Environmental Edu & Water Security

Do you know ? done along with the crops.

Gazi is a typical fishing community in 8. A strong weedicide is sprayed on the farm
Kenya. The people are poor and their children to control the weeds.
have no formal education. These people
conserved their mangroves and established 9. Green manure are grown on the farm for
new mangrove forest in their region. In return, obtaining N, P and K.
they received large amount of money by selling
carbon credits. The villagers invested this 10. College/ School management committee
money into childrens education and clean decides to follow green audit for the
water. By conserving the mangroves these college/school.
people achieved following goals of sustainable
development. Exercise for
Goal 1 (end poverty) Journal Assignment
Goal 4 (quality education)
Goal 6 (clean water and sanitation) 1) What is difference between development
Goal 13 (climate action) and sustainable development? Explain
Goal 14 (conserve marine resources) with suitable examples.

Activity 7 2) Make a table of commonly used chemical
pesticides and fertilizers. Write down their
Which of the following actions are impacts on human health and environment.
sustainable and which are not? Why ?
3) Write success story of Ralegan Siddhi with
1. A dozen of plastic bottles are purchased respect to sustainable development Goals.
because there is a ‘sale’ going in a mall.
4) Explain the role of individuals and
2. The newspapers, plastic and metal articles community for sustainable lifestyle.
are separated from the waste and given to
kabadiwala. 5) Explain the any two elements of
sustainable agriculture.
3. Shopping bags of old cloths are made and
used for everday shopping. 6) Write information about some Bt varieties
being cultivated in India.
4. Tree plantation is conducted at public
places. 7) Explain the sustainable development
schemes being implemented in India.
5. People, staying in the same area go to
office by making car pool. 8) Enlist the sustainable development goals.
Explain which and how the goals among
6. A farmer sows 7-8 variety of crops on his these are being achieved in your locality.
farm.
** ** ** **
7. Cattle, chicken rearing on the same farm is

42

4 . Practices for Environmental Protection

4.1 Consumer Education • Provides necessary skills to select the right
type of goods and services from a huge
4.2 Eco-labelling available range.

4.3 Environment Impact Assessment • Enables consumers to assess the market
situation and make proper decisions.
4.4 Green Audit
• Reduces the number of complaints against
4.5 Ecotourism cheating on the quantity and quality of
products and services.
4.6 International Conventions and
agreements • Overcome poverty and promotes ethical
values and human rights.
4.1 Consumer education
• Ensure sustainable consumption by using
Progress in science and technology has led ecofriendly products.
to increase in consumerism globally. This has
led to a dramatic rise in the purchasing power of Do you know?
many people. Although this development is
welcome as it assures a decent standard of Consumer Protection Act 1986
living for many people, there are also problems
because of increased purchasing power. As a The Consumer Protection Act, which
result substandard products and services are was passed by the Indian parliament in 1986,
made available at a higher price. extends the following rights to consumers :

People face several problems while Consumer · Right to be
purchasing the product. Are they getting a Protection protected from
product which is worth the cost? Are the hazardous
products free from toxic chemicals, pesticides goods and
and adulterants? Consumer education is the services.
only solution to these doubts and issues.
· Right to
Consumer education may be defined as be informed
imparting knowledge to a consumer about the
regarding cost effectiveness, budgeting ability quantity and
and developing awareness of purchase. performance
of goods and
Need and importance of consumer education services.

The economic status of a country and the · Right to
wellfare of its citizens are linked to each other. free choice of goods and service at
Both of these can be achieved only when the competitive prices.
people of the country are able to make right
choices in their purchases, so that they get value · Right to be heard in any decision –
for their money. Consumer education is the only making process concerning consumer
tool that can assure this protection to consumers interest.
for the following reasons :

43

· Right to redressal if consumer rights are 4.2 Eco-labelling
violated.
During the last few years, people have
· Right to consumer education. become aware of the deterioration of
environment. There is growing demand for
Efficient and Eco-friendly Practices goods and services that cause less damage to
the environment and health of human.
Eco-friendly products are those which Numerous initiatives have started from both
ensure natural use of resources without harming private and public industries in order to define
the environment. sustainability related information of products.
This was achieved by introducing different
Eco-friendly products kinds of symbols like labels and logos. The
information that is provided on products can be
Some examples of efficient and eco-friendly used to influence or inform purchasing
technologies from the Indian sub-continent decisions. Now a days, there is increasing
concern about purchasing of environment
· Janata refrigerator : Earthen pot-in-pot friendly products. It leads to conservation of
units are used to keep vegetables fresh for natural resources and sustainable development.
a few days.
Eco-labelling is the use of labels on
· Treadle pumps : Foot-operated pumps products to show how environment friendly
which are used to draw water from wells. they are.

· Sand filter : Slow sand filters are used to Eco-labelling is a method of
filter water. environmental performance certification
and labelling that is practised around the
· Earthen cups and glasses are eco friendly. world.

· Plates made of green leaves replace International Organization for
styrofoam plates.
Standardization (ISO) has given different eco-
· Use of Compost - Manure made from
organic waste. labeling schemes and logos in operation

· Use of Bio pesticides. around the world. It covers a different range of

Construction Housing environmental criteria such as pollution and
Construction focus is on developing designs
energy consumption during production.
that optimize the use of solar energy to cut down
the electricity bill. Fly ash bricks and plastic Benefits of Eco-labelling
doors are becoming popular. These are made
from recycled material instead of natural · An eco-label makes the customer more
resources. aware of the benefits of certain products,
for example, recycled paper or toxic-free
Do you know? cleaning agents.

In India, a Bengaluru based firm, is · It promotes energy efficiency and waste
using processed plastic waste mixture to minimization.
lay roads. It substantially reduces the
cracking of road surface due to rain or low · It helps in reducing environmental damage.
temperatures and provides durability.
· It improves industry image and sale of
product.

44

· It helps to increase consumer awareness, judicious use of natural resouces, energy
and encourage them to identify and efficient production, waste management and
purchase environment friendly products. biodegradability of products.

· Industries become more accountable for The requirements for ECO Mark are as
producing and marketing ecofriendly follows :
products.
· Products to meet the relevant standards of
Do you know? Bureau of Indian Standards ( BIS).

Green building · The products to display the list of critical
ingredient in descending order of quantity.
Green building or sustainable design is
the practice of using resources efficiently. It · The packaging to display the criteria,
reduces impacts on environment and human based on which the product has been
health, right from selecting site, design, labelled environment friendly with details
construction, operation and maintenance. instructions for proper use.

The design of green building includes · The material used for packaging to be
five main elements as building material, reusable / recyclable / biodegradable.
energy water and health along with
practicing 4 'R' principles (Reduce, Reuse ECO Mark has been notified for 16 product
and Recycle, Recover). categories by the eco mark technical committee.
These are mainly soap and detergents, paper,
Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) food items, lubricating oils, packaging
2001 is a leading green building movement materials, paints, batteries, electronic goods,
in India for residential sector. cosmetics, plastic products, leather etc.

ECO Mark Do you know?

