Pollution and Sanitation In India
Have you ever visited India? If you’ve never had the opportunity to
visit then Im sure you’ve seen stories of India in the news.
Unfortunately, it is a very polluted impoverished country and yet in
some areas still maintains a sense of beauty and originality that you
wont find in any other country. Some organizations have teamed up in
effort to minimize and ultimately eliminate the high levels of pollution
India has. Sadly, many people suffer horrendous diseases because of
the extreme pollution. Having been from india and been there plenty
of times, I’ve had a first hand look at the damage that can be done
because of the pollution.
According to Nadhamuni “It’s been found that 85% of the population
in India relies on groundwater which is not very clean.”
Arghyam is a great organization that has helped India’s
water become much cleaner for not only those who live there but
those tourists who visit as well.
According to another article in Oil and Gas Journal on May 23, 2005
by Judy R. Clark “ India addresses air pollution with new standards”.
“ India’s high population levels exacerbate it’s increasing pollution.”
“Vehicle emissions are one of the major causes of air pollution.
The approach they have come up with is “India will follow the
European emission norms and fuel quality regulations, which in India
are called Bharat Stage norms.” One approach they used on lowering
air pollution is “ Indian refiners have upgraded their gasoline and
diesel quality to implement the Euro I equivalent norms in the
entire Country. This is one of the approaches that Indian
organizations came up with to reduce air pollution.
According to the “ The Straits Times in Singapore published on June
24, 2009 “ Close to one in two people in Asia- 1.8 billion people-don’t
have proper sanitation, making diarrhea the top health problem for
children because they are focused to drink polluted water”. This
shows by not having proper sanitation methods it can cause pain to
adults and children when they are drinking polluted water. They can
get diarrhea which eventually can lead to death. Also they can get
another type of disease that has no cure and will make them suffer
and die because they are too poor to afford medication the way we
can. The worst part is they have no medicaid and health insurance
plans like we do.
In Addition Wayne Smith, Amanda Hodge: The Australian
September 29, 2010 Chaos clouds out Delhi’s pollution problems
article states that “Delhi’s pollution concentrates, responsible for one
in three Delhi residents suffering from respiratory problems.
This shows how one out of three people in just Delhi alone may be
suffering from respiratory problems. There must be more people in all
of India. This is why pollution should be controlled more than ever.
Only the times when there are great change in pollution control and
sanitation control is when there is something called Commonwealth
Games which is like the olympic games in America. Another time is
when there is a high amount of foreigners who come and visit India.
According to an Article in the “ Weekend Australian”
It shows that the measures taken to determine how much pollution
there is in Delhi and how to get rid of it.
“ the state government is considering drastic pollution-reduction
measures, including a congestion tax, traffic restrictions, shop
closures and a moratorium on all construction in the weeks leading
up to the event”. These are temporary ways of getting rid of pollution
but if they were to make some of these demands permanent that
would really help get rid of pollution in India. Some ways like traffic
restrictions and a congestion tax can help reduce pollution.
Another statement in this article shows the pollution in India.
“ An analysis of the city’s air quality --warned that pollution levels--
high throughout the year--were likely to increase around the time
more than 8000 athletes converged on Delhi”. “The study found fine-
participate exceeded acceptable standards on 92 percent of the days
this year and were up to four times higher than levels recommended
by the World Health Organization” This shows that if these measures
to reduce pollution weren’t taken there would be a very high level of
pollution to the point where the athletes for these Commonwealth
games would not be able to participate.
In addition to these facts According to an article “India’s national
cancer research institute says one in three Delhi residents have
respiratory problems and more than 40 percent suffer reduced lung
function”.
These are also certain things pollution can do to people’s bodies
when they are breathing in that filthy polluted air.
According to The New York Times December 4, 2007 “India Finds
mutated DNA Where water is Toxic”.
“ Preliminary results say a two-year study commissioned
by the Punjab Pollution Control Board found mutated DNA in blood
samples of 65 percent of the people tested.They also found high
levels of arsenic and mercury in the tap water”. “ Soil Scientists at
Punjab Agricultural University reported that 80 percent of the ground
water was unfit for human consumption and that some groundwater
had lethal concentrations of arsenic.
This is evidence provided by scientific study by a University in the
State of Punjab in India. This is also the types of things going around
in the water and polluting it.
In an Article published on September 28, 2010 in “The Pioneer”
“Rawat cries foul of poor sanitation in Haridwar”. “overflow from
blocked sewers and heaps of garbage have become a major health
hazard in the Holy Town. This place called Haridwar is one of the most
Holiest places in India. It is believed that people from far away come
to bathe in this water to relieve themselves from the burden of the
sins they do in everyday life. They believe this place is supposed to
be clean at all times. According to this article and the man and his
statement it seems that far from the blocked sewers there is garbage
emerging that is causing health problems and only because there is
no sanitation method this is why even a Holy place like this is now
causing diseases as well.
