e suffocating dust and smoke of the cities, horrifying sight of naked hills denuded of greenery, the frequent patches of white coloured 'usar' soil - all point to the fast deteriorating environment around us. While there is undoubted increase in the comforts and luxuries in the privacies of well-maintained homes, one has to go farther and farther from human habitation to breathe in unspoiled atmosphere.
The environmentalists are getting shriller and shriller in their indictment of authorities encroaching upon the virgin forests and secluded hills to make irrigation dams and generate hydro-electric power and displacing poor hill andtribal people. They do get a sympathetic hearing in academic and even some governmental fora, but the pressure of development-process is not able to dissuade theauthorities from going ahead with the exploitation Of hither-to protected bio-mass in hills and forests.
The question arises whether the environmental degradation has reached a point of no return or some remedial steps can reverse the process. Before venturing an opinion on this ticklish issue, we must take a stock of the degradation which has taken place. With their tremendous genetic diversity, tropical forests are extremely fragile eco- system, highly susceptible to damage from human activities. Once damaged, it leads to interruption of nutrient cycling, loss of soil fertility, extinction of plant and animal species, soil erosion, down-stream siltation, flooding, and damage to irrigation systems and acutefuel-wood shortages. The effects ripple through agriculture, energy supply, water and nearly every aspect of life of more than one billion people. The end result is biological impoverishment and human suffering writ large.
The current estimate is that about 80000 square kilometres, an area the size Austria, is lost, that is converted to non-forest uses, each year. Air pollution is increasing unabated. Air pollutants, sulphur-dioxide, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide go up and then come down causing visibly dirty air, noticeable effects on human health and withering Of plants near the source of emission. The atmosphere is not a passive receptacle of pollution