The Government of India launched the eco- An earthen pot has been
labelling scheme known as `ECO Mark' in 1991 chosen as the logo of
for easy identification of environment-friendly ECO Mark scheme in
products. The aim of the scheme is to help the India. The familiar
consumers to easily identify and encourage to earthen pot uses a
purchase those products which are less harmful renewable resource like
to the environment. earth, does not produce hazardous waste
and consumes little energy in making. Its
Criteria of ECO Mark solid and graceful form represents both
strength and fragility.
Any product that is made, used and disposed
off in a manner that significantly reduces the ISO 14000 standards
harm to the environment, can be labelled with
ECO Mark. ISO 14000 is a series of environmental
management standards developed and published
The criteria for awarding Eco–mark covers by the International Organization for
all stages of product. It is also called as cradle- Standardization ( ISO ) for organizations. The
to-grave approach. Main parameters include ISO 14000 standards provide a guideline or
the source and type of raw materials used,

45

framework for organizations that need to Climate Change of India (MoEF and CC) have
improve their environmental management taken efforts in Environmental Impact
efforts. It is a process for managing Assessment in India. The responsible body for
organizational activities that have an impact on this is Central Pollution Control Board.
the environment. Through ISO 14000, an
organization matches its environmental EIA was started in India from 1994. Under
practices against an internationally accepted the EIA notification of September 2006, EIA is
standard. Certification under ISO 14000 means statutory for 40 activities under specified sectors
that the organization follows a management such as industries, mining, irrigation, power
system that ensures eco-friendly practices. and transport etc.

ISO 14000 standards brings several benefits It is the Government policy that any
to organization like providing a system for developmental project has to obtain prior
pollution prevention and waste managment. It environment clearance from the MoEF and
also helps in saving money through conservation CC
of raw materials and energy.
Importance of EIA
4.3 Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)
1. EIA is potentially a useful component of
Environmental Impact Assessment is a environmental management.
systematic process to identify, predict and
evaluate the environmental effects of proposed 2. It focuses on problems, conflicts, natural
action and projects. resource constraints that could affect the
viability of a project.
Objectives of EIA
3. After predicting the problems, an EIA
(i) To identify, predict and evaluate the identifies measures to minimise the
economic, environmental and social problems.
impacts of developmental activities of an
area. 4. Outlines the ways to improve the project
sustainability.
(ii) To provide information on the environmental
consequences for decision making. 5. EIA is considered as an instrument for
sustainable development
(iii) Identification of appropriate alternatives
and mitigation measures. The EIA notification specifies two categories
of project
(iv)To promote resource conservation, waste
minimization and recovery from waste. Category A - These are large projects like the
ports, highways, water and sanitation,
(v) To promote sustainable development. urban transport, solid waste management
sectors and those with greater potential for
EIA in India environmental impacts. Such proposals are
handled by the central government through
Whenever a new developmental project is Expert Appraisal committee, (EAC).
planned which is likely to affect environmental
quality, it is necessary to carry out EIA. Category B - These are smaller projects and
those with less environmental impacts.
The Ministry of Environment Forests and These are considered at the state level by
state expert appraisal committee (SEAC).

46

(Environment Impact Assessment) EIA process includes :

1. Project Screening

Identify project/plan/ First stage of EIA. Screening is dependant on criteria, project
policy/program/activity scale, sensitivity of proposed location and expectation of
adverse environmental impacts.

Establishing 2. Scoping
enviromental baseline
Scope of EIA depends on impacts and issues that it addresses.
Process of scoping is to determine key impacts of the project.

3. Establishing the Environment Baseline

Identification and The term 'baseline' refers to the collection of background
Evaluation of likely +ve information on the biophysical, social and economic settings of
the proposed project area.
and -ve impacts
4. Impact Analysis

Discussion of alternatives This stage identifies and predicts the likely environmental and
and corrective measures social impact of the proposed project and evaluates the
significance.

Environment Impact 5. Consideration of Alternatives
Statement (EIS)
It focuses on mitigation measures and corrective actions based
on the impacts of the project.

6. Preparation of Environment Impact Statement (EIS)

Public Consultation It covers the detail description of project, impact of the project
on natural environment as well as on the people. It also covers
the mitigation measures and suggestion of aletrnatives or
corrective actions.

Approval by 7. Public Consultation
environment authority
This is the process by which the views and concerns of affected
Implementation people are taken into consideration. It includes public hearing
and written responses.

8. Decision Making

Post Monitoring Environment authority decides whether the project is rejected,
approved or needs further change.

9. Post Monitoring

Figure 4.1 EIA process This stage comes in play once the project is commissioned. It
checks to ensure that impacts of the project does not exceed the
legal standards and implementation of mitigation measures are
in the manner as described in EIA report.

47

4.4 Green audit Water Enargy
audit audit
Rapid urbanization and economic
development at local, regional and global level Waste Eco
has led to several environmental and ecological audit audit
crisis. On this background, it becomes essential
to adopt the system of environmental audit for Green
institutes, organizations etc. which will lead to audit
sustainable development. As environmental
sustainability is becoming an increasingly Figure 4.2 : Green audit
important issue for the nation, the role of
organizations in relation to environmental Green audit includes
sustainability is more important.
Waste audit – It can be used to determine
Green Auditing is a unique process that the type and volume of waste. It helps for a
allows to know the uses of available resources recycling project or to improve waste
i.e. Energy, Water quality, Builtup Space, Air minimization plan. It guides to reduce the waste
quality in the organization. Green Audit is a generation by segregating, reusing, recycling
process of systematic identification, and composting. By checking waste collection
quantification, recording, reporting and and disposal system, it helps to understand what
analysis of components of environmental goes waste and how to make a 'zero waste'
diversity of various establishments. campus.

It was initiated in 1970 with the motive of Water audit – It evaluates facilities of raw
inspecting the work conducted within the water intake and determines facilities for waste
organizations, which can cause risk to water treatment. It measures the total water
inhabitants and environment. requirement, amount of water harvested and
recycled. Main objective of water audit is to
Green audit can be a useful tool for an balance the demand and supply of water along
organization to determine how and where they with harvesting it to use at the time of scarcity.
are using the more energy water or other
resources; the organization can then consider Energy audit – It deals with the energy
how to implement changes for conservation. conservation and methods to reduce its
consumption and related pollution. It helps to
Main objective of the audit is to upgrade target energy consuming practices and suggest
the environment conditions in and around the the energy conservation techniques.
organisation. It also aims to secure the
environment thereby cutting down the threats
posed to human health. It is used to analyse
environmental practices within and outside the
organisation, which will have an impact on the
eco-friendly ambience.

48

Ecological audit – It focuses on land use of 1) Types of energy used
organization to map green areas, to identify
biodiversity and to understand the relationship 2) Per day energy consumption
with environment. It measures the percentage of
green cover of organization, as green area has 3) Efficient use and conservation of energy
an important role in minimising air pollution
and supports biodiversity. It also checks the use Energy conservation means using energy
of pesticides and organization’s initiative to more efficiently and less wastefully.
maintain the ecology by using environment Conservation of energy is an important energy
safer options. resource because a unit of energy saved is as
good as a unit of energy generated.
Benefits of Green audit
Steps of Energy audit
- It empowers the organization to frame
better environmental performance. Step 1 - Prepare survey questionnaire taking
into consideration construction, design
- It helps to prepare an inventory of the features of the buildings of Institute, habits
resources of an organization. and practices of consumers and
maintenance of the buildings. (Refer
- It helps an organisation to develop and activity no. 1)
implement its own ways to conserve and
manage the environment. Step 2 - Identifies the quantity and cost of
energy consumed by verious devices used
- To demonstrate that an organization is in the institute. (Refer activity no. 2)
aware of its impacts upon the environment
by providing feedback. Step 3 - Identifies energy consumption at
department level. (Refer activity no. 3)
- Promotes environment friendly practices
by efficient resource use. Step 4 - It calculates how much energy an
institute consumes and energy wastage
Process of Energy audit points are inditified.

