.

References:

1. ADB (2005). Making Markets Work Better for the Poor: The Participation of the Poor in AgriculturalValue Chains - A Case Study of Cassava. Hanoi, Economic and Social Research

Center, National Economics University, Informatics Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (ICARD), and

2. Agrifood Consulting International (ACI) for the Making Markets Work Better for the Poor Project, AsianDevelopment Bank.

3. ADB (2006) Facilitating market integration of the upland poor into bamboo value chains: Upgradingstrategies for local producer groups. ADB M4P Discussion Paper No 15.

4. ADB (2007) Making Markets Work Better for the Poor Project (M4P/ADB). Making Value ChainsWork Better for the Poor : A toolbook for

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practitioners of Value Chain Analysis.

5. ADGER, W. N. (1999). Social Vulnerability to Climate Change and Extremes in Coastal Vietnam. World Development Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 249-269.

6. Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC). (2003). Climate Change and development in Vietnam:

7. Agriculture and Adaptation for the Mekong Delta Region. GTZ report. Division 44 -Environment andInfrastructure.

8. Carney, D. 1998. Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: What Contribution Can We Make? Nothingham: Department for International Development, Russell Press Ltd.Chaudhry, P;

Ruysschaert, G. (2007). Climate change and human development in Vietnam: A case study. Human development report 2007/2008. UNDP

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Effects of Nuclear Radiation: A Silent Killer

Ayushi Agrawal B.A. LL.B (Hons.) Hidayatullah National Law University, New Raipur

Abstract:

Nuclear radiation is the worst effect of a nuclear explosion. Radiation is perhaps the most frightening direct effect of nuclear explosions. Blast can be seen, heat can be sensed but ionizing radiation cannot be detected so, a person can die without knowing what caused it. It not only damages the health but through its effect on reproductive cells and fetuses, it also has prospective effect on health.

This paper will analyze the kinds of radiation and its effect on the human society. Roughly, during the first six months after the explosion, for every sevenfold increase in time, the radiation dose received is decreased by a factor of 10.

The next section of the paper will be dedicated to the medical effects of nuclear radiation. The medical effects of ionizing radiation depend on the dose i.e. the amount of energy actually deposited in the body. The more energy absorbed, the greater are the risk of irreparable damage. Within the intermediate range of exposure, a victim may develop a variety of symptoms, including loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, intestinal cramps, diarrhea, apathy, fever, and headache. The incidence of stillbirths, infant mortality, mental retardation, malformations, and cancer among human beings exposed to intermediate radiation during their embryonic stage of development will be higher. There might also be an increased number of genetic defects among the survivors' descendants. There is no effective cure for radiation sickness. Further, the paper concludes and emphasizes on the need to have a check and balance system on the use of nuclear weapons and provides suggestions for improving the present state.

Keywords: radiation, ionization, energy, medical effects, radiation dose, stillbirths

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Introduction

The consequence of a nuclear explosion is quite drastic. Numerous nuclear explosions have occurred in the last five decades like the accident at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in the

USA, March 1979, caused some people near the plant to receive very minor doses of radiation, immediately after the Chernobyl nuclear power

plant disaster in 1986, much larger doses were experienced, apart from the residents of nearby Pripyat, who were evacuated within two days, some 24,000 people living within 15 km of the plant. In this explosion a total of 14,000 PBq of radioactivity (iodine-131 equivalent) was released. In 1987 at Goiania in Brazil, an old radiotherapy source stolen from an abandoned hospital caused four deaths, 20 cases of radiation sickness and significant contamination of many more.

Another accident which is more recent occurred in the March 2011 accident at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan which released more

radioactivity than Three Mile Island, but much less than Chernobyl. 1 As can be seen that even a small nuclear is a cause of great anxiety among the people then, imagine what will happen if this explosion is caused deliberately by a person on a large scale.

Nuclear weapons are not the safest of weapons for mankind. Nuclear energy is very good for the development but in the wrong hands, it is a weapon of massive destruction. So, proper care should be taken while handling nuclear energy or a nuclear weapon.

There are two basic types of nuclear weapons. In an A-bomb (atomic or fission bomb), atoms of heavy elements (uranium-235 or plutonium-239) break up (fission) into lighter elements and release energy. In an H-bomb (hydrogen,

fusion, or thermonuclear bomb), two isotopes of the lightest element (hydrogen) are fused into a heavier element (usually helium, the next lightest) and produce an enormous explosion1.

11 Nuclear radiation and health effect

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Several variations of these two bombs exist. For any given weight of explosives, the yield of nuclear bombs is roughly 3.5 million times greater than the yield of conventional explosives 2 . The physical characteristics and effects of a single nuclear explosion are

determined by many variables, including the type of bomb used, its yield, the height at which detonation occurs, weather conditions, and the type of target3. Any brief description is therefore abstract and simplified. The following the main effects of a nuclear explosion:

Ultraviolet Pulse: For a person standing outdoors some distance from ground zero, the first indication that a nuclear explosion

has occurred is a blinding flash of intense ultraviolet radiation.4 This flash can dazzle observers miles away and temporarily blind them.

Electromagnetic Pulse: Wherever this pulse occurs, it can be absorbed by power lines, antennae, long wires, and other collectors, and carried to the electrical and electronic devices to which these collectors are

attached.5 EMP can therefore lead to temporary interference in communication and power. However, its direct effects on people are negligible: only the few people who happen to hold a pipe, long wire, or similar collector at the moment of explosion could die of

severe shock.

Heat: Some 35 percent of the bomb's energy is given off as heat (thermal radiation). The heat pulse given off by the fireball starts fires over a large area. Fires may also start as an indirect result of the blast. These fires increase the number of casualties6.

Blast: Some 50 percent of the bomb's energy is taken up by

the blast. The blast lasts a few seconds. As is the case with all nuclear bombs' effects, its severity and physical characteristics depend on the bomb's yield.

The most dangerous effect is that of a radiation. Radiation is energy in the process of being transmitted, which may take such forms as light, or tiny particles much too small to see. 7 Radiation particularly associated with nuclear

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medicine and the use of nuclear energy, along with X-rays, is 'ionizing' radiation, which means that the radiation has sufficient energy to interact with matter, especially the human body, and produce ions, i.e. it can eject an

electron from an atom. About 15% of the energy released in a nuclear air burst is in the form of ionizing radiation: neutrons, gamma rays, alpha particles and electrons moving at speeds up to the speed of light.8 Blast and thermal injuries in many cases will far outnumber radiation injuries. However, radiation effects are considerably more complex and varied than are blast or thermal effects.9 From the psychological point of view, and from the point of view of

humankind's long-term future, radiation is perhaps the most frightening direct effect of nuclear explosions. We can sense blast, heat, and fire, but we can't detect ionizing radiation (except at very high intensities when it produces a tingling sensation) without the aid of special instruments; we can be irradiated to death without knowing it. Unlike fire and blast,

ionizing radiation not only damages our health, but, through its potential impact on fetuses and on reproductive cells, it may damage the health of our descendants. Though the heat and the blast wreak incredible havoc, their direct effects are gone within seconds, or,

in the case of the fires they cause, within hours or days. In contrast, poisonous radioactivity may linger for years.10

The character of the radiation received at a given location also varies with distance from the explosion. Radiation consists of three types of rays, each with a different capacity to penetrate bodies. These are alpha, beta and gamma rays. Radiation is not harmful in all cases. In fact, some types of radiations are unavoidable, like cosmic radiation

which originates from stars. The Sun too, radiates cosmic energy produced by nuclear reactions on its surface, consisting of short wavelength emissions of electrons and neutrons.11

Nuclear radiation arises from hundreds of different kinds of unstable atoms. While many exist

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in nature, the majority are created in nuclear reactions. Ionizing radiation which can damage living tissue is emitted as the unstable atoms (radionuclides) change ('decay') spontaneously to become different kinds of atoms.

The principal kinds of ionizing

radiation are12:

Alpha particles

These are helium nuclei consisting of two protons and two neutrons and are emitted from naturally-occurring heavy elements such as uranium and radium, as well as from some man-made transuranic elements. They are intensely ionizing but cannot penetrate the skin, so are dangerous only if emitted inside the body.

Beta particles

These are fast-moving electrons emitted by many radioactive elements. They are more penetrating than alpha particles, but easily shielded – they

can be stopped by a few millimetres of wood or aluminium. They can penetrate a little way into human

flesh but are generally less dangerous to people than gamma radiation. Exposure produces an effect like sunburn, but which is slower to heal. Beta-radioactive substances are also safe if kept in appropriate sealed containers.

Gamma rays

These are high-energy beams much the same as X-rays.

They are emitted in many radioactive decays and are very penetrating, so require more substantial shielding. Gamma rays are the main hazard to people dealing with sealed radioactive materials used, for example, in industrial gauges and radiotherapy machines. Radiation dose badges are worn by workers in exposed situations to detect them and hence monitor exposure. All of us receive about 0.5-1 mSv per year of gamma radiation from cosmic rays and from rocks, and in some places,

much more. Gamma activity in a substance (e.g.rock) can be measured with a scintillometer or Geiger counter.

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X-rays are also ionizing radiation,

virtually identical to gamma rays, but not nuclear in origin.

Cosmic radiation consists of

very energetic particles, mostly protons, which bombard the Earth from outer space.

Neutrons are mostly released by

nuclear fission (the splitting of atoms in a nuclear reactor), and and hence are seldom encountered outside the core of a nuclear reactor. Thus they are not normally a problem outside nuclear plants.

Fast neutrons can be very destructive to human tissue.

All nuclear explosions release radiation, both initial radiation and residual or fallout radiation. The initial radiation makes up about 5% of the total energy released by a nuclear explosion and is released well within the first minute following the detonation. The threat of exposure to injurious levels of this initial radiation are confined typically to within a

radius of about 1.50 miles from the nuclear detonation of anything less than a 1 MT bomb. Within this

range, and out in the open and exposed without blast and thermal pulse protection, you most likely would also suffer lethal injuries from the blast impact and burns.13

Initial and fallout radiation

Initial radiation is released within the first minute of an explosion. It accounts for about 5

percent of the bomb's energy. The initial radiation of a 12.5 kt explosion will knock unconscious people standing in the open at a distance of less than half a mile from ground zero. These people will die from radiation sickness within two days. People standing in the open three-quarters of a mile away will die within one month.

What will be of concern to the greatest number of people, though, is the remaining 10% of the energy unleashed by a nuclear explosion, the residual or fallout

radiation. Any nuclear detonation on the ground, or where an airburst was low enough that the fireball touched the ground, will create tons of radioactive materials that will be sucked up into the classical mushroom shaped cloud to then be

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spread far downwind. These radioactive particles carried by the wind then later fall out many miles away from ground zero and are the source of what we know as radioactive fallout. Each of these trillions of contaminated particles continuously gives off invisible

radiation while in the mushroom cloud, while descending, and after having fallen to earth.14

Fallout is emitted by fission products such as radioactive iodine, weapon residues such as plutonium and radioactive hydrogen, and substances in the vicinity of the explosion which became radioactive as a result of exposure to the bomb's initial radiation.

Radioactive fallout is usually classified into two components, early and delayed. Early fallout reaches the ground

within 24 hours of the explosion. Delayed fallout reaches the ground after 24 hours. Early fallout is also called local fallout because it tends to remain in the vicinity of the explosion site. Delayed fallout is also called global fallout because it can take months or years to come down to earth, during which time it

can be carried to all corners of the globe.15

When an atomic bomb explodes, as in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, people receive two doses of radiation: one during the explosion, and another from fallout. Fallout

refers to the radioactive particles that float in the air after the explosion; they rise and then gradually descend to the ground. A dose of 100 rems will have probably cause some initial signs of radiation sickness, such as loss of white blood cells, nausea, vomiting and headache.16

Local fallout poses more serious problems than global fallout because it is concentrated in a much smaller area and because it settles quickly, before much of its radioactivity has decayed. However,

global fallout has its fair share of adverse effects too. Some radioactive substances released by a bomb, e.g., strontium-90 or plutonium, remain radioactive for many years, taking their toll on the global environment. For a single bomb, the global effect is negligible. But the effect was significant

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during the 1950s and early 1960s, when hundreds of nuclear bombs were exploded in the atmosphere. It may be deadly if thousands are exploded in an all-out war.

The effect of radiation on a human being differs according to the amount of radiation dose

received. A strong dose (over 5,000 rads) of radiation, such as the initial radiation given off near ground zero, can knock people unconscious on the spot and kill them within a day or two. In contrast, the health of people receiving a weak dose (less than 100 rads) will be little affected in the near term.

The medical effects of a nuclear blast upon humans can

be put into four categories17:

Initial stage—the first 1–9 weeks, in which are the greatest number of deaths, with 90% due to thermal injury and/or blast effects and 10% due to super-

lethal radiation exposure

Intermediate stage—from 10–12 weeks. The deaths in this period are from ionization

radiation in the median lethal range

Late period—lasting from 13–20 weeks. This period has some improvement in survivors' condition.

Delayed period—from 20+ weeks. Characterized by

“numerous complications, mostly related to healing of thermal and mechanical injuries coupled with infertility, sub-fertility and blood disorders caused by radiation.” Also, ionizing radiation from fallout can cause genetic effects, birth defects, cancer, cataracts and other effects in organs and tissue.

Exposure to radiation can cause devastating damage to the immune system and to the tissues of the body. The effects are known

as radiation sickness or syndrome. Radiation can also cause little understood changes to the body's genes, which can be manifested through the development of diseases such as cancer later in life, and possibly as birth defects in future generations.

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Intermediate doses (100-500 rads) cause radiation sickness. The severity of this sickness and the chances of surviving it depend, among other things, on the total radiation dose accumulated (the higher the dose, the more severe the symptoms and the lower the

probability of survival), and on the age of the victim (the very young and very old are especially vulnerable).18

Within this intermediate range of exposure, a victim may develop a variety of symptoms, including loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, intestinal cramps, diarrhea, apathy, fever, and headache. When the accumulated dose is on the low side of this intermediate range (100-200 rads), only a few mild symptoms are felt. They disappear within days and

recovery is apparently complete. As the accumulated dose rises, more symptoms appear in more severe form. Because there is no effective cure for radiation sickness, a rough prognosis can already be made in the first two days: if you suffer from a severe case of nausea,

vomiting, and diarrhea during this time, you are unlikely to survive.

After the first two days, the victim may begin to feel better, though still experiencing fatigue and lack of appetite. This apparent recovery is often deceptive, for the number of blood cells during this

two-week period often falls to dangerously low levels. This results in resurgence of some of the old symptoms. New symptoms often appear as well, including internal and external bleeding, increased susceptibility to infections, and temporary hair loss (mostly from the scalp). Depending on many variables, but especially on the radiation dose, the victim may die at this stage or gradually get better.19

Recovery of people exposed to radiation in this intermediate

range is often incomplete. For years after the exposure, their chances of experiencing infections, cancers, cataracts, and reduced body vigor are higher than they were before the exposure. The incidence of stillbirths, deaths during the first year of life, mental retardation, malformations, and cancer among

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human beings exposed to intermediate radiation during their embryonic stage of development will be higher. There might also be an increased number of genetic defects among the survivors' descendants.

