Coastal and marine ecosystems are found in 123 countries around the world. The marine habitats include a wide range of ecosystems such as the shallow coral reef ecosystem, mesophotic reef ecosystem, soft sediment ocean floor ecosystem to coastal estuarine ecosystem, saline wetland ecosystem, mangrove ecosystem, gulf waters, creeks, tidal flats, deltaic plains etc.
Marine biodiversity includes these wide ranges of ecosystems from coastal areas to the deep sea. Being one of the 17 Mega-diverse countries, India represents 4 hotspots among the 32 biodiversity hotspots of the world. The geographical location of India between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn is among the most important reasons for the enormous biological diversity and supports them in accordance with conductive climatic factors.
MAJOR ECOSYSTEMS
MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM
Mangrove ecosystems occur mostly in the inter-tidal region between mean sea level to the highest spring tide in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. India’s mangrove cover is sporadic with a total area covering 4,627.63 sq. km. among 12 maritime states and union territories. A total of 125 species including 39 species of true mangroves and 86 species of associates are recorded in India. The highest species diversity is recorded from Odisha with a total of 101 species while Gujarat harbors 40 species. Mangrove habitats serve as one of the best nursery grounds for the development and aggregation of several faunal species. A total of 3111 species of mangrove associated fauna were recorded from India.
SEAWEED ECOSYSTEMS
Seaweeds are the marine macro algae under 3 phyla or divisions, namely, Brown Algae i.e., Phaeophyta, Red Algae i.e.,Rhodophyta and Green Algae i.e., Chlorophyta. Most of the importance of seaweed is derived from its delicacy and being adopted by coastal dwellers in several counties for consumption as food. They are a good source of nutrients and are used as fertilizer for agricultural purposes. Seaweeds contain plenty of minerals which can be extracted to meet the necessary requirements. The therapeutic applications of seaweeds cover a wide range where these are used for the purposes of treatment.
A total of 936 species of marine algae were recorded from Indian coastal and marine environments. This ecosystem provides massive infrastructure for many associated faunal communities but the studies do not span all of the coastal regions.
SEAGRASS ECOSYSTEMS
Seagrasses are commonly known as the flowering group of plants. A total of 14 species of seagrasses are reported in Indian waters. The ecological contribution of this ecosystem towards niche maintenance is remarkable in coastal waters situated at the continental shelf region. It increases the complexity of life and provides a healthy place to live for a wide range of species. It provides the basic strata for all the dwelling organisms as a nursery ground for reproduction, pre and post larval settlement as well as protection for those animals against oceanic currents and sedimentation. A total of 1059 species of animals belonging to 18 groups were reported from the seagrass ecosystems in the Indian seas which harbor 5.18 per cent of India’s marine fauna.
CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEMS
Coral reefs are among the most ecologically fragile environments of the globe. These biological organisms are abundant and very common in marine environments, and have been known to natural historians for millennia. Despite covering less than 0.2 per cent of the total area of oceans, coral reefs are noted for some of the highest levels of biodiversity on Earth and house 25 per cent of all marine creatures. It has been estimated that about 1-9 million species live on coral reefs.
The coral reef ecosystem contributes various services such as biological, ecological, physiological services and economic services for the sustainable development as well as protection of the marine and coastal habitats. India represents a total 57.10 sq. km. of coral cover. The major reef areas of India are the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, Lakshadweep and Gujarat while small patches of reef have also been recorded from Gopalpur-on-Sea, Kerala, Netrani Island of Karnataka, Goa and Malvan coast. Most of the marine faunal communities are recorded from the reef habitats of India.
FAUNAL DIVERSITY
The exploration of marine biodiversity in India was initiated long back and it is perhaps the first among the Asian countries. The studies on the marine faunal communities of India were documented from the shallow regions of the ocean floor while ample areas of the seas are to be explored for the documentation of several unknown faunal communities. A total of 20,444 species of fauna have been recorded from India’s marine and coastal waters. India contributes to 6.43 per cent of global marine biodiversity and 7.01 per cent of global faunal diversity.
PROTECTED MARINE FAUNA
A total of 733 areas (103 National Parks, 532 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 26 Community Reserves and 67 Conservation Reserves) have been declared as protected areas in India. 18 biosphere reserves have also been declared to protect entire ecosystems. According to a series of notifications issued under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, so far 1180 species are listed as protected marine animals of India.
Fig: Numbers of Protected Marine Species in India
THREATS TO COASTAL AND MARINE ECOSYSTEMS
NATURAL: Storms and wave energies may be seen as typhoons, quakes, and tsunamis. These are natural catastrophic events which may lead to the destruction of marine biodiversity.
ANTHROPOGENIC: Sedimentation from developmental activities, eutrophication from sewage and agriculture, physical impact of maritime activities, dredging, destructive fishing practices, pollution from industrial sources, climate change, introduction of invasive species, UV- radiation, carbonate mineral saturation, habitat alteration, unregulated tourism, chemical stress, oil spills, anchoring and bacterial effects.
LEGISLATION
WILDLIFE (PROTECTION) ACT, 1972: Provides protection to a wide number of animals against collection.
ENVIRONMENTAL (PROTECTION) ACT, 1986: Prohibits use of any parts of selected marine faunal communities against construction and other purposes.
COASTAL REGULATION ZONE NOTIFICATION, 1991: Regulates onshore development activities to protect coastal environments.
CITES: Restricts the trade of threatened marine fauna in order to avoid unsustainable utilization under Appendix II.
UNCLOS, MARPOL, and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants: Regulation of marine pollution.
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Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.