Marine Plastic Waste Problem of India
Marine Plastic Waste Problem of India
India generates 55 million tonnes of municipal waste, of which only 37 per cent is treated,
according to the Central Pollution Control Board. Only 60 per cent of the total collected plastic
waste is recycled, while the fate of the remaining 40 per cent is not accounted.
Geographical location and trade of India
● Huge coastline: India has a coastline spanning 7,517 kilometres. It is spread across eight
states and borders a 2.02 million square kilometre of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
● Large coastal population: India’s eight coastal states house a population of 420 million.
Of this, about 330 million live on or within 150 km of a coast. Three in four metro cities
of the country are located on the coast. Coastal districts are home to nearly 14.2 per cent
of the country’s total population.
● High trade waters and oceans: Around 95 per cent of India’s trade by volume and 68
per cent by value is executed through waterways.
Reasons for marine Plastic pollution
● Rapid urbanization and changing lifestyle: Growing population, rapid urbanisation,
shifting consumption pattern and changing lifestyles have resulted in the mismanagement
of plastic waste, leading to the accumulation of municipal solid waste.
● Most plastic through land-based source: Most of these items, especially plastic items,
contribute significantly to the growing burden of marine debris. Land-based sources
account for most of the plastic in the water.
● Unfiltered waste carried by rivers: Unaccounted waste from urban agglomerations is
carried by river systems to oceans for final dumping.
● High percentage of dumping of garbage: The country’s coastline contributes to its
ecological richness, biodiversity and economy. Every year, thousands of tonnes of
garbage, composed of plastics, glass, metals, sanitary products, clothes, etc., are dumped
into it. However, plastics contribute a major portion of about 60 per cent of the total
marine debris that reaches the oceans.
Initiatives by Government
● Beach clean-up initiatives: The Ministry of Earth Sciences, through its attached office
National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), has undertaken beach clean-up initiatives,
awareness programmes and beach litter quantification studies at regular intervals.
● Scientific study on marine pollution: Many studies have been conducted across coastal
states and U Territories Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep. NCCR
has initiated monitoring of the temporal and spatial distribution of marine litter along the
Indian coasts and adjacent seas in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
● Swachh Sagar, Surakshit Sagar campaign: An average of 0.98 metric tonnes of trash
per km stretch of coastline, averaging a weight concentration of 0.012 kilograms per
metre square, accumulated along the Indian coastline, noted Swachh Sagar, Surakshit
Sagar campaign, 2022.
● Attempt by TREE foundation: Attempts made by some organisations in rescuing
marine species from the debris are worth mentioning. TREE Foundation, a Chennai-
based non-profit, has been incessantly working on this. Their efforts on this front have
shed light on the magnitude of the problem of ghost nets.
● Stakeholders approach: Over the last 20 years, through a multi-disciplinary approach
involving people from all sections of society particularly unemployed youth from
artisanal fishing communities, the foundation has saved and released more than 3,101,000
Olive Ridley turtles.
What should be the way forward?
● National Marine litter Policy of India: The National Marine litter Policy of India,
announced in 2018, should be formulated.
● Plastic distribution study: Marine litter and microplastics distribution and
characterization study should be conducted across the Indian coast.
● Coastal city forum: A forum of coastal cities should be created for ensuring cross-
learning ecosystem and to build a synergetic association of urban local bodies and local
administration located on the coast.
● Long term vision plan: A long-term vision plan should be developed for promoting
partnerships among coastal towns, cities and urban administration for the reduction of
marine litter and the creation of sustainable waste management ecosystems. Initiatives
like a multi-stakeholder approach that will recognize knowledge, expertise, technology,
research, capacity building and advocacy as key drivers to safeguard life below water can
be beneficial.
● Awareness campaign: Regular beach clean-up and awareness programmes should be
conducted instead of annual ones.
● Effective ban: Many states claim Single Use Plastic above 50 microns is banned, but on
the ground, the ban is not effective. Steps can be taken to execute such legislations.
Conclusion
● Marine plastic pollution is killing the marine ecosystem, animals, plants and corals etc.
apart from ocean trade land based plastic generation should be priorities while managing
the marine pollution. Present approach of governments across the world is less than
sufficient to tackle marine pollution.
The VSHORAD missile system
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to procure
the Very Short Range Air Defence System or VSHORAD (IR Homing) missile system,
designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The
development comes amid the ongoing military standoff with China at the LAC in eastern
Ladakh and reports of air violations by China along the LAC last year.
What is the missile system?
- Meant to kill low altitude aerial threats at short ranges, VSHORADS is a man
portable Air Defence System (MANPAD) designed and developed indigenously by
DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad, in collaboration with other
DRDO laboratories and Indian Industry Partners. - The DRDO, in September last year, conducted two successful test flights of the
VSHORADS missile from a ground based portable launcher at the Integrated Test
Range, Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha. - As per the defence ministry, the missile—which is propelled by a dual thrust solid
motor—incorporates many novel technologies including miniaturised Reaction Control
System (RCS) and integrated avionics, which were successfully proven during the tests
conducted last year. The DRDO has designed the missile and its launcher in a way to
ensure easy portability.
