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| Last Updated:: 21/02/2017

Environmental Issues in U.P.: Summary

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN UTTAR PRADESH - A

 

SUMMARY

Issue

Severity

Status

Causes

BROWN AGENDA

Water quality

High

1. 6.4 million DALYs valued at water contamination and poor sanitation
2. Fluoride levels exceed WHO prescribed limits in 11   districts
3. Nitrate levels exceed WHO prescribed limits in 8 districts
4. Iron levels exceed WHO prescribed limits in 11 districts
5. Fertilizer and pesticide use is increasing 
6. 19 percent rural and 80 percent urban households have toilets Closed drains collect wastewater from 9.5 percent rural and 26.5 percent urban households.

Natural sources Agricultural runoff Poor sewerage & sanitation facilities Inefficient management practices

Indoor air pollution

High

1. 2.6 million DALYs valued at Rs. 17. 1billion are lost due to traditional biofuel use
2. Chief Cook's exposure to RSPM is between 1.8 to 20.0 mg/m3 During cooking period (3 hrs/day)
3. Exposure to CO is between 0.5 to 23.5 ppm during cooking period
4. Average exposure; to SO2 is 133.9 ig/m3 during cooking period

Use of traditional biofuels (fuelwood,dung cake, straw, crop residue etc.)

Urban ambient air pollution

High

1. 0.4 million DALYs valued at Rs 2.6 billion are lost due ;to urban air pollution
2. SPM levels in 8 cities are 2-3 times higher than the ambient air quality standards.
3. Industrial air emissions in highly polluted districts range between 0.007 to 1.48 kg/percapita/year

Transport Large Industry Small scale industry Power generation Back-up power generators Natural sources

Surface water pollution

Medium

1. Water Quality Index at select locations is between 0 to 50 (poor to fair quality,-i.e. not ;fit for activities involving direct contact with water)
2. Total coliform bacteria in Ganga near Kanpur is more than 37 million MPN/100ml
3. BOD around 75 mg/litre at Hindon near Saharanpur

Domestic sewage and poor sanitation Industrial effluents Agricultural runoff

Municipal solid waste

Medium

1. 20,820 tones per day (0.4 kh/capita/day)of solid waste generated in urban areas
2. A two fold increase is MSW is projected by 2016, and if not managed properly will have serious health and ecosystem impacts

Households Commercial establishments

Hazardous waste

Medium

1. 145786 tons of hazardous waste generated by 1036 industries in 2003
2. Serious ecosystem consequences if safe disposal sites are not initiated

Industries

Biomedical waste

Medium

1. 20.7 tons/day of biomedical waste generated by 1600 hospitals (250 gm/hospitalbed/day)
2. Serious health and ecosystem consequences if safe disposal is not initiated

Hospitals

GREEN AGENDA

Forests and biodiversity loss

High

1. 8.8 percent geographical area under forest and tree cover 
2. Rich plant ;diversity with 5352 species
3. Ten plant taxa belonging to eight genera and six families are endemic to UP
4. Gangetic River Dolphin - a highly endangered freshwater mammal is under threat 
5. One National Park and 23 wildlife sanctuaries cover 34% of forest area 
6. Pressure from 65.1 million livestock (270/sq.km)
7. 5000 to 10000 hectares of forest land diverted for development activities each year

Population pressure Development activities Encroachments Poaching Fuel wood collection

Land degradation

High

1. 13.52 million hectares of land affected by degradation, including 1.15 million hectare saline/alkaline land, 0.81 million hectare water logged land
2. 11 districts with more than 9% land areas as degraded land

Inefficient, excessive irrigation Industrialization Urbanization Loss of forest/tree cover, Poor land management

BLUE AGENDA

Water availability And Strees

Medium

1. Abundant water resources, with spatial variations : 13,500 villages (12% of revenue villages)do not have reliable drinking water sources
2. 42,775 villages (38% of revenue villages)have limited access to drinking water sources
3. 53 percent of the 623 towns get 50 percentless water than the supply norm
4. Annual surface water availability is 162 billion cubic meters. 
5. Annual replenishable groundwater availability;is 84 billion cubic meters About 50% groundwater currently exploited 22 over exploited blocks in western UP 56 semi critical blocks (28 in western UP)

Over exploitation by agriculture Inefficient management practices Population growth.

 

Source:Environment Monitor, Uttar Pradesh