According to a article in “The Times” “Dirty drinking water and poor
sanitation are recognized as the biggest killers in the world,
responsible for 2.2 million deaths a year.
“Many people have to drink water from polluted wells or from rivers,
leaving them to prone to bilharzia, typhus and cholera. “ In many rural
areas of developing nations people have no sanitation at all, and use
the outdoors as a toilet. Others have limited facilities such as
unlined latrines, which leak and pollute water supplies”.
This shows lack of responsibility and sanitation methods
can do to an environment full of people.
The approaches being made are according to The Gazette
August 29, 2002 “ A taste for waste: Summit experts say
human excrement is fully recyclable”. “ Human excrement is fully
recyclable. You can get fertilizer to use in fields and also get bio-gas
for cooking and lighting.“ We can take your waste, convert it to
organic fertilizer and compost, then utilize it to grow trees.
This is an approach to get pollution that we make into
creations we can all benefit from. It can also save so much money.
In another article “The Australian October 16,2008 Bruce Loudon,
New Delhi “ Tendulkar lends a hand in hygiene campaign” It states
that “ The BIGGEST hand-wash in history was taking place across
India last night, with an estimated 100 million school children
participating in a drive-promoted by cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar
for improved hygiene. They were shown the most appropriate way of
washing hands at the most critical moment-after going to the toilet
and before taking their meals. Another fact shown is “ Officials
have launched the mass-hand-wash to mark Global Hand-washing
Day, India being one of the main participants among the 70 countries
taking part. Sachin Tendulkar states “ I wanted to be a part of this
campaign because washing hangs with soap can keep children safe
and healthy and protect them against deadly disease”.
This shows how step by step they are progressing to make the future
a cleaner and healthier place and it shows that step by step more and
more children can keep themselves clean. Stars like Sachin Tendulkar
should have more campaigns to get across not only Children but
Adults and Seniors as well. Everyone should be taught how to be
clean and avoid illnesses that come from not washing your hands
throughly. People usually look up to stars they see in everyday life on
television thats why these stars should help the community by
teaching them techniques of being clean and making their
surroundings clean as well.
This will help India not only be clean but also progress as well.
One great way India has finally come up with to get rid of pollution
is According to the “Skills Ahead” “Cleanliness How far From
Godliness” by G S Sethi states “ An exercise started in 2009 under
the National Urban Sanitation policy to create awareness about
sanitation has color coded cities as Green, Blue, Black and Red
depending on their cleanliness. The exercise used 19 indicators
which include public access to toilets, treatment of sewage, proper
disposal of wastewater and elimination of manuel scavenging.
Everyone knows who Mahatma Gandhi is and he has inspired us all.
Till this day he is still inspiring Indians all over India. According to the
article “India Today” November 5, 2007 “ Gandhigiri Gets Real” by
Subhash Mishra “ The commissioner of the Ghaziabad Municipal
Corporation, Ajay Shankar Pandey, has taken up the broom.
Inspired by Mahatma, who used to clean his home, toilet and even his
cell in prison everyday during the freedom struggle, Pandey himself
sweeps his office everyday, collects the garbage in a dustbin. Pandey
also has taken a vow to keep it clean amidst the thousands of waste
generated everyday”.
People like Ajay Pandey have inspired a couple of people who have
also followed Mahatma Gandhi’s footsteps and clean their garbage
and sweep their houses and offices everyday.
These are all the ways in India pollution has affected our beautiful
India and how people have come about ideas to get rid of all this
pollution. These are ways we can help clean up India and make it a
better place to live a happy healthy life and enjoy the beauty of this
great Country I am so proud of.
Works Cited
LexisNexis Academic
Skills Ahead
October 1, 2010
G, S Sethi
Cleanliness How Far from Godliness?
LexisNexis Academic
Oil and Gas Journal
May 23, 2005
Judy R. Clark
“India addresses air pollution with new standards”
LexisNexis Academic
The Strait Times
Singapore
June 24, 2009
LexisNexis Academic
The Australian
September 29 2010
Wayne Smith
Amanda Hodge
Chaos clouds out Delhi’s pollution problems
LexisNexis
Weekend Australian
LexisNexis
India’s national cancer research institute
LexisNexis Academic
New York Times
December 4 2007
India finds mutated DNA where water is toxic
LexisNexis Academic
The Pioneer
September 28, 2010
LexisNexis Academic
The Times
LexixNexis Academic
The Gazette
August 29, 2002
A taste for waste: Summit experts say human excrement is fully recyclable
LexisNexis Academic
The Australian
October 16, 2008
Bruce Loudon
LexisNexis Academic
India Today
November 5 2007
Subash Mishra
Gandhigiri Gets Real