Exposure to radiation makes

our bodies produce fewer blood clotting agents, called blood platelets, increasing our risk of internal bleeding. Any cut on the skin will take much longer to stop bleeding.

Experts say that approximately 50% of humans exposed to 450 rems will die, and 800 rems will kill virtually anyone. Death is inevitable and will occur from between two days to a couple of weeks.

Millisieverts per hour (mSv) - this is a measure used more

commonly by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. For example:

A gastrointestinal series X-ray investigation exposes the human to 14 mSv

Recommended limit for volunteers averting a major nuclear escalation - 500 mSv (according to the International commission on Radiological Protection)

Recommended limit for volunteers rescuing lives or preventing serious injuries - 1000 mSv (according to

the International commission on Radiological Protection)

Below is a list of signs and symptoms likely to occur when a human is exposed to acute radiation (within one day), in mSv20:

0 to 250 mSv - no damage

250 to 1,000 mSv. Some individuals may lose their appetites, experience nausea, and have some damage to the spleen, bone marrow and lymph nodes.

1000 to 3000 mSv - nausea is mild to severe, no appetite,

considerably higher susceptibility to infections. Injury to the following will be more severe - spleen, lymph node and bone marrow. The patient will most likely recover, but this is not guaranteed.

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3,000 to 6,000 mSv - nausea much more severe, loss of appetite, serious risk of infections, diarrhea, skin peels, sterility. If left untreated the person will die. There will also be hemorrhaging.

6,000 to 10,000 mSv - Same symptoms as above. Central

nervous system becomes severely damaged. The person is not expected to survive.

10,000+ mSv - Incapacitation. Death. Those who do survive higher radiation doses have a considerably higher risk of developing some cancers, such as lung cancer, thyroid cancer, breast cancer, leukemia, and cancer of several organs.

A summary of above can be given in the following way on the basis of high and low doses of radiation21:

High Doses

Exposure to high doses of radiation--at least 80 rem--kills

human cells, damaging tissue and organs immediately. This anatomical response, referred to as "acute radiation syndrome," was seen in many atomic bomb

survivors in 1945 and about 134 plant workers and firefighters in Chernobyl, Ukraine, the site of the world's worst nuclear power plant disaster. Of the 134 workers, exposure rates of 80 rem to 1,600 rem killed 28 within three months of the accident. Exposures up to100

rem can damage the stomach lining, interfering with its water and nutrient intake function. The immune system sustains damage at exposure rates up to 300 rem, subjecting the subject to infection and disease, and exposures of 400 rem and above are expected to kill 50 percent of subjects within 60 days of exposure, largely due to infection.

Lower Doses

Exposure to lower doses of nuclear radiation--less than10 rem--can have a cumulative effect on human cells. Though no immediate cell damage is apparent at these

dosage levels, continued exposure for long periods can change the structure of the cell. It usually takes five to 20 years for appreciable change to occur, with the main health concerns being cancers and abnormal genetic

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mutation. Radiation-altered genes can cause stillbirths, congenital abnormalities, infant mortality, decreased birth weight and childhood mortality. Genetic effects due to radiation exposure can be passed on to the exposed person's children, or can affect children born

several generations later. Exposure to nuclear radiation is five times more likely to cause cancer than genetic alteration. No evidence of genetic mutation was found in the offspring of Hiroshima or Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors.

Certain body parts are more specifically affected by exposure to different types of radiation sources. Several factors are involved in determining the potential health effects of exposure to radiation. These include22:

The size of the dose (amount of

energy deposited in the body)

The ability of the radiation to harm human tissue

Which organs are affected

The most important factor is the amount of the dose - the amount of energy actually deposited in your

body. The more energy absorbed by cells, the greater the biological damage. Health physicists refer to the amount of energy absorbed by the body as the radiation dose. The absorbed dose, the amount of energy absorbed per gram of body tissue, is usually measured in units

called rads. Another unit of radation is the rem, or roentgen equivalent in man. To convert rads to rems, the number of rads is multiplied by a number that reflects the potential for damage caused by a type of radiation. For beta, gamma and X-ray radiation, this number is generally one. For some neutrons, protons, or alpha particles, the number is twenty.

There are many symptoms of radiation sickness, and their severity varies greatly depending on the dosage. The initial

symptoms include:

Nausea

Vomiting

Diarrhoea

Fatigue

These symptoms may be followed by:

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Headache

Shortness of breath

Rapid heartbeat

Inflammation of the mouth and throat

Worsening of tooth or gum disease

Hair loss

Dry cough

Heart inflammation with chest pain

Burning

Permanent skin darkening

Bleeding spots anywhere under the skin

Haemorrhage

Anaemia

The main affected body parts are:

Hair

The losing of hair quickly and in clumps occurs with radiation exposure at 200 rems or higher.

Brain

Since brain cells do not reproduce, they won't be damaged directly unless the exposure is 5,000 rems

or greater. Like the heart, radiation kills nerve cells and small blood vessels, and can cause seizures and immediate death.

Thyroid

The certain body parts are more specifically affected by exposure to different types of radiation sources. The thyroid gland is susceptible to radioactive

iodine. In sufficient amounts, radioactive iodine can destroy all or part of the thyroid. By taking potassium iodide can reduce the effects of exposure.

Blood System

When a person is exposed to around 100 rems, the blood's lymphocyte cell count will be reduced, leaving the victim more susceptible to infection. This is often refered to as mild radiation sickness. Early symptoms of radiation sickness mimic those of flu and may go unnoticed unless a blood count is done.According to data from Hiroshima and Nagaski,

show that symptoms may persist for up to 10 years and may also have an increased long-term risk for leukemia and lymphoma. For

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more information, visit Radiation Effects Research Foundation.

Heart

Intense exposure to radioactive material at 1,000 to 5,000 rems would do immediate damage to small blood vessels and probably cause heart failure and death directly.

Gastrointestinal Tract

Radiation damage to the intestinal tract lining will cause nausea,

bloody vomiting and diarrhea. This is occurs when the victim's

exposure is 200 rems or more. The radiation will begin to destroy the cells in the body that divide rapidly. These including blood, GI tract, reproductive and hair cells, and harms their DNA and RNA of surviving cells.

Reproductive Tract

Because reproductive tract cells divide rapidly, these areas of the

body can be damaged at rem levels as low as 200. Long-term, some radiation sickness victims will become sterile

Thus, the dose and its respective effect can be properly summarized in the following table:

Dose-rem Effects

5-20 Possible late effects; possible chromosomal damage.

20-100 Temporary reduction in white blood cells.

100-200 Mild radiation sickness within a few hours: vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue; reduction in resistance to infection.

200-300 Serious radiation sickness effects as in 100-200 rem and hemorrhage; exposure is a Lethal Dose to 10-35% of the population after 30 days (LD 10-35/30).

300-400 Serious radiation sickness; also marrow and intestine destruction; LD 50-70/30.

400-1000 Acute illness, early death; LD 60-95/30.

1000-5000 Acute illness, early death in days; LD 100/10.

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Blood transfusions may be necessary for patients suffering from anaemia.

Radiation-related illnesses tend to show themselves about 10 to 15 years after a radiation disaster. The body's endocrine, or hormone-secreting, glands appear to be

particularly sensitive to radiation.

It is now widely accepted that the Chernobyl nuclear disaster has led to a massive increase in thyroid cancers in the three countries most affected. Already, 680 cases of thyroid cancer have been recorded in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Belarus has shown a 100-fold increase, from 0.3 per million in 1981-85 to 30.6 per million in 1991-94.

Unicef has noted significant increases in many types of health disorders in Belarus since the

disaster. For example, problems of the nervous and sensory organs have increased by 43%; disorders of the digestive organs by 28%; and disorders.

There is no specific treatment once exposure has occurred but management is generally

supportive whilst the body recovers from the damage done - anti-nausea drugs and painkillers can be used to relieve symptoms of radiation sickness. Antibiotics may also be needed to fight off secondary infection.

Thus nuclear energy or weapon

must b properly used. There many advantages to this energy like

Radio therapy (for treatment of cancers) and X-rays employ controlled exposure to radiation.

Radio carbon dating is another application, where nuclear radiations are used to determine the properties and uses of several radioactive elements, and also determines the age of fossil samples.

Level detectors, smoke detectors and leak detectors employ the use of radiation.

Sterilization of medical equipment, food and detecting malfunctioning

body parts can also be

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achieved through a limited exposure to radiation.

Radiation, like many other scientific discoveries, can be put to both constructive and destructive uses. It is the responsibility of humanity to use this powerful tool for the benefit of nature and all of

its elements. It can be a tool of massive destruction if in the wrong hands, while it can be put to a good cause like that of the development of the human society on the other hand. It is all upto the person who uses this resource.

References:

1 Consequences of nuclear war 2 ibid 3 Effects of nuclear explosion 4 Consequences of nuclear war 5 Effects of nuclear explosion 6 ibid 7 Nuclear Radiation and health effect 8 Effects of nuclear explosion 9 Nuclear weapon radiation effect 10 Consequence of nuclear war 11 Effects of nuclear radiation 12 Nuclear radiation and health effect

13 Nuclear radiations and fallout effects 14 ibid 15 Consequences of nuclear war 16 Effects of radiation on humans 17 Effects of nuclear explosion on human health 18 Consequences of nuclear war 19 Consequences of nuclear war 20 Effects of radiation on human health 21 Nuclear radiation effects on humans 22 Radiation effects on human

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Development, Displacement and Resettlement

Anjaly Jolly Xth Semester, School of Legal Studies, Cochin University of science and Technology

Abstract

Development activities, without any substitutes, are no doubt significant for nation’s prosperity. Such projects, to a great extend results in displacement

of certain groups of people. Displacement forms an inevitable segment of all development activities. This paper analyses the strategy adopted in India for the rehabilitation and resettlement of the oustees linked to development activities and how far the policy framework been successful in meeting its legislative

intent. Even though, there exist a number of instances of successful resettlement in accordance with the law including Moolampally package of Kerala1, yet there are a large sector of people who have not been properly rehabilitated after being evicted for facilitating various development projects. The issue connected with raising the height of Sardar Sarovar Dam (Naramada Bachao Andholan) is

significant in this regard.

The New Land Acquisition legislation along with other policies to a great extend have been beneficial in providing a better rehabilitation mechanism. But it is of great importance to evaluate as to how far the said mechanisms have been successful in benefitting the oustees. A number of

judgment including those of Narmada Bachao Andholan appear to be precedents whereby the Honorable Supreme Court of India has pronounced the need for having an efficient R&R2 strategy in accordance with the laws. The paper provides for a cost- benefit analysis of the development project upon the ousted community.

Key words: Development, Displacement and Resettlement, rehabilitation,

strategy, judgment

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Introduction

Development induced displacement is no doubt recognized as a serious concern for nations especially the developing ones. The history extending upto Kasthurirangan report paves way for displacement for development of which displacement of adivasis for raising the height of Sardhar Sarovar Dam

(Naramada Bachaao Andholan) being the significant one. Even while expressing concern for the displaced community not properly resettled, the paper admits that no development can be carried out without causing displacement. But the actual question is whether the available legal framework is capable enough to provide a minimum standard in dealing with the displaced sector and also the extent to which the so called minimum standard has been successfully implemented yet.

The well accepted definition of the term“development” is process of transferring labor from low productivity agriculture to high productivity modern industry. Hence, no doubt, acquisition of land is a mandate in almost all

developmental activities. Development-induced displacement and resettlement, subset of forced migration can be defined as forcing of communities and individuals out of their land for the purposes of economic development. It is commonly

linked with the construction of dams, other economic activities such including mining, creation of military installations, airports, industrial plants, railways, road developments, urbanization, conservation projects, forestry, etc. Forced migration appears to be a social problem affecting multiple levels of human organization, from tribal and village communities to well-developed urban areas.

Thus a balanced approach towards development and displacement is significant and the one which fixes

the minimum conflict of interest between the two concepts has to be adopted. This paper envisages the concept of development, displacement for facilitating development and the scheme for resettlement of the displaced community.

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Development Projects and Displacement

All those schemes or activities that are intended for or that has the potential to effect development are in common parlance referred to as development projects. It may be either infrastructure, rural, agriculture or the like. However, there is no particular limit for what can be called a development project. It can

range from small or medium scale infrastructure to a mega high power plant construction which can be either public or private.

The recognised potential risk intrinsic associated with Development induced displacement are increased rate of morbidity, loss of occupation, marginalisation 3 , food insecurity, social disarticulation etc. The impacts of Development Induced Displacement and Resettlement depend largely on how resettlement is planned, negotiated, and

implemented. In the cases of China’s Shuikou and Yantan dam projects, displacees’ incomes and living standards improved owing to

high resettlement satisfaction. However, the Guatemala’s Chixoy Dam Project in the late 1970s points to the massacring of hundreds of Maya Achi Indians by local civil patrols and the country’s Armed Forces to make way for the dam’s construction. 4 History

depicts that the conditions of the evictees is somewhere between the extremes, though examples of positive resettlement is very rare.

The various development projects that has the potential to cause displacement ranges along a wide spectrum. However, the projects can be broadly classified as dams, urban renewal development and natural resources extraction projects.

Dams

Of the types of development projects that bring about physical displacement, dams and their related infrastructure, including

power stations and irrigation canals, stand out as the largest contributor to displacees. This is partially a result of the enormous degree of many dam projects – China’s Danjiangkou Dam

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displaced 383,000 people, while its ongoing Three Gorges Dam project will displace 1.2 million. The high overall level of dam displacement is also a product of the speed with which dams have been built since 1950. The International Commission on Large Dams

(ICOLD) reports that the world had 5,000 large dams in 1950 and over 45,000 by the late 1990s. The Narmada Sardar Sarovar Dam Project in India, which is set to displace 127,000 people, has perhaps been the most widely researched and discussed project involving forced resettlement in history. Projects like these are often claimed to be essential for raising living standards in the region or country. Yet if people are displaced by them – as for instance people are displaced from the flood

plain of a dam project – and if no attention is given to them apart from removing them, then the effect of the project on these people will be to impoverish them. The overall effect, then, would be to raise the living standards of some while lowering the living standards of others. Thus we seem to be

faced with the following dilemma: if the project goes ahead, people who are displaced by it will be impoverished, while even more people may be left in poverty elsewhere if the project is cancelled.

Urban infrastructure and transportation

Urban infrastructure and transportation projects that cause displacement include slum clearance and upgrading; the

establishment of commercial and industrial estates; the building and upgrading of sewerage systems, schools, hospitals, ports, etc.; and the construction of communication and transportation networks, including those connecting different urban centres.

Natural resource extraction5

Generally this classification is confined to oil and natural gas extraction ventures. Forestry extraction projects also form a subset of Natural resource extraction activities. There is no reliable report as to the actual

number of persons displaced for these projects, however, subjective evidence and figures from World

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Bank reports suggest that displacement in such projects is much lower than in many dam and urban renewal and development projects.

