Region and Environmental Sustainability :A Case of Bhopal Region
Dr. Alka Bharat
Abstract
Sustainability is a concept for preserving today’s resources and env. for safe tomorrow. In today’s context this concept is very important and helpful because of saturation of pollutants which is due to negligence. Because of this ignorance the world is today standing on the cliff where with a slight disturbance in the ecological balance the result will be disastrous.
As the env. does not have defined boundaries so its effect cannot also be contained to limits of a settlement. Hence a region is more authentic fabric to discuss this issue with help of using elaborate study, survey, analytical tools to workout system of working, formulation of policy, monitoring and implementation.
The primary study has focused mainly on the following issues.
• Region and its working
• Industrialization and its impact on development /society
• How pace of industrial growth and urban growth has been influenced by each other and harmonized.
• Env. concerns (specially due to industrialization)
• Integrating local and global environmental concerns and policies to address the concerned issues.
• How the process of dev. can be regulated to achieve a balance between urban growth and environment sustainability.
To study and assess above addressed issues different methods were used. This work is an integrated attempt of study of different sectors (especially industrialization as important component of urban area) contributing to environmental deterioration.
Imageries and secondary data (with specific primary data) were used to give precise direction of growth and pollution level variation on Air (cannot be de contained within defined boundaries), water (can be limited to certain extent), land (have defined boundaries) due to industrial activity exclusively.
This study analyze the behavior of environment / urban growth and changes thereof due to change in pollution level (with help of models and different methodologies) due to industrial activity , which being a very important bye product of urban activity.
The study was suggestive that Implications of dev. on env. are significant, affecting our natural and built env. and rate of change is more than the rate of regeneration (adaptation) so all planning norms, policy and dev. scheme should be prepared with this in mind.
Conclusion of elaborate study is:
•Anthropogenic activities need to be classified on the basis of environmental impact they have on the surrounding environmental elements.
•Proper sitting and land-use planning on the basis of zoning all few foolproof ways among many, to mitigate risk and adverse impact on environment in future.
Along with other proposals important are three different models directing balancing Strategies by segregating areas as restricted area, Area permitted for development, Induce counter forces of development. Measures in form of preventive, curative and adaptive are also suggested. Encompassing all these a model for categorizing industries for development of area on basis of pollution level is eventually proposed.
A STEP FURTHER
Output provides platform for further research on pollution and environment changes on urban / regional fabric forming basis of climate changes and other global changes. Climate change and water resources has been taken as post doctoral research area with one sponsored research project in this area and one research fellow working under the proposer on broad area of risk assessment on water resources with reference to climate change in context of development.