How will it help India?
While the exact specifications of the missile are not immediately known, officers in
the Army explained that being man portable and lightweight compared to the other
missile systems in the Army’s armoury, it can be deployed in the mountains close to the
LAC at a short notice.
When it comes to man portable air defence missiles, there was a critical gap in the
Army’s inventory, especially for the eastern and northern borders, though not so much
for the western borders with Pakistan, for which India has the Soviet-vintage OSA AK
missile systems.
Others like the Akash Short Range Surface to Air Missile System are heavier with a
theatre air defence umbrella of up to 25 km and can be deployed further away from the
LAC for static formations.
When inducted, they will be a critical air defence missile for the forces, even for an
all-equipped infantry unit, and will be the best option for mountain warfare.
The ‘Pineapple Express’ phenomenon
Forecasters said the rain arriving in California is being caused by a “true Pineapple Express”
— a specific example of a common atmospheric phenomenon that resembles a conveyor belt
for moisture. California and other parts of the West Coast have been hit with a series of what
meteorologists call atmospheric rivers — long, narrow regions in the atmosphere that
transport most of the water vapor outside the tropics. “Like rivers in the sky,” according to
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Is ‘Pineapple Express’ a common phenomenon?
- These rivers in the sky occur often on the West Coast but can happen in other
locations, including the eastern United States, where they often channel moisture from
the Caribbean. - And they carry a lot of moisture — enough water vapor to equal or sometimes exceed
the average flow of the Mississippi River at the point where it flows into the Gulf of
Mexico. - When this moisture begins to interact with land, it can fall as rain or snow. Often, as is
the case lately in California, the precipitation is abundant because these atmospheric
rivers provide a continuous flow of moisture. - Although atmospheric rivers come in different shapes and sizes, for one to be a “true
Pineapple Express,” location matters. - The tail end, where the moisture is pulled into the atmosphere, must start near Hawaii.
Then the river must stretch continuously through the atmosphere to the U.S. West
Coast.
What happens, as a result?
- Whether an atmospheric river is a Pineapple Express or not, the result is something
like a conveyor belt for precipitation. - That makes them essential to the livelihood of coastal states, which rely heavily on
precipitation for their water supply: Between 30% and 50% of the annual
precipitation on the West Coast occurs from just a few atmospheric river events,
according to the NOAA. - But when the rivers are particularly strong — or come back-to-back in what are called
“atmospheric river families” — the effects can be serious, like the extensive flooding
that California is experiencing now.
Northwest India is shivering by cold wave
Delhi and other parts of northwest India have been reeling under a cold wave spell. In Delhi,
the Safdarjung weather station, which provides representative figures for the city, has
recorded cold wave conditions for five consecutive days so far this month, making it the
longest such spell in a decade.
What is a cold wave?
- The IMD marks a cold wave in terms of minimum temperatures – when the minimum
temperature in the plains is 4 degrees or less or when the minimum temperature is less
than 10 degrees and 4.5 to 6.4 degrees below the normal. - One of the major factors contributing to colder than normal temperatures over north
India this month is the large-scale fog cover, according to RK Jenamani, scientist, IMD. - While westerly and northwesterly winds of around 5 to 10 kmph in the afternoon have
also been contributing to the dip in temperature, an important factor this month is fog,
which has been lasting for longer durations, preventing sunlight from reaching the
surface and affecting the radiation balance. - There is no heating in the day time, and then there is the impact of the night. Foggy or
cloudy nights are usually associated with warmer nights, but if the fog remains for two
or three days, cooling begins even at night. - Light winds and high moisture near the land surface have been contributing to the
formation of a blanket of fog over large swathes of the Indo-Gangetic plains in the
morning. - Since there has not been any significant impact of western disturbances over the region,
cold northwesterly winds have also been contributing to low temperatures. - Western disturbances, which are storms from the Mediterranean region, are
associated with a change in wind direction, bringing easterly winds to northwest India.
Space fourth dimension of warfare
Terming space as the fourth dimension of warfare, scientific advisor to Union Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh, has said that a lot of military-related and defence-related activities
have already started in the space domain. This is leading to a lot of increasing activities in
space.
More about the news
- He was speaking at the three-day international workshop on Space Situational
Awareness (SSA) and Space Traffic Management (STM) in Bengaluru, Karnataka,
jointly organised by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Astronautical
Society of India (ASI). - The proliferation of multiple large constellations of satellites is also anticipated to
contribute to the drastic rise in the population density of space objects. - Scientists from ISRO say that Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Space Traffic
Management (STM) have become an integral and indispensable part of safe and
sustainable space operations. - It aims to bring out the potentially detrimental effects of the increasing number of
space objects and deliberate on the methods, procedures, technologies, and policies that
need to be developed and implemented to continue long-term sustainable utilisation of
outer space. - It stressed the importance of space traffic management and called for laws and
mechanisms for the purpose.