Scope of Indian Legislations Regulating Development Induced Displacement

Policies and strategies have been framed both internationally as well as nationally to deal with resettlement of those displaced for facilitating development activities. Even though there exist a number

of legal framework to deal with development induced displacement and resettlement thereof, the question as to whether the compensation package is upto the mark still forms a major challenge.

The list of regulations and policies that is concerned with DIDR are as follows:

National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007

The NRRP 6 aims at striking a balance between the need for land for development purpose & the significance of protecting the interest of the landowner who has

provided and the same stipulates the minimum facilities to be ensured for persons displaced due to the acquisition of land for public purposes. The objectives of the Policy are:

(i) to minimize displacement and to identify an alternative option for

non-displacing or least displacing ;

(ii) to plan resettlement and rehabilitation of project affected families (PAFs) or project affected households (PAHs), including rural, tribal or vulnerable communities;

(iii) to ensure improved standard of living to PAFs or PAHs; and

(iv) to facilitate a harmonious relationship between the requiring body and PAFs by guaranteeing a fair compensation deal.

Though NRRP is applicable for projects where over 400 PAFs in

the plains or 200 PAFs in hilly or tribal areas are displaced, the basic principles can be applied to resettling and rehabilitating PAFs regardless of the number affected. NRRP’s provisions are intended to mitigate adverse impacts on PAFs.

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While key principles of NRRP are similar, NRRP excludes linear projects (which acquire only narrow strips of land). Linear impacts and temporary linear impacts are not covered by NRRP. Further, there is no law on resettlement in the country. The law relating to the

acquisition of privately owned immoveable property is the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The Policy provides for Social Impact Assessment of the project in accordance with Chapter IV.

Adequate requirements have also been made for pecuniary sustain to the affected families for erection of livestock sheds, shops, and working sheds; haulage costs, temporary and transitional accommodation,

and comprehensive infrastructural facilities and amenities in the resettlement area including education, health care, drinking water, roads, electricity, sanitation, religious activities, cattle grazing, and other society resources, etc.

Chapter VI of the Policy provides for the scheme provides for the

scheme for displacement and resettlement. All sort of displacement as well as rehabilitation of the displaced has to be in accordance with this Chapter.

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013

The Act that replaced the Land Acquisition Act (LAA) came into force on 1st January 2014. Acquisition of land is the process by which the government or the authorities takes possession of a land property for the public good or

the greater interest of the country through various developmental activities. The Act provides for a humane, participative and transparent process of land acquisition for industrialisation, infrastructure development, urbanisation etc and the same is no doubt a result of the militant operations that took place in Singur, Nandigram etc. To address historical injustice the 2013 Act also applies retrospectively to cases

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where no land acquisition award has been made. Also in cases where the land was acquired five years ago but no compensation has been paid or no possession has taken place then the land acquisition process will be started afresh in accordance with the provisions of

the Act.

The Land Acquisition Act provides a framework for facilitating land acquisition in India. LAA enables the State Government to acquire private land for public purposes. LAA ensures that no person is deprived of land except under LAA and entitles affected persons to a hearing before acquisition. However, it is pathetic to realise that the Act does not protect land rights or deals with historic injustices committed in the name of development and public purposes.

The rapacious use of Land Acquisition Act 1894 by the government to secure land for ‘development’ projects has caused over 100 million people to be displaced from their land, livelihoods and shelters. The 2013 Act to a great extend enables for fair compensation and resettlement

packages for the displaced community.

The 2013 Act aims at diluting the following drawbacks of LLA and to a great extend the same has been effective:

The Act does not allow for

compensation (except for houses) for landless labourers, artisans, and those sharing the use of land but without legal rights to it;

The scheme of valuation of land

considers only the market price of land at the date of notification under Section 4(1) without considering any increase in the value of land at a subsequent date.

Compensating for actual market value of land, which will entitle the owner to buy similar replacement land in adjacent areas, is not practicable under the framework of the LAA;

The value of land is estimated

through the sales statistics method, leading to undervaluation of land. Buyers intentionally undervalue the land in sales transactions to

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reduce registration fees. This leads to a large number of court cases resulting in further delays and harassment both to landowners and the project authority (PA);

The acquisition process takes

too long and is incompatible with infrastructure project construction schedules.

ADB7’s Safeguard Statement, 2009 (SPS)

ADB has adopted SPS 8 in 2009 including safeguard requirements for environment, involuntary resettlement and indigenous people. The objective of the SPS is

to avoid involuntary resettlement wherever possible; to minimize involuntary resettlement by exploring project and design alternatives; to enhance, or at least reinstate, the livelihoods of all evicted persons in real terms relative to pre-project levels; and to improve the standards of living of the displaced poor and other vulnerable groups.

The involuntary resettlement safeguards covers physical displacement (relocation, loss of

residential land, or loss of shelter) and economic displacement (loss of land, assets, access to assets, income sources, or means of livelihoods) as a result of

(i) involuntary acquisition of land, or

(ii) Involuntary restrictions on

land use or on access to legally designated parks and protected areas. It covers them whether such losses and involuntary restrictions are full or partial, permanent or temporary.

Followings are the basic policy principle of ADB’s Statement:

(i) Identification of past, present, and future involuntary resettlement impacts and risks and determination of the scope of resettlement planning.

(ii) Carry out meaningful

consultations with affected persons, host communities, and concerned non-government organizations.

(iii) Improvement or at least restoration of the livelihoods of all displaced persons,

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(iv) Ensure physically and economically displaced persons with needed assistance.

(v) Improvement of the standards of living of the displaced poor and other vulnerable groups.

(vi)Development of procedures in a transparent, consistent, and

equitable manner if land acquisition is through negotiated settlement,

(vii) Ensure that displaced persons without titles to land or any recognizable legal rights to land are eligible for resettlement assistance and compensation for loss of non-land assets.

(viii) Preparation of a resettlement plan elaborating on displaced persons’ entitlements, the income and livelihood restoration strategy, institutional arrangements, monitoring and reporting

framework, budget, and time-bound implementation schedule.

(ix) Disclosure of resettlement plan, including documentation of the consultation process in a timely manner to affected persons and other stakeholders.

(x) Execution of involuntary resettlement as part of a development project or program.

(xi) Payment of compensation and provide other resettlement entitlements before physical or economic displacement.

(xii) Monitoring and assessment of

resettlement outcomes, their impacts on the standards of living of displaced persons

The project recognizes three types of displaced persons namely:

(i) persons with formal legal rights to land lost in its entirety or in part;

(ii) persons who lost the land they occupy in its entirety or in part who have no formal legal rights to such land, but who have claims to such lands that are recognized or recognizable under national laws; and

(iii) persons who lost their occupied land either fully or in part who have neither formal legal rights nor recognized or recognizable claims to such land. The involuntary resettlement requirements

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apply to all three types of displaced persons.

Thus the ultimate objective of every development induced resettlement is to provide a better

Development induced displacement vs. Sustainable development

Development without an alternative to provide sustenance to the effected is not worthy. It results not only in poverty and structural degradation, but also in the weakening of the culture that

ensured renewability. Every developmental activity should be carried out taking into consideration the basic principles of Sustainable development. But unfortunately, the statistics proves contrary and represents that atleast 310 lakhs have been displaced thereby deprived their livelihood by such projects from 1950-2010.

Most of the problems connected with displacement, resettlement and rehabilitation can be traced to

the "Unbalanced growth strategy". Development, which has entailed many large-scale forced evictions of

vulnerable populations, without the countervailing presence of policies to assist them to rebuild their lives, has only accentuated the negative aspects of displacement, such as lack of information, failure to prepare in advance a comprehensive plan for

rehabilitation, the undervaluation of compensation and its payment in cash, failure to restore lost assets or livelihoods, traumatic and delayed relocation, problems at relocation sites, multiple displacement, and neglect of the special vulnerabilities of the most disadvantaged groups. The Supreme Court in a series of judgement including Haryana Urban Development Authority v. Sandeep and others 9 , State of Madhya Pradesh v. Narmada Bachao Andolan 10 etc have reiterated the need for having and

implementing an effective Rehabilitation and Resettlement package.

Conclusion

The three broad theoretical perspectives that can be used to test the justification of development induced displacement are the public interest, equality and

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self-determination. The public interest perspective has to be given concrete expression by cost-benefit analysis. The criterion is that of net benefits to the population as a whole. Negative side effects, including displacement, are treated as costs and the question is

whether the benefits of the project or policy exceed such costs. Questions of compensation and distribution are treated as separate, political matters. It is possible for those displaced to become worse off, for these costs to be taken into account, and yet for the project or policy to generate positive net benefits. Such a line of reasoning lay behind the statement of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, that people displaced by dams had to make such sacrifices for the good of the

country. However, while making such a sacrifice for the development of the nation, the ousted community should also be given some benefits by way of proper rehabilitation.ie, No development activity should be made at the cost of sacrifice made by the poor

section who are often displaced in the name of development.

Every rehabilitation strategy should aim at empowering the evictees to facilitate a long term solution to their needs around resettlement by providing them best available options. The real

issue today is with regards to the implementation of the legislation as well as other strategies facilitating efficient rehabilitation. Recently, there has been great criticism that the Bhakra Dam oustees even after 50 years from being displaced are still not yet rehabilitated effectively1 . Let us hope that the Government come up with a more effective implementation mechanism for effecting its Resettlement and Rehabilitation Strategy in accordance with the Right to Fair Compensation and

Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 and other related policies

References

1. Agnihotri, A., "The Orissa Resettlement and Rehabilitation of Project-

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Affected Persons Policy, 1994: An analysis of its robustness with reference to the Impoverishment Risks Model", in A.B. Ota and A. Agnihotri (eds.),Involuntary Resettlement in dam projects :. New Delhi: Prachi Prakashan, 1996.

2. Bartolome, L.J., De Wet, C., Mander, H., Nagraj, V.K.,Displacement Cernea, M., "Risks, safeguards, and reconstruction: A model for population displacement and resettlement", in M. Cernea and C. McDowell (eds.),Risks and Reconstruction: Experiences of resettlers and refugeesRisks and Reconstruction: Experiences of resettlers and refugees, pp. 11-55. Washington, D.C.: World Bank,

2000.

3. Ethics of Development-Induced Displacement (EDID) research project, York University, Toronto, Canada

4. International Development Ethics Association Report http://www.developmen

t-ethics.org/

5.

1 http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/moolampally-package-outstanding-issues-settled/article2081881.ece 2 Rehabilitation and Resettlement 3 occurs when families lose economic power and slide downwards 4 WFP report (1996) 5 Mining induced displacement having the lion share 6 National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy 7 Asian Development Bank 8 Safeguard Policy Statement 9 Decided on 25th April 2012 10 (2011 )7 SCC 639

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Human Health Perspective on Climate Variations

Akash Tiwari , Law department, Hidayatullah National Law University, Nandini Kumar , Law Department, Hidayatullah National Law University

Abstract:

Health equity and climate change have a major impact on human health and quality of life, and are interlinked in a number of ways. Climate change can lead to dramatic increases in prevalence of a variety of infectious diseases. Weather and climate play a significant role in people's health. Changes in climate affect the average weather conditions that we are accustomed to. Increases in the frequency or severity of extreme weather events such as storms could increase the risk of dangerous flooding, high winds, and other direct threats to people and property. This paper presents human health perspective on climate variations

Key words: Health, Climate, temperature, global carbon, sustainable

development

Law in its very character has been reactive and not proactive. For law to have its significance, in this society which is always in a state of flex, law needs to keep pace with societal advancements including the changing technology.

Weather and climate play a significant role in people's health. Changes in climate affect the average weather conditions that we are accustomed to. Increases in the frequency or severity of extreme weather events such as storms

could increase the risk of dangerous flooding, high winds, and other direct threats to people and property.

Warmer temperatures could increase the concentrations of unhealthy pollutants and

combined with increased climatic variability would alter the pattern of exposure to thermal extremes and resultant health impacts, in both summer and winter. By contrast, the public health

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consequences of the disturbance of natural and managed food-producing ecosystems, rising sea-levels and population displacement for reasons of physical hazard, land loss, economic disruption and civil strife, may not become evident for up to several decades.

In 2009, the World Health Assembly endorsed a new WHO work plan on climate change and health. This includes: Advocacy: to raise awareness that climate change is a fundamental threat to human health. Science and evidence: to coordinate reviews of the scientific evidence on the links between climate change and health, and develop a global research agenda. Health system strengthening: to assist countries to assess their health vulnerabilities and build capacity to

reduce health vulnerability to climate change. This paper deals with all the intricacies of human health affected by climate health and coordinate with various other agencies in order to reduce this human vulnerability to climate health.

Human Health perspective on Climate variations

In a world of myriad “what if” scenarios surrounding climate change, it becomes very complicated to create wise health policies for the future because of the uncertainty of predicting environmental change and human decisions. The need for sound science on which to base such policies becomes more critical than

ever.1

There is abundant evidence that human activities are altering the earth’s climate and that climate change will have significant health impacts both domestically and globally. While all of the changes associated with this process are not predetermined, the actions we take today will certainly help to shape our environment in the decades to come. Some degree of climate change is unavoidable, and we must adapt to its associated health effects; however, aggressive

mitigation actions can significantly blunt the worst of the expected exposures. Still, there will be effects on the health of people in

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India, some of which are already underway. As great as the domestic risks to the Indian public health are, the global risks are even greater.

Climate change and health issues transcend national borders, and climate change health impacts

in other countries are likely to affect health in the United States as well. Famine, drought, extreme weather events, and regional conflicts—all likely consequences of climate change—are some of the factors that increase the incidence and severity of disease, as well as contributing to other adverse health impacts, making it imperative to address climate change-related decision making at local, regional, national, and global levels. The complicated interplay of these and other factors must be

considered in determining the scope and focus of both basic and applied research on climate change and health.

India is one of the most important countries in the world with regard to climate change sources and impacts. With a large and growing population, India’s

emission of green house gases is increasing. At the same time potential climate impacts in India are severe, they include sea level rise, changes in monsoon, increased severe storms and flooding and more drought.

Climate change, interacting

with changes in land use and demographics, affect important human dimensions in India, especially those related to human health, settlements and welfare. The challenges presented by population growth, an aging population, migration patterns, and urban and coastal development compounded by changes in temperature, precipitation, and extreme climate-related events are devastating. Climate change will affect where people choose to live, work, and play. Among likely

climate changes are changes in the intensity and frequency of precipitation, more frequent heat waves, less frequent cold waves, more persistent and extreme drought conditions and associated water shortages, changes in minimum and maximum temperatures, potential increases

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in the intensity and frequency of extreme tropical storms, measurable sea-level rise and increases in the occurrence of coastal and riverine flooding. Further the Indian economy is intrinsically linked with the annual monsoon cycle due to India’s

dependency on agriculture.2

This paper aims to examine what makes the population vulnerable to the effects of climate change and to recommend steps to reduce the vulnerability.