Energy audit refers to examination and Step 5 - Recommends use of alternate energy
verification of energy consumption in the form sources as - renewable energy sources, like
of electricity, gas and other forms of fuel energy solar energy.
used in households, industries, institutes,
schools etc. It can be considered as the first step How to save energy?
towards knowing how energy is being used in a
given facility. It indicates the ways in which • Use renewable energy sources like solar
various forms of energy are being used and
quantifies energy use according to different energy, whereever possible.
functions. It identifies the potential for
improvement and thus where energy • Turn off lights, fans and other electronic
management efforts must be concentrated.
equipments while leaving the room or
Energy audit of an institute is based on following classroom.
criterias :
• Instead of lift, use the staircase while

coming downstairs.

• Don’t waste water.

49

Benefits of Energy audit
• Helps in understanding energy consumption pattern of the institute.
• By identifying energy wastage areas, saving energy and using renewable energy sources, the

institute can become more energy efficient.
• Energy audit it is a small step towards preventing global warming.

Ativity 1 (based on Energy audit step 1)

Sr. Question Yes No Corrective
measures
No.

Is the ground

around the

1 building generally
covered with trees,

shrubs and grass?

Are the walls and

ceilings of the

2 rooms inside the
building of a light

colour to reflect

light?

Are there few

3 windows on the
east and west side

of the building?

Have provisions
been made for
4 natural lighting
wherever
possible?

Are all appliances

5 turned off when
the work is

completed?

Are the water taps
6 free from

leackages?

50

Activity 2 (based on Energy audit step 2 and 3)

• The energy audit team of students should have one member from administrative section
and one teacher.

• Find the sources of energy in the institute.
(Specify number, nature and origin of electricity connection.)

Connection- Meter Source Suggestions for safety
Number of location measures if any

phases

A

B

Generator

Find how much institute pays for electricity – (Period of electricity bill, number of units consumed
and total amount in Rupees.)

Bill. Period of Number of units Total amount in Alternatives to cut
down cost/
No. bill consumed Rupees conservation

1

2
Total

Ativity 3 (based on Energy audit step 3)

Appliances Total Average Duration Duration of Electricity Alternatives
Number Wattage of per per year used per to cut down
(W/hr.) usage
day usage (in hours) year cost/
(in hours) (in kWh) conservation

Tube lights 42

Electric 60
bulb (60W)

Ceiling fan 50

4.5 Ecotourism contribute to its degradation.

Ecotourism, also called sustainable tourism, Ecotourism is a part of environmental
can be defined by a variety of travel practices. conservation and understanding the needs of
As an eco-tourist, you decide to travel in a way the local people to improve their quality of life.
that shows respect to nature and does not

51

It also involves preserving the historical · Dress code should be followed, modest

landmarks. dress is preferred.

Principles of Ecotourism · Keep noise to the minimum to avoid
frightening of wildlife.
As per the International Ecotourism Society
principles of ecotourism are given. People who · Maintain a safe distance from entire
implement and participate in ecotourism wildlife.
activities should adopt the following ecotourism
principles : Don’ts

· Minimize physical, social, behavioural, · Do not collect any form of plants and
and psychological impacts on the animals from any locations.
environment.
· Do not disturb any animal by making
· Build environmental and cultural noise, chasing or flashing lights.
awareness and respect.
· Do not hand-feed fish and animals.
· Provide positive for memorable
experiences for both visitors and local 4.6 International conventions and
people. agreements

· Generate financial benefits for both International conventions and agreements
local people and private industry. have contributed to the framing of laws and
policies for the country. When a country is a
· Design, construct and operate low- signatory for that convention, means that it
impact facilities having low impact on needs to take actions in the country to implement
environment. it.

Do's The Constitution of India expects the
Central Government to translate International
· Total silence and discipline is required Conventions to be implemented in our country.
to spot wild animals. For example: Implementation principles of
Convention on Biological Diversity in India is
· Small groups are preferred. followed by enacting the Biological Diversity
Act, 2002.
· Early mornings and late afternoons are
the ideal time to visit forests. Ramsar Convention

· Seek the assistance of a guide while It is one of the first ecosystem specific
going into the forests. conventions to conserve the wetlands. It
addressed not only conservation but the wise
· Trekkers are advised to ensure their use of wetlands. This intergovernmental treaty
safety. adopted on February 2, 1971 in the Iranian city
of Ramsar on the shore of the Caspian Sea. The
· Avoid smoking. convention gives following opportunities for a
country.
· Respect animals and their habitats.
· To make its voice heard in the
· Ensure that waste is disposed only in intergovernmental forums on the
bins.

52

conservation and wise use of wetlands. The conference conjointly created the
'Framework for Environmental Action,' an
· Brings increased publicity and prestige as action plan, containing 109 specific
these wetlands are of International recommendations related to human settlements,
importance. natural-resource management, pollution,
educational and social aspects of the
· Brings access to expert advise on national environment, development and international
and site related problems. organizations.

· Encourages international cooperation on India and Stockholm Conference
wetland issues and brings up possibility to
support wetland projects. India had an important role in conference.
India was also a signatory of conference.
Convention on wetland came into force for Environmental protection and conservation of
India on February 1, 1982. India now has 27 natural resources emerged as key national
sites designated as Ramsar sites of international priorities in India in the wake of the Stockholm
importance. There are various criteria Conference. The Prime Minister of India was
considered for declaration of a wetland as present and at the conference she highlighted
Ramsar site. the issue of poverty and environment.

1. If the wetland is representative of rare or After the Stockholm Conference,
unique example. Government of India brought the 42nd
amendment in the Constitution and incorporated
2. If wetland supports vulnerable, endangered Article 48A and Article 51A (g). As per Article
or critically endangered species. 48A the states are under the ‘active obligation’
to protect the environment; whereas as per
3. If it regularly supports 20,000 or more Article 51A (g) every citizen has the duty to
water birds. protect and improve the environment.

4. If it supports significant proportion of After 1972, India enacted the Water Act
indigenous fish species, spawning ground 1974, Air Act 1981, Environment Protection
or on migration path of fish stocks. Act, 1986. India established Department of
Environment under Ministry of Forests to look
United Nations Conference on the Human after the issues of environment.
Environment (Stockholm Conference), 1972
United Nations Conference on Environment
The United Nations Conference on Human and Development (Rio de Janeiro 1992), 'The
Environment was held in Stockholm, Sweden Earth Summit'
from June 5-16,1972, also known as the
stockholm conference. It was thought necessary The United Nations Conference on
to inspire and guide the people of the planet for Environment and Development is popularly
preservation and conservation of Environment. known as 'The Earth Summit'. The Earth
It was the first major conference on international Summit was held twenty years after the first
environmental problems and marked a turning global environment conference held at
point in development of international Stockholm. The conference was held from 3
environmental policies. International guidelines -14th June 1992 at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with
for protecting the environment were laid down
in this conference.

