Current

Environmental
Issues
Project Tiger
• Indian tiger population at the end of the 20th century was estimated at 20,000 to 40,000 individuals.
• The first country-wide tiger census conducted in 1972 estimated the population to comprise a little
more than 1,800 individuals, an alarming reduction in tiger population.
• Project Tiger was launched on 1st April 1973 in Jim Corbett National Park of Uttarakhand with 9
tiger reserves for conserving our national animal, the tiger.
• This project completed 50 years of its launch on 1st April 2023.
• As on October, 2023 there are 57 Tiger Reserves in India. Recently Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary in
Madhya Prades was declared as 57th Tiger Reserves of India.
• The tiger reserves are constituted on a core/buffer strategy. The core areas have the legal status of a
national park or a sanctuary, whereas the buffer or peripheral areas are a mix of forest and non-
forest land, managed as a multiple use area.
• It is an ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate
Change providing central assistance to the tiger States for tiger conservation in designated tiger
reserves.
• Aim: Protect tigers from extinction by ensuring a viable population in their natural habitats.
• Government has set up a Tiger Protection Force under PT to combat poachers.
• The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a statutory body of the Ministry, with an
overarching supervisory/coordination role, performing functions as provided in the Wildlife
(Protection) Act, 1972.
• The NTCA was launched in 2005, following the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force.
 Reasons for falling number of tigers

• Pressure on habitat, Habitat fragmentation and Habitat destruction: Caused due to large-
scale development projects such as dams, industry, mines, railway lines etc.
• Incessant poaching: Tigers are killed so their body parts can be used for Traditional Chinese
Medicine.
• Invasive species: Destroy the local producers. This has a cascading effect on the food chain.
Tigers are the worst hit as they are at the end of the food chain. [Tigers represent an “Umbrella
Species” that indicate the health of the ecosystem.]
Reasons for slightly increased tiger population recently
• Wireless communication systems and outstation patrol camps have been developed within the tiger
reserves, due to which poaching has declined considerably.
• Fire protection is effectively done by suitable preventive and control measures.
• Voluntary Village relocation has been done in many reserves.
• Livestock grazing has been controlled to a great extent in the tiger reserves.
• Various compensatory developmental works have improved the water regime and the ground and
field level vegetation
• Stringent punishments for violators
• GIS based digitized database development to evaluate tiger population.
Estimation of Tiger Populations
• The process of estimating the number of tigers in a given area is called ‘Tiger census’.
• It is conducted at regular intervals to know the current tiger populations and population trends.
• Besides estimating the number of tigers the method also helps to gather information on the density
of the tiger populations and associated prey.
• The most commonly used technique in the past was ‘Pugmark Census Technique’.
• In this method the imprints of the pugmark of the tiger were recorded and used as a basis for
identification of individuals.
• Now it is largely used as one of the indices of tiger occurrence and relative abundance.
• Recent methods used to estimate the numbers of tigers are camera trapping and DNA
fingerprinting.
• In camera trapping, the photograph of the tiger is taken and individuals are differentiated on the
basis of the stripes on the body.
Project Elephant

• Project Elephant is a Central Government sponsored scheme launched in February 1992.