The changes in global climate that have been forecast by the IPCC3 may affect human health both directly and indirectly The direct effects include injury and illness due to the more frequent heat waves and floods — expected as a result of higher temperatures, extremes of rainfall and thermal

expansion of the oceans. The indirect effects are more difficult to specify, but will probably be more important in terms of the magnitude of the disease burden they cause. Indirect effects are mediated via the influence of climate on biological systems (such as disease-carrying vectors or

productive agro-ecosystems) or other aspects of the physical environment (for example, photochemical oxidants). The vulnerability of societies to climate change will therefore depend, to some extent, on the ways in which critical ecosystems adapt to climatic

change.

The potential effects of global climate change have been reviewed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 4 and reported in greater detail in a recent WHO/WMO/UNEP publication5. There is no reason to believe that the Asia Pacific region will be spared; indeed, in many respects the region is particularly susceptible to climate-related injury and illness. Most obviously, Pacific island states and the low-lying coastal countries of Asia are more

liable than most countries to damage from rising sea levels. Health problems due to heat waves and photochemical air pollution will be most severe in large cities with high traffic volumes and poor housing. The Asia Pacific region already contains 13 of the 25 largest cities of the world. By 2015,

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nearly 1 billion people in Asia are expected to be living in cities 6 . Within urban areas there is potential for some vector-borne infections, such as dengue fever, to spread to large non-immune populations as temperatures rise and rainfall patterns alter.7

Both gains and losses in agriculture are expected as a consequence of global warming. Worldwide, the gains and losses may almost cancel out if the most optimistic scenarios are followed8 . However, the overall picture masks pronounced differences between countries. In general terms, developed countries are expected to do well, while developing countries do poorly. In the Asia Pacific region, food demand is expected to increase by about 50% by 2015 and about 100% by 2050.9

Factors contributing to Climate Change – GHG Emissions

The global carbon cycle involves interaction among the

atmosphere, oceans, soils and vegetation and fossil fuel deposits. The oceans contain 39,000 giga

tonnes of carbon (GtC), fossil fuel deposits about 16,000 GtC, soils and vegetation about 2500 GtC, and the atmosphere about 760 GtC10. Since 1850, land-use change is estimated to have released about 136 GtC and fossil fuel combus-tion, about 270 GtC. Of this, 180

GtC has ended up in the atmosphere, while 110 GtC has been absorbed by grow-ing vegetation and the remainder by the oceans. It is the increasing concentration of atmospheric CO2 that is the cause for concern about global climate change. The combustion of fossil fuels and other human activities are the primary reasons for increased concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Between 1990 and 1999, an estimated 6.3 GtC/year was released due to the

combustion of fossil fuels, and another 1.6 GtC/year was released due to the burning of forest vegetation. This was offset by the absorption of 2.3 GtC/year each by growing vegetation and the oceans. This left a balance of 3.3 GtC/ year in the atmosphere 11 . Controlling the release of green-house gases

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from fossil fuel combustion, land-use change and the burning of vegetation are therefore obvious op-portunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions can lessen the projected rate and magnitude of warming and sea

level rise. The greater the reductions in emissions and the earlier they are introduced, the smaller and slower the projected warming and the rise in sea levels. Future climate change is thus determined by historic, current and future emissions. Of the six aforementioned GHGs, CO2 accounted for 63%, methane 24%, nitrous oxide 10%, and the other gases the remaining 3% of the carbon equivalent emissions in 2000. Thus in addition to CO2, global mitigation effort needs to

focus on the two largest and rapidly increasing GHGs.

Contribution of Industrialized and Developing Countries

Historically, the industrialized countries have been the primary contributors to emissions of CO2. According to one

estimate, industrialized countries are responsible for about 83% of the rise in cumulative fossil fuel related CO2 emissions4 since 1800. In the 1990s, they accounted for about 53% of the 6.3 GtC/year, which was released as CO2 from fossil fuel combustion. These

countries have contributed little to the release of CO2 from the burning of vegetation, which is largely due to tropical deforestation during this period. According to another estimate, devel-oping countries accounted for only 37% of cumulative CO2 emissions from industrial sources and land-use change during the period 1900 to 1999, whereas industrialized countries accounted12 for 63%, but because of their higher population and economic growth rates, the fossil-fuel CO2 emissions from

developing countries are likely to soon match or exceed those from the industrialized countries. Large countries, such as China and India, could match the USA’s year 2000 greenhouse gas emissions within two to three decades. Figure 2 shows that when fossil fuel CO2 emissions alone are considered, due

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to population and economic growth in the coming decades, the contribution of developing countries as a group will soon overtake the industrialized countries. Historically, the responsibility for emissions increase lies largely with the

industrialized world, though the developing countries are likely to be the source of an increasing proportion of future increases.

Impacts of Climate Change: Implications for Developing Countries.

Developing countries are faced with immediate concerns that relate to forest and land degradation, freshwater shortage, food security and air and water pollution. Climate change will exacerbate the impacts of deforestation and other economic pressures, leading to further water shortages, land degradation and desertification. Increasing global temperatures will result in rising sea levels. Populations that inhabit

small islands and/or low-lying coastal areas are at particular risk of severe social and economic

disruptions from sea-level rise and storm surges that could destroy cities and disrupt large coastal livelihoods.

The widespread retreat of glaciers and icecaps in the 21st century will also lead to higher surface temperatures on land and

increasing water stress. By 2025, as much as two-thirds of the world population, much of it in the developing world, may be subjected to moderate to high water stress. Estimates of the effects of climate change on crop yields are predominantly negative for the tropics, even when adaptation and direct effects of CO2 on plant processes are taken into consideration. Ecological productivity and biodiversity will be altered by climate change and sea-level rise, with an increased

risk of extinction of some vulnerable species.

Even though the ability to project regional differences in impact is still emerging, the consequences of climate change are projected to be more drastic in the tropical regions. This is true for all sectors that are likely to bear the

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brunt of climate change, sea level, water resources, eco-systems, crop production, fisheries, and human health. The populations of the developing world are more vulnerable as their infrastructure is not strong and extensive enough to withstand a deleterious impact.

Role of Developing and Industrialized Countries in addressing Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation

In the global climate change debate, the issue of largest importance to developing countries is reducing the vulnerability of

their natural and socio-economic systems to projected climate change. Over time, there has been a visible shift in the global climate change discussions towards adaptation. Adaptation can complement mitigation as a cost-effective strategy to reduce climate change risks. The impact of climate change is projected to have different effects within and between countries. Mitigation and adaptation actions can, if appropriately designed, advance

sustainable development and equity

both within and across countries and between generations.

One approach to balancing the attention on adaptation and mitigation strategies is to compare the costs and benefits of both the strategies. If adaptation of climate change could be carried out at

negligible cost then it may be less expensive, at least in the short-term, than any alternate strategy. Of course, there are complications in establishing the benefits of adaptation policies and consequent avoided damages13. Further, there are significant co-benefits of many mitigation and adaptation measures, which need to be estimated. The co-benefits could play a critical role in making decisions regarding the adoption of any mitigation or adaptation strategy.

The impact of mitigation will only be felt in the long run by the future generations. However, the impacts or benefits of adaptation measures are immediate and felt by the implementers of the measures. The regions implementing the mitigation measures could be different from

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the regions experiencing its impacts. The current generation of industrialized countries may invest in mitigation measures and the main beneficiaries may be the next generation largely in the developing countries. The choice between mitigation and adaptation

strategies has spatial (geographic) and temporal (different generations) dimensions. An optimal mix of mitigation and adaptation strategies may elude the climate negotiations due to the spatial and temporal dimensions, as well as the differing perceptions of industrialized and developing countries. Under the Kyoto Protocol and UNFCCC, developing countries have insisted that Annex-I countries demonstrate commitment by promoting mitigation measures domestically

and provide resources for adaptation measures in developing countries 14 . However, over emphasis on adaptation might inhibit concerted mitigation actions by the Annex I governments, as adaptation measures are implemented and rewarded locally. Consequently, there is no incentive

to participate in international negotiations, if a country considers itself to be able to fully adapt to climate change15.

India’s need to be concerned about Climate Change

India is a large developing country with nearly 700 million rural population directly depending on climate-sensitive sectors (agriculture, forests and fisheries) and natural re-sources (such as

water, biodiversity, mangroves, coastal zones, grasslands) for their subsistence and livelihoods. Further, the adaptive capacity of dry land farmers, forest dwellers, fisher folk, and nomadic shepherds is very low 16 . Climate change is likely to impact all the natural ecosystems as well as socio-economic systems as shown by the National Communications Report of India to the UNFCCC17.

The latest high resolution climate change scenarios and projections for India based on Regional Climate

Modelling (RCM) system, known as PRECIS developed by Hadley Center and applied for India using IPCC scenarios. A 20% rise in all

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India summer monsoon rainfall and further rise in rainfall is projected over all states except Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, which show a slight decrease. Extremes in maximum and minimum temperatures are also expected to increase and similarly extreme

precipitation also shows substantial increases, particularly over the west coast of India and west central India.

Some of the projected impacts of climate change in India are as follows:

Water Resources

The hydrological cycle is likely to be altered and the severity of droughts and intensity of floods in various parts of India is likely to increase. Further, a general reduction in the quantity of available run-off is predicted.

Agriculture

Simulations using dynamic crop models indicate a decrease in yield of crops as temperature

increases in different parts of India. However, this is offset by an increase in CO2 at moderate rise in

temperature and at higher warming; negative impact on crop productivity is projected due to reduced crop durations.

Forests

Climate change is expected to exert an additional pressure on India’s stressed forest ecosystems. In a recent study conducted using Regional Climate Model (RCM) and

BIOME model (BIOME4), it was observed that more than 50% of the vegetation in India would be less than optimally adapted to its existing location by 2085, making it more vulnerable to adverse climatic conditions as well as to increased biotic stresses. 18 For instance, the study predicts an increase in the area under tropical evergreen forests at the expense of tropical semi- deciduous forests and tropical deciduous forests due to an increase in rainfall and a moderate increase in temperature. On the

other hand, tropical xerophytic shrubland will undergo large-scale reduction in area, possibly, due to increase in rainfall, with a large chunk of the area changing to tropical deciduous forests and tropical savanna. The study also

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points to higher vulnerability of cold and temperate forests compared to tropical forests, with a vast majority of cold and temperate forests giving way to warm mixed forests.

On the positive side, enhanced levels of CO2 are

projected to result in two-fold or more increase in the net primary productivity (NPP). These projections are, however, fraught with uncertainty due to the lack of reliable data on climate projections at the regional level. Nevertheless, studies indicate that climate change could impact the composition of species and the availability of forest goods and services, affecting, in turn, the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. For instance, a study conducted by Deshingkar, Bradley,

Chadwick, (1996) in Himachal Pradesh indicates that the predicted diminution in alpine grasslands would have an impact on the livelihoods of the transhumant grazier communities in the region. Similarly, an exploratory study conducted by TERI in the Uttarkashi Forest

Division of Uttarakhand indicates that climate change has had an impact on the phenology of some of the species in the study area. However, in this case, the phenological changes like early fowering, early sprouting of leaves in spring, and extended growing

season would benefit local communities, at least in the short run 19

Coastal Zone

Simulation models show an increase in frequencies of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal; particularly intense events are projected during the post-monsoon period. Sea level rise is projected to displace populations in coastal zones, increase flooding in low-lying coastal areas, loss of crop yields from inundation and salinization.

Human Health

Climate change poses a wide range of risks to population health - risks that will increase in future

decades, often to critical levels, if global climate change continues on its current trajectory. 20 The three main categories of health risks

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include: (i) direct-acting effects (e.g. due to heat waves, amplified air pollution, and physical weather disasters), (ii) impacts mediated via climate-related changes in ecological systems and relationships (e.g. crop yields, mosquito ecology, marine

productivity), and (iii) the more diffuse (indirect) consequences relating to impoverishment, displacement, resource conflicts (e.g. water), and post-disaster mental health problems.

Climate change thus threatens to slow, halt or reverse international progress towards reducing child under-nutrition, deaths from diarrheal diseases and the spread of other infectious diseases. Climate change acts predominantly by exacerbating the existing, often enormous, health

problems, especially in the poorer parts of the world. Current variations in weather conditions already have many adverse impacts on the health of poor people in developing nations,21 and these too are likely to be 'multiplied' by the added stresses of climate change.

A changing climate thus affects the prerequisites of population health: clean air and water, sufficient food, natural constraints on infectious disease agents, and the adequacy and security of shelter. A warmer and more variable climate leads to

higher levels of some air pollutants and more frequent extreme weather events. It increases the rates and ranges of transmission of infectious diseases through unclean water and contaminated food, and by affecting vector organisms (such as mosquitoes) and intermediate or reservoir host species that harbour the infectious agent (such as cattle, bats and rodents). Changes in temperature, rainfall and seasonality compromise agricultural production in many regions, including some of the least

developed countries, thus jeopardising child health and growth and the overall health and functional capacity of adults. As warming proceeds, the severity (and perhaps frequency) of weather-related disasters will increase - and appears to have done so in a number of regions of the

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world over the past several decades. Therefore, in summary, global warming, together with resultant changes in food and water supplies, can indirectly cause increases in a range of adverse health outcomes, including malnutrition, diarrhea, injuries, cardiovascular and

respiratory diseases, and water-borne and insect-transmitted diseases.

Health equity and climate change have a major impact on human health and quality of life, and are interlinked in a number of ways. The report of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health points out that disadvantaged communities are likely to shoulder a disproportionate share of the burden of climate change because of their increased exposure and

vulnerability to health threats. Over 90 percent of malaria and diarrhea deaths are borne by children aged 5 years or younger, mostly in developing countries. 22 Other severely affected population groups include women, the elderly and people living in small island-developing states and other coastal

regions, mega-cities or mountainous areas.23

Climate change can lead to dramatic increases in prevalence of a variety of infectious diseases. Beginning in the mid-70s, there has been an “emergence, resurgence and redistribution of infectious

diseases”. 24 Reasons for this are likely multicausal, dependent on a variety of social, environmental and climatic factors, however, many argue that the “volatility of infectious disease may be one of the earliest biological expressions of climate instability”. Though many infectious diseases are affected by changes in climate, vector-borne diseases, such as malaria, dengue fever and leishmaniasis, present the strongest causal relationship. Malaria in particular, which kills approximately 300,000 children

annually, poses the most imminent threat.25

Malaria

Malaria is especially susceptible to changes in the environment as both the pathogen (Plasmodium) and its vector (mosquitoes) lack the mechanisms

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necessary to regulate internal temperature and fluid levels. This implies that there is a limited range of climatic conditions within which the pathogen and vector can survive, reproduce and infect hosts.26 Vector-borne diseases, such as malaria, have distinctive

characteristics that determine pathogenicity. These include: the survival and reproduction rate of the vector, the level of vector activity (i.e. the biting or feeding rate), and the development and reproduction rate of the pathogen within the vector or host. These depend on climatic conditions such as temperature, precipitation and humidity.

Temperature

The ideal temperature range for malaria-carrying mosquitoes is 15–30 °C. Temperature exerts varied effects on survival and reproduction rate of mosquitoes. If

initial temperature is high, then an increase in average temperature, associated with global warming, can decrease the survival and reproduction rate of mosquitoes.

