ENVIRONMENT GEOGRAPHY AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Contents 1. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION ________________________________________________________ 6 1.1. AIR POLLUTION _______________________________________________________________________ 6 1.1.1. Air Pollution in India ...

Contents 1. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION ________________________________________________________ 6 1.1. AIR POLLUTION _______________________________________________________________________ 6 1.1.1. Air Pollution in India: Status _________________________________________________________________ 6 1.1.2. Indoor Air Pollution _______________________________________________________________________ 7 1.1.3. New Rules for Management of Construction and Demolition Waste _________________________________ 7 1.1.4. Bharat Stage VI Norms by 2020 ______________________________________________________________ 8 1.1.5. Categorization of Polluting Industries _________________________________________________________ 9 1.1.6. National Green Highways Mission ____________________________________________________________ 9 1.2. WATER POLLUTION ___________________________________________________________________ 10 1.2.1. Initiatives Under Namami Gange Programme __________________________________________________ 10 1.2.2. Fly Ash ________________________________________________________________________________ 11 1.2.3. Yamuna Floodplains ______________________________________________________________________ 12 1.2.4. Polluter-Pay Principle _____________________________________________________________________ 12 1.3. SOLID WASTE ________________________________________________________________________ 13 1.3.1. Swachh Bharat Mission: Rural-Urban Disparity _________________________________________________ 13 1.3.2. New Plastic Waste Management Rules _______________________________________________________ 13 1.3.3. Sanitation Problem in Urban India ___________________________________________________________ 14 1.4. E-WASTE ___________________________________________________________________________ 15 1.4.1. New E-Waste Management Rules ___________________________________________________________ 15 2. CONSERVATION MEASURES _________________________________________________________ 18 2.1. FOREST CONSERVATION _______________________________________________________________ 18 2.1.1. Review of The National Forest Policy _________________________________________________________ 18 2.1.2. The Inviolate Forest Policy _________________________________________________________________ 18 2.1.3. Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015 ___________________________________________________ 19 2.1.4. Protecting Sacred Groves __________________________________________________________________ 20 2.2. WATER CONSERVATION _______________________________________________________________ 21 2.2.1. Wetland Management in India _____________________________________________________________ 21 2.2.2. Programmes for Water Conservation ________________________________________________________ 23 2.2.3. Groundwater Management ________________________________________________________________ 24 2.2.4. Project Green Port _______________________________________________________________________ 25 2.3. WILDLIFE/BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION_________________________________________________ 25 2.3.1. Culling of Animals ________________________________________________________________________ 25 2.3.2. Increasing Man-Animal Conflict _____________________________________________________________ 26 2.3.3. Environmental Crime inIndia _______________________________________________________________ 26 2.3.4. Consultation on Biodiversity Finance Initiative Begins ___________________________________________ 27 2.3.5. Environment Awareness Activities by MOEF ___________________________________________________ 27 2.4. TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE ___________________________________________________________ 28 2.4.1. Carbfix Project __________________________________________________________________________ 28 2.4.2. Climate Engineering Solutions ______________________________________________________________ 28 2.4.3. Space Collaboration to Tackle Climate Change _________________________________________________ 28 2.4.4. Efficient and Sustainable City Bus Service Project _______________________________________________ 29 2.4.5. Carbon Tax _____________________________________________________________________________ 29 2.4.6. Climate Violence ________________________________________________________________________ 30 2.4.7. Stranded Carbon ________________________________________________________________________ 30 2.4.8. CoP 21: Paris Agreement __________________________________________________________________ 31 2.4.9. From CBDR to INDC ______________________________________________________________________ 32 2.4.10. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC): Montreal Protocol ________________________________________________ 34 2.5. CLEAN ENERGY ______________________________________________________________________ 34 2.5.1. Clean Energy in India _____________________________________________________________________ 34 2.5.2. International Solar Alliance (ISA) ____________________________________________________________ 35 2.5.3. Draft Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy _____________________________________________________________ 36 2.5.4. Policy on Promotion of City Compost ________________________________________________________ 36 3 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS 3. DISASTER MANAGEMENT ___________________________________________________________ 39 3.1. DISASTER PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT ________________________________________________ 39 3.1.1. Disaster Risk Index of The World ____________________________________________________________ 39 3.1.2. India and Sendai Agreement for Disaster Reduction _____________________________________________ 39 3.1.3. National Disaster Management Plan _________________________________________________________ 40 3.1.4. Impact of Natural Disasters on Elderly People __________________________________________________ 41 3.1.5. Flood Management ______________________________________________________________________ 42 3.2. NEWS RELATED TO DISASTERS __________________________________________________________ 44 3.2.1. Drought Prevention and Management _______________________________________________________ 44 3.2.2. Urban Floods ___________________________________________________________________________ 45 3.2.3. Cyclone Roanu __________________________________________________________________________ 46 4. AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT ___________________________________________________ 49 4.1. GM CROPS __________________________________________________________________________ 49 4.1.1. Alternative to Bt Cotton ___________________________________________________________________ 49 4.1.2. GM Mustard ____________________________________________________________________________ 49 4.2. CLIMATE CHANGE & ENVIRONMENT_____________________________________________________ 50 4.2.1. Climate Smart Agriculture _________________________________________________________________ 50 4.2.2. Organic Farming _________________________________________________________________________ 51 4.2.3. Climate Change Vulnerability of Indian Agriculture ______________________________________________ 52 5. GEOGRAPHY ______________________________________________________________________ 54 5.1. INDIAN GEOGRAPHY __________________________________________________________________ 54 5.1.1. Poplar Trees in Kashmir ___________________________________________________________________ 54 5.1.2. Palaeochannel __________________________________________________________________________ 54 5.1.3. Interlinking of Rivers: Data _________________________________________________________________ 55 5.1.4. Impact of Thermal Stress on Corals in India ____________________________________________________ 56 5.1.5. Forest Fire _____________________________________________________________________________ 56 5.2. WORLD GEOGRAPHY _________________________________________________________________ 57 5.2.1. New Model to Study Urban Heat Island_______________________________________________________ 57 5.2.2. El Nino and Warm Winter _________________________________________________________________ 58 5.2.3. Indian Ocean Warming and its Consequences __________________________________________________ 58 5.2.4. Changes at the Poles _____________________________________________________________________ 59 6. ENVIRONMENT IMPACT ASSESSMENT ________________________________________________ 62 6.1. Draft Notification to Amend EIA Process _________________________________________________ 62 6.2. Coastal Regulation Zone: Shailesh Nayak Committee Report _________________________________ 62 7. MISCELLANEOUS __________________________________________________________________ 65 7.1. ILED The Way Campaign _______________________________________________________________ 65 7.2. Delhi's Odd Even Policy _______________________________________________________________ 65 7.3. SAMAR _____________________________________________________________________________ 66 7.4. Snowflake Coral _____________________________________________________________________ 66 7.5. Oceans to have more Plastic than Fish by 2050 ____________________________________________ 67 7.6. The Aware Project____________________________________________________________________ 67 7.7. Nasa’s Coral Experiment_______________________________________________________________ 68 7.8. Declining Pollinators: UN Report ________________________________________________________ 68 7.9. GYPS Vulture Reintroduction Programme ________________________________________________ 69 7.10. Transboundary Manas Conservation Area (TraMCA) ______________________________________ 69 4 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS 7.11. Oil Degrading Bacteria to Undergo Field Trials ____________________________________________ 70 7.12. Green Corridor Project _______________________________________________________________ 72 7.13. Udaypur Declaration: BRICS ___________________________________________________________ 72 7.14. Ecological Experimental Zones_________________________________________________________ 73 7.15. Global Warming Impact on Ocean Currents ______________________________________________ 73 7.16. Steps Taken for Protection of Endangered Species: MOEF __________________________________ 73 7.17. Clouds, Pollution and Monsoon ________________________________________________________ 74 7.17.1. Impact of Deforestation on Rainfall _________________________________________________________ 74 7.18. Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis is Moving Northwards ________________________________________ 75 7.19. Global Green Award _________________________________________________________________ 75 7.20. Country's First Tiger Repository ________________________________________________________ 76 8. PAST YEAR QUESTIONS FOR REFERENCE _______________________________________________ 77 2015 ___________________________________________________________________________________ 77 2014 ___________________________________________________________________________________ 77 2013 ___________________________________________________________________________________ 77