53

Representatives from 172 nations. It sought to India and Earth Summit 1992
help governments to find ways to reduce the
destruction of non-renewable natural resources Between the Stockholm Conference and
and pollution of the planet. The goal was to the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992, India
establish a new and equitable global partnership developed an organizational structure and a
through creation of new levels of co-operation legal and policy framework for the protection of
among countries, key sectors of societies and environment and wildlife in the country.
people. It worked towards international
agreements which would respect the interest of United Nations Conference on Sustainable
all and protect the integrity of global Development, (Rio+20)
environmental and development system.
The United Nations Conference on
The earth summit also produced two Sustainable Development or also known as
international environmental treaties. Rio+20, was held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
between 20 - 22nd June 2012. This conference
a) Convention on Biological Diversity was the 3rd conference on sustainable
development. Many important decisions were
It was the first international treaty to address taken for sustainable development. Rio+20 was
preservation of biological diversity. More a 20 year follow-up of 1992 United Nations
than 180 countries have signed this Conference on Environment and Development
convention. It has three primary goals : which was held in same city with 192 UN
member participant states.
· Conservation of biodiversity
· Sustainable use of the components of Exercise for
Journal Assignment
biodiversity.
· A fair and equitable sharing of the benefits 1) Explain the requirements of green building.
2) Write down the various impacts that
arising from resources.
industries can have on the environment.
It balances traditional conservation efforts 3) What is eco-labelling? What are its
with economic use of natural resources.
advantages?
b) The United Nations Framework 4) Explain the environmental clearance
Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) process in India.
5) Write the information on Paris Agreement.
It seeks to combat global climate change by 6) Importance of Ramsar Sites for conseration
reducing greenhouse gas emissions. More than
190 nations ratified UNFCCC. of wetlands.
7) Explain the need and importance of
The purpose of UNFCCC is to allow
governments to perform various acts - consumer education.
8) Explain ecofriendly practices for
· Collect and share information on
greenhouse gas emissions, national policies ecotourism.
and effective practices.
** ** ** **
· Launch national strategies for addressing
greenhouse gas emissions.

· Cooperate in preparing for adaptation to
the impacts of global climate change.

54

5. Water Security

5.1 Water resources Activity 1

5.2 Need and importance of water resources To observe World Water Day (WWD),
you could organize meetings, discussion or
5.3 Water scarcity an exhibition on water and its use. You can
promote conservation of water in your
5.4 Water contamination school and your neighborhood.

5.5 Water conservation and management Surface water sources
methods
The major sources of fresh surface water
5.1 Water resources are rivers, lakes, ponds and tanks. India is
blessed with large number of major, medium
One of the major challenges we face is to and small size rivers. Rivers comprise the most
provide safe drinking water and basic important source of surface water. Ganga and
sanitation for all. At present, close to 1 billion Brahmaputra rivers have biggest catchment
people lack access to clean water sources and area in India.
over 2.6 billion people lack access to basic
sanitation. Nearly all of these people live in In India due to topographical, hydrological
cities in developing countries. and other constraints, only about 32 per cent of
the available surface water can be utilized. You
Cities all over the world are facing a range have studied in your 11th standard textbook, that
of problems, from climate change and precipitation in India has very high spatial
population growth, to deterioration of urban variation and it is mainly concentrated in
infrastructure. Cities of the future will have a Monsoon season.
hard time providing sufficient sanitation and
efficiently managing with less reliable water. Groundwater sources

New approaches for urban water Groundwater is a part of rainwater that
management will need to address these issues. percolates in the ground. Though ground water
New strategies to be developed to build represents one of the most important water
resilient urban water systems. Rural settlements source in India, its availability depends on
and cities in developing countries require to various factors viz topography, subsurface
take special efforts for water management. geology and prevailing climate.

Do you know? The level of groundwater utilisation is
relatively high in the river basins lying in north-
United Nations World Water Day is western region and parts of south India. The
held on 22nd March every year. groundwater utilisation is very high in the states
of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Tamil
Events are organized on or around this Nadu. However, there are states like
day to increase the awareness about Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Kerala, etc., which utilize
importance of water, environment,
agriculture, health and trade in the society.

55

only a small proportion of their groundwater key role in the human body. We can survive up
potentials. States like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, to several weeks without food, but only a few
Bihar, Tripura and Maharashtra are utilizing days without water. Every system in the body,
their ground water resources at a moderate rate. from cells and tissues, to vital organs requires
water to function.
If the present trend continues, the demands for
water would need the proper water management Do you know?
systems to be implemented. The Central Ground
Water Authority (CGWA) regulates the Water carries nutrients to all cells in all
industrial ground water usage in the country. organisms.

5.2 Need and importance Water allows the body to absorb and
assimilate minerals, vitamins, amino acids,
Although 71% of the earth is covered with glucose and other substances. Water flushes
water, acute shortage of water is reported all out toxins and waste.
over the world. India receives nearly 4% of
global precipitation, still it suffers from water Water helps to regulate body temperature.
scarcity. It is mostly caused by over exploitation,
excessive use and uneven distribution of water. Water makes up an average 60% of an
Pollution of water by domestic and industrial adult’s body weight and the body cannot
sources, seepage of chemicals are also store water. Every day we constantly lose
responsible for water scarcity, as they make water though breathing, sweating and
water hazardous for use. through urine and faeces. Ensuring that lost
fluids are replenished in a timely manner is
Increasing industrialization is exerting essential for good health.
pressure on existing water resources. Rapid
urbanization has also increased the pressure on Activity 2
groundwater sources like tube wells. An
important source of water, Indian rivers like Class teachers should organise a discussion
Ganga, Yamuna etc. are polluted due to rapid on reuse and recycle of water.
industrialization, modern agricultural practices
and urbanization. 5.3 Water scarcity
Water is vital requirement of life. By 2025
Although water is a renewable resource,
the misuse and wastage of water, has resulted in more than 50 countries including India will face
depletion of water resource. Conserving water water scarcity problem.
has become a major environmental issue. In
order to save and conserve it, we must reduce Water is available through uneven monsoon
wastage of water. Reducing per capita rains in India. Average rainfall is 117 cm in
consumption of water and preventing wastage India and 101 cm in Maharashtra. Availability
are effective ways of water conservation. of water is more than 300 cm in Konkan while
very less i.e. 50 cm in eastern parts of districts
Importance of Water like Sangli, Satara, Solapur, Marathwada
districts etc. There is highest rainfall is Amboli
Water is an essential element and plays a and Gadchiroli in monsoon but there is scarcity
of water in summer. The surface run-off is more
due to slope of mountains and non-availability
of storage.

56

Do you know? National Water Conflicts

Day Zero (Cape Town) Krishna River Dispute

Cape town is a tourist city in South There are multipurpose projects of
Africa. City water requirments are met by irrigation and hydroelectric power, constructed
the supply of water from the nearby dams. across the rivers Krishna and Godavari.
Dam water levels had been declining since
2015. The Cape Town water crisis peaked More than 6 dams are constructed on river
during mid-2017 to mid-2018, when there Krishna. It flows through Maharashtra,
was no water in the city for use. The City of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. There are
Cape Town has introduced the idea of 'Day disputes among these three states, over the
Zero' to focus everyone’s attention on distribution of water, since 1956. To resolve
managing water consumption. Day Zero is this, Government of India constitued a common
when most of the city’s taps will be switched tribunal in 1969.
off.
Godavari River Dispute
Think and Act
Godavari is the one of the largest rivers in
Do you want your area to face the same India. It originates at Nasik in Maharashtra and
problem like Cape Town in future? flows through the states of Andhra, Odisa,
Chattisgarh, Telangana. The multi purpose
Suggest your preventive meatures to projects constructed on this river provide a
avoid a crisis like this. number of advantages to people. The disputes
arising among the states are for sharing water
Conflict of water resource and other advantages obtained from
the dams. To resolve this, Government of India
It is predicted that in future, water may be had to constitute a tribunal for this dispute.
the main reason of wars. Water demand is
increasing day-by-day for domestic, agricultured 5.4 Water Contamination
and industrial sectors. Within the country too,
there are conflicts over water among the states. Deterioration of Water Quality

International Water Conflicts Water quality refers to purity of water or
water without unwanted substances. Water gets
Middle east countries are having less polluted by unwanted matter such as micro-
availability of water. The worlds longest river organisms, chemicals, industrial and other
Nile feeds approximately 86% countries on the wastes. Such matter, deteriorates the quality of
bank. Sudan is diverting water which will water and renders it unfit for human use. When
reduce water supply to Egypt. Also other toxic substances enter lakes, streams, rivers,
countries like Ethiopia are claiming their right ocean and other water bodies, they get dissolved
over Nile water. River Jordan basin, will face or remain suspended in water. This results in
shortage of water by 2025. Syria has planned to pollution of water affecting aquatic ecosystems.
build a large dam on it, which will reduce water Sometimes, these pollutants also seep down and
supply to Israel. pollute groundwater.

