Environment: Strategies for Gujarat

Sudarshan Iyengar1
Somnath Bandopadhyay2

Abstract

Gujarat is one of the most industrialised states in India. It has grown at an impressive rate of
5 to 5.5 per cent per annum in the 1990s. The poverty levels have been lower compared to
many Indian states. It also as great potential to attract foreign direct investment. However,
studies have shown that Gujarat also faces many environmental threats. Gujarat is a geo-
physically and agro-climatically diverse regions and hence different regions are differently
endowed. The Mehasana-Vapi Golden corridor has witness great amounts of air, water and
land pollution. Drought regions have over exploited water resources; hilly tracts with hitherto
good forest cover have been denuded. The natural resources have been drained to largely
benefit the urban people. While urban people are becoming environment conscious and
looking for substitutes, poor have no chance in the regions that have been severely
degraded. Despite setting up of Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) in 1974 and Gujarat
Ecology Commission (GEC) in 1992, the degradation and deterioration of environmental
resources have been on the rise. The paper tries to establish some of these aspects using
the GEC study findings and argues that unless the state’s leadership builds adequate eco-
vision, carries our strategic environmental assessment (SEA) with the help of accepted and
feasible set of environmental indicators and plan strategies for mitigation, regulation and
regeneration, Gujarat may become a net loser and the future generation may have to pay
heavy price for the present generations extravagance.

I Introduction

Rapid economic growth is considered as a necessary condition for poverty

eradication and Indira Gandhi, India’s well-known Prime Minister in the 1970s,
while addressing a world forum on environmental problems, had said that
poverty was the greatest pollutant in a human society. However, removal of
poverty through rapid economic growth also has environmental costs. Fast
economic growth is often accompanied by adverse environmental
consequences. Use of natural resources in increasing quantities for agricultural
and industrial production, use of energy and natural services for meeting the
ever-rising human demand inevitably leads to degradation of environment.
Environment plays three types of roles in the survival game of human specie. Its
first role is as a supplier of resources. Its second role is to provide local and

1
Director, Centre for Social Studies, Surat, Gujarat
2
Aga Khan Foundation, New Delhi

1
global environmental and ecological3 services. Its third role is to act as sink that
receives the waste generated in the process of production and consumption.
Thus, environment has close linkages with the economy. The first implication is
that more the economy produces using the natural resources (first role of
environment), more will be the waste generated. Let us remember that we can
neither destroy matter nor energy,4 we simply change the form and hence
residue form will increase with increase in production. The waste will have to be
returned to nature. In this sense, whatever is ‘produced’ is not ‘consumed’ even
in equilibrium situation because consumption in the conventional sense is
inadequate expression to what happens in reality in nature. If the sink role
increases and assimilation capacity goes down there is a threat to the
availability of resources as inputs and also a threat to life support systems.
Thus, any society that is trying to achieve fast economic growth has to contend
with the issue of environmental problems and the sustainability of resource use.

Not all economist and policy advisors have paid adequate attention to the
environmental problems that crop up in the developing societies. As a result
environment movements are born and are active. America celebrated ‘Earth
Day’ on 22nd April 1970 to highlight the environment and development
contradictions. The United Nations organised environment summit on June 5,
1972 and formed United Nations Environmental Programme. The famous work
‘Limits to Growth’ of the Club of Rome was also published in 1972. In 1980
and1983 ‘North South: A Programme for Survival’, and ‘Common Crisis’ were
published in that order. In 1987 the Brandt Commission published the widely
acclaimed work ‘Our Common Future’. The expression ‘sustainable
development’ gained currency after this publication. The first earth summit on
environmental issues was held in June 1993 in Rio-de- Janeiro, Brazil and the
second summit known as Rio + 10 has been concluded on September 4, 2002
in Johannesburg. In all this implications of the first law of thermodynamics
appear to be evident. Millennium Assessment Project has just been completed
and generally does not give a happy picture of the world on the environment
front.

3
There is yet another branch of economics namely, Ecological Economics. It deals with the two-way
links between ecological and economic systems. There is a difference between ecologist’s perspective
and economist’s perspective in their approach to environmental problems. While the ecologist takes a
holistic view considering all living organisms, the economist, trained in a utilitarian framework, takes
an anthropocentric view to the problem and in this analysis we continue to take similar view.
4
This is the first law of Thermodynamics that has serious implications for the continuous and unbridled
use of natural resources.

2
Gujarat state in India is one of the most industrialised states. Maharashtra and
Gujarat have been following a development strategy that had a clear focus on
industrialisation and urbanisation. Industrialisation has yielded good dividends in
both the states in western India, but there are problems relating to the
environmental status. Indira Hirway using an integrated framework and
examines the processes related to economic growth, poverty, environment and
social development. The decadal growth rate of the State Domestic Product
(SDP) has been impressive in Gujarat – between 5.0 and 5.5 per cent per
annum. The rate of poverty reduction has also been stable around 3.1 to 3.5%
per annum. Development in social sector has slowed down and sex ratio has
come down in the 1990s. The 2001 data on sex ratio are alarming in some
talukas. Ground water situation appears more serious than any other
environmental indicator. Forests appear to have registered some improvement,
both in area and quality, but have also suffered inadequately regulated legal
and illegal clear felling. Salinity affected area has increased and area covered
by mangroves has shrunk. The last four decades have seen growth in heavily
polluting industries as textiles and dyes, and hazardous industries such as
chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and petrochemicals. Several rivers and streams in
the highly industrial and urbanised “Golden Corridor”, such as the Sabarmati,
the Khari, the Mahi, the Mini, the Amlakhadi, the Damanganga and the Par, are
critically polluted by effluents from petrochemical, chemical, pharmaceuticals,
dyes and dye intermediates and textile industries, in addition to municipal
discharges.