• as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with following objectives:
1. To protect elephants, their habitat & corridors
2. To address issues of man-animal conflict
3. Welfare of captive elephants
• The Project is being mainly implemented in 16 States / UTs , viz. Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland,
Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal.
• There are around 33 elephant Reserves in India notified by the state governments. The first
elephant reserve was the Singhbhum elephant Reserve of Jharkhand.
• The union government provides technical and financial help to these states to carry out and
achieve the goals of project elephant. Not just that, assistance for the purpose of the census,
training of field officials is also provided to ensure the mitigation and prevention of man-elephant
conflict.
Aims of Project Elephant
● Develop and promote scientific and planned management strategies for Elephant conservation.
● Prevent illegal trade of ivory and ensure elephant protection from hunters and poachers.
● Develop strategies to prevent unnatural causes of elephants’ death in India.
● Ensure ecological restoration of the natural elephant habitats and their migratory routes.
● To mitigate and prevent the increasing conflict in elephant habitats between humans and elephants.
● Reduce and remove domestic livestock grazing, the pressure of humans and their activities in
important elephant habitats.
● Promote scientific research on issues related to elephant conservation and educating the public on
these issues.
● To facilitate veterinary care for proper breeding and health care of domesticated elephants
Elephant – The National Heritage Animal
• The government of India in the year 2010 declared Elephant as the national heritage animal of the
country on the recommendations of the standing committee of the national board for wildlife.
• India is home to more than half the Asian elephants left in the wild, making it a critical battleground
for the survival of the animal.
• This was done to make sure that sufficient protection to elephants was provided before their numbers
fall to panic levels like in the case of tigers.
• A proposed National elephant conservation authority (NECA) on the lines with NTCA has been
proposed to be constituted by amending the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
Initiatives for protecting elephants
Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) Programme

● Mandated by COP resolution of CITES, MIKE program started in South Asia in the year 2003 with
following purpose: To provide information needed for elephant range States to make appropriate
management and enforcement decisions, and to build institutional capacity within the range States for
the long-term management of their elephant populations

Haathi Mere Saathi

● Campaign launched by the Ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) in partnership with the
wildlife trust of India (WTI).
● The campaign was launched at the “Elephant- 8” Ministerial meeting held in Delhi in 2011.
● The E-8 countries comprise of India, Botswana, the Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Kenya, Srilanka,
Tanzania, and Thailand.
● This public initiative was aimed at increasing awareness among people and developing friendship,
companionship between people and elephants.
Elephant corridors are narrow strips of land that connect
two large habitats.
Sea Turtle Project
• A significant proportion of world’s Olive Ridley Turtle population migrates every winter to Indian
coastal waters for nesting mainly at eastern coast.
• With the objective of conservation of olive ridley turtles and other endangered marine turtles,
MoEF initiated the Sea Turtle Conservation Project in collaboration of UNDP in 1999 with Wildlife
Institute of India, Dehradun as the Implementing Agency.
• The project is being implemented in 10 coastal States of the country with special emphasis in State
of Orissa.
• The project has helped in preparation of inventory map of breeding sites of Sea Turtles,
identification of nesting and breeding habitats along the shore line, and migratory routes taken by
Sea Turtles, development of guidelines to safeguard and minimize turtle mortality.

• One of the important achievements have been demonstration of use of Satellite to locate the
migratory route of Olive Ridley Turtles in the sea and sensitizing the fishermen and State
Government for the use of Turtle Exclusion Device (TED) in fishing trawlers to check turtle
mortality in fishing net.
Indian (One Horn) Rhino Vision 2020

● One horned rhino are poached for their horns.

● Launched in 2005, Indian Rhino Vision 2020 was an ambitious effort to attain a wild population
of at least 3,000 greater one-horned rhinos spread over seven protected areas in the Indian state
of Assam by the year 2020
● Indian rhino vision 2020 implemented by the department of environment and forests, Assam.
● The programme will be supported by WWF — India, the international rhino foundation (IRF),
and a number of local NGOs.
● Translocations are the backbone of the IRV 2020 program.
● The goal set was to populate the potential rhino habitat areas identified viz. Manas NP, Dibru
Saikhowa WLS, Laokhowa-Bura Chapori WLS with a viable population of rhino through
translocations from Kaziranga NP and Pobitora WLS.
• Manas National Park was selected as the first site for translocation of rhinos from Kaziranga
National Park before the end of the year.
• Concentrating so many rhinos in a single protected area like Kaziranga exposes the species to risks
of calamities (epidemics, floods, massive poaching attempts)
• Performance of the Program: Target of attaining a population of 3,000 rhinos almost achieved but
the animal could be reintroduced in only one of the four protected areas planned.
• The plan to spread the Greater one-horned rhino across four protected areas beyond Kaziranga
National Park, Orang National Park and Pobitora could not materialise.
Indian Crocodile Conservation Project