57

Water is undoubtedly the most precious 2. Industrial wastes
natural resource existing on our planet. It is Huge amount of water is needed for
required to meet our basic needs in day-to-day
life. It is also required for irrigation, day-to-day manufacturing process in steel and paper
activities, generating electricity in power plants, industries. Hence such industries are situated
manufacturing process and disposal of waste. on the banks of rivers. Many other industries
like textile, rubber, leather, medicine etc. are
In the process of urbanization, responsible for water pollution. All these
industrialization and agricultural practices, we industries produce huge amount of effluents,
knowingly or unknowingly pollute our rivers, which if discharged untreated into water
lakes and oceans. Subsequently, we slowly but bodies, can cause severe water pollution.
surely harm our planet. One of the consequences Wastes like heavy metals are carcinogenic in
of this is that many species of flora and fauna nature and toxic compounds like phenol,
are dimimishing at an alarming rate. cyanide and ammonia are the major
contaminants of chemical industries. Most of
Water pollution can be defined as change in these pollutants are non-degradable in nature.
physical, chemical and biological characteristics
of water in any way which interferes its use. Figure 5.2 : Industrial waste water

Generally water is mixed with gases and 3. Agricultural wastes
salts along with suspended matter. Since, these Chemical fertilizers are applied in fields
remain in a very scanty amount, the water
remains potable. But when these impurities to increase the crop yield. They have harmful
cross permissible limit or the water becomes effects on human beings, animals and
turbid, having foul smell and contaminated with environment too.
various germs, it is considered as unfit for
human consumption.

Sources of water pollution : The major sources
(causes) of water pollution are -

1. Domestic wastes (sewage)

This primarily includes excreta of humans
and animals along with papers, food waste,
detergents etc. Various discarded materials
ultimately gets accumulated in nearby water
bodies like lakes, ponds and rivers.

Figure 5.1 : Domestic waste (sewage) Figure 5.3 : Pollution due to chemical
spraying

58

The excess of fertilizers are leached into within the nests develop into mix of males
ground and pollute the ground water. Excess and females. However the temperature
pesticides, insecticides and herbicides are also above this range produces only females and
used in the fields to protect the crops, but all temperature below this range produces all
these find their ways into nearby water bodies males. This standard temperature of 28- 29
through surface run-off and are responsible for degree Celsius changes slightly for each
severe water pollution. species.
4. Thermal Pollution
Now increasing thermal pollution and
In thermal power stations and nuclear climate change may disrupt the sex ratio of
power plants, huge quantity of water is used for turtles by producing all females thus lead-
cooling purpose and such water becomes hot. ing them to extinction.
When such heated water enters into nearby lake
or river, it causes thermal pollution. Such type Table: 5.1 Rivers and their sources of pollution
of pollution has harmful effects on aquatic
ecosystem. Sr. Name of Place Sources of
No. River water
Figure 5.4 : Thermal Pollution
Do you know? pollution

Sea turtles are one of the most ancient 1 Mula Pune Industrial
creatures of the planet earth existing effluent and
till date. They travel thousands of miles Sewage of
throughout their life. Turtles lay eggs in the
sand. female turtle visits the sandy beaches Pune city
for nesting and laying eggs. The eggs are
laid into the holes dug in the sand on the Sugar
beaches by the female turtles. It is the industries
temperature of the surrounding environment 2 Panchaganga Kolhapur and sewage
which determines the sex of the turtles. The
hatchlings or young ones do not have sex from city
chromosomes. The temperature ranging
between 28-29 degree Celsius is suitable for 3 Krishna Nagpur Sewage
hatching. At these temperatures embryos from city

4 Savitri Raigarh Chemical
industries

Ulhas Chemical
5 Ulhas Nagar industries,
(Mumbai) dye units

6 Godavari Nasik Fertilizer
industry,
sewage

Chemical
industry,
7 Ganga Kanpur leather

industry

Fly ash from
thermal

8 Kaveri Tamilnadu power
station, steel
industry

59

Activity 3 lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium etc.,
which causes pollution of water bodies
Find out and write down which are the and makes water unpotable.
major towns/cities located on the banks of
the Ganga and Yamuna rivers and which c) Hardness of water increases with the
are major industries in these cities. addition of calcium and magnesium salts,
which makes water unsuitable for domestic
Effects of Water Pollution consumption.

1) Harmful effects of domestic waste d) Soaps, detergents and alkalies result in
(sewage) foam formation affecting the water quality.

a) Domestic sewage is nutrient rich and when e) Many such contaminants enter in
such sewage is added in water bodies it organisms through food chain and cause
consumes the available dissolved oxygen adverse effect on plants and animals.
and adversely affects water quality.
Addition of sewage also imparts foul smell 3) Harmful effects of Agricultural waste
and changes coloration of water bodies.
a) Fertilizers and pesticides used in crop
b) Discharge of effluents, sewage and fields are washed off through rain and over
domestic waste causes various human irrigation and it percolates in the soil,
health problems. which leads to ground water pollution.

c) Pathogenic bacteria, viruses, protozoa b) Useful soil micro flora and animals like
flourish well in sewage and are responsible earthworms are adversely affected by
for serious diseases like cholera, typhoid, insecticides and pesticides making soil
and dysentery in human beings. unproductive in nature.

d) Large amount of nitrates and phosphates Do you know?
dissolved in water cause eutrophication. It
accelerates growth of algae and aquatic According to World Development Report
weeds. They cover the water body and (WDR), each year about 40,000 persons
reduce oxygen content in the water resulting die because of toxic effects of pesticides
in death of aquatic organisms like fishes. and 1 – 2 million peoples are affected by
Such water becomes unfit for drinking different types of pesticides.
purpose.
Most harmful pesticides are BHC, DDT,
2) Harmful effects of Industrial waste Chlordrin, Aldrin Endosulphan round-up
etc.
a) Untreated industrial effluents may become
responsible for imparting odour, color and 4) Harmful effects of Thermal Pollution
turbidity to receiving water bodies.
a) Physico-chemical properties of water
b) Effluents from chemical industries, textiles, bodies are altered.
tanneries etc. release heavy metals like
b) Reduction in Dissolved Oxygen (D.O.).