The saturation of the golden corridor has shifted the attention to the coastal
zone. It is emerging as the prime mover of economic growth, not just for the
State but also given its role as a gateway for hydrocarbons, for the nation. Oil
terminals, storage and berthing facilities, and refineries and ancillary units are
being set up rapidly. Special economic zones, road networks, habitation
facilities and desalination units are being set up. This would certainly result in
unprecedented social and environmental conflicts.

In this paper we have made an attempt to first make an assessment of the

environmental status of Gujarat and then argue out strategies that need to be
adopted in order to minimise the environmental problems and continue to
achieve reasonable economic growth. The paper is mainly based on the study
undertaken by the Gujarat Ecological Commission and an exercise carried out
by a study on building environmental indicators for Gujarat during 2000-2003.

3
II State of Gujarat’s Environment

Gujarat is third most polluted states after Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
Gujarat state, which was formed on May 1, 1960, has an area of 195,984
square kilometres. This is about 6 per cent of the total area of the country. In
1961, Gujarat had a population of 20.6 million persons of which about 6 million
people lived the urban areas. In 2001, urban Gujarat provides livelihood and
home to 19 million persons, nearly 38 per cent of the total population of 50.6
million persons. Most parts of Gujarat have sub-humid and semi-arid climates,
merging with the arid zone in the north and northwest. Large parts are drought
prone. Mainland Gujarat receives an annual average rainfall of 800-2000 mm.
The regions of Saurashtra and Kachchh receive only 300-600 mm. Aridity
ranges between 10 per cent towards the southeastern hilly region to 40 per cent
in large parts of Kachchh. The other main ecological and environmental features
of the state are as follows.

Land Profile

The Tapi valley and the South Gujarat plains have black cotton soils classified
as recent alluviums of trap origin. The plains of North Gujarat have very deep
alluvial deposits brought down by the rivers Banas, Rupen and Saraswati and
are akin to the Indo-Gangetic plains of north India. These rivers arise from the
Aravalli hills and flow into the Ranns of Kachchh. The rivers draining the central
and southern parts fall into the Gulf of Khambhat and the Arabian Sea. Almost
half of Gujarat is uncultivated. Another half is under crops. About two-thirds of
this area is rain fed the rest is irrigated. Sardar Sarovar Dam constructed on
River Narmada has huge potential of irrigating nearly 18 million hectare of land
covering substantial parts of semi arid Gujarat. With the realisation of Narmada
project command area, the irrigated area is likely to reach 40 per cent of the net
sown area in the state. Gujarat is known for commercial crops cotton,
groundnut, tobacco, sugarcane and cumin seeds. Peal millet sorghum, maize
and paddy have been major cereal crops in the state. Pulses and other oil
seeds have lost their space. Fruits, vegetables, spices and condiments are
assuming some importance recently. Major horticultural species include chikoo,
mangoes, banana, coconut, etc. Although there are some pockets where
indigenous crop varieties are cultivated, much of the cropland is estimated to be
under hybridised high-yielding varieties.

4
Soil depth in Gujarat is not very high. About 20 per cent of the state has a soil
depth of over 150 cm, and another 15 percent has a soil depth of 100 to 150
cm. According to State Environment Action Programme (SEAP) report, coastal
alluvial soil appears in very narrow bands in Southern Gujarat and on the south-
eastern and south-western coasts of the Saurashtra peninsula. The texture of
the soil is predominantly sandy, but silt of marine alluvial origin is also present.
These areas are mostly used as grazing grounds. Black soil is the most
common, especially in Saurashtra. The soils face erosion, stoniness and salinity
as the major constraints for their development and conservation in various
landforms and physiographic units.

Status

We have already observed that Gujarat is naturally endowed with poor soil
resources. Most of the talukas categorised in the low productivity classes IV to
VI.

Soil erosion is a significant problem.

• 1.00 million hectares of land loses more than 20 tons of soil loss per
hectare per year

• 3.50 million hectares of land loses between 0 and 20 tons of soil per
hectare per year

Soil Salinity is also on rise; the central low-lying belt between mainland Gujarat
and Kachchh and Saurashtra has emerged as a severely saline area. Coastal
stretches of Saurashtra are also showing indications of increased soil salinity.

• About 2.48 million hectares area in the state is affected by varying

degrees of soil salinity

• Out of which about 1.10 million hectares is moderately or severely

affected (EC greater than 4 dsm)

• In all, about 7.00 million hectares land is moderately or severely affected

by soil erosion and or salinity. This is about 35 per cent of the total land of
Gujarat

5
• Grasslands and traditional Gauchars have also been severely degraded
and encroached for private cultivation and some of it has been taken over by
the government for allotment to rural landless poor for housing and cultivation.
The invasion of Prosopis Juliflora an exotic plant and serious neglect has led to
degradation of grasslands. In districts such as Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara,
Kheda, Ahmedabad, Mehsana and Panchmahals, prosopis covers 8-10 per
cent of land. In the districts of Sabarkantha, Surendranagar, Amreli, Bhavnagar,
Junagadh and Valsad, they cover 3-5 per cent.

• Dumping of hazardous solid industrial waste and biomedical waste and

garbage from urban areas pose serious threats.