• Crocodilians were threatened in India due to indiscriminate killing for commercial purpose and
severe habitat loss until the enactment of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Also, the survival
rate of the crocodile hatchlings was relatively low because of predation. Piecemeal efforts were
being made since the sixties to save the crocodile. FAO Expert, Dr. [Link], engaged by
UNDP/FAO and Government of India studied the prospects of crocodile rehabilitation, and based
on his report and guidance a Crocodile Conservation Project was launched in different States.
The UNDP/ FAO provided funds and other technical support through the Government of India.
• The Gharial and Saltwater conservation programme was first implemented in Odisha in early
1975 and subsequently, the Mugger conservation programme was initiated. It was a result of this
conservation program that the saltwater crocodiles which were 96 in count in 1976, increased to
1640 by 2012.
• The Indian Crocodile Conservation Project has pulled back the once threatened crocodilians from
the brink of extinction and place them on a good path of recovery.
Objectives
• To protect the remaining population of crocodilians in their natural habitat by creating sanctuaries.
• To rebuild natural population quickly through ‘grow and release’ or ‘rear and release’ technique.
• To promote captive breeding, (Captive breeding means that members of a wild species are captured,
then bred and raised in a special facility under the care of wildlife biologists and other expert.
Bringing an animal into captivity may represent the last chance to preserve a species in the wild.)
• To take-up research to improve management.
• To build up a level of trained personnel for better continuity of the project through training imparted
at project-sites and through the (erstwhile) Central Crocodile Breeding and Management Training
Institute, Hyderabad.
• To involve the local people in the project intimately
Namami Gange Project
• Namami Gange is an Integrated Conservation Mission to arrest the pollution of Ganga River and
revive the river. It was launched in June 2014 for a period up to 31st March, 2021.
• Considering the need and spread of the Programme, Government of India has further approved
Namami Gange Mission-II with a budgetary outlay of Rs.22,500 crore till 2026 interalia including
projects for existing liabilities (Rs.11,225 Cr) and new projects/interventions (Rs.11,275 crore).
• The objective of the program was to reduce pollution of the basin by adopting a river-basin
approach for comprehensive planning and management and also to maintain minimum ecological
flow in the river, conserve and rejuvenate it.
• The Vision for Ganga Rejuvenation includes restoring the Aviral Dhara (Continuous Flow ) and
Nirmal Dhara ( Unpolluted Flow).
• Under the project, Countries such as Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, Israel, etc. have shown
interest in collaborating with India for Ganga rejuvenation.
• In 2016, the government issued a notification to authorise the National Mission for Clean Ganga
(NMCG) to exercise powers under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
Pillars of the Clean Ganga Project
• Creating capacity for sewage treatment across basin states.
• Development of riverfront, ghat modernization, etc.
• Cleaning of river surface by collecting floating solid waste.
• Conservation of river biodiversity.
• Afforestation across the basin states.
• Public outreach to encourage community participation through various events, workshops,
seminars, conferences, rallies, campaigns, exhibitions, shram daan, cleanliness drives, competitions,
plantation drives, etc.
• Industrial Effluent monitoring by real-time effluent monitoring stations.
• Ganga Gram Making villages along the river, open-defecation free by encouraging the construction
of toilets. This is being implemented by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
Significance of Namami Gange Plan
● The river is central to the sustenance of nearly 43% of the country's population. It aids in
agriculture, fisheries, provides water for domestic as well as industrial use.
● With rising urbanization, the river has become more exposed to pollution– Only one-third of the
sewage that is generated along the basin gets treated while the rest finds its way into the river.
● Nearly 20% of the toxic pollutants that flow into the river, come from industries.
• Further sources of pollution include agricultural runoff, animal carcasses, floral offerings, plastic
waste and open defecation along the river.
• This has given rise to water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery and a severe shortage
of clean drinking water.
• The river is also undergoing ecological changes induced by the construction of dams in the upper
course that has restricted flow down the river stream.
• Namami Gange provides for a river-basin approach that allows basin states to cooperate in the
cleaning of the river.
• River ecology is also damaged by illegal sand mining along the river bed this adversely impacts the
carrying capacity of the river and makes it prone to flooding.
• Financing of the project: World Bank is assisting in the abatement of pollution in the river at an