Precipitation and Humidity

Increased precipitation can increase mosquito population indirectly by expanding larval habitat and food supply. They are highly sensitive to changes in precipitation and humidity. Mosquitoes are, however, highly dependent on humidity, surviving only within a limited humidity

range of 55-80%.

Extreme Weather Events

Infectious disease often accompanies extreme weather events, such as floods, earthquakes and drought. These local epidemics occur due to loss of infrastructure, such as hospitals and sanitation services, but also because of changes in local ecology and environment. For example, malaria outbreaks have been strongly associated with the El Nino cycles of a number of countries (India and Venezuela, for example). El Nino can lead to drastic, though temporary, changes in the

environment such as temperature fluctuations and flash floods. 27 In addition, with global warming, there has been a marked trend

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towards more variable and anomalous weather. This has led to an increase in the number and severity of extreme weather events. This trend towards more variability and fluctuation is perhaps more important, in terms of its impact on human health, than that of a

gradual and long-term trend towards higher average temperature.

Desertification

Globally, about 1900 millions of hectare meters (Mha) of land are affected by land degradation, of which 500 Mha each are in Africa and the Asia-Pacific and 300 Mha in Latin America. Climate change leading to warming and water stress could further exacerbate land degradation, leading to desertification.

The United Nations Convention to Combat

Desertification (UNCCD) aims to address the problem of land degradation, which is linked to climate change. It is important to note that the climate-sensitive sectors (forests, agriculture, coastal

zones) and the natural resources (groundwater, soil, biodiversity, etc.) are already under stress due to socio-economic pressures. Climate change is likely to exacerbate the degradation of resources and socio-economic pressures. Thus, countries such as India with a large

population dependent on climate sensitive sectors and low adaptive capacity have to develop and implement adaptation strategies.

Social effects of extreme Weather

As the World Meteorological Organization explains, "recent increase in societal impact from tropical cyclones has largely been caused by rising concentrations of population and infrastructure in coastal regions." 28 Normalized mainland U.S. hurricane damage from 1900 to 2005 to 2005 values and found no remaining trend of increasing absolute damage. The 1970s and 1980s were notable because of the extremely low

amounts of damage compared to other decades. The decade 1996–2005 has the second most damage among the past 11 decades, with

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only the decade 1926–1935 surpassing its costs. The most damaging single storm is the 1926 Miami hurricane, with $157 billion of normalized damage.29

The American Insurance Journal predicted that "catastrophe losses should be expected to double

roughly every 10 years because of increases in construction costs, increases in the number of structures and changes in their characteristics." 30 The Association of British Insurers has stated that limiting carbon emissions would avoid 80% of the projected additional annual cost of tropical cyclones by the 2080s. The cost is also increasing partly because of building in exposed areas such as coasts and floodplains. The ABI claims that reduction of the vulnerability to some inevitable

effects of climate change, for example through more resilient buildings and improved flood defences, could also result in considerable cost-savings in the long-term.31

Indian Government and Preventive measures

National Action Plan On Climate Change (NAPCC) has been set up by the Government of India. Recognizing that climate change is a global challenge, India will engage actively in multilateral negotiations in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, in a positive, constructive and forward-looking

manner. Our objective will be to establish an effective, cooperative and equitable global approach based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, enshrined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

In order to achieve a sus-tainable development path that simultaneously advances economic and environmental objectives, the National Action Plan for Climate Change

(NAPCC) will be guided by the following principles:

Protecting the poor and vulnerable sections of society

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through an inclusive and sustainable development strategy, sensitive to climate change.

Achieving national growth objectives through a qualitative change in direction that enhances ecological

sustainability, leading to further mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.

Devising efficient and cost-effective strategies for end use Demand Side Management.

Deploying appropriate technologies for both adaptation and mitigation of greenhouse gases emissions extensively as well as at an accelerated pace.

Engineering new and innovative forms of market, regulatory and voluntary

mechanisms to promote sustainable development

Effecting implementation of programmes through unique linkages, including with civil society and local government institutions and through public

private partnership.

Welcoming international cooperation for research, development, sharing and transfer of technologies enabled by additional funding and a global IPR regime that facilitates technology transfer

to developing countries under the UNFCCC.

To conclude, it can be said that we as human beings should undertake the responsibility of doing as much as we can in order to prevent climate change as this shall adversely affect us in the future. Every individual must take the responsibility of maintaining the environment around them and to help the government in their efforts to restore and prevent any further drastic climatic changes.

References:

1 Quoted from “A Human Health Perspective On Climate Change”

2 Antoinette L. Brenkert, Elizabeth L. Malone, September 2005, Volume 72, Issue 1-2, pp 57-102 “Modeling Vulnerability and Resilience to Climate Change: A

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Case Study of India and Indian States”

3 Houghton JJ, Meiro Filho LG, Callander BA, Harris N, Kattenberg A, Maskell K (eds) (1996) Climate change 1995 - the science of climate change. Contribution of Working Group I to the Second Assessment Report of

the intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

4 Watson RT, Zinyowera MC, Moss RH, Dokken DJ (eds) (1996) Climate change 1995 — impacts, adaptations and mitiga-tion of climate change: scientific-technical analyses. Con-tribution of Working Group II to the Second Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, New York

5 McMichael AJ, Haines A, Slooff R, Kovats S (eds) (1996) Cli-mate change and human health. World Health Organisation, Geneva

6 UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) (1997)

Global environment outlook — 1. UNEP, New York

7 Martens W, Jetten T, Fock D (1997) Sensitivity of malaria, schistosomiasis and dengue to global warming. Climate Change 35:146–56

8 Parry ML, Rosenzweig C (1993) Food supply and risk of hunger.

Lancet 342:1345– 1347

9 UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) (1997) Global environment outlook — 1. UNEP, New York

10 Bolin, B. and Sukumar, R., Global perspective. In Land use, Land-use Change and Forestry (eds Watson, R. T., Noble, I. R. and Bolin, B.), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000.

11 Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis, Summary for

Policy Makers and Technical Summary of the Working Group I Report, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Geneva, Switzer-land, 2001.

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12 World Resources 2000–2001, People and Ecosystems: The Fraying Web of Life, World Resources Institute, Oxford University Press, New York, 2001.

13 Jepma, C. J. and Munasinghe, M., Climate Change Policy; Facts, Issues and Analyses, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK,

1998.

14 Jacob James, The science, politics and economics of global climate change: Implications for the carbon sink projects, Curr. Sci., 2005, 89(3), 464–474.

15 Pielke, R. A. J., Rethinking the role of adaptation in climate policy. Global Environ. Change, 1998, 8.2, 159–170.

16 Ravindranath, N. H. and Sathaye, J., Climate Change and Developing Countries, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht,

Neth-erlands, 2002

17 India’s Initial National Communications to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi, 2004

18 Ravindranath N H, Murthy I K, Chaturvedi R K, Andrasko K, Sathaye J A. 2006. Carbon Forestry Economic Mitigation Potential in India: by land classifcation .Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; US Environmental protection Agency; and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. 48 pp

19 Paul V, Singh T P, and Das A. 2004. Potential impacts of climate change on forests: a case study in Uttaranchal, pp 102-144. In Proceedings of the Workshop on Vulnerability and Adaptation on Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Ecosystems, Bangalore, India, 18–19 July 2003. 197 pp.

20 A.J. McMichael; R. Woodruff, S. Hales (2006). "Climate Change and Human Health: Present and Future Risks".

21

http://www.wmo.int/pages/publications/bulletin_en/documents/57_4_short_en.pdf

22 http://who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/2004_report_update/en/index.html

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23 http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_20072008_EN_Complete.pdf

24 P. Epstein (2002). "Climate Change and Infectious Disease: Stormy Weather Ahead?". Epidemiology 13 (4): 373–375.

25 J. Patz; S. Olson (2006). "Malaria Risk and Temperature: Influences

from Global Climate Change and Local Land Use Practices:”

26 J. Patz; A.K. Githeko, J.P. McCarty, S. Hussein, U. Confalonieri, N. de Wet (2003). A. McMichael. ed. "Climate Change and Infectious Diseases". Climate Change and Human Health: Risks and Responses (Geneva: World Health Organization).

27 P. Epstein (2002). "Climate Change and Infectious Disease: Stormy Weather Ahead?"

28 "Summary Statement on Tropical Cyclones and Climate Change" (Press release). World Meteorological Organization. 2006-12-04

29 Pielke, Roger A., Jr.; et al. (2008). "Normalized Hurricane Damage in the United States: 1900–2005" Natural Hazards Review

30 Insurance Journal: Sound Risk Management, Strong Investment Results Prove Positive for P/C Industry, April 18, 2006.

31 "Financial risks of climate

change". Association of British Insurers. June 2005

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Environment Education of Teacher Educators and Teachers Through Technology

Dr.R.S.S.Nehru, Reader/Associate Professor, Beninah Christian College of Education, P.G-Department, M.Ed-Section, Burugupudi, Rajahmundry, AP.

Abstract

The earth’s environment is in crisis mainly because it is being abused beyond its capacity by human beings. The present paper examines the need for environmental education and awareness in the present times. The paper focuses on the role of Teacher Educators and Teachers and educators to spread awareness about environmental issues and problems. The emphasis is on sensitizing the student community through their Teacher Educators and Teachers who can play a pivotal role in transmitting the requisite knowledge, skills, attitudes and values, essential to restore or at least arrest the irreversible damage being caused to the environment. The paper describes various technology mediated initiatives by the developed and developing world to spread environment awareness. Key words: Environment, education, community, ecosystem, collaboration

Introduction

Environment is essential for all life forms on the planet earth. There is dependence of all living beings, including human beings, on the environment, with which they interact continuously. However human beings are solely

responsible for changing the environment by indiscriminate use of the natural resources. Therefore the onus of protecting the environment for the present and

future generations also rests with human beings alone. So we need environmentally literate citizens. For this environment education is required, so that people become aware and take active part in

protecting the earth’s environment by making informed decisions and taking environmentally friendly actions.

Environmental Education (EE)

refers to organized efforts to teach about how natural environments

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function and, particularly, how human beings can manage their behavior and ecosystems in order to live sustainably. The term is often used to imply education within the school system, from primary to post-secondary. However, it is sometimes used more

broadly to include all efforts to educate the public and other audiences, including print materials, websites, media campaigns, etc. Related disciplines include outdoor education and experiential education.

Environmental education is a learning process that increases people's knowledge and awareness about the environment and associated challenges, develops the necessary skills and expertise to address the challenges, and fosters attitudes, motivations, and

commitments to make informed decisions and take responsible action (UNESCO, Tbilisi Declaration, 1978).

Singh, K in (UNESCO: 1996) outlines a holistic educational philosophy for the twenty first century, and states that, “the ecology of planet earth has to be

preserved from mindless destruction and ruthless exploitation, and enriched for the welfare of generations yet unborn, and that these should be a more equitable consumption pattern based on limits to growth, not unbridled consumerism”. It is

essential that people are made aware through education and training about protection and conservation of the environment. This will then inculcate in them sensitivity towards environmental issues and develop a responsible attitude towards the environment and protection. Environmental education has crossover with outdoor education and experiential education. Both fields of education complement environmental education yet have unique

philosophies.

1. Outdoor education means

learning "in" and "for" the outdoors. It is a means of curriculum extension and enrichment through outdoor experiences." (Hammerman, 1980, p. 33) Environmental education is often taught or

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enhanced through outdoor experiences. The out of doors experience, while not strictly environmental in nature, often contain elements of teaching about the environment.

2. Experiential education is a

process through which a learner constructs knowledge, skill, and value from direct experiences"

(AEE, 2002, p. 5) experiential education can be viewed as both a process and method to deliver the ideas and skills associated with environmental education.

While each of these educational fields has their own objectives, there are points where they overlap with the intentions and philosophy of environmental education. The roots of environmental education can be traced back as early as the 18th century when Jean-Jacques Rousseau stressed the importance of an education that focuses on the

environment. Several decades later, Louis Agassiz, a Swiss-born naturalist, echoed Rousseau’s philosophy as he encouraged students to “Study nature, not books.” These two influential scholars helped lay the foundation

for a concrete environmental education program, known as nature study, which took place in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

The nature study movement used fables and moral lessons to help students develop an

appreciation of nature and embrace the natural world. Anna Bots ford Comstock, the head of the Department of Nature Study at Cornell University, was a prominent figure in the nature study movement and wrote the Handbook for Nature Study in 1911, which used nature to educate children on cultural values. Comstock and the other leaders of the movement, such as Liberty Hyde Bailey, helped Nature Study garner tremendous amounts of support from community leaders,

teachers, and scientists and change the science curriculum for children across the United States.

A new type of environmental education, Conservation Education, emerged as a result of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl during the 1920s and 1930s. Conservation Education

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dealt with the natural world in a drastically different way from Nature Study because it focused on rigorous scientific training rather than natural history. Conservation Education was a major scientific management and planning tool that helped solve social, economic,

and environmental problems during this time period.

The modern environmental education movement, which gained significant momentum in the late 1960s and early 1970s, stems from Nature Study and Conservation Education. During this time period, many events – such as Civil Rights, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War – placed Americans at odds with one another and the U.S. government. However, as more people began to fear the fallout from radiation, the chemical

pesticides mentioned in Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, and the significant amounts of air pollution and waste, the public’s concern for their health and the health of their natural environment led to a unifying phenomenon known as environmentalism.

The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 a national teach-in about environmental problems – paved the way for the modern environmental education movement. Later that same year, President Nixon passed the National Environmental Education

Act, which was intended to incorporate environmental education into K-12 schools. Then, in 1971, the National Association for Environmental Education (now known as the North American Association for Environmental Education) was created to improve environmental literacy by providing resources to teachers and promoting environmental education programs. Internationally, environmental education gained recognition when the UN Conference on the Human

Environment held in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972, declared environmental education must be used as a tool to address global environmental problems. The United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and United Nations Environment

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Program (UNEP) created three major declarations that have guided the course of environmental education.

Environment Education and Technology

Technology supports our multidisciplinary approach to Teaching and learning. Integrating different disciplines helps students combine their mathematical, logical, scientific, linguistic, artistic,

and social knowledge to make their lives and interactions with the world clearer. The concept of environment education emerged only in the seventies which were called as the decade of environmental education. During that period the world realized that environmental concerns and awareness could be spread only through a mass environment education program. The concept of environment education emerged from the Stockholm Conference organized by the United Nation in

1972. Recommendations of the conference emphasized organization of ‘formal’ and ‘mass’ environmental education programs.

In response to this, UNESCO-UNEP launched the International Environmental Education Programme (IEEP) in 1975 whose objective was to promote exchange of information, experience, research, curricula and international cooperation in the

area of environmental education. Following this an international workshop was held in Belgrade in 1975, which emphasized that environment education should be lifelong, interdisciplinary, involve active global participation and foster values of local national and international cooperation (UNESCO UNEP:1985).