Desert ecosystem

Gujarat has a unique desert ecosystem that comprises of the Great Rann of
Kachchh and the Little Rann of Kachchh together occupying around 25,000 sq
km. It is inundated seasonally by rainwater and by diurnal inundation of the
western half of the great Rann by seawater. The Ranns are inherently highly
saline and therefore make a unique type of ecosystem in the world. Little Rann
facilitates edible salt production and is known among naturalists and foresters
for the Asiatic Wild Ass (Equus hemionus khur). The Ranns also support prawn
fishery. The raised surfaces in the otherwise low lying areas known as byets,
were known for biological diversity. The beyts are flooded with monsoon
showers. The flora and fauna in the Ranns were rich not very long ago. Parts of
the great Rann are important for the breeding of flamingos; there are 695
species of flowering plants in Kachchh district, of which 345 species belonging
to 74 families are endemic to the region (SEAP Report 2002). Vegetation
include Acacia nilotica, A. senegal, Salvadora persica, S. oleoides,
Commiphora wightii, Suaeda fruticosa, etc. Banni grasslands are well-known
and it supported a huge livestock breeding activity traditionally pursued by Jats
and Sumras. The grasslands in Banni, Naliya and Khadir have grass species
such as Apluda mutica, Heteropogon contortus, Sehima nervosum, Themeda
quadivalvis, Cenchrus ciliaris, Panicum antidotale, Cloris gyna, Dicanthium
annulatum, Ergrostris spp., Aristida adscensionis, Ischemum molle and
Fimbristylis spp. Among fauna, besides the wild ass, Felis caracal (caracal),
Gazella gazella (Indian gazelle), Hemiechinus auritus (hedgehog), Felis libyca
(desert cat), Ardeotis nigriceps (Indian bustard), etc. are also found.

6
Status

• The Ranns have been invaded by an exotic floral species Prosopis

juliflora (Gando Baval) that was introduced purportedly to check the advancing
of desert. Banni grasslands have been practically destroyed.

• The floral and faunal species are under threat.

Forests

Compared to the desirable coverage of 33 per cent of the total geographical

area (TGA), Gujarat has a relatively small spread of forest. The area under
forest is 18,868 sq km, about 10 per cent of the TGA. However, there is
appreciable cover only in about 12,000 sq km (SEAP Report 2002). The rest is
mostly barren and in few places supports very sparse growth. According to the
SEAP Report, the moist deciduous forests are spread over less than 2,000 sq
km in the districts of Valsad, Navsari and Dangs. The dry deciduous forests are
spread over 10,700 sq km in Narmada, Vadodara, Panchmahal, Dahod,
Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, Junagadh and Amreli districts. The thorn forests
are widely distributed towards the west and north-west parts of the State,
covering about 5,000 sq km in Mehsana, Ahmedabad, western Banaskantha,
western Sabarkantha, Surendranagar, Bhavnagar, Amreli, Jamnagar, Rajkot
and Kachchh districts.

Status

• The Deterioration of the forest began with Indian Forest Act of 1878. It
obliterated the centuries-old customary use of forest resources by the rural
communities all over India. The National Forest Policy of 1952 further
consolidated the colonial policies of exclusive state control over forest
protection, production and management.

• Princely states indulged in clear felling of precious forests in many parts

of Gujarat with vengeance before surrendering to the Union Government of
India.

7
• There was rapid expansion of forest-based industry after 1947 to meet
the demands of the commercial-industrial sector.

• Collection of forest produce has dropped by 77 per cent between 1970

and 1996 (SEAP Report 2002)

• Scrub and thorn forests have been almost decimated

• Biodiversity as well as the livelihood of several tribal communities have

been seriously affected.

• The vegetation cover has come down drastically and numerous wetlands
that form a gateway for many migratory birds are under serious threat.

Water Resources

We have already noted that there are wide variations in mean annual rainfall. It
varies from a 300 mm in Kachchh to nearly 2,000 mm in the Dangs, with
Saurashtra and North Gujarat averaging about 600 to 700 mm. According to
GEC reports, the total annual surface water potential in the state is 38,530
million cubic meters (MCM). South and Central Gujarat regions are major
contributors with 84 per cent of the surface water runoff (the precipitation in the
upper catchments of the neighbouring states is included in the calculations).
The surface water potential and the gross annual recharge to the groundwater
together take the total fresh water availability in the State to 54,593 MCM per
year. Again, South and Central Gujarat account for 69.5 per cent of the total
renewable freshwater of the state. Saurashtra, North Gujarat and Kachchh
account for 17, 11.2 and 2.3 per cent respectively.

The per capita freshwater availability by region is the following.

• 1137 m3 per year for all Gujarat

• 1933 m3 in South and Central Gujarat
• 734 m3 in Saurashtra
• 875 m3 in Kachchh, and
• 427 m3 in North Gujarat

8
Due to high evaporation rates most of the streams and rivers in North Gujarat,
Kachchh and Saurashtra dry fast especially during low rainfall years and result
in “hydrological drought”.

The surface water resources are concentrated in southern and central parts of
the state. River Sabarmati is dividing line between resource-rich eastern part of
Gujarat and resource-poor west. The major rivers in Gujarat travelling north to
south are the Sabarmati, the Mahi, the Narmada and the Tapi. The
groundwater resources are mostly concentrated in unconsolidated formations
covering about 40 per cent of the State. Of these, more than 70 per cent are
restricted to found in the alluvial plains of central and north Gujarat.