estimated cost of Rs.7000 crore. Further, the costs for sewerage treatment are to be borne by the centre
and the states in the ratio of 70:30.
• World Bank has given loan to India, WB usually gives loans at a very low interest rate
Yamuna Action Plan
• It is a bilateral project between the Government of India and Japan, introduced in 1993. It is one of
the largest river restoration projects in India.
• YAP was entrusted under the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) in Ministry of
Environment and Forests (MoEF).
• Along with NRCD other Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs) were Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam
(UPJN), the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) in Haryana, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB)
and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in Delhi.
• The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), has provided financial aid to carry out the
project, which is being executed by the National River Conservation Directorate, the Ministry of
Environment and Forests, and the Government of India.
Phases of Yamuna Action Plan
• Yamuna Action Plan Phase I: Phase I, which began in 1993, marked its end in 2003, even though
it was expected to be completed by 2000.
• Yamuna Action Plan Phase II: Phase II began in 2003, is regarded as the core project under the
National River Conservation Plan of the Government of India.
• YAP-II was extended in 2003 to cover Uttar Pradesh and Haryana along with Delhi.
• The project addresses the abatement of severe pollution of the River Yamuna by raising
sewage treatment capacity, caused by rapid population growth, industrialization and urbanization
in the towns of the river basin, which includes Delhi, the capital of India.
• Building new and expanding capacity of old sewage treatment plants and laying and rehabilitating
sewers was done to enhance the treatment capacity particularly in Delhi and Agra.
• Yamuna Action Plan Phase III: The YAP Phase III project for Delhi was approved by the ministry at
an estimated cost of Rs 1,656 crore
• It includes setting up sewage treatment plants at Rithala, Kondli and Okhla, and developing the
Coronation Pillar STP, which accounts for a treatment capacity of 279 million gallons per day
(MGD) or “30% of the total sewage generated in Delhi.
• The project has got integrated as a component of Namami Gange Mission. Delhi Jal Board is the
executing agency for all the projects.
Environmental
Movements in India
Bishnoi Movement
• Year: 1700s
• Place: Khejarli, Marwar region, Rajasthan state.
• Leaders: Amrita Devi along with Bishnoi villagers in Khejarli and surrounding villages.
• Aim: Save sacred trees from being cut down by the king’s soldiers for a new palace.
• What was it all about: Amrita Devi, a female villager could not bear to witness the destruction of
both her faith and the village’s sacred trees. She hugged the trees and encouraged others to do the
same. 363 Bishnoi villagers were killed in this movement.
The Bishnoi tree martyrs were influenced by the teachings of Guru Maharaj Jambaji, who founded
the Bishnoi faith in 1485 and set forth principles forbidding harm to trees and animals. The king who
came to know about these events rushed to the village and apologized, ordering the soldiers to cease
logging operations. Soon afterwards, the maharajah designated the Bishnoi state as a protected area,
forbidding harm to trees and animals. This legislation still exists today in the region.
Chipko Movement
• Year: 1973
• Place: In Chamoli district and later at Tehri-Garhwal district of Uttarakhand.
• Leaders: Sundarlal Bahuguna, Gaura Devi, Sudesha Devi, Bachni Devi, Chandi Prasad Bhatt,
Govind Singh Rawat, Dhoom Singh Negi, Shamsher Singh Bisht and Ghanasyam Raturi.
• Aim: The main objective was to protect the trees on the Himalayan slopes from the axes of
contractors of the forest.
• What was it all about: Mr. Bahuguna enlightened the villagers by conveying the importance of
trees in the environment which checks the erosion of soil, cause rains and provides pure air. The
women of Advani village of Tehri-Garhwal tied the sacred thread around trunks of trees and they
hugged the trees, hence it was called the ‘Chipko Movement’ or ‘hug the tree movement’.
• The main demand of the people in these protests was that the benefits of the forests (especially the
right to fodder) should go to local people. The Chipko movement gathered momentum in 1978 when
the women faced police firings and other tortures.
• The then state Chief Minister, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna set up a committee to look into the matter,
which eventually ruled in favour of the villagers. This became a turning point in the history of eco-
development struggles in the region and around the world.
Save Silent Valley Movement
• Year: 1978
• Place: Silent Valley, an evergreen tropical forest in the Palakkad district of Kerala, India.
• Leaders: The Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) an NGO, and the poet-activist
Sughathakumari played an important role in the Silent Valley protests.
