(Controlling the carbon emissions from vehicles and industrial units remains a major challenge)
India has once again proved to be a laggard in environmental performance. It is at the bottom of the list of one hundred and eighty countries. This is clear from the study conducted by Yale and Columbia University on the environmental situation of one hundred and eighty countries. Apart from India, the situation of Russia and China is also worrying in this study. In view of climate change, all the countries of the world together have pledged to cut their carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050.
But it is clear from the latest study that by 2050, India and China will be the world’s most carbon emitting countries. Although studies by international environmental agencies are sometimes viewed with suspicion, they are also intended to put pressure on developing countries.
But in relation to India, this is not a very shocking figure regarding environmental pollution. Studies keep coming from time to time about this and almost all have been underlining the need to improve in this direction. While measures such as clean fuels and solar energy are increasingly being implemented in India, controlling the carbon emissions from vehicles and industrial units remains a major challenge.
The deepening climate crisis around the world is undoubtedly a matter of concern, with the aim of overcoming it, all the countries together have pledged to cut carbon emissions. But it has been a bit trickier. Implementing measures to cut carbon emissions means curbing many industrial and development activities here.
As easily as developed countries can do this work, it is not as easy for developing countries. If India takes immediate steps to cut carbon emissions, then its growth rate will be directly affected. This is the reason why even a developed country like America has been shying away from trying measures to cut carbon emissions.
In the latest study, it has slipped lower than before, because the Trump government did not properly implement measures to cut carbon emissions. The environmental situation in China and Russia also remains worrying because they do not want to make any changes to their industrial and development policies. In such a situation, India’s problems are not hidden.
But there is no denying the fact that due to environmental pollution, the problems related to human life have increased a lot in India. Every year lakhs of people die here due to such dangerous diseases which arise due to pollution. In the metros here, it is difficult for people to breathe for a long period during the winter.
The causes of pollution are not hidden. Neither the factories follow the pollution related rules properly nor the water, forest, land monitoring departments are sensitive to keep them safe.
Due to this the rivers have turned into dirty drains. Mountains are becoming bare, forest areas are fighting for their existence. Roads are bearing the pressure of vehicles many times more than their capacity. If these fundamentals are taken seriously, India may not have to be ashamed of environmental failures like this.