- SDG 14 is ‘Life Below Water :Plastic pollution. Increasing levels of debris in the world’s oceans are having a major environmental and economic impact. Marine debris impacts biodiversity through entanglement or ingestion
- SDG 14 is ‘Life Below Water :Coastal waters are deteriorating due to pollution and eutrophication. Without concerted efforts, coastal eutrophication is expected to increase in 20 percent of large marine ecosystems by 2050.
- SDG 14 is Life Below Water :Ocean acidification has increased significantly in recent decades. Open Ocean sites show current levels of acidity have increased by 26 per cent since the start of the Industrial Revolution.
- SDG 14 is Life Below Water :Oceans absorb about 30 per cent of carbon dioxide produced by humans, buffering the impacts of global warming.
- SDG 14 is Life Below Water :Oceans provide key natural resources including food, medicines, biofuels and other products. They help with the breakdown and removal of waste and pollution, and their coastal ecosystems act as buf
Kerala- Potable Water Crisis In The Man-made Calamity
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The south Indian state of Kerala is facing a massive humanitarian crisis with record flooding across territories and unprecedented loss of life. Unusually high rainfall since the beginning of August has precipitated the statewide flooding with environmentalists blaming poor policy decisions and human activities for the disaster.
Most of the damage has occurred in a region once classified as Ecologically-Sensitive Zones by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, also known as the Gadgil Committee. The head of the committee, Mr. Madhav Gadgil, respected ecologist and founder of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, has said stated before regional media channels. He said that irresponsible environmental policy is to be blamed for the recent floods and landslides in Kerala and called it a "man-made calamity".
He further revealed that the committee report to protect the resources with the cooperation of local self-governments and people were rejected and pointed out that quarrying is another major reason for the mudslides and landslides. Other environmentalists agreed that the Gadgil Committee recommendations could have protected the sensitive Western Ghat region and blamed extensive quarrying, rampant construction and illegal forest land acquisition as major reasons for the flooding disaster.
Meanwhile, arranging for adequate water for the 300000 marooned people housed in 1740 relief camps spread out over 14 districts is emerging as a big challenge for the government agencies. Estimates of water requirements per person have been calculated at 3 litres for drinking, 4 litres for cooking and 20 litres for washing. The per day requirement works out to nearly 8 million litres, with over 2 million litres needed even if washing requirements were excluded. Over a period of 10 days, these work out to around 80 million litres of water to sustain the people housed in the relief camps.
Kerala has suffered immense damage to infrastructure, with preliminary estimates pointing to billions of rupees in economic losses. With crop fields inundated in the agricultural belt of the state, farmers face a bleak future and it will take years for ‘God’s Own Country’ to recover. Environmentalists would agree that restoration of the green cover and protection of Ecologically-Sensitive Zones will be crucial in the recovery process and to lessen the chances of recurrence in the future.
Rituraj Phukan