• Aim: In order to protect the Silent Valley, the moist evergreen forest from being destroyed by a
hydroelectric project.
• What was it all about: The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) proposed a hydroelectric dam
across the Kunthipuzha River that runs through Silent Valley. In February 1973, the Planning
Commission approved the project at a cost of about Rs 25 crores. Many feared that the project
would submerge 8.3 sq km of untouched moist evergreen forest. Several NGOs strongly opposed
the project and urged the government to abandon it.
In January 1981, bowing to unrelenting public pressure, Indira Gandhi declared that Silent Valley will
be protected. In June 1983 the Center re-examined the issue through a commission chaired by Prof.
M.G.K. Menon. In November 1983 the Silent Valley Hydroelectric Project was called off. In 1985,
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi formally inaugurated the Silent Valley National Park.
Appiko Movement
• Year: 1983
• Place: Uttara Kannada and Shimoga districts of Karnataka State
• Leaders: Appiko’s greatest strengths lie in it being neither driven by a personality nor having been
formally institutionalised. However, it does have a facilitator in Pandurang Hegde. He helped launch
the movement in 1983.
• Aim: Against the felling and commercialization of natural forest and the ruin of ancient livelihood.
• What was it all about: It can be said that the Appiko movement is the southern version of the Chipko
movement. The Appiko Movement was locally known as “Appiko Chaluvali”. The locals embraced the
trees which were to be cut by contractors of the forest department. The Appiko movement used various
techniques to raise awareness such as foot marches in the interior forest, folk dances, street plays etc.
• The second area of the movement’s work was to promote afforestation on denuded lands. The
movement later focused on the rational use of the ecosphere by introducing alternative energy resource
to reduce pressure on the forest. The movement became a success. The current status of the project is –
stopped.
Gandhamardan Environment
• Gandhamardan, one of the bauxite rich hill ranges, is situated in Sambalpur and Bolangir region of
western Odisha. Gandhamardan hill carries 22 streams and 150 perennial springs. The stream water and
plants are the integral part of the local ecological pattern. In the ethnic composition of the region tribal
communities like Gonds, Binjhals, Kandhas are the majority one, while Kulta a caste group are the
numerical preponderant. The socio-cultural life processes of the local people are inter-twined with the
Gandhamardan hill and Nrusingha Nath and Hari Shankar temples. Gandhamardan hill is a cultural
territory for the locals of the region.
• Gandhamardan hills carry an estimated bauxite deposit of 213 million tons covering an area of 9.6
[Link]. BALCO had a plan for mining the Gandhamardan hills with an original investment of Rs. 31.20
crores and creation of an estimated employment of 500 persons on regular basis and 3000 persons as
contract labourers. In addition, BALCO had also promised 25 kms railway line, hospital, schools for the
local people, plantation under social forestry and a royalty of one crore to the State.
• The first blasting of BALCO in July 1985 damaged the much revered Nrushingha Nath, the 800 years
old temple, which developed physical cracks in the temple and it’s Garuda Stambha. In the initial days
BALCO cut around 60,000 trees for the construction of road and ropeway. The tribal people of the
region had preserved the forest plants as divine symbols and preserved them as totem of their clans. The
destruction of trees by BALCO, therefore, is considered as a threat to their culture and society.
• The adverse effects of BALCO on the local agriculture have contributed towards the
environmental consciousness of the people. The Durgei stream irrigating 200 acres of land in
Manabhanga village was affected due to the construction of a minor irrigation project on the stream
to supply drinking water to BALCO Township. In addition, the irrigation project sub merged a big
Mango orchard and private irrigated plots. The blasting of hills brought cracks in Khandei Jharan
canal and silted the agriculture land that made the land very hard to plough. Gradually the villagers
became conscious about the environment and feared that their agro-forestry based livelihood will
be jeopardised with the BALCO project.
• As a result of which, local leadership started with the tribals and peasants and it went from the
religion base to a secular base. The costs to maintain the agitation by the locals was collected in the
form of rice, and mobilised people to different places of agitation and spread the anti-BALCO
message in the region.
• Gandhamardan Surakhya Parishads (GSYP) were formed in villages, Gram Panchayat and region
level which facilitated the grass root movement by involving all sections, both at micro level and
macro level. The villagers realised that BALCO management has not merely betrayed the local
inhabitants’ faith in the modernization process, but also planned to take away the natural resources
of their Gandhamardan hills.
Narmada Bachao Andholan (NBA)