An Inter governmental Conference to consider environment education was organized at Tbilisi, USSR in 1977, by UNESCO and UNEP which

resulted in the famous Tbilisi Declaration. The Tbilisi Conference recommended development of necessary skills, knowledge, values, attitudes and understanding among individuals and social groups about the environmental problems. It also emphasized the pre-service and in-service training of Teacher

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Educators and Teachers in environmental education. The basis of such a training program would be the preparation of teaching learning materials and adoption of interdisciplinary approach. Use of mass media to disseminate information was also emphasized

(UNESO-UNEP: 1985). Environment education, which has evolved as a global concept, is an ongoing life long process. As emphasized by Tbilisi (UNESCO-UNEP: 1977), environment education is regarded as a permanent process in which the individuals and the community gain awareness of their environment and acquire the knowledge, values, skills experiences and also the determination to act individually and collectively to solve present and

future environmental problems. Educating the people at large about environment and its components would develop critical thinking analytical and problem solving skills in them. It would develop knowledge and insights to improve quality of human life on earth.

Technology Mediated Environment Education in the global level

In any society teacher’s can play a pivotal role in transmitting knowledge and creating awareness about the environment and help to tackle the local and global environmental issues. The teacher’s community should be motivated and committed to the cause of realizing the goals of environment education and should take initiatives in designing the

program of environment education. However for Teacher Educators and Teachers to succeed in their enterprise and endeavor for spreading environmental awareness, it is important that the educational institutions should provide conditions conducive for it. It is essential that Teacher Educators and Teachers should be properly trained themselves on environment concepts and skills to impart training to learners. Teacher Educators and Teachers

should be well equipped with the knowledge method and teaching learning, material to inculcate the right understanding of and attitude

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towards environment in the learners. To create a workforce and community of environmentally aware and concerned citizens, technology can play a vital role. Education has emerged as a non-formal, learner-centric, cost effective, alternative method of

teaching-learning, across the world. The instructional gap is bridged between the teacher and learner who are removed from direct, immediate, face to face contact. Distance education employs a multimedia approach to instruction which involves a judicious blend of print, e-content, m-content and non-print media. Research studies reveal that technology has a positive impact on the teaching learning system and this has brought about a more positive attitudinal change among learners.

Teaching has become more dynamic and both students and Teacher Educators and Teachers have become equally enthused. In this context, open and distance learning can be used for promoting environmental education (Pant,H.,2005).

Role of Technology on Environment Education India

In India also environmental studies were introduced in the seventies. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) outlined the concept of environment education in different publications in 1975, example, “Curricula for the Ten Year School: A Framework”. These documents emphasized that child’s learning

experiences should be derived from the disciplines of sciences in general and biology in particular. As a result of these recommendations, Environmental studies (EVS) was introduced, by integrating the science and social science curricula. Environmental studies are used as an interdisciplinary subject in the initial years of schooling. At later levels, it narrows down to the conventional disciplines. (Kumar, A, 1986). University Grants Commission, India organized a

National Seminar on ‘Environmental Education through Universities” in 1984. The outcome of the seminar was that in spite of all members recognizing the

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importance of Environment Education, only few were clear on measures to be adopted for the same. Few have any idea or experience as to how environment education can be successfully taught. However courses on environmental sciences have been

developed at the under graduate and post graduate levels in many universities across the country like Jawahar Lal Nehru University, University of Pune etc.(Kumar,A.,1986). UGC has developed a six months compulsory core module course in Environmental Studies, which is integrated into the teaching programs of all undergraduate courses. The course comprises 50 lectures, of which 45 lectures are done in the class room and lectures are covered through field activities.

The course material is provided by UGC for both classroom and field activities. Evaluation is through exams conducted at the end of the semester and is worth 100 marks, of which 25 marks are for field work (UGC, 2003).The Indira Gandhi National Open University has also launched awareness level

courses of study in environment and also a Post Graduate Diploma in Environment and Sustainable Development. However since Environment Education cuts across all disciplines of study, Malebye (2005) states that,” a program for Environment Education which

draws on the curriculum will give learners the opportunity to consider environmental issues form the physical, geographical, biological, sociological, economical, political, technological, aesthetical, ethical and spiritual perspective”.

Hence all subjects can help to develop insights for understanding the human behavior and its impact on the environment. In a developing country like India, there is need for capacity building of Teacher Educators and Teachers, in environment

education, both through pre-service and in-service teacher training programs. However the in-service teacher training program has to face the challenges of lack of time, resources and relevance of training programs to the needs and work situations. One such initiative is ‘Green Teacher’ a distance

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education course in Environment Education, for practicing Teacher Educators and Teachers launched by Centre for Environment Education, Ahmadabad, India in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Canada in 2005. It is a one year

diploma program for Teacher Educators and Teachers and educators. Initially the course was offered through the print medium compiled in four modules, supported by field assignments and contact classes, Now the program is also being offered both on-line and off-line with a suitable Learning Management System (Jain,S.,Gaonkar,M.,2007). The Green Teacher program was an outcome of India’s National Policy of Education (1986) and the Supreme Court ruling of 2003 that

environment education should be a compulsory curricular component at all levels of education, starting 2004-2005.The Green teacher program develops the necessary knowledge, skills and ideas pertaining to environment in the practicing Teacher Educators and Teachers which is novel initiative

taking into consideration their constraints at the workplace (Daniel, J. 2007).

The Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, India has launched a Green Schools Programme in which ‘survey’ of the school done by a school on its

environmental practices called as environmental auditing. The students form teams and explore the status of water, energy, land, air and waste in the school. The teacher is a facilitator and organizes activities on the basis of a handbook called the Green Schools Programme Manual. The Environment Education Unit (EEU) of the centre conducts a two-day training program for Teacher Educators and Teachers, educators, development workers and people interested in environment

education. The training includes interactive sessions, film presentations and several modules on how they can implement the environment programs in their schools. A Green Educators Network has been launched which has the vision of bringing together environment educators across the

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world to create a forum to share and discuss various aspects of environment education. It also releases ‘Down to Earth’ a weekly dispatch of feature articles in English and Hindi languages (http://www.cseindia.org/)

Conclusion

From the above discussion the following suggestions emerge

a) The problem of environment abuse is a serious one and needs to be addressed at the local ,national and international levels .To achieve a good quality of life on earth for all living beings ,it is essential to spread awareness about and educate humankind in sustainable development and environmental problems.

b) It is agreed, that Teacher Educators and Teachers are potential change agents and are capable of generating a

workforce of enlightened, skilled and motivated learners. They can empower the citizens with the ability attitude and values to protect the environment using formal and

non formal channels of education. It is essential that Teacher Educators and Teachers themselves need to be trained and equipped with the requisite knowledge skills and values to effect such a change.

c) Universities and schools have to

play an important role to translate the objectives and recommendations of the various commissions and committees into practice for achieving environmental literacy and awareness among learners (Kumar,A.,1986).

d) Technological interventions and mass media should be employed to create environmental awareness among the teaching community. A convergence of the conventional and open and distance learning systems

should be employed to meet this challenge.

e) There is a need to train Teacher Educators and Teachers in additional competencies regarding environment education(UNESCO-1985).The teacher training curricula

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should integrate environment education with the methodology component of all disciplines, since environment is a part of all areas of study .Instead of burdening the existing teacher training curriculum with an extra subject on Environment

Education ,some weight age could be assigned in the practical component of the content cum methodology courses of all disciplines, for environment education. Appropriate training strategies need to be devised considering the constraints in which the teacher training system operates especially in developing countries.

f) Non formal channels of education like T. V., radio, press and satellite technology can be

effectively utilized for capacity building of environment educators.

g) Online courses on environment education with a thrust on the practical ,skill and value development aspect could be developed for the Teacher Educators and Teachers ,

educators administrators, development workers or any person interested to become knowledgeable and aware of environmental issues, on the lines of Green Teacher Programme of the Centre for Environment Education ,

Ahmadabad , India

h) User friendly, multi-media courseware on environment problems and awareness can be prepared, particularly for the rural -agro based communities in India .For example L 3 module for farmers developed by COL, Canada (Daniel,J.,2007). Similar programs for the rural folk related to their occupation like, forest, fisheries, plantation workers etc. could be developed.

i) Collaborative ventures could be

created between the Teacher Educators and Teachers and community through the agencies of schools, colleges, universities and other institutions. Such collaborations could include campaigns on environment awareness, tree plantations,

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waste management or also in developing instructional materials. An example is the” Green School “campaign of Centre for Science and Environment, India

j) Electronic and computer networks could be employed to

connect globally and acquire information and expertise on latest developments in the area of environment education and training. Hence technology mediated learning can play a major role in dissemination of knowledge, skills and values regarding environment, among Teacher Educators and Teachers and through them to our future generations.

I hope this gives you some ideas about the appropriate uses of technology in Environmental

Education. Think about the needs of the learners, and the educational values the applications provide. Consider technology as a way to amplify and extend the essential skills and knowledge you want your students to acquire. If it's also fun, great!

References

1. Daniel,J.(2007),Education for Sustainable Development: Reaching the Masses, Fourth International Conference on Environmental Education, Ahmadabad, India.

2. Donella, H.M.(1989),Harvesting One hundredfold Key concepts and

Case Studies in

Environmental Education, United Nation Environment Programme, DOT-Comments (2007), Using ICT for Environmental Education and Youth Empowerment in Lebanon, Issue 17

3. Ginkel, van.H.(1998),Preparing for a Sustainable Future: Higher Education and Sustainable Human Development, U.N. University, Tokyo.

4. Jain, S. and Gaonkar,

M.(2007), ICT Enabled In-Service Teacher Training in Environmental Education online ,digital Learning, June Issue.

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5. Khoshoo,T.N.(1991), Environmental Concerns and Strategies, Ashish Publishing House, New Delhi, India

6. Kudryavtsev, A.,Krasny,M.Jahi et .at (2006), Communication Across Continents: Integrating Local and Global

Understanding in Environment and Sustainable Development, Connect, UNESCO Newsletter,1-5.

7. Kumar A.(1986),Educating in Environment,Patriot,19th Jan. Environment Education in the Media Approaches /Policy, compiled by the Environment Science Group, World Wildlife Fund India and DST, Government of India.7-10

8. Malebye, V.E. (2005) Learner Understands of the Impact of Air Pollution on the

environment in Rural Communities, M. Ed., Dissertation, University of Pretoria.

9. Pant, H. (2005), Attitude of Distance Learners Towards Multimedia Approach to

Instruction, AAOU Journal, I (1), 65-72.

10. Singh, K.(1996) Education for the Global Society, Learning the Treasure Within, UNESCO, 225-227.

11. Tbilisi UNESCO-UNEP (1977). First

Intergovernmental Conference of Environmental Education, Final Report, USSR.

12. UGC (2003) Six Months Module Syllabus for Environmental Studies for Undergraduate Courses, UGC, New Delhi, India.

13. UNESCO (1988),An Environment Education Approach to the Training of Elementary Teacher Educators and Teachers: A Teacher Training Programme, UNESCO-UNEP, 61-70.

14. UNESCO (1986), Environment Education Module for In-service Training of Science Teacher Educators and Teachers and Supervisors for Secondary Schools, Division of Science and Technology and

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Vocational Education, UNESCO-UNEP, 88-93.

15. UNESCO (1985), Environment Education Module for In-service Training of Social Science Teacher Educators and Teachers and Supervisors of Secondary Schools, 53-55 & 58-

59.

16. UNESCO (1985), Environment Education Module for Pre-service Training of Social Science Teacher Educators and Teachers and Supervisors of Secondary Schools, 7-14 & 59-63.

17. Vrasidas,C.,Zembylas,M., et.al .(2007), ICT as a Tool for Environmental Education, Peace, and Reconciliation, Educational Media International,44(2),129-140.

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Management of Hazardous Waste: Policies and Legal Framework - A Critical Analysis

Sumit Kapoor, 4th Semester, LL.B (Hons.), Law School, Banaras Hindu

University;

Abstract

Growth and Development has brought in several challenges before the country and one of the challenges is management and handling of waste. Rapidly growing industries have contributed to the depletion of natural resources and the production of hazardous waste material, which is harmful to its fragile ecosystem and human beings that thrive on it. Worldwide generation of hazardous waste has crossed 400 million metric tons which makes it about 80 fold since 1945. Though India is at bit better footing in this regard than some other countries, but this fact cannot be denied that existing Laws and Policies related to Hazardous Waste management in India are not proving to be adequate and the implementing authorities, especially the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCB) is facing difficulties in identifying hazardous waste generating units on other hand state government are unable to identify hazardous waste landfill sites. Situation is even worse in ship breaking industry. Though judiciary had come forward and took cognizance of the alarming situation created by dumping of hazardous waste, but now the time had come to declare that such dumping violates fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Present paper examines giving and misgiving of the international, comparative and finally Indian hazardous substance and waste laws. Also an attempt is made in this paper to provide critical appraisal of present policies with respect to management of hazardous waste.

Key words: Hazardous, environment, pollution, insurance, human health

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Introduction

Today environment has come a long way of time when it was the hostage of terms like trees, tigers, and conservation. Now almost everybody understands the importance of wildlife conservation, but negative effect of toxic chemicals upon animals and environment is difficult for them to

grasp. Long back in 1962 study done by Rachel Carson, titled summer springs1 was an effort to draw the attention of international community towards the adverse use of Hazardous substances. Later with the advancement in medical technology scientist came up with scientific findings that some of the hazardous waste are so dangerous that they can even cause Cancer, Birth defect, nerve damage, genetic mutation, and in some cases instant death too. 2 Massive destruction in Bhopal and

Chernobyl are testimony to this finding.

Increasing population and never ending desires of human being has given birth to industrialization which now has become a symbol of growth and development. The

modern lifestyle and its benefits exist because of industry. Health-giving pharmaceuticals, labor-saving household appliances, automobiles and ships, paints and detergents, synthetic fibers and polythene packaging, personal computers and TVs – the list of

useful manufactured goods is almost endless. But with the goods come the “Bad`s”. 3 Growth and development has brought in several new challenges before the country and such challenges are of management and handling of waste. Rapid growth of industries in India has resulted in the generation of an increasing volume of hazardous wastes (herein after HW). HW both indigenously generated and imported from other countries for recycling or reprocessing, need scientific

treatment and disposal. However, only a few secured landfill sites are available in the country for disposal of hazardous wastes in an environmentally sound manner. Illegal dumping of hazardous wastes by industries may cause severe environmental pollution and cause damage to health of locals. It

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is un-denying fact that as 20th century was an era of modernization and 21st century is an era of Consequences of modernization, thus we have to be prepared to face them. In this regard judicial activism has today widened the scope of Article 21 and

thereby brought Right to health 4 and Right to live in pollution free environment within the scope of fundamental rights. Further various legislations are drafted, treaty and conventions are singed and agreements are made to mitigate the effects of consequences of modernization. How far these efforts are successful in achieving its objective and what more can be done to achieve them is a matter of discussion.