According to the GEC reports, Gujarat has a range of wetlands including both
coastal and inland systems that are characterised by varying salinity regimes.
The inland wetlands include riverine floodplains, freshwater ponds, lakes,
reservoirs and irrigation canal systems, while the coastal wetlands include salt
marshes and salt lakes, creeks, mud flats, estuaries, mangrove swamps and
coral reefs. Man-made wetlands comprise a system of artificial tanks and lakes.
According to the Asian Wetland Bureau, there are 235 wetlands (natural and
man-made) in the state, covering around 20,000 sq km. Many of these wetlands
are of international significance due to their strategic position in the migratory
pathways of waterfowl. Ramsar convention recognised Nal Sarovar wetland as
internationally important. The Khijadia lake is also an important wetland having
recorded over 200 species of birds.

Status

• In this short paper it will be difficult to produce figures and statements on

what ails Gujarat’s scarce water resources. Major problems are listed below.

• Groundwater extraction is the most common response to rising water

demand and it has also been politically convenient. It has resulted into seawater
intrusion in Kachchh and Saurashtra.

• Seawater intrusion has reduced the productivity of land and induced a

change in cropping patterns as well as migration as people leave their villages
in search of livelihoods.

9
• Levels of fluoride in North Gujarat have increased alarmingly. Due to
increased dissolution of fluorides, nitrates and other salts, public health
problems have proliferated.

• The rivers are choked, recharge reduced, and the natural distribution of
freshwater and silt has been altered.

• Reduced freshwater flow in the surface drainage systems of Gujarat has

led to increased salinity in downstream reaches and estuaries. The flushing of
the estuaries has also reduced leading to the concentration of pollutants in both
the surface and ground waters through reduced dilution and affecting the
composition of biotic communities such as mangroves and fisheries.

• In South and Central Gujarat there is water-logging.

• The emerging water crisis in Gujarat is thus multi-faceted and serious.

The situation with respect to drinking water is precarious. The number of ‘no
source’ habitations in about 18000 villages and 30000 habitations is ever rising.
The small towns face severe water crisis.

• Water wars have begun in Gujarat

The Coastline and Marine Resources of Gujarat

The Guajrat coastline is 1,663 km long, which is above 20 per cent of the Indian
coastline. It has a continental shelf of 165,000 sq km, which is 35 per cent of the
Indian continental shelf. There are two major indentations, the Gulf of Kachchh
and the Gulf of Khambhat accounting for 60 per cent of the coastline. According
to the GEC studies, the coastal and marine environment of Gujarat support rich
fisheries in the 375 km wide continental shelf, coral reefs around 34 islands in
the Gulf of Kachchh, and mangrove vegetation on creeks, estuaries and mud-
flats around the coast. The coral reefs in Gujarat are in the Gulf of Kachchh,
covering about 150 sq km in about 15 of the 40 odd islands. The mangroves
cover a large area of about 1,000 square kilometres. The mangroves are
dominated mostly by a single species of Avicennia. The best patches are in the
Indus deltaic region of western Kachchh, accounting for nearly 80 per cent of
the mangroves in the State.

10
Gujarat has been rich in fish stock. In sizeable continental shelf the fish stock is
around 4 to 6 tonnes per square kilometre. Almost 70 per cent of the total stock
is available within 50 m depth, and the highest stock density is near 22 degrees
latitude. The fishing zones off Veraval are dominated by ribbonfish (about 25
per cent), and those off Porbandar and Dwaraka abound are stocked with horse
mackerel (about 90 per cent) and pomfrets (about 55 per cent) respectively.
Other major types include ribbonfish, sciaenid, catfish, sharks, perches, and
threadfin breams. The northern areas off Dwaraka and Kachchh are the most
productive, and compare favourably with some of the richest fishing grounds in
the world. Fishing in the coastal areas of Saurashtra, Kachchh and Saurashtra
is an ancient and hitherto a marginal activity. However, with mechanisation the
fish production in Gujarat jumped. In 1997-98, Gujarat’s total harvest was
702,400 tonnes.

Status

• There has been a serious debate on the ability of tidal oscillations to

flush the Gulfs completely. The GEC and other studies show that the water
balance in the Gulf of Kachchh is negative, with evaporation dominating the
sum of rainfall and river run-off. The residence time varies from 8 to 51 days,
decreasing upstream. In the Gulf of Khambhat, the water balance is positive.
Residence time varies from 4 to 15 days, increasing upstream. This means that
the prevalent tidal oscillations cannot flush out the Gulfs completely, leaving
behind parcels of water whose residence time will continuously increase, with
serious implications for pollutants.

• Coral reefs would be adversely affected with rise in pollutant load in the
Gulf areas.

• Large quantities of juveniles of several fish, including the silver pomfret,

Pampus argenteus, which are discarded as by-catch from trawling, dolnets, and
gill nets. It has been universally accepted that around one-third of the total fish
catch is discarded into the sea.

• The Fish harvest due to mechanisation is beyond the estimated

minimum sustainable yield (MSY) in fisheries up to 50 m depth. The Gujarat

11
coasts are over-fished. Livelihood of fishing community using small boats and
traditional nets is under threat.

• Mangroves have been over-harvested and destroyed by setting up ports

in some parts of the Gujarat Coastline. The development of ports also threaten
livelihood of fishermen communities.

• The coastal zone management authority (CZMA) remains only on paper

and the regulations are implemented in an arbitrary fashion, if at all.

Status of Air

• Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) is the most common polluting factor

in the State. Industries and vehicular emissions are two major sources of
ambient air pollution.

• All the six corporation cities record values that are generally higher than
the standard limits prescribed by the GPCB for residential and industrial areas.