60

c) Increase in Biochemical Oxygen Demand 4) Municipal corporations and other civic
(B.O.D.). societies should properly handle the solid
and liquid waste.
d) Premature hatching of fish eggs.
5) Ban on immersion of idols and used flowers
e) Bacterial multiplication increases. (Nirmalya) in lakes and rivers, helps to
minimize the water pollution.
f) Migration of aquatic fauna.
6) Ecorestoration technologies like Artificial
Do you know? Floating Island (AFI), Floating fountains,
Floating Gardens should be developed and
Minamata Disease maintained in lakes to minimize water
Forty years ago Minamata bay in Japan pollution. It also increases the aesthetic
taught the world an important lesson about value of surrounding area.
the dangers of mercury poisoning. A large
plastic plant located near the Minamata 7) Creating awareness among the people and
bay used a mercury containing compound by formulating and implementing stringent
in a reaction to produce vinyl chloride, a laws, the pollution may be checked at the
common plastic material. Left over mercury source level.
containing compound was dumped into the
bay along with other wastes from the plant. Do you know?
Though the mercury was in its less toxic
inorganic state when dumped, the Highlights of India’s National Water
microorganisms at the bottom of the bay Policy, 2002
converted the mercury into its organic form.
This organic mercury then entered into the The objective of the policy is to provide
tissues of fish , which were in turn consumed surplus water to the deficit areas. It aims to
by the people living in the area. The reduce water pollution and improves water
contaminated fish thus caused an outbreak quality of rivers.
of mercury poisoning, killing and affecting
central nervous system of the people. People ¨ Irrigation and multi-purpose projects
suffered from the following symptoms - should invariably include drinking water
numbness in hands and feet, loss of component. (wherever there is no
peripheral vision, damage to hearing and alternative source of drinking water.)
speech etc.
¨ Providing drinking water to all human
Control of water pollution beings and animals.

1) Restrictions must be imposed on the source ¨ Measures should be taken to limit and
of water pollution and stringent rules are to regulate the exploitation of groundwater.
be applied.
¨ Both surface and groundwater should be
2) Industrial effluents must be treated properly regularly monitored for quality. A
before it gets discharged into surrounding regular programme should be undertaken
environment. for improving water quality.

3) Heavy penalties must be charged to the ¨ The efficiency of utilization in all the
industries for violating the rules. diverse uses of water should be
improved.

61

¨ Awareness of water as a scarce resource Traditional water harvesting techniques used
should be fostered. in different states :

¨ Conservation consciousness should be In India, water harvesting is an ancient tradition.
promoted through early stage of Many states are using the following traditional
education, regulation, incentives and methods even today :
disincentives.
Table 5.2: Traditional water harvesting
5.5 Water conservation and management techniques in India
methods
Traditional
We have to use both traditional and modern Sr water Description States

methods for conserving and managing water. No harvesting
system

¨ Renewing traditional water harvesting 1 Johads Earthen dams Rajasthan
structures.
Covered
¨ Renovating old ponds and lakes. 2 Kunds underground Rajasthan
3 Khadin tanks
¨ Building check dams.

¨ Keeping control of water resources to the A long
community. earthen
embankment
¨ Rainwater harvesting in urban areas. to store runoff Gujarat
water
¨ Recharging groundwater through
percolation pits.
Reservoir Andhra
¨ Adopting Integrated Watershed 4 Cheruva water Pradesh

Management (IWM). Ponds used
by Bodo
¨ Reducing demand through increased 5 Dongs tribals Assam
efficiency of water use. Karnataka
West Bengal
Since there is a declining availability of 6 Kere Percolation
fresh water and increasing demand, there is a Tanks
need to conserve and effectively manage this
precious resource for sustainable development. Pukuar, Bil Ponds
India has to take quick steps and make effective 7 and Khal
policies and laws and adopt effective measures
for its conservation. Besides developing water 8 Kund Temple tank Maharashtra
saving technologies and methods, attempts are
also to be made to prevent the pollution. There is Bamboo Irrigation System
a need to encourage watershed development,
rainwater harvesting, water recycling and reuse, It is 200 years old system of tapping stream
and conjunctive use of water for sustaining water by using bamboo pipes. It is mainly
water supply in the long run. practiced in north east part of India, especially
Meghalaya. It does not need any fuel or power.
It works on the principal of gradient of a terrain.
It can be implemented in regions where bamboo
is available for free or at very low cost.

62

For a family of five, consuming 750
litres a day, this rainwater will last for 100
days or one third of the year.

Calculate how much rain water you can
have in your house/college/school.

Watershed Management

Figure 5.5 : Bamboo Irrigation System Watershed management basically refers to
efficient management and conservation of
Normally, rainwater is good enough to surface and groundwater resources. It involves
drink. However one should avoid using water prevention of run-off, storage and recharge of
from the first rain of the monsoon. Rainwater groundwater through various methods like
harvesting systems usually incorporate first rain percolation tanks, recharge wells, etc. However,
separators. As long as the storage is completely in broader sense, watershed management
closed, the water remains good for a long period. includes conservation, regeneration and
judicious use of all resources like land, water,
Rooftop rainwater can also be used to plants and animals.
recharge groundwater. Water from the roof is
directly let into the percolation chamber around Watershed management aims at bringing
the house pits. It percolates into the soil and about balance between natural resources on
recharges the groundwater, if the soil is porous. one hand and society on the other. The success
After a while, the water levels in the area will go of watershed development largely depends
up and the wells will have enough water. upon community participation.

Some watershed management techniques

• Contour trenches

Activity 4 These are trenches dug along a hillside in
away that they follow a contour line and run
Learn more about Rainwater : perpendicular to flow of water. It helps to
How much can you harvest in Pune/your capture and hold rainfall.
city?

Suppose you live in the city of Pune. Contour trench
Your house has a terrace area of 100 sq m.
How much of rainwater can you collect in
one year?

Average annual rainfall in Pune = 760 mm

Amount of rain falling on 100 sq m area

= Roof area ´ rainfall

= 100 sq m area ´ 0.76 m Figure 5.6 : Contour trenches

= 76 cu m
= 76,000 liter

63

• Loose boulder structure ground. It can be built from stone, sandbags or

Loose boulder structure is a small barrier branches of trees etc.
constructed of rock, gravels, sand bags placed Check dam
across stream or any water channel. This
reduces velocity of flowing water and allows
sediments to settle down. It helps in reducing
soil erosion.

Loose boulder structure

Figure 5.9 : Check dams

• Farm ponds

These are small tanks dug in farms for
storing water. Water is later used for the crops,
support aquaculture and provide water for
livestock in summer.

Farm pond

Figure 5.7 : Loose boulder structure

• Gabion structure

It is a box like structure filled with rocks /

sand and soil covered with chain link mesh. It

helps in percolation of water alongwith

reduction in soil erosion.

Gabion structure

Figure 5.10 : Farm ponds

Water conservation programs in India

Figure 5.8 : Gabion structure The Central and State Governments have
initiated many watershed development and
• Check dams management programmes in the country. Some
It is small dam constructed across a of these are being implemented by non-
governmental organisation. Haryali is a
waterway to reduce velocity of water flow and organisations sponsored by the Central
helps in increase in water percolation in the Government which aims at enabling the rural
population to conserve water for drinking,
irrigation, fisheries and afforestation.

The Project is being executed by Gram
Panchayats with people’s participation.

64

Neeru-Meeru (Water and You) programme · Don't hose down your lawn or corridor to
in Andhra Pradesh and Arvary Pani Sansad in clean it. Sweep it off.
Alwar, Rajasthan have taken up constructions
of various water-harvesting structures such as · Don't wash the clothes and kitchen utensils
percolation tanks, dug out ponds (Johad), check in the water bodies.
dams, etc. through people’s participation.
· Avoid throwing flowers, sweets, puja
Watershed development projects in some materials into a river. It will degrade the
areas have been successful in rejuvenating quality of water.
environment and economy. There is a need to
generate awareness regarding benefits of · Avoid throwing dead bodies and ash in
watershed development and management river.
among people in the country. Through this
integrated water resource management · Avoid use of weedicides.
approach, water availability can be ensured on
sustainable basis. Do you know?