International law related to management of Hazardous waste

Stockholm conference in 1972 brought a significant change in field of environmental law around the world by making parties

cautious about their responsibility towards degrading environment, which was neglected by them in the

light of development. Though not specific, but Stockholm conference did took note of the problems with regard to Hazardous waste by prohibiting the discharge of toxic substances and all other substances in such concentration and quantity which has the capacity to degrade

the environment. 5 Prior to Stockholm Declaration also there were some conventions which tried to regulate the marine pollution due the dumping of hazardous substances 6 but their scope was very limited as it prohibited only few kinds of HS & HW. Till now emphasis was basically on reduction of HW but RIO in 1992 shifted it towards management of HW and introduced Prior informed consent in transportation of hazardous waste. Rio besides providing access to information on

hazardous materials 7 also seeks cooperation from member states to prevent all such activities that cause environmental degradation or are harmful to human health.8 Later Johannesburg summit in 2002 also targeted this wide spreading virus of HWin Paragraph 23 of the Johannesburg Plan of

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Implementation and ended discussing labeling of chemicals and consequences and management of chemicals and HW.9

Further, The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recognized and began working on the problem

of Trans-boundary movement of wastes in 1983. Since that time, OECD has adopted four legally binding Decisions for its members. These Decisions require advance notification of OECD members receiving wastes, provide for an overall tracking system, and require prior consent of non-OECD states receiving wastes. 10 The OECD Environment committee produced a draft Convention in 1989 which would regulate the international hazardous waste trade. 11 This draft, however, was

slanted to protect the interests of industrialized nations who wanted to continue trading in hazardous waste, rather than protecting the interests of developing nations who wish to restrict the trade.12

The European Commission (EU) in 1984 adopted the Directive on the Supervision and Control within the

European Community (EC) of the Trans-frontier Shipment of Hazardous Wastes.13 This first step by EC contains requirements that member states notify the "competent authorities" when shipping hazardous wastes across international borders and also

provides them 15 days’ time to object. Additionally, the EC Directive requires that the notification of authorities includes information on the source and composition of the waste, the routes the shipment will take, and insurance taken out against damage to third parties.

UNEP in 1982 also recognized this problem of HW and took the task to lay down certain guidelines for environmentally sound management of HW; thereby a group started working on drafting

international guidelines in year 1983 which eventually became Cairo guidelines, which was adopted by UNEP in 1987. 14 The Guidelines proposed a prior informed consent mechanism whereby the receiving country must be made fully aware of the nature of the material being

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shipped and must impliedly accept the responsibility for proper management of the waste. Cairo Guidelines also contained provisions relating to monitoring, control, remedial action, liability and compensation but the provisions were non-binding and

unenforceable on their own, as they were merely directives and were designed only as a code of practice. Later UNEP again engaged its working group to prepare a convention which would implement the Cairo guidelines and establish "a mechanism which would ensure adequate control and full availability of information on trans-boundary movements of hazardous waste and to prevent imports or exports that did not meet basic environmental standards". Finally in 1989 a detailed and specific

convention draft was prepared known as Basel Convention.15

Basel convention or Convention on the Control of Trans-Boundary Movement of Hazardous Waste 1989 brought a sense of relief and hope for developing and least developed counties that now they will not be treated as dumping

ground by developed nations. The Convention sets out three key objectives, based on recognition of the threat posed by hazardous waste to human health and the environment.16

i. Reduction in the amount of hazardous waste generated.

ii. Reduction in the amount of trans-boundary movements of hazardous waste.

iii. Promotion of the Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of hazardous waste.

Term Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) is convention sounds like taking all practicable steps to ensure that hazardous wastes or other wastes are managed in a manner which will protect human health and the environment against the adverse

effects which may result from such wastes.17

At present there are 179 parties to Basel convention18 which is record acceptance by members of family of nations. The Convention places a complete prohibition on trade in

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hazardous waste between Parties to the Convention and non-parties 19 and reinforces the sovereign right of any Party to prohibit the import of hazardous waste. 20 In order to achieve the Convention’s objective of minimizing the trans-boundary

movements of hazardous waste, the Convention requires that such movement sonly be allowed where the state of export have the technical capacity and suitable disposal sites, or where the wastes are required by the importing state as raw materials for recycling or recovery industries.21Though Basel convention was drafted to resolve the issue related to Trans-Boundary trade of hazardous waste, it allows such trade too but such trade must be based on Prior Informed Consent (PIC) whereby

origin state or producer has to give notification to competent authority in importing state in writing, mentioning about nature of waste and such trade will be allowed if conducted in accordance to the principles of ESM 22 and adequate waste management is done. A crucial weakness of the Convention

is that the PIC procedure fails to ensure that the exporting country properly verifies that adequate waste management facilities are available in the importing country. 23 Though, Convention places an obligation on both the importing and exporting country to

ensure that hazardous wastes that are exported are managed in accordance with ESM,24it does not prescribe a particular process by which this information is to be ascertained. 25 Basel convention is criticized here as if such provisions are drafted to suit the needs of developed nation and also it affects the basic objective of this convention i.e. to minimize the movement of hazardous waste. The 2006 Abidjan disaster is one incident which points to a general trend towards a growing trade in

dangerous trade in hazardous waste between the developed and developing world.

Again where at one point where Basel convention talks about compete ban on importing and exporting of covered waste26it also creates an exception to same by allowing import and export of

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covered waste between parties and non-parties, where such trans-boundary movement are subject to Bilateral, Multilateral and regional agreement.27 Till date 13 Bilateral28 and 9 Multilateral and regional arrangements 29 are made between various developed and developing

countries. Convention also requires the Parties to cooperate with a view to adopting, as soon as practicable, a protocol establishing a framework for liability and compensation for damages results from trans-boundary movements of hazardous waste. 30 The Basel Protocol on Liability and Compensation 31 was eventually adopted after six years of negotiation, at the Fifth Conference of Parties (COP-5) on 10 December 1999. However, nearly 12 years later it is still not in force as only 10of the minimum of

20 Parties have ratified it.32 Such facts reveal intention of developed nations in minimizing Trans-boundary movement of hazardous waste.

Further the “Ban Amendment” adopted by parties to Basel Convention is still to be ratified by maximum of countries and thus

ban has still to come into force as it is not ratified by required 3/4th parties.33Asof 06th March 2013, only 70 out of the 179 Parties to the Convention had ratified the Ban.34 The list of Parties which have not ratified the Ban includes major producers of hazardous waste such

as the US and Japanas well as developing countries such as India and Pakistan who are major importers of hazardous waste. Ban has yet to be ratified by most non-European developed countries including Japan, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (together known as the ‘JUSCANZ group’), who are responsible for a significant proportion of global hazardous wastes. As is above mentioned scenario time has come to look for alternatives to Ban the movement of Hazardous Waste.

Other than “Ban Amendment”, Bamako Convention was signed by members of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1991 35 which placed a complete prohibition on imports of hazardous waste into signatory nations also did not proved to be of much success as Abidjan disaster

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occurred in a country that had signed and ratified the Bamako Convention.

Comparative Law

United States, one of the biggest exporter and generator of Hazardous waste enacted a law to regulate and manage HW in year 1976 known as Resource conservation and Recovery Act,

1976 (RCRA) which basically deals with treatment, storage, and wastage of hazardous waste. Later in 1984 certain amendments were made in RCRA and provisions with regard to control on export, obtaining prior consent of importing country and tracking of waste shipments were strengthen. Act besides defining HW also imposes a liability on Generator of waste to minimize its production; store keepers and depositors of waste are required to take prior permission from Environment

Protection Agency to commence any activity. Further Transporters are also duty bound to safeguard human health and environment while transporting HW.36All these responsibilities are based on good faith. Can the profit grabbers have

‘good faith’? Further these responsibilities are not subject to severe accountability, resulting in every day increase in the volume on HW. 37 It seems that US in only pretending by formulating such laws; if it really cares it might have ratified ‘Ban Amendment’. Further

Export of hazardous waste has been described as “Shambles” by EA Inspector General.38

In United Kingdom have general as well as specific legislations with respect to management of HW. Environment Protection Act, 1990 provides for mandatory license in handling of HW and provisions regarding cancellation, surrender and revocation of license 39 & criminal sanctions are also incorporated in case of default. The Special waste Regulations Act, 1996 not only enhances the list of HW

and also provide criteria to determine whether a waste is Hazardous or not. It contains detail procedure regarding handling and disposal of waste it also imposes heavy penalty in case of default. Apart from these two there is Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974 under which several

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regulations 40 were made which provide detail rules with regard to advertisement, packaging & labeling of dangerous goods carried by road or on railways.Inspite of all this there is demand of environment ombudsman in UK.41

European community has laid

down detail guidelines and issued directives with regard to prevention, recovery and disposal of HW. Later in 1991 amendments in HW directives tried to bring transparency in system and provide access to public about HW management plans, and in year 2000 certain directives were further issued for operating incinerators42.

Indian Perspective

The Constitution of India originally, did not contain any direct and specific provision with regard to the protection of natural environment, later in the year 1976 with 42nd constitutional

amendment it added direct provisions for the preservation of ecological and biological diversity and thus Art 48A was inserted into Part IV of the Constitution which cast a obligation on state and

correspondingly, a duty on was imposed on every citizen through Art 51 A(g) to protect and conserve natural environment and by this Indian constitution became first constitution in world to incorporate provisions regarding environment. One of the major environmental

enactments came just two years after the Stockholm Conference in 1974. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act was passed for the purpose of prevention and control of water pollution and for maintaining and restoring the wholesomeness of water. Then, 1980s witnessed the creation of many eco-specific organizations. The Forest (Conservation) Act was passed for the conservation of forests and to check on further deforestation. The Air (Prevention and Control of

Pollution) Act of 1981 was enacted whichcontained several distinguishing features.

In the wake of the Bhopal gas tragedy and Olean gas leak case Government of India enacted the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The need for a single authority which could assume the

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lead role for environmental protection was answered through the enactment of EPA. It is in the form of an umbrella legislation designed to provide a framework for Central Government to coordinate the activities of various central and state authorities

established under previous laws. It is also in the form of an enabling law, which delegates wide powers to the executive to enable bureaucrats to frame necessary rules and regulations.

EPA bans handling of hazardous substances, except in accordance with the prescribed procedure and after complying with the safeguards. 43 Further to be more specific in this regard central government using its rule making power44 with regard to Hazardous waste 45 framed Hazardous Waste

Management and Handling Rules, 1989 which were amended in 2003 and then in 2008 and were finally superseded by Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-boundary Movement) Rules, 2008. In later part of this section these rules are discussed in detail.

Prior to emergence of environmental legislations and other enactments such as IPC; 46 Torts;47 The Poison Act 1919; The Explosive Substances Act 1884; The factories Act, 1948 etc. dealt with various kinds of environmental offences, but none of

these enactment was specific with regard to HW. First time in year 1968,48 legislation was drafted with contained list recognizing HW and HS, 49 it also imposes absolute liability in case of default50 but with many exceptions which paves way for offender to escape.

Jumping directly to HW, Rules of 1989 recognizes18 categories of Hazardous waste, 51 rules of 1989 were later amended in year 2000 and 2003 and were finally substituted by Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and

Trans-boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 which provide much detail definition of HW 52 and also contained provisions with regard to meet the present day challenges which were not there in rules of 1989. Provisions or the rules are discussed in following paragraph along with their implementation.

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Working on principle: My Waste My Responsibility, occupier of waste is made responsible for environmentally sound Handling of HW53 and thereby occupier is made duty bound to handle HW in such a way as to prevent accidents and also limit its effect on

environment54 and for this purpose occupier should provide persons engaged with training, equipment’s and necessary information to ensure safety. 55 But how many existing industrial establishment have training and transparency system is question to be inquired?56 This training process which is made responsibility of occupier must be shifted to some independent specialized agency authorized by CPCB or of SPCB which should engage training program for such persons at the cost of the occupier.

Rules further talks about granting authorization to a person handling HW and its cancellation by SPCB.57

Rules provide for a maximum of 90 days to store HW but this period is diluted by granting power to CPCB to enhance this period in certain prescribed conditions. 58 A person who want to Recycle, Reprocess, or

Reuse HW have to apply for registration to CPCB, 59 such registration must after next 5 years. 60 National Inventory of Hazardous Wastes Generating Industries & Hazardous Waste Management in India, February 2009 reveals that out of 62,32,507

Metric Tons of hazardous wastes every year in India 49.55 % is recyclable 61 also import of HW is STILL permitted in India on name of recycling.62 In this context rules must provide some relaxation in process of registration as to motivate people to establish Recycling plants. But process and volume of recycled waste must be kept transparent and data regarding same must be published on CPCB website (Which is currently not available).63

Derived on the basis of MUTUAL

HAPPINESS 64 provisions with regard to import and export are incorporated in present rules, though Basel conventions lays down conditions but it is at liberty of state to allow import of HW. Present rules while putting a total ban65 also facilitate import of HW on name of Recycle, Reuse or

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Recovery66 with prior consent67 and also in some prescribed cases even without prior consent.68As per the official National Inventory of Hazardous Waste Generating Industries, total waste handling capacities of Treatment Storage Disposal Facilities (TSDFs) is about

1.5 million tons per annum (MTA) and there is a deficit of about 1.2 MTA for land fillable wastes and about 0.9 MTA for incinerable wastes. When the country does not have the even the required capacity of TSDF, how can import of hazardous waste be "permitted" in the name of "recycling or recovery or reuse"? 69 It’s just like cleaning someone else house before cleaning yours and that too by bringing their waste in your own house. Further there is no clear data available on import and export of HW which

could make the situation clearer. It is argued that strictness with regard Import of HW will lead to illegal trafficking in HW, which is a lucrative business in India but by this we are questioning our capability to deal with such instance.

As a consequence of this import policy hazardous waste importers are bringing in lakhs of tons of hazardous waste into India without facing any legal hurdle. Earlier, Environment MinistryHazardous Waste Rules prohibited import of waste oil, ash and residues from

incineration of municipal solid waste, plastic, and unsorted waste scrap. But the same was allowed under the Open General License of the export-import policy of the Commerce Ministry. This led to import of ash and residues from incineration of municipal solid waste has increased by about 130 times during 2006-2009. The import of plastic waste had increased by seven times during this period. Countries such as Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom have realized that

Indian regulations are hazardous waste friendly. There was a 48 per cent increase in hazardous waste trade import during 2006-2009.

Further, the rules seems to be impotent in dealing with such illegal trafficking and merely passes the provisions to Re-export such HW within 90 days at importer own

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cost.70 It means to me that one can pay and do illegal import and such illegality will not be considered as an offence for 90 day (Better, at least to make it SOUNDS GOOD, if legislature must have mentioned “such waste will be considered illegal if it is not re-exported within

90 days”) intention of legislature to draft strict rules regarding HW can be clearly understood by such provisions.

Chapter 5 of rules deals with Treatment, Storage and Disposal facilities of HW. Rule imposes joint and individual liability on state government, occupier, operator of any facility and any association which is responsible for site identification to establish facility for treatment, storage and disposal71 which must in accordance with the technical guidelines issued

by the CPCB in this regard 72 guidelines issued in this respect nowhere mentions about type of facilities used to treat HW, they more or less speaks about Environmentally Sound Management of HW, consent by the authorities (which is merely repetition of what is mentioned in

rules) and post closure care.73 It is really strange to believe that in era of modernization and world of science, no modern technology is used for treatment of HW.