• Almost a fifth of the state's population is thus exposed to high levels of

emission.

• The air around industries and industrial estates has become severely
polluted; the hot spots include the GIDC estates of Ankleshwar (Bharuch),
Vatva (Ahmedabad), Nandesari (Vadodara), Rajkot (near Sardhana Industrial
Corporation), Narol (Ahmedabad), Vapi (Valsad), and industrial areas near the
GSFC (Vadodara), IPCL (Vadodara), ONGC (Surat) and Reliance Industries
Ltd. (Surat) complexes.

• Indoor pollution due to burning of biomass fuels in inefficient cook-stoves

in rural areas and among the urban poor exposes to health risks.

• Nearly 40 per cent of the population of Ahmedabad, living in slum

households, depends on biomass fuels which translate to nearly 17 per cent of
the city population who are exposed to health risks due to indoor pollution and
13 per cent who actually risk suffering from various respiratory diseases.

12
Status of Urban Gujarat

Air pollution is not the only form of environmental degradation that affects urban
areas of Gujarat. Gujarat's cities are also environmentally unhealthy because of
inadequate water and sanitation, inadequate solid waste management, and high
levels of noise pollution. The trends for all three of these problems are
worsening. The SEAP Report brings out the following features on these three
aspects.

Water and sanitation

The per-capita availability of water has declined between 1988 and 1995. The
duration of supply has also been steadily cut in most cities. Sanitation coverage
is low; in some towns and cities it is 20 per cent of the total houses. As a result
of the combined water and sanitation issues, water borne diseases like cholera,
other diarrhoeal diseases, a form of viral hepatitis, typhoid and other diseases
are still prevalent and have become endemic.

Solid waste

Due to rising trends of urban populations and rising per capita production and
consumption total municipal solid waste is growing at an overall rate of
approximate 5 per cent per year. Per capita waste generation is projected to
rise from less that half kg per day, to 0.7 kg per day in twenty years. It is
understood that the municipal systems and finances are not adequate to deal
with the growing problem.

Noise pollution

Data on noise pollution in the cities in Gujarat is not available. All India average
is available. Gujarat cities are admittedly louder! The average noise level in the
major Indian cities is in the range of 80-85 dB. Vehicular traffic is the most
widespread source of noise pollution, though in places like airports and
industrial areas, one is exposed to louder noise.

III Strategies for Gujarat

It is perhaps modest and good to lay foundation for a sound and sustainable
environment action programme on the understanding that was expressed in

13
“Our Common Future”, the World-renowned report of the World Commission on
Environment. The understanding is also relevant and important because the
Commission was head by a head of the Government, i.e., a political person. It
was the Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland who headed the
Commission and came out with most forthright assessment and
recommendations. The report mentions that the ability to anticipate and prevent
environmental damage requires that the ecological dimensions of policy be
considered at the same time as the economic, trade, energy, and agricultural
and other dimensions. They should be considered on the same agendas and in
the same national and international institutions.

This understanding is substantially deviated from the understanding of the neo-

classical growth and development understanding expressed most eloquently by
the Environmental Kuznet’s Curve. It is perhaps forgotten that the Curve only
explains how some developed countries have been able to first pollute heavily
their environment and then clean up with the economic prosperity that was
gained while dirtying the environment. The explanation of experience should be
treated as principle of development! The developing nations are almost on such
a path. If Gujarat too has any such implicit agenda it must be stated at the
outset that it is not the right path.

There are two strong reasons why the Kuznet’s explanation would not help our
strategy to solve environment problems. One, in order to achieve the levels of
the economic prosperity of the developed nations, per capita energy required for
production and consumption of goods and services is immensely high and such
levels of energy consumption would in most likelihood impact the environment
and natural resource base of the state irreversibly. The irreversibility in the
developing nations is also a reality because of the immense population
pressure on the natural resource base. Secondly, while theoretically the
argument of substitutability of resources appears convincing as also the
capacity of human ingenuity to keep the total capital stock (natural, man made
and human) unchanged, the substitutability is for the rich and affording and not
for the poor and resourceless. To illustrate, the industrialised cities of Gujarat
may suddenly turn eco-friendly and stop using wood and forest products and
shift to other materials and call themselves ‘eco-friendly’, the poor tribal
population who inhabit the forest and fringe areas and eke out a livelihood
would find themselves completely resourceless and without any substitutes.
The story is true already for the maldharis and saltpan workers who are left with
no substitutes other than crime and conflict.

14
In a global perspective, the nexus between poverty and environment, and
hence sustainable development, has been viewed only as a problem of
poverty. That is, the poor have been largely held responsible for degrading
the environment and hence their livelihood strategies and coping mechanisms
have been viewed as generating negative externalities and making
development unsustainable. In Gujarat perspective Amita Shah in a paper
presented in a national Seminar organised by GIDR in March 2003, and titled
“Poverty and Natural Resources: Understanding the Dynamics in the Context
of Dry Land Regions in Western India” reviews the poverty scene
contextualised in agricultural growth in arid and semi-arid areas and the hilly
tracts. She argues that the relatively lower and diminishing level of poverty in
arid regions in the plains is a short-run phenomenon as extensive agriculture
is generally practiced when irrigation is made available. Marginal land parcels
are brought under cultivation that would eventually lead to high degradation of
the environment. It would result, in turn, in even more severe poverty than
what may be currently found in the tribal regions that have degrading forest
resource-base. Property rights over forest and ground water hold the key to
future sustainable development and redressing poverty.