• Year: 1985
• Place: Narmada River, which flows through the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• Leaders: Medha Patker, Baba Amte, Adivasis, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists.
• Aim: A social movement against a number of large dams being built across the Narmada River.
• What was it all about: The movement first started as a protest for not providing proper rehabilitation
and resettlement for the people who have been displaced by the construction of the Sardar Sarovar
Dam. Later on, the movement turned its focus on the preservation of the environment and the eco-
systems of the valley. Activists also demanded the height of the dam to be reduced to 88 m from the
proposed height of 130m. World Bank withdrew from the project.
• The environmental issue was taken into court. In October 2000, the Supreme Court gave a judgment
approving the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam with a condition that the height of the dam could
be raised to 90 m. This height is much higher than the 88 m which anti-dam activists demanded, but it is
definitely lower than the proposed height of 130 m. The project is now largely financed by the state
governments and market borrowings. The project is expected to be fully completed by 2025.
• Although not successful, as the dam could not be prevented, the NBA has created an anti-big dam
opinion in India and outside. It questioned the paradigm of development.
Tehri Dam Conflict
• Year: 1990’s
• Place: Bhagirathi River near Tehri in Uttarakhand.
• Leaders: Sundarlal Bahuguna
• Aim: The protest was against the displacement of town inhabitants and the environmental
consequence of the weak ecosystem.
• Tehri dam attracted national attention in the 1980s and the 1990s. The major objections include
seismic sensitivity of the region, submergence of forest areas along with Tehri town etc. Despite the
support from other prominent leaders like Sunderlal Bahuguna, the movement has failed to gather
enough popular support at the national as well as international levels.
Almatti Dam
• The Almatti Dam controversy was a dispute over the sharing of water from the Krishna River
among the Indian states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh. The dam is located
in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka and is part of the Upper Krishna Irrigation Project. The
controversy revolved around issues of water allocation, dam height, and its implications for
downstream states.
Key Issues in the Controversy:
Dam Height and Water Storage Capacity:
Initially, the Almatti Dam was planned with a height of 519.6 meters.
Karnataka sought to raise the height to 524.26 meters to increase its water storage capacity.
This raised concerns in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, as they feared it would lead to
reduced water availability downstream, particularly during dry seasons.
Environmental and Displacement Concerns:
• The increased height of the dam led to concerns about submergence of land, displacement of
communities, and ecological impacts in Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Political and Regional Tensions:
• The dispute fueled regional tensions, with political leaders from all three states lobbying for their
respective interests.
• Andhra Pradesh, being a downstream state, expressed concerns about reduced water flow affecting
its irrigation and drinking water needs.
• The Almatti Dam controversy highlights the challenges of water resource management in a federal
structure like India, where rivers flow across state boundaries. It underscores the need for better
cooperation, transparent water-sharing mechanisms, and sustainable practices to address interstate
water disputes.