Do's Paani Foundation - People’s movement
to fight drought!
· Reuse of water whenever possible. Kitchen
water can be used for watering the plants. Paani foundation is an organization
founded in 2016, with the aim of making
· Plan your kitchen activity to avoid wastage Maharashtra drought free by people's
of fuel and water. participation.

· Fix leaks promptly. A dripping joint can Water scarcity is largely a man-made
waste more than 76 liters of water a day. condition and only people's efforts can
solve this crisis. Thus, the movement is
· Use only one bucket of water for bathing. based on the thought that only people’s
Showers use less water, if you limit them to movement can eradicate drought.
five minutes. Install low-flow shower-
heads. Avoid the use of bathtubs as far as Paani foundation provides training of
possible. scientific watershed management,
leadership and community building to the
· Use sprinkler for irrigation. villagers. It is working in around 90% of
drought hit villages in Maharashtra.
· Run your dishwasher, washing machine Through training films and manuals, the
and dryer, only when you have full loads. teams of Paani foundation are working
across the state. To incentivize the program,
Don'ts it conducts a competition called “Satyamev
Jayate Water Cup” every year. This
· Don't keep on the tap running while having competition helps villages to compete for
bath, brushing teeth, shaving or washing the best watershed management work.
dishes; it wastes about 2 liters of water Started with 116 villages in 2016, more
every minute. than 4,000 villages have participated in
2019 and around 23,000 crores liters of
water storage capacity is built up till now.

65

This shows that it is not just a this Act. The Pollution Control Boards are
competition but an inspiration to make the nodal agencies to govern permissions,
drought free Maharashtra. sanctions and are entrusted with a function
to keep the water-bodies free of pollution.
Activity 5
Remember it !
Visit any village which has If one student – one day - saves one litre
participated in water cup in your area, water,
write down the techniques used for Then one student – one year - will save 365
watershed management. litres water,
And one student - 10 years - will save 3,650
Samagra Shiksha - Jal Suraksha Drive litres water.
August 9, 2019
Activity 6
Union Ministry of Human Resource
Development (HRD) launched Samagra Write down the ways to save atleast 1 lit.
Shiksha - Jal Suraksha drive to create water per day at home.
awareness about water conservation among all
school students in the country. It seeks to make Exercise for
students competent and committed water Journal Assignment
citizens of nation. This can be achieved by
making water conservation essential for 1) Expalin the causes and effects of flooding.
students, so that they can understand the Suggest the corrective measures to avoid
importance of water. It also enables them to flooding situation.
carry out water conservation activities in their
day-to-day lives. 2) Write down a script for a street play on
water conservation and its importance.
Do you know?
3) What precautions you should take to
The Water (Prevention and Control of reduce the impact on environment while
Pollution) Act, 1974 visiting a tourist place.

The objective of this enactment is to 4) Explain water scarcity in India.
prevent pollution of water bodies and to
protect the wholesomeness of water. The 5) Explain importance of watershed
Act established Central and State Pollution management.
Boards to regulate the sanctions and
permissions required by the industries 6) Explain river water pollution in India.
before coming into operation.
7) Study causes of water pollution in your
This enactment prohibits release of any locality and suggest the corrective
polluted water with prescribed treatment in measures for it.
any stream or water-body. Whoever pollutes
water becomes accused, liable to be 8) Explain the measures required for water
punished with fine and imprisonment under security in your locality.

** ** ** **

66

Glossary • Bio-methanation – The process by
which organic material is
• Adulterants – The substance, which microbiologically converted under
when added in food or drink, makes it anaerobic conditions to biogas.
weaker or lowers its quality.
• Biological decay – The breaking down
• Agro-biodiversity – It includes all or rotting of organic matter through the
components of biological diversity action of bacteria, fungi or other
related to food and agriculture organisms by decomposition.
ecosystems.
• Bt cotton – Bt is a family of proteins,
• Anaerobic – Organisms or processes originating from strains of the bacterium
which do not need oxygen in order to Bacillus thuringiensis. Bt cotton is a
function or survive. genetically modified, post resistant
cotton variety.
• Animal husbandry – The branch of
agriculture, concerned with the • CFC (Chlorofluorocarbon) – Organic
production and care of domesticated compounds, made up of atoms – carbon,
animals. chorine and fluorine. An example of
CFC is Freon – 12, used in refrigerators
• Anthropogenic – Man-made. and Air conditioners.

• Ambient – Immediate surrounding. • Christian Era – Also called common
Era. It is one of the notation systems for
• Expert Appraisal Committee – (EAC) the world’s most widely used calender
Exists at the Union as well as state era.
levels, (State expert appraisal committee
or SEAC) to advise the government on • CH4 (Methane) – It is a colourless,
environmental clearance of development odourless, flammable gas; which is the
projects. The role of EAC is integral to main constituent of biogas and
the process of granting environment considered as one of the green house
clearance to developmental projects. gases.

• Audit – Inspection of an organization • CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) – It
by an independent body. is methane stored at high pressure and
can be used as a fuel in place of diesel,
• Biological oxygen demand – The gasoline.
amount of dissolved oxygen needed by
anaerobic decomposers to break down • Desertification – The conversion of
the organic materials in a given volume arid and semi-arid land into deserts by
of water at a certain temperature over a inappropriate farming practices or
specified time period. overgrazing.

• Bio-magnification – The process by • Eco-restoration – It is the redevelopment
which certain chemicals in the of degraded ecosystems including its
environment become concentrated as biotic and abiotic componants.
they move from one organism to another
in the food chain.

67

• Effluent – Liquid industrial waste. • Mangroves – It is a shrub or small tree,
that grows n costal saline or brackish
• Exponential – Growing or increasing water. It has numerous tangled roots,
very rapidly. that grow above ground and form dense
thicket.
• Fibrosis – Formation of an abnormal
amount of fibrous tissue in an organ or • Monocotyledon - A group of plants
part as a result of inflammation and whose seeds have only one cotyledon.
irritation. Pulmonary fibrosis is a lung These seeds can not be divided into two
disease that occurs when lung tissues parts. The examples are maize, wheat,
are damaged. rice.

• Fly-ash – It is a coal combustion product • Non-conventional energy sources –
composed of fine particles, that are Natural resources like wind, tides, solar,
driven out with the flue gases. biomass etc. which generate energy are
known as non conventional energy
• Food additives – Substances, add to sources.
food to preserve flavour or enhance its
taste, appearance and other qualities. • Perennial – Lasting or existing for a
long time.
• Gene mutation – Permanent alteration
in the DNA sequence, that makes up a • Protozoa – Single celled organism,
gene. existing as free living organisms or
parasites.
• Genectically Modified Organism
(GM) – An organism whose material • Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP) –
has been altered in a way that does not These are organic compounds that are
occur naturally. It allows selected resistant to degradation through
individual into another genes to be chemical and biological processes.
transfered from one organism. These are of global concern due to
persistence in the environment, ability
• Inventory – A complete list of items, to bio accumulate in ecosystems and
such as goods and materials. their negative effects on human health
and the environment.
• Logging – A process of cutting and
processing trees to produce timber. • Peroxy Acetyl Nitrate – Peroxy acetyl
nitrate (PAN) is an important constituent
• Landraces – It is a domesticated, locally of photo chemical smog. It is very stable
adapted, traditional variety of plant or at cold temperatures and easily
animal species, that has developed over decomposes to release NOx at warm
time. temperatures. PANs have many adverse
effects on human body, such as reduced
• Leachate – It is a liquid that seeps respiratory function and eye irritation.
through solid wastes or other medium
and has extracts of dissolved or
suspended material from it.