We therefore, are of the firm view that the long-term objective of the
environment management of the state along with economic growth has to be
that of sustainability in resource use and management. We may disagree with
the theoretical underpinnings that have base in the experiences of the
developed nations; there appears no harm in understanding and adapting some
their approaches for environment management. One such approach that is
recommended for Canada appears promising for a state like Gujarat too. The
approach is called Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA).

The normal system that any government has is the one in which environmental
assessment is purportedly carried out and it is legislated, project-based and site
specific. SEA differs from such approach and deals with broader environmental
issues and is aimed at identifying strategic considerations at the policy level.
SEA integrates environmental considerations into policy development early in
the process, thereby helping to avoid possible economic, social or political
liabilities. It generates valuable information to respond to public concerns and to
support decisions.

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SEA is defined as, "a systematic, comprehensive process of evaluating the
environmental effects of a policy, plan or program and its alternatives." It
provides decision makers with information on positive and negative
environmental effects of a proposed policy, plan or program and a means to
accentuate positive effects, and reduce or avoid negative ones. Gujarat
government is yet to follow such an integrated and macro approach to deal with
environmental issues. It is a matter of fact that most the problem solving that
has to be attended to now falls in post facto correctives rather than pari passu
or ex ante approaches.

Gujarat Ecological Commission has undertaken comprehensive exercise to

estimate the environmental bads that afflict the Gujarat’s economy and the
nature. We have already provided a glimpse of the environmental status with
respect to resources. The suggested remedies will also be briefly presented
here. But, for the future economic and development venture the approach of
SEA is recommended as useful. The suggested steps for the process of
carrying out the SEA are the following.

Step 1: Identify the direct and indirect outcomes of the proposed policy, plan or
program. This activity is vital and generally not undertaken seriously. The
government may undertake this exercise with the help of Gujarat Ecology
Commission, concerned departments and specialised technical and social
science institutions.

Step 2: Conduct and document a preliminary scan to determine if the proposal

has important environmental effects. The scan will help in determining whether
the proposed activity has any important environmental effects that call for
detailed environmental assessment.

Step 3: Conduct an analysis of the environmental effects to gather more

detailed information on scientific and socio-economic details (examine scope
and nature of effects; identify changes to the submission that reduce negative
effects/increase positive effects; identify residual effects and follow up
measures).

Step 4: Record findings and recommendations in decision documents provided

to the Minister or Cabinet.

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A key component of an SEA is public and stakeholder consultation.
Stakeholders may include relevant government agencies, other levels of
government, industrial/sectoral organizations, and non-governmental
organizations, as well as people and communities getting affected directly or
indirectly. In addition, there should be particular obligations to tribal people and
that need to be considered. The consultation processes are presently not
adequately followed and documented. It should be should be obligatory to
include such documentations in the final document that is presented to the
Minister or the Cabinet.

The Green, Blue and Brown Agenda

Forests and Grasslands (the green agenda)

The wisdom generated out of the GECs study on the forest and grasslands
situation analysis comes out with following specific management principles.

• Decentralised management with increased stakes and participation of

local communities;
• Better utilisation of available funds through greater co-ordination and
better fund management;
• Capacity building through data collection and analysis;
• Improved management of conflicts between development and
conservation; and
• Cultural shift towards increased revenue generation for conservation;
• Strengthening the ongoing programme of Joint Forest Management (JFM)
both in terms of policy content and extent of coverage

Security of tenure is critical.

Greater incentives for the protection and sustainable use of forest resources
including timber produce are necessary.
Present JFM arrangements heavily act in favour of the departmental control,
which does not generate people’s interest in conserving and growing forest.

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Similar principles need to be applied to for wildlife preservation as well.
People have to be in centre of the sanctuaries and national parks. The model
of princely states’ management has ample scope to learn. Apart from
providing habitats to game animals, it also met the needs of the local
communities. The objective must be to give local communities a vital stake in
the protection of wildlife.

Eco-tourism is sensible but very trendy. Private participation may be

encouraged, but with some specific orientation otherwise commecialisation
may lead to further degradation.
Slope stabilisation

This is perhaps single most critical need of the eastern hilly tracts suffering
from severe soil erosion. Bunding, gully-plugging and development on
watershed principle needs to be undertaken. Private farmers with tenure
rights or with encroachment need to be persuaded to control soil erosion.

Maldharis should be given use rights over the grazing and grasslands.

Water Sources (the blue agenda)

The most important need is to establish proper property rights over surface
and ground water. Unless this is attempted seriously with immense political
will, water resources pollution and sustainable use will not take place in
Gujarat. This phenomenon is true also for the country.

Water needs to be treated as an economic commodity and it has to be

properly priced.

All rural and urban communities should be persuaded to plan and develop
own sources for drinking water and sanitation and local self governments
must be entrusted with operation and management with state support for
capital and technological requirements.

Irrigation schemes should be turned over to the users. Water Users

Association (WUAs) need not be the only model. Legislating WUAs is not the
solution. Users may be given option to form different associations for
managing the systems in a self-reliant manner.

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Since ground water situation has become extremely precarious, over and
above ground water recharge efforts through rainwater harvesting water
transfer form Narmada River’s Sardar Sarovar Dam Reservoir should be
undertaken with meticulous engineering planning.

The water bureaucracy needs to be trimmed and incentive based regulation

and facilitation should be undertaken inviting private participation.