Chapter 6 of rules deals with Packaging, Labeling and Transportation of HW. Rules say

packaging and labeling must be done in accordance with the guidelines issued by CPCB74, but no detail guidelines are available in this respect. Such labeling must be easily visible and must withstand physical conditions and climatic factors.75

Transportation of HW must be done in accordance with the present rules, Rules made by central government under Motor Vehicle Act and other guidelines issued by CPCB. 76 Guidelines in this respect say that, Transport

carrying HW must be registered with Ministry of Environment and Forest, and HW must be transported in specified transport vehicles (May be guidelines are talking about special vehicles designed to transport HW) and further training must be provided to drivers and helpers carrying

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HW. 77 How many of these guidelines are really followed is a matter of investigation, and again I will recommend that such responsibility must be shifted to State Boards to train and educate these drivers and helpers at cost of employers, and only such train

personnel be allowed to transport HW. Occupier of HW must obtain a No Objection Certificate from both the receiving state and generating. 78 Occupier must also inform SPCB of all the states from which such waste will be transmitted. 79 Further in order to comply with the principles of Basel convention, rules are made with regard to manifest system, whereby forms of different colors are to be given to prescribed authorities, 80 through which HW may be located in transit. This

manifestation system is purely Indian in nature, at times when world is looking forward towards GPS techniques in vehicles; we still focus on colored forms. Technology brings perfectness and transparency along with it, which is present, utmost requirement in dealing and managing of HW.

Coming to punishment part, Occupier, Importer, transporter and operator of facility will be made liable to damage caused to environment and third party due to IMPROPER handling or disposal of HW81. In light of irreparable harm cause to individuals and

environment due to HW accidents and mass disaster caused in Bhopal and various other resent accidents, can a person handling HW; be allowed to go, by just proving that he handled waste PROPERLY. If that is so, then who will be responsible for such damage? Further Rules only prescribe financial penalty, which is yet not fixed and is left at sweet discretion of CPCB. Is it not the time to amend these penal provisions and incorporate some strict penalty (with imprisonment) to make

people handling and disposing HW to realize how sensitive their job is and to make them sense their responsibility while carrying out their job?

Judicial approach:

The supreme court of India has declared time and again that the right to healthy environment is

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fundamental right, though not expressly mentioned in Constitution it is implicit within the penumbra of the right to life and personal liberty therefore supreme court has entertained writ petitions under art 32. 82 In M.C. Mehtav. Union of India, 83 Justice

Bhagwati observed that there is an element of Hazard or risk inherent in the very use of science and technology and it is not possible to totally eliminate such hazards. We can only hope to reduce the elements of hazards after taking all necessary steps, he further issued certain guidelines:

An enterprise which is engaged

in hazardous industry which poses a potential threat to the health and safety of persons working and living in vicinity is under an obligation to provide that its activities will be conducted with highest standard of safety and it would be no answer to the enterprise to say that it had taken all

reasonable care and that occurred without any negligence on its part.

In light of above mentioned observation of apex court it is argued that how can rules make a person go if he proves that he handled waste properly.84 Isn’t such provision against the observation of Supreme Court?

In a Public Interest Litigation

(PIL) filed in theSupreme Court by an NGO,85court constituted aHigh Powered Committee (HPC) in 1997 to look into theallegations and to submit the report to the Apex court. In itsreport, committee noted that situation in regard tohazardous wastes in the country is grim. It particularly affectsthe groundwater system in the country and remediation isvery difficult and expensive. It affects a large number ofinnocent people, workers as well as community, who have to pay for the sin of the other. The HPC also

recorded that theapproximate number of hazardous wastes generating units is13,011, out of which 11,138 are authorized by the SPCB.In 2003 Supreme Court appointed a committee which issued 29 directives with regard on hazardous waste. While passing the order, the bench comprising

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AltamasKabir and H.L.Gokhale on October 11 took cognizance of the “alarming situation created by dumping of hazardous waste, its generation and serious and irreversible damage to the environment and humans.” It also noted that the dumping violated

fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Further, from shifting industries using excessive amount of sulphur dioxide which causes acid rain which destroys gleaming white marble of TazMahal, 86 Supreme Court also fixed responsibility of Directors of Plant treating highly polluting and toxic effluent. 87 InAlmitra H Patel V. Union of India88 while describing importance of environment in Human life, court brought a very strict action those who paid carelessness in

Delhi Municipal Corporation in handling the HW. Then again, In Karnataka Industrial Development Board V. C.Kenchappa and Ors 89 Supreme court observed that the dumping of hazardous and toxic waste by industrial plans has resulted in environmental degradation in our country. In light

of the above cases it can be said that Judiciary has done appreciable job and tried to bring reform in effective management of HW but still there is a long journey to be covered for bringing required results in this field.

Final Words

A brief analysis of International Law, Comparative

law, and Indian law with regard to dealing with prospects and problems of effective handling and management of HW one will find that efforts are made by international community to regulate it. Various general and specific conventions are example of the concern shown by international community. Thereby different countries have come up with state laws in giving legitimacy to international conventions, but still it is sad to know that many developed countries have not

shown serious concerns to mitigate this problem, the traditional profit oriented approach is the reason behind this, but today what is required is that the countries should share corporate social environment responsibility and

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development must be in consonance with environment, they must remember saying of Mahatma Gandhi “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed”.

Indian experience with regard to

management of Hazardous Waste can be traced from Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008. India been a developing nation has different needs and requirements we urgentlyrequires strict laws and policy to safeguard our land from becoming a dumping ground, but it is pity that present rules shows noserious intention about this rand they are merely the replica of provisions of Basel convention that too with scientific uncertainty, exemptions,

exceptions, by lanes etc. India has still not ratified the Ban Amendment to totally ban the import of hazardous waste in spite of fact that our own waste is left untreated due to lack of resources. Further there are no provisions using technical advancement in dealing with this menace. Though

MoEF has identified various treatments and disposal options we still rely upon disposal of waste is in landfill cum dump siteswhich are also short in number90 to deal with present day situation.

Further there are many authorities to deal with HW, but there is no

much coordination and cooperation between them. It is time to ripe in one umbrella treatment so as to make the legal control more effective. Efforts must be made at ministerial level to ensure implementation of laws and government should encourage exploring newer technology which is cost effective to handle, regulate, control, regulate and manage HW through proper research and training. Also we should take tough steps to mitigate the illegal import of HW and “Correction” provisions

in rules must be replaced by ‘Punitive” provisions.

Lastly I’ll conclude this paper by words of famous American Humorist Arthur ‘Art’ Buchwald:“And Man created the

plastic bag and the tin and aluminum can and the cellophane

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wrapper and the paper plate, and this was good because Man could then take his automobile and buy all his food in one place and he could save that which was good to eat in the refrigerator and throw away that which had no further use. And soon the earth was

covered with plastic bags and aluminum cans and paper plates and disposable bottles and there was nowhere to sit down or walk, and Man shook his head and cried: Look at this God awful mess.”

1 Rachel Garson, Silent Spring (1962) 2 McGraw Hill, 8 Encyclopedia of science and Technology 396 (2007) 3Minimizing Hazardous Wastes: A Simplified Guide to the Basel Convention Published by UNEP 4 Consumer Education & Research Centre V. Union of India (1995) 3 SCC42 5 Principle 6, Stockholm Declaration, 1972 6Convention for the prevention of pollution of the sea by oil, 1958; The convention on prevention of marine pollution by dumping of waste and other materials, 1972;

The Dumping of waste and other materials conventions, 1972 etc. 7Principle 10, Rio Conference 8Principle 14, Rio Conference 9 The key outcome of the summit was: To use and produce chemicals in way that does not lead to significant adverse effects on human health and environment by 2020. To renew the commitment to the sound management of chemicals and of hazardous wastes throughout their lifecycle. To encourage countries to implement the new globally harmonized system for classification and labeling of chemicals as soon as possible, with a view to have the system fully operational by 2008. 10 EPA, Hazardous waste Management System; Notification Concerning the Basel Convention's Potential Implication for Hazardous Waste Exports and Imports, 57 Fed. Reg. 20602, (May 13, 1992) 11 OECD Council Resolution, C(89)l(final), reprinted in 12 Int'l Env't Rep. (BNA) No. 3, at 147 (Mar. 8, 1989) 12 David J. Abrams, Comment, Regulating International Hazardous Waste Trade, 28 Col. J. Tram. L 801 (1990) 13Directive on the Supervision and control of the Trans-frontier

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Shipment of Hazardous Waste within the European Community, 27 OJ Eur.Comm.(No. L326) 31 (1984) 14 UNEP, Cairo Guidelines and Principles for the Environmentally Sound Management of Hazardous Wastes, Annex II, U.N. Doc. EP/GC.14/17(1987) 15 U.N. Doc. EPIIG.80/L.12 (1989) 16 Preamble to Basel convention 17 Article 2(8), Basel Convention 18 At the time of writing of this paper; http://www.basel.int/Countries/StatusofRatifications/PartiesSignatories/tabid/1290/Default.aspx (Visited on 5th March, 2013) 19 Article 4(5), Basel Convention 20 Article 4, Basel Convention 21 Article 4(9), Basel Convention 22 Article 6, Basel Convention 23 L. Widawsky, ‘In My Backyard: How Enabling Hazardous Waste Trade To Developing Nations Can Improve the Basel Convention’s Ability to Achieve Environmental Justice’, 38/2 Environmental Law 577, 604 (2008). 24 Article 4 (8), Basel Convention 25 Article 4(b), Basel Convention 26 Article 4(5), Basel Convention 27 Article 11, Basel Convention

28 http://www.basel.int/Implementation/LegalMatters/Agreements/BilateralAgreements/tabid/1517/language/en-US/Default.aspx (Visited on 5th March 2013) 29 http://www.basel.int/Implementation/LegalMatters/Agreements/MultilateralAgreements/tabid/1518/language/en-US/Default.aspx (Visited on 5th March 2013) 30 Article 12, Basel Convention 31 Protocol on Liability and Compensation for Damage Resulting from Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous

Wastes and their Disposal, Basel, 10 December 1999 (hereafter ‘Liability Protocol’), available at: http:// www.basel.int/pub/protocol. 32http://archive.basel.int/ratif/protocol.htm (Visited on 5th March 2013) 33 Article 17(5), Basel Convention 34 http://archive.basel.int/ratif/ban-alpha.htm 9(Visited on 6th March, 2013) 35 The Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the Control of Trans-boundary Movement and

Management of Hazardous Wastes with in Africa, Bamako, Mali, 30 January 1991, available at: http://www.africaunion.org/root/au/Documents/Treaties/Text/hazardouswastes.pdf.

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36 Hazardous Material Transport ACT, 1990 37 C.M.Jariwala “Hazardous substance and waste law: Lessons for India” Special issue on climate change and Environmental Law; Vol 52: 3 & 4 Journal of Indian Law Institute, July – December 2010 38 Hunter and David et al., International Environmental Law and Policy, 2nd Ed., 2002, 836 39 Sec 37 -40, Environment Protection Act, 1990 40 The control of substances Hazardous to Health Regulation, 2002; The Chemical (Hazard Information and Packaging for supply) Regulation, 2002; The Carriage of Dangerous Goods (Classification, Packaging, and Labeling) and use of Transportable Pressure Receptacles Regulations, 1996. 41 C.M Yardley, “Environment Law in the UK”. 42 The Hazardous Waste Incinerators Directives, 2000 43 Sec 8, Environment Protection Act, 1986 44 Sec 6, 8, 25 Environment Protection Act, 1986 45 Sec 6 (2) (c), (d), (e), (f) Environment Protection Act, 1986

46 Sec 268; Sec 290; Sec 277; Sec 278; Sec 284; Sec286 Indian Penal Code, 1860 47 Nuisance; Principle of Absolute and Strict Liability; Rayland v. Fletcher etc. 48 The Insecticide Act, 1968 49The Insecticide Act, 1968 contains list placing 151 substances as HW and HS. 50 Sec 38, The Insecticide Act, 1968 51 Schedule 1 of Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 recognizes 18 categories of hazardous waste. 52 Rule 3 (l) defines HW which contains several properties like: Reactive; Toxic; Flammable; Explosive and Corrosive. 53 Rule 4 (1) Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 54 Rule 4 (5) (i) Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 55 Rule 4 (5) (ii) Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 56 C.M.Jariwala “Hazardous substance and waste law: Lessons for India” Special issue on climate change and Environmental Law;

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Vol 52: 3 & 4 Journal of Indian Law Institute, July – December 2010 57 Rule 5 & 6 Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 58 Rule 7 Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 59 Rule 8 (1) Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 60 Rule 8 (3) Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 61 National Inventory of Hazardous Wastes Generating Industries & Hazardous Waste Management in India February 2009 made by Central Pollution Control Board Hazardous Waste management Division Delhi. Pg.: 04; Available at: http://cpcb.nic.in/wast/hazardouswast/InventoryofHW.pdf 62 Rule 13 (2) Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 63 http://cpcb.nic.in/Hazardous_waste.php ( Visited on 9th March, 2013) 64 Industrial nations want to dispose their HW, which is too

costly and difficult in their nations and thus they look towards developing and underdeveloped nations who needs Money to improve their economic status. 65 Schedule 6 Specifies total ban on 30 type HW 66 Rule 13 (2) Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 67 Schedule 3, Part A includes 42 types of HW on which PIC is required. 68 Schedule 3, Part B includes 46 types of HW on which PIC is not required. 69 National Inventory of Hazardous Wastes Generating Industries & Hazardous Waste Management in India February 2009 made by Central Pollution Control Board Hazardous Waste management Division Delhi. Pg.: 55; Available at: http://cpcb.nic.in/wast/hazardouswast/InventoryofHW.pdf 70 Rule17(2) Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 71 Rule18 (1) Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008

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72 Rule18 (2) Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 73 Guidelines Available at: http://moef.gov.in/citizen/specinfo/hsmg.html 74 Rule19 (1) Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 75 Rule19 (2) Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 76 Rule20 (1) Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 77 Guidelines Available at: http://moef.gov.in/citizen/specinfo/hsmg.html 78 Rule20 (3) Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 79 Rule20 (4) Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 80 Rule21 Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008

81 Rule25 Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 82M.C. Mehta v. Union of India AIR 1987 SC 982 83 (1986) 2 SCC; 1986 SCC (Cri.) 122 84 Rule25 Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 85 Research Foundation for science Technology Natural Resource Policy V. Union of India (2005) 10 SCC 510 86 M.C.Mehta v.Union of India,(1997) 2 SCC 353 (Taz Trapezium case) 87 U.P Pollution Control Board V. Mohan Meakins Ltd (2000) 3 SCC 745 88 (2004) 4 Scale 173 89 AIR 2006 SC 2038 90 As per the data published by CPCB there are in total 27 Treatment Storage Disposal Facilities and 76 dump sites in country and it around 14 states and 5 union territories does not even have a single dump site. Available at: http://cpcb.nic.in/wast/hazardouswast/DumpSites.pdf

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