Change is the only constant thing on the earth. If change is by nature itself then one need not to worry about it. But if change is forced by human activities then it’s dangerous and can cause catastrophes. Rise in temperature, floods, droughts, acid rains all are reactions of nature to balance itself. Nature has its own limits for such a balancing activity. From the ancient time man achieved his development utilising natural resources as per his requirement. Development doesn’t mean to destruction of nature. It can be achieved without harming the nature by safe practices, observing delicate interconnectivity amongst all creatures. Such practices clubbed together leads to Sustainable Development. Sustainable philosophy means-to understand the environment in long term and progress without harming ecological balance or to keep the manmade disturbance as low as possible. Thus question arises “How to achieve this sustainable development..?” Sustainable development starts from house i.e. from common man, by following simple practices in our day today life.
Using public transport
With enhanced economy and advancement in the automobile industry, now day middle class family can also afford buying private vehicle for themselves. But from studies it is clear that for urban population fuel consumed per person in private transport is more that public transports. Thus it is advisable to use public transports like bus, railways and metros other than private bikes and cars. For short distances walking or cycling should be practiced.
Further there is an appeal to automobile industry for get down the economy speed to 10-20km/hr from 30-45km/hr. This would help to save fuel in urban cities where traffic movement hardly exceeds 10-15km/hr during peak hours.
Avoid plastic
Say no to food items served in plastics. Alternatively ask for food items packed with biodegradable materials. For example plastic packed Parle-G biscuits taste’s same as that of packed in wax paper two year ago. Use cloth/HDPE bags while going out for shopping. It takes more than hundred years to degrade the plastics items. Buying water bottles while outing is fashion now. Earlier practice was to carry water from house while travelling or outing. Same practice need to be back once again. Even though most of the water bottles and plastic bags are recyclable type, but recycling process itself has an impact on environment and it does cost for its machineries, plants and labours. One must have seen such labours wandering on back streets for sake their livelihood taking most dangerous assignments. Recent studies revealed that plastic bags and bottles are the reason for most of the nallah blockage and consequent flooding during mansoon.
Limited use of cement concrete
Cement is another wonderful invention to provide shelter to human beings. In the 17th century cement concrete was invented to build critical structures like dams, bridges, ports and other infrastructural needs. I those days they hardly used cement for building residential buildings. Most of the cases they used it as binding material between stone blocks there by optimising the use of cement. Approximately 220kg of equivalent Carbon Dioxide gets emitted during manufacturing process of 1000kg cement. Thus cement industry contribute 2-3% to the overall CO2 emissions.
Hence construction industry should make optimum utilisation of cement. Now day road side stones and mile stones are replaced by cement concrete moulds. For surprise such concrete moulds are used as milestones and curb stones in up-gradation project of highways in Deccan Plateau, where the basalt stone is easily available. Like this in many cases to mention where cement concrete is in use unnecessarily.
Following the Regulations
For infrastructure up-gradation we are cutting trees beside the roads that are planted some 20yrs back. Huge dam constructions are swallowing dense forests. These all are required for the well being of civilisation and development. But these developments are to be done as per the norms. Before initiating such projects it is mandatory requirement to submit Environment Impact Assessment-EIA and regulatory measures that are intended to be done after completion of projects. But unfortunately no one to execute these measures after completion of project. Till the date we don’t have figures of planted trees that are survived after completion of Golden Quadrilateral Project. This is latest example to quote, same thing is happened with most of the projects and nobody is bothered to look back to the measures taken by authorities. Thus project should be treated ‘complete’ and dedicated to nation only after completion of EIA remedial measures.
Industries should come up voluntarily while releasing the effluents like air, water and solid waste. There are advanced treatment systems which can be used to dilute these effluents. The treatment procedures consume up to 20% of entrepreneur profits. But its marginal compared to later on outlays in case the harmful effects devastations. Industries should practice new initiatives like Zero discharge, Green Building construction etc. By implementing such concepts companies will gain wide reputation and concessions from the governments. Plus there will be a self contentment of giving something back to mother earth.
Mitigation of population
Enhanced earning opportunities in the metros attract people from all around leading to congestion at one place. Thus govt should not concentrate on few cities for development. All the cities should be given equal importance and all the local opportunities utilised for developing such cities. This will help to maintain lower Floor Space Index-FSI for cities. Because of centralisation now we are forced to allow FSI up to 4-5 in metros. Vertically we can provide the space residence but how to provide services like water, electricity, sewage disposal and transportation. These services are complicated, cannot be executed like framing Gr+50 vertical Tower.
Scientific Agriculture
Agriculture is the main steam of the Indian economy and employs most of the population in rural areas. Farmers representation do required in the sustainable development. With the advancement in technology and cheap offer prices, farmers are using artificial fertilisers more than required. To fulfil this extra demand we have established many fertilizer factories. By nature of these chemical factories, emit dangerous effluents which are harmful to ecology even after sophisticated treatment system. Thus we should look into alternatives for natural fertilisers. Researches show that properly treated animal manure can feed well to the crops than chemical manmade fertilizers. Before using this manure bio gas can be extracted. This is an added advantage to save domestic fuel for daily use. When we are having such great eco-friendly fertilizer, the question arises why to invest billion dollars on large fertilizer plants..?
In many places Government/Private sector parties acquiring acres of agricultural land for establishment of Industrial Special Economic Zones-SEZ. But none of the state govt is thinking to unite the poorly divided lands to build Agricultural SEZ’s. From last five decades Govt’s invested crores of rupees for building mega dams and distributor canals. Agricultural SEZ’s can accelerate the recovery of such investments.
Solar Energy
Solar energy system is renewable type of source of energy which is adopted successfully for industries and domestic use in many parts of the world. Only thing is that till the date these systems are quite expensive. But rich class people can afford it as Govt is offering tax saving scheme on it. For a rich class family with 5-6 people residing in a 2500sqft house, an investment of Rs. 30,000-40,000 is not a big deal. Such investment on solar system will take care of overall lighting, and water heating consumptions for throughout year. Thus small portion of electricity can be saved and utilized somewhere else in a needy place. India is world's 6th largest energy consumer, accounting for 3.4% of global energy consumption. Due to India's economic rise, the demand for energy has grown at an average of 3.6% per annum over the past 30 years. In March 2009, the installed power generation capacity of India stood at 147,000 MW, while the per capita power consumption stood at 612 kWH. Thus we have to go for renewable type of energy solutions. Solar system is eco-friendly source of energy and more concentration should be given on it.
Last word
Few of these ideas dealt herewith are not new. Most of the time these are heard or read somewhere and left without any action. Simple sentence squeezes our mind is “मेरे अकेले से कुछ नहीं बदलेगा..!” (Nothing will change lone from me..!). But there is need to change this mentality. Even if half of the 120cr population starts practicing some of these measures, change will surely occur. That will be named as “Green Change”.