The Brown Agenda

Industrial Pollution
The major issue in Industrial pollution is that the environmental cost is not
borne by the polluter. For serious and hazardous pollution state should
impose non-compliance penalties rather than enforcing the outright closure
of industries. This will call for strengthening the economic, technical and
managerial capacities. Market based institutions may be an alternative
solution. Legal aspects in these matters require detailed examination. The
issue is discussed in details in the SEAP report.

Conscious and serious adoption of Green Rating Programmes needs to be

introduced. Companies that adopt cleaner production technologies should be
publicly recognised to distinguish progressive firms. The GPCB already has an
internal assessment of firms and assigns them to yellow, orange and red
categories. It should make this information available to the public.

Industrial clusters and related associations should be made responsible and

accountable for regulating the pollution standards. GPCB’s policing alone doe
not help and it leads to adoption of irregular methods or evasion. The CETPs
should be the responsibility of the cluster rather than GPCB. The Ankleshwar
industry association for example has been monitoring ambient air quality in the
area surrounding it. The Vapi Industrial Association has been carrying out
ambient monitoring in the Damanganga downstream for effluent discharge, and
for groundwater within the estate. The Civil society institutions may also be
invited to monitor the pollution levels.

Vehicular Pollution
Better management of traffic and increased greenery need to be promoted
to control vehicular pollution. Leaded petrol has now been phased out in all
major cities, but the sulphur content in diesel has emerged as a major

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concern. In this context firm handling and tackling the issue of adulteration
is must.

The SEAP report has also suggested that it might be worthwhile to create an
Air Quality Management Committee within each Municipal Corporation to:
• coordinate between public agencies involved in air quality (Transport,
Roads, Police, GPCB);
• develop systems of enforcing direct fiscal penalties for emissions beyond
stipulated norms;
• generate public awareness and involvement by supporting public
disclosure of emissions; and
• conduct studies for source apportionment and develop dispersion models
for metros such as Ahmedabad and Vadodara, with the help of hired
professional support.

Urban Degradation
The critical services lack of which create urban environmental problems are
water supply, sewage disposal, storm drainage, collection and disposal of
garbage, and general cleanliness. For low-income households and slums
there is also the problem of indoor air pollution and sanitation.

Commercialisation of services through public private partnerships needs to be

encouraged. Various urban services are sub-contracted to independent
utilities or private service providers. However, successful implementation of
this solution requires maintenance of separate accounts for services provided
by urban local bodies, knowledge of the new public management systems,
and expertise in drafting and enforcing contracts with private parties.

In most of the developed countries, urban water supply and sewerage related
services are provided by non-profit entities of the “utility” type, working
under the local municipal governments, although there are some investor-
owned (private) entities as well. We may adopt similar models with suitable
modification and fee structures to be borne by the individual service users.
User charges is a useful and sustainable concept that needs to be introduced
with political will. Solid waste management with private participation has
potential to benefit the user and the service providers both. The SEAP report
shows that Rajkot Municipal Corporation has tried with some success. Surat
Municipal Corporation has also experimented in selected areas with some
success.

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IV Continued Monitoring of Environment

In this short paper we have outlined the strategies that need to be adopted to
tackle the environmental problems. Obviously, the study is not exhaustive. A
much more detailed work has been done by the Gujarat Ecology Commission
and the State Environmental Action Programme has dealt most issues very
comprehensively and the government should be able to drive guidance from
it.

It may also be mentioned that Gujarat state in the country has also
undertaken a unique exercise of building environmental indicators. The
Gujarat Institute of Development Research (GIDR) had done the exercise in
collaboration with three partner agencies under the overall guidance of the
Director (Environment), Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of
Gujarat. The objective of the exercise was to identify a set of environmental
indicators that could be constructed periodically to monitor the changes and
inform the citizens of Gujarat. In this particular context it would be useful to
present the list of indicators that were finalised in after a series of consultation
with different government department stakeholders. The list is presented
below. It is proposed that the list may be further refined with broader
consultation with all the stakeholders, but is essential to have a commitment
to undertake this exercise with regular periodicity. If the indicator exercise is
undertaken within the framework of the SEA that we have suggested and if
appropriate institutional arrangements are done, we feel that Gujarat citizen
should be able to leave a better and greener planet for its coming
generations.

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 List of Feasible Indicators
Sl. Indicator Overlap Type Institution
No with other Responsible for
resources/ generating data
sectors
Forest
1. Change in area (percentage) of actual area under forest cover P FSI
2. Change in scrub area as percent of forest area P FSI
3. Percentage of actual forest cover to recorded forest cover S FSI
4. % of area under National parks and Sanctuaries to S FSI
geographical area
5. % of area under Protected and un-classed forests to total forest S FSI
area
6. Number of endangered species S GEER
Foundation
7. Area under social forestry R FD
8. Area under JFM R FD
Water
Water as resource
1. Trends in Drinking and Domestic water requirements Urban area P GWSSB &
Municipalities
2. Trends in industrial water requirements Industry P GIDC
3. Trends in irrigation water requirements P Irrigation
Department
4. Negative water balance of groundwater P GWRDC
5. Trends in consumption of chemical fertilizers and Pesticides P Agriculture
Department
6. Flow of water in perennial rivers (annual) S Irrigation
Department
7. Ground water levels S GWRDC
8. Extent of Micro-watershed treatment R Rural
Development
Department
Water as a sink
9. Trends in quantum of municipal waste discharged into the sea Industry P Municipalities
via. Rivers, streams and estuaries
10 Trends in industrial effluent discharged into the sea via. rivers, Industry P GPCB
. streams and estuaries
11 Quality of river water downstream Industry, S GPCB
. (chemical measures of water quality such as DO, COD and Urban area,
BOD may be used) Coastal
zone
12 Quality of water in estuaries (in addition to chemical Coastal S GPCB
. measures, biological indicators may be useful) zone
13 Quality of water in coastal areas (in addition to chemical Coastal S DOD
. measures population of zoo-plankton may be used) zone
14 Extent of wastewater entering rivers without any treatment or Industry, R GPCB
. after only primary treatment Urban area, Municipalities
Coastal
zone
15 Number of Industrial water related complaints R GPCB
.
16 Number of cases filed by GPCB for violation of Water Act R GPCB
.

