question_answer

Increasing pollution and deforestation are two of the main environmental issues now - a - days. As a responsible citizen of India, what individual measures would you adopt to reduce environmental pollution? Can you also write two past events which can display people participation in saving our forests?

Or

(i) What do you understand by Slash and Burn cultivation?

(ii) What is biomagnification?

(iii) How can level of pollution be decreased by banning chemical fertilisers?

Answer:

To reduce environmental pollution, i will change my habits and lifestyle. I will reduce the use of disposable materials. I will preferably use those items, which can be easily recycled and will minimise the use of fossil fuels. Other steps that may be taken to reduce pollution are as follows

(i) Prevention of noise pollution by using fire crackers/ TV/loudspeakers at permissible limits.

(ii) Reduction in air pollution from automobile exhausts by using proper speed as well as regular servicing and also by using catalytic converters in vehicles.

(iii) No use of polythene bags.

(iv) Tree plantation around residential area.

(v) Proper disposal of non - biodegradable wastes.

The role of women and communities in rotection and conservation of forests are as follows

(a) In 1731, a Bishnoi woman, Amrita Devi (Judhpur) showed exemplary courage by hugging a tree and prevented it from cutting, Her three daughters and hundreds of other Bishnois followed her and lost their lives, while saving trees.

(b) Chipko movement in Garhwal Himalayas was started in 1974. Local women showed enormous courage in protecting trees from the axe of contractors by hugging them.

Or

(i) Slash and Burn is also called as Jhum cultivation. It is practiced in the North - Eastern states of the India. In this method, the farmers cut down the trees of the forest and burn the plant remains. The ash is used as a fertiliser and the land is then used for farming or cattle grazing. After cultivation, the area is left for several years, so as to allow its recovery.

(ii) Biomagnification refers to an increase in concentration of the toxic substances at successive trophic levels. This happens because a toxic substance accumulated by an organism cannot be metabolised or excreted and is thus passed onto the next higher trophic level. This phenomenon is well known in case of DDT pollution.

(iii) After Green Revolution, the use of inorganic fertilisers, etc., has increased to enhance the crop productivity. Pesticides, fungicides, herbicides are being increasingly used to serve this purpose. These chemical substances are toxic to non - target organisms and also pollute the soil and water bodies. They cause problems like eutrophication, biomagnification and soil pollution. By banning these chemical fertilisers all these problems can be solved. Instead of these chemical fertilisers, biofertilisers can be used to increase the yield, They will not cause adverse effect on the environment.