Dying earth

ENVIRONMENT, literally, means everything that surrounds us and it com¬prises all living and non-living things that exist naturafly on Earth or some part of it. This may include the Mother Nature, plants, animals and also the people around us. All living organ¬isms- microbes, plants, animals, humans- have survived by adjusting themselves to the environment and attuning their lives to its rhythm.
Our planet is shared by 6.4 billion people and millions of species, The wide variety of life on earth is called biodiversity. We share the planet earth with plants and trees, flowers, insects, fish, whales and many other animals. Each species of animals or plants has its place on Earth, and each one is dependent on others.
But with the advancement and modernization of the world, there is a rapid degradation of the environment. Many activities of the people on the planet are seriously affecting environment. Our once green and clean earth has now become a subject of grave concern during the recent years. The development of infrastructure is basic to all sorts of developments in the present scenario of globalization. In a mad race to have high¬er and higher economic benefits, humans have forgotten the principle of sustainable development. The natural biotic and abi¬otic resources have been over-exploited. Thus, the laws of nature have been violated to a major extent and therefore, we are punished by the super power of nature from time to time. gandhiji stated," Nature has provided man enough for his need but not for his greed." The degradation of environment may include extinction of many species of plants and animals, lesser land under forest cover, uncertain rise and fall of temperature of the earth due to glob¬al warming and much more devastation. According to the final technical report of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), India has lost 40% of its mangroves, 50% of its forest cover, and a significant part of its wetlands in the past couple of centuriesrf/ * lp-ast 40 of plants am
has become extinct including the cheetah, while several hundred more are under the threat of extinction. All 18 of India's poul¬try breeds are also under threat.
The reasons sited are habitat destruction, hunting and over-exploitation of natural resources as the immediate causes of bio¬diversity loss, besides an unsus¬tainable and insensitive model of development, breakdown of tra¬ditional management practices and institutions, centralization of decision-making powers in the government, changes in the moral and cultural values and lack of recognition of the full value of biodiversity in eco-nomic planning. Tremendous increase in population is also one of the major causes of increasing pollution. In the past 50 years, human population the world over has increased to an extent which it did not in 10,000 years. According to WWF, 1932 species of animals are endan-gered or threatened today. Due to the excessive use of pesti-cides, many species of insects and birds are on the verge of extinction. Vultures, known as natural scavengers, once very commonly sighted in the sky or in fields have now become almost endangered.
Industrial development is an important constituent in one's pursuits for economic growth, employment generation and bet¬terment in quality of life. But industrial activities, and rapid urbanization followed by mod¬ernization without proper pre¬cautionary awareness for envi¬ronmental protection are known to cause pollution and associat¬ed problems, so much so that sacred waters of Ganga and Yamuna have also not been spared. So is the world wide sce¬nario. Increase in pollution con¬tent and various hazardous gases in the atmosphere have been instrumental in the Ozone layer depletion. The ozone layer pre¬vents the harmful gases and Ultra-violet rays entering the earth's atmosphere and thus, helps in reducing Global Warm¬ing which is caused due to excessive evolution of nitrous oxide and other harmful gases in the atmosphere at a certain degree constantly causing abrupt changes in the climate of the

earth. Global warning is the greatest concern of the environ¬mentalists and scientists around the globe, to be resolved. When the highest peak of the world. Mount Everest was scaled, it was called 'Conquest of the Everest"; little realizing that nature can never be conquered, as it is invincible. What shall be left of the Mount Everest when the whole snow melts? Writing on the wall is imminent.
We have not yet learnt to man¬age the proper and scientific dis¬posal of municipal solid waste and Bio-medical waste generated out of hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and laboratories. Proper incineration needs to be done for toxic wastes. Use of plastic, ihe great pollutant of the modern world, needs either to be mini¬mized with banning of poly-bags atleast or some recycling mecha¬nism needs to be introduced. Clean development mechanism, yet to be achieved,,? need of the hour. The three Rs- Reduce, Recycle and Reuse should be everyone's motto. Awareness should be generated through school children for saying no to crackers on festivals like Diwali.
With the excessive use of pes¬ticides and chemicals also in our agricultural fields, the deteriora¬tion of our flora and fauna has been caused to a great extent which in turn reduces the fertil¬ity of the soil alongwith unhealthy food yield. With the lowering of the water table in the present world, the depletion of ground water has also affected the growth of the food-crop and also raised serious warning about the drinking water scarcity. The industrial units also do not lag behind in withdrawal of ground water and further polluting it. It is, further, shocking to find out that the developed nations are greater polluters than the devel¬oping nations yet the later have to face the outrage of nature more intensely. Had there been some mandatory provisions that only the polluters should pay for the imbalance they are causing to nature, there would not have been such devastation.
Humankind may afford to remain happy and untroubled if pollution is kept within the absorptive capacities of Nature. But the limits are already being

crossed and there is the para-mount need to engage in efforts to minimize and reduce the wastes and pollution from the face of the earth. Affluent treat¬ment plants should be installed for all water polluting industries and air pollution control meas¬ures for air polluting units. Plan¬tation of trees within the prem¬ises of industrial units may be made mandatory. Also the plan¬tation of more and more trees should be encouraged along with the wild-life preservation. Law should be implemented firmly and strictly and the violators should be punished. Various other measures like protection of natural resources and use of renewable resource like solar energy should be increased.
Along with these steps envi-ronmental laws should be made more stringent and be imple¬mented so that no individual or organization as Gandhiji's words carry great relevance: "I bow my head in reverence to our ancestors for their sense of the beautiful in nature and for their foresight in investing beautiful manifesta¬tions of nature with a religious significance."
1 f we could rewind the wheel of time bj about fifty years and be back in the pre-independence era-a period of significant production and insignificant pollution - we would feel the natural clean and green earth with an impression of divine land to a beholder.
My heart leaps with joy
When I behold a rainbow in the sky.
Let the nature lover Wordsworth and many more like him relive their dreams. Protect the Mother Earth from getting perished and let the civilization flourish.
"We won't have a society if we destroy the environment." jaiwanti Sheokand Director Environment Govt. of Haryana