Space situational awareness:
- It is a comprehensive knowledge of the population of space objects.It includes having
knowledge of adversaries’ space activities and surveillance of all space objects and
space activities. - Debris in space is created by artificial space objects like rocket bodies used to launch
satellites, inactive satellites and materials released during mission operations. - The measurement, mitigation and potential removal of debris require the effective
application of space situational awareness. - A robust space situational awareness capability is an essential prerequisite to
continue safe and sustainable operations in an increasingly congested outer space. - Chairman of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-
SPACe), said, Number of space objects will increase to 60,000 by 2030 from about
4,500 active space objects now. Therefore, the space traffic may become as bad as
Bangalore or Mumbai or New York City.
Office Of Registrar General Of India Following ‘Obsolete’ Criteria To Define Scheduled Tribes
● Recently, The Hindu newspaper reported that the Office of the Registrar General of
India was following outdated criteria set by the Lokur Committee sixty years ago to
define any new community as a scheduled tribe.
● It has been mandatory to secure the approval of the Office of the RGI before any
community can be added to the ST list.
● Article 342 of the Constitution deals with Scheduled Tribes.
What are Scheduled Tribes?
● The definition of Scheduled Tribes has been retained from the 1931 Census.
● According to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, a scheduled tribe is one that
is primitive, geographically isolated, shy, and socially, educationally & economically
backward.
● These traits distinguish Scheduled Tribe communities from other communities.
● Article 366(25) and Article 342 in the Constitution define the Scheduled Tribes.
How are communities added to the List?
● The recommendation to include tribes in the ST list comes from the relevant State
governments, which is then forwarded to the Tribal Affairs Ministry, which reviews
and sends them to the Registrar General of India for approval. This is the first step in
the inclusion of tribes in the ST list.
● Before the list is given to the Cabinet for a final decision, the National Commission for
Scheduled Tribes must first approve it.
● The Constitution does not define the criteria for recognition of Scheduled Tribes and
hence the definition contained in the 1931 Census was used in the initial years after
independence.
● The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution lays out provisions for the Administration and
Control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in states other than Assam, Meghalaya,
Tripura, and Mizoram.
● The Sixth Schedule deals with the administration of the tribal areas in Assam,
Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram.
What are the criteria followed by the RGI in approving inclusions?
● According to the Office of the RGI, the report of the Advisory Committee on the
revision of the lists of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Lokur Committee)
lists out the criteria for approving inclusions in the ST list.
● The criteria set out by the Lokur committee are:
○ Primitiveness
○ Geographical isolation
○ Shyness
○ Backwardness.
● In 2014, the Government Task Force on the scheduling of tribes concluded that the
existing criteria had become obsolete amid the transition and acculturation of the
tribes with the mainstream community.
● It was also noted that the use of terms like primitive and primitiveness indicted a
discriminatory attitude towards the tribal community.
● The classical method was based on a rigid approach that treated these communities as
inferior.
● The committee also questioned the continued use of geographical isolation as a
criterion considering the pace of infrastructure development throughout the country.
● The committee further recommended an overhaul of the present criteria and procedure
which was approved by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
What are the proposed criteria?
● The new criteria for determining whether a community belongs to the scheduled tribes
are:
● Socio-economic, especially educational, backwardness, relative to the rest of the State’s
population
● Historical geographical isolation that may or may not exist now
● Distinct dialect or language
● Existence of a core culture with respect to the life cycle, marriage, music, dance, art,
and folklore
● Endogamy or, in the event of exogamy, a marriage that is largely between STs
● This criterion is not used to determine whether an individual belongs to the ST
community.
● The draft committee also noted that communities that lead a Hindu lifestyle were not
ineligible unlike earlier.
● The committee also recommended considering the population of the concerned
community with the total population of scheduled tribes in the state.
● All criteria were to be considered holistically and no specific condition took priority
over the others.
● There was a lack of clarity over the status of the proposal as the Office of the RGI
accepted that it was continuing the use of the old criteria despite recommendations over
its deficits.
● Article 366 (25) of the Indian Constitution states that “those tribes or tribal
communities, or parts of or groupings within such tribes or tribal communities, as are
regarded to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this constitution,”. The tribes are
the native, or indigenous, inhabitants of the area and are said to have inhabited the
Indian Peninsula before anyone else. They are frequently known as Adivasis, which is
Hindi for “original dwellers.”
● Article 342 says that Scheduled Tribes are tribes or tribal communities, or portions of
or groups within these tribes and tribal communities, that have been designated as such
by the President by public notice.
