How India performed in managing forests, water and plastic waste in 2019

PM Modi on many occasions in 2019 announced plans to rid the country of single-use plastic by 2022.

BS : As the year 2019 draws to a close, we take a look at how India performed in managing its forests, water and waste.

India approved 99% of proposals to fell forests for non-forestry uses (until June 2019). It ranked 13th among the most water-stressed nations in 2019. And as the prime minister urged the nation to stop using single-use plastic, states and cities remained underprepared.

Forests

In the first six months of 2019, out of 240 proposals seeking diversion of forest land, the government of India only rejected seven--98.99% of forest land considered for diversion was allowed to be put to non-forestry uses, as per this August 2019 analysis of the Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE), a Delhi-based advocacy.

This rate of diversion “is a matter of serious concern”, said the analysis.

The forest area approved for diversion till June 2019 was about 92.20 sq km. This, combined with diversion approvals from 2017 and 2018, amounts to 588.20 sq km--larger than the union territory of Puducherry--according to the analysis.

About 43% of forest land recommended for diversion in 2019 falls in ecologically sensitive wildlife habitats, the analysis said.

Over 500 projects were cleared in India’s Protected Areas and their ‘Eco-Sensitive Zones’ by the National Board of Wildlife over the four years of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government between June 2014 and May 2018. In comparison, the preceding United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had cleared 260 projects between 2009 and 2013, as IndiaSpend reported in September 2018.

No more than 1.1% of projects were rejected annually, on average, between June 2014 and May 2018, dropping from 11.9% under the previous UPA government between 2009 and 2013, according to an analysis by the Delhi-based advocacy, Centre for Science & Environment.

These compensatory plantations, often monoculture adding little value to biodiversity, are further leading to state-approved violation of the rights of forest dwellers, IndiaSpend reported on June 25, 2019.

Why does India report only half the plastic waste it generates every year?

The CPCB has approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to enforce the implementation of plastic waste management rules by non-compliant states.

Only 14 of India’s 35 regional pollution boards filed information on plastic waste generation in 2017-18, according to the latest report of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Thus, the CPCB estimate of plastic waste generated in India in 2017-18--660,787.85 tonnes, enough to fill 66,079 trucks at 10 tonnes a truck--does not reflect the situation in more than 60% of India’s states and union territories.

In 2016-17 too, CPCB received these figures from only 25 regional pollution boards. The total plastic waste generation figure for that year was estimated at 1.6 million tonnes, or 160,000 truckfulls.

The CPCB has approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to enforce the implementation of plastic waste management rules by non-compliant states. On March 12, 2019, the NGT ordered all of them to ensure that reports are furnished to the CPCB by April 30, 2019. Failure is to be punished with a penalty of Rs 1 crore per month, to be paid to the CPCB, the NGT said.

India consumes an estimated 16.5 million tonnes, about 1.6 million truckfulls, of plastic annually, as per this June 2018 report in Down to Earth that cites data provided by PlastIndia Foundation, a conglomeration of associations and institutions that deal in plastic. Of this, 43% is plastic manufactured for single-use packaging material that will mostly find its way into garbage bins, the report said. In all, 80% of total plastic produced in India is discarded.

It mostly ends up choking landfills, drains and rivers and flows into the sea where it is ingested by marine animals. It leaches into soil and water, contaminating the natural environment with poisonous dioxins.

At least 40% of the plastic waste generated every day--25,940 tonnes or about 2,594 truckloads, as per this 2015 CPCB study for the year 2011-12--goes uncollected. Thin plastic bags and films do not have enough value in the recycling market--they fetch no more than Rs 4 a kg--to be collected by ragpickers.

Accurate data on plastic waste generation, collection and disposal are integral to how a country formulates its policy on waste management. India needs these figures even more since it has stated its resolve to phase out single-use plastic at the 2019 United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) and also banned the import of plastic waste into the country.

Business Standard