68

• Poly Ethylene Terephthalate (PET) – • Styrofoam – A kind of expanded
PET is a clear, strong and light weight polystyrene used especially for making
plastic, that is widely used for packaging food containers.
foods and beverages. It is typically
called ‘polyester’ when used for fibres • Spatial pattern – Arrangement of a
or fabrics and ‘PET Resin’ when used feature on land as it is shown distributed
for bottles, jars, containers and through earth space.
packaging application.
• Topography – The arrangement of high
• Radionuclides – They are atoms, that and low elevation in the landscape.
has excess nuclear energy making it
unstable. They occur naturally or are • Turbidity – A measure of fine,
artificially produced in nuclear reactors, suspended matter on liquids.
cyclotrons etc.
• Threshold – The level or point at which
• Radioactive fall–out – It is the something starts to happen or change.
radioactive material propelled into
upper atmosphere following nuclear • Wetland – Land that is cover all or part
blast. It is so called because it falls out of the time with salt water or fresh
of the sky after the explosion. It is water, excluding streams, lakes and the
harmful for all living organisms. open oceans. The soil is basically
undrained, giving rise to swamps, bogs
• Soil erosion – It is one form of soil and marshes. Wetland includes
degradation. It is the displacement of estuaries, deltas, mangroves and water
upper layer of soil, caused naturally by logged paddy fields.
water, snow, air, animals.
• Watershed – Area in a natural basin
• Surface run-off – It is water from rain, having a single outlet of water.
snow melt that flows over the land
surface. (If the run-off is heavy. There is ** ** ** **
less infiltration of water into the soil and
if it is less, more water infiltrates into
the soil.)

• Sewage – It is waste water and
excrement conveyed in sewers.

• Sludge – Thick, soft, wet mud or a
similar viscous mixture of liquid and
solid components, especially the product
of an industrial or refining process.

69

List of Projects Government website (http://censusindia.
gov.in). Make a graphical representation
1. Visit any farmer who practices organic of the changes seen and discuss the
farming and make a report on type of change in your classroom.
compost/ bio fertilizers used, cost of
fertilizer with respect to chemical 7. Study the local community traditions in
fertilizer. Also get the information on your locality by talking to elderly people
bio pesticides used and the content of in your house or neighborhood and
these bio pesticides. highlight the points which favour
environmental protection.
2. Find out your 'carbon footprint' by using
footprint calculator from the internet. 8. Visit the local grocery shop/ mall and
After calculating the footprint list down list down all the products that are
steps that you can do to reduce carbon available which have eco marks. List
footprint. Calculate the foot print after why are they registered as ecofriendly.
taking necessary steps and make a Make a table listing the product name,
report on it. product and the company names. They
can also be organic products.
3. Conduct a project in your locality to
find out solid waste disposal in your 9. Visit any nature tourism site and make a
locality. Make a poster to reduce the report on why it is visited? How many
waste and improve the waste people visit the site every year? Make a
management in the community. list of environmental impacts observed
due to tourism and suggest preventive
4. Carry out energy audit of your house measures.
based on guidelines given in the book
and write steps to reduce the use of 10. Carry out ‘Green Audit’ of your college/
energy. Study your electricity bill before school campus as per the guidelines
and after taking steps. That is the given in the book.
conclusion of your project.
11. Visit the solid waste dumping site of
5. Visit the nearest hospital/ doctor in your your locality. Prepare the report on
locality. Prepare a questionnaire to talk volume generated per day, how dumping
to the doctor on the increase or decrease affects the surrounding. Take the
in the patients and the types of diseases interviews of local people staying in the
reported. Write the report on what are surrounding area on how they are
the causes of diseases and preventive affected. Prepare a poster suggesting
measures which can be taken. Make a measures to reduce the waste.
report of the same.
12. Report the weather changes experienced
6. Study population status of your village/ by you and other people in your area in
town/ city for past twenty years ( since the previous year. Make a report on how
census is conducted every ten years) it is affecting your own local
available on the Indian National environment.

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13. Survey the local water resources in your farmers how it has affected the
area and its quality of water. (use agriculture and document it in tabular
guidelines from the book) Write on form. Write down control measures to
causes of pollution and suggest reduce the same.
preventive measures to be taken.
20. Survey the various water conservation
14. Study the water quality of tube wells in practices in the locality. Write about the
your area. Prepare a table showing benefits of the project to the people. It
location, causes of pollution, since when can be drip irrigation, roof top harvesting
water quality of bore well changed? Is in urban area or watershed development
there water available whole year or it is in rural area.
seasonal? Get the information from
elderly people from the area. Write 21. Study the drinking water supply system
down suggestions for its improvement. in your area. What is the source of
drinking water, where water is purified
15. Visit a local industry and study the and how it gets distributed in the
environmental impacts of it in the locality. Study what happens to the
surrounding area. Carry out interviews waste water drainage.
of the local people about their views on
the industry. 22. Study the local or nearby dam and write
down the environmental issues
16. Survey the local rainwater harvesting concerning the dam and the locality.
installations if any in your locality. List
down how it has benefitted the area. 23. Study air pollution in the area using the
AQI app. Do the monitoring for one
17. Visit few farms in your area and study month every week. Write conclusions
the agricultural loss due to insects or based on your observations.
pests in the agricultural practices in
recent years. Make a table documenting 24. Use sound level app to study the sound
the name of crop, type of disease, pollution in the area. Measure the noise
monitory losses incurred, causes of levels at market place, school, hospital ,
problem according to the farmer. traffic signal. Prepare a detail report on
it. Prepare a poster suggesting measures
18. Study mixed farming practices in the to reduce noise levels and its harmful
locality with respect to sequence of effects.
crops, advantages of it, types of varieties
grown, benefits of each crop to the 25. Survey the biodiversity of your school/
farmer with respect to economics, yield college campus. Prepare a eco audit
quality and quantity. report.

19. Visit your area to get the information on 26. Write down the environmental issues in
the various weeds present in the locality. your village/ city / area on the basis of
Prepare a map showing the area the following points: a) Population
occupied by the weed. Ask the local growth b) Solid waste problem c)
Pollution d) Documentation of
biodiversity.

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27. Visit the nearest historic area (eg. fort) Some international
and write down number of the visitors, environmental activity days
purpose of visit by people, historical
importance of the place and write Sr. Name of the activity day Date
about the environmental issues there. No
February
28. Write down the information about 1. World Wetlands Day 2nd
environmental protection organizations
in your area, the work that they have 2. World Wildlife Day March 3rd
done in last few years.
3. International Day of Ac- March 14th
29. Prepare statewise list of tribal tion for Rivers
communities in India. Explain the
special characteristics of each. 4. World Consumer Rights March
Describe the traditions of environmental Day 15th
conservation practices in the tribal
community. 5. Global Recycling Day March
18th
30. Participate in watershed management
activity in nearby area. Prepare a 6. World Sparrow Day March 20th
report on water shed management
techniques used in that area. Explain 7. International Day of March 21st
the importance of these techniques. Forests

31. Visit a local distributer of chemical 8. World Planting Day March 21st
pesticides and make a detail list of
commonly used pesticides in the area 9. World Water Day March
and used for which crops. Write about 22nd
their impacts on human health and
environment. 10. Earth Day April 22nd

** ** ** ** 11. World Biodiversity Day May 22nd

12. Bike-to-Work Day 3rd Friday
of May

13. World Environment Day June 5th

14. World Population Day July 11th

15. International Tiger Day July 29th

16. International Ozone September
Layer Preservation day 16th

17. World Animal Day October
4th

18. Energy Efficiency Day October
5th

19. International Day of October
Climate Action 24th

20. World Soil Day December
5th

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