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Industry
Air
1 Ambient Concentration of Suspended Particulate Matter Urban S GPCB
(SPM) area Municipalities
Annual Average
Percentage of time 24-hourly average concentration standards
are exceeded
2. Ambient concentration of Sulphur Oxides (SO2) Urban S GPCB
Annual Averages area Municipalities
Percentage of time 24-hourly average concentration standards
are exceeded
3. Ambient concentration of nitrogen oxides (NOx) Urban S GPCB
a) Annual Averages area Municipalities
b) Percentage of time 24-hourly average concentration
standards are exceeded
4. Number of cases filed by GPCB for violation of Air Act, 1981 R GPCB
Water
5. Trends in quantity of water consumed per annum by industrial Water P GIDC
sector
6. Industrial COD load discharged into the water bodies P GPCB
7. Industrial toxic discharges (metal) into water bodies P GPCB
8. % change in output of 17 most polluting industries (listed by P GPCB
CPCB)
9. Average annual concentration of chemical oxygen demand Water S GPCB
(COD) in surface water bodies downstream of industrial
discharges.
10 Percentage of time pH values not confirming to standards in a S GPCB
. year for water bodies
11 Number of cases filed by GPCB for violation of Water Act Water R GPCB
.
12 Number of Industrial water related complaints Water R GPCB
.
13 Volume of desalinated water Used in industries as a R GPCB
. percentage of total industrial water use
14 Volume of ground water as a percentage of total water used P GWRDC/GIDC
. for industrial purpose
Land
15 Number of cases filed by GPCB for violation of HWM rules R GPCB
.
16 % output produced from cleaner technology to total output R GPCB
. produced
General
17 Number of directions issued by the state government under R GPCB
. Section 5 of EPA, 1986 as a percentage of cases recommended
by GPCB
Urban sector
Urban (man-made) environment
1. Composite Index of Urban environment Quality (based on 7 S/P CEPT
indictors)
Urban Water
8. Maximum distance for sourcing surface or ground water P Municipality
(kms.)₤
9. Water quality: groundwater salinity (aveg. TDS) S/P Municipality
10 Biological water class of selected surface water bodies S Municipality
.
11 Deterioration in biological water class of the selected water P Municipality
. bodies over time

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Urban Waste
12 Wastewater generation: P
. - trends in quantum of municipal waste discharged into the sea GPCB and
via. Rivers, streams and estuaries Municipality
13 Wastewater treatment and disposal: R GPCB and
. - wastewater treated as % of total requirement Municipality
15 Trends in Solid waste generation in tonnes per annum P GPCB and
. Municipality
16 Collection of solid wastes: R GPCB and
. Wastes collected as % of total waste generated (computed on Municipality
basis of average per capita waste for last three years)
17 Disposal of solid wastes: R GPCB and
. Wastes transported (disposed) as % of total wastes collected Municipality
% of wastes treated before disposal
Soil conditioning of landfills (Y/N)
Urban air
19 Ambient air quality (Index): S GPCB
. - SPM, SOX, NOX
CO, PM10, RPM, % Oxygen
20 Monitoring Stations: R GPCB
. - Number per10 sq. kms.
21 Emission Norm Compliance: P GPCB
. Vehicles failing emission standards (PUC) % of Checked
Factories failing emission standards set by GPCB as %
total factories with emissions
Urban land
23 Agricultural land added to urban area as % of total urban land P UDA
.
24 Green areas: R UDA
. % area under greenbelts per capita green area
Coastal Zone
1. Discharge of domestic sewage without treatment (million cu. m) Urban P GPCB
area
2. Discharge of industrial effluents without treatment or only after Industry P GPCB
primary treatment
(million cu. m)
3. Dissolved Oxygen in surface sea-water up to 25 km. From the S DOD
shore (mg/l)
4. Biological Oxygen Demand in surface sea-water up to 25 km. S DOD
from the shore (mg/l)
5. Zooplankton biomass in volume/volume of sea-water (ml/100 m S DOD
cu.)
6. Dominance of single group of zooplanktons – in this case S DOD
Copepoda sp. (percentage)
7. Extent of wastewater entering rivers without any treatment or Industry, R GPCB
after only primary treatment Urban
area

Abbreviation:

P = Pressure; S = State; R = response; FSI = Forest Survey of India, Dehradun ; FD = Forest

Department; GWSSB = Gujarat Water Supply & Sewerage Board; GIDC=Gujarat Industrial
Development Corporation; GWRDC = Ground Water Resource Development Corporation; GPCB =
Gujarat Pollution Control Board; DPD = Department of Ocean Development; GCPC = Gujarat Cleaner
Production Centre; CEPT = Centre for Environmental Planning & Technology; UDA = Urban
Development

Source: Sudarshan Iyengar and Astad Pastakia, 2003. Developing Environmental Indicators
For Gujarat, Gujarat Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad. Chapter 6, Table 6.1.

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