When we talk about pollution, thermal pollution rarely comes to our minds. However, with the innumerable thermal power plants and industries mushrooming everywhere, thermal pollution is a real and persistent problem of current times.
Thermal pollution in the broadest sense can be defined as the abrupt change in ambient temperature of a natural water body by any human induced processes. The increase or decrease of water temperature degrades the quality of water and makes it unfit for consumption or the life-systems of aquatic organisms. It could happen in lakes, rivers, oceans or even ponds.
What are the sources of thermal pollution?
The major sources of thermal pollution are heated waste water produced from production and manufacturing plants – coal fired thermal power plants, natural gas plants, nuclear plants, textiles, paper and pulp industries, etc. These units utilize a huge amount of water as a ‘cooling agent’ in lowering the temperature of machinery such as generators and heat engines. Thus, water acts as an efficient sink for heat waste. The heated water is then released back to the source which is either a river or an ocean in most cases causing a disturbance in the thermal equilibrium.
Removal of vegetation or deforestation is another unpopular but significant source of thermal pollution. Vegetation, particularly trees, keeps the temperature of the water cool by providing shades to ponds, lakes, and rivers etc. In the absence of trees, the water bodies are exposed to more sunlight and absorb heat, which raises the normal temperature of the water. Also, soil erosion leads to a raise in the levels of water and shallowing of lakes and rivers which could increase sunlight concentration and warming of water.
Natural processes such as volcanic eruption or geothermal activities under the ocean or land could also increase thermal pollution. The lava (molten rocks) could lead to a sharp rise in the temperature of water.
Ecological impacts of thermal pollution
Thermal pollution is still widely seen as an insignificant problem when compared to other kinds of pollutions such as carbon emissions or solid waste. Many have contested the importance of production plants and industries over the potential ecological threat posed by thermal pollution.
The most vital requirement for survival of aquatic animals is the ambient temperature. A slight deviation from this temperature could bring a detrimental effect on the living organisms and their surrounding ecology. The following are a few important ecological impacts of thermal pollution-
- Decrease in dissolved oxygen – Oxygen, like in the air is equally essential for aquatic life. The warmer the water the lesser is the rate at which oxygen is dissolved in it. Therefore, a slight change in temperature of water could lead to an anaerobic or oxygen deficient condition thus sabotaging aquatic life. Warm water also increases the rate of organic component decomposition which is an oxygen consuming process thus contributing to depletion of dissolved oxygen.
- Most of the aquatic organisms have evolved in such a way that the enzyme systems are functional in a very narrow range of temperature called ‘stenothermic organisms’. A small decrease or increase of temperature may bring a ‘thermal shock’ which sometimes can lead to mass killings of fishes, plants, insects etc (Pollution Issues, 2017). Organisms such as mollusc, sponges, and crustaceans are eliminated easily at temperatures above 37° C (Techgape, 2017).
- On the other hand, there may be sudden increase in metabolism of certain species and impetuous rise in numbers. This disrupts the stability of food chains and alters the species composition in the environment. Thermal pollution is also known to have an adverse affect on the reproductive system of aquatic animals (Conserve Energy Future, 2017).
- Abrupt mass migration of species is another severe problem associated with thermal pollution. The change in temperature may force species to migrate to another habitat creating a hollow food web.
- Corals are highly susceptible to temperature anomaly therefore thermal pollution from run-offs and effluents causes bleaching e.i the expulsion of its symbiont algae and subsequent death of corals.
As an example, it is estimated that, about 46 million adult fish, 2.4 billion eggs, larvae and young fish are killed annually by the effluents from the First Energy Bay Shore Plant on the Maumee River shoreline near Toledo, Ohio. Also, the Monroe Power Plant in Michigan reportedly kills more than 25 million fish each year (Sourcewatch.org, 2017).
Control of Thermal Pollution
A few scientific techniques that could be employed by any industrial units for controlling thermal pollution are – creation of cooling ponds, artificial lakes, and cooling towers. Cooling ponds is one of the simplest and cheapest methods where the heated waste water is stored in a pond before releasing it into the mainstream waterways. It gives enough time to dissipate the heat into the atmosphere through the process of evaporation. Likewise, cooling towers are installed in chemical processing power plants, steel mills, and other manufacturing processes where cooling of the effluent is required before discharge. It involves upward recirculation of a cascade of heated waste water through the towers into the air by evaporative processes. However, these methods are found to be effectively operating in small scale industries limited to the developed nations. Also, change in local meteorological conditions is a concern in cooling towers as large amounts of water vapour enters the atmosphere.
The role of government in controlling thermal pollution is very crucial in developing countries such as India concerning legal and abatement policy frameworks for wastewater treatment. This could be realised through stringent regulations and constant monitoring of effluent discharges from different industrial sectors.
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- In the Large States category (overall), Chhattisgarh ranks 1st, followed by Odisha and Telangana, whereas, towards the bottom are Maharashtra at 16th, Assam at 17th and Gujarat at 18th. Gujarat is one State that has seen startling performance ranking 5th in the PAI 2021 Index outperforming traditionally good performing States like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, but ranks last in terms of Delta
- In the Small States category (overall), Nagaland tops, followed by Mizoram and Tripura. Towards the tail end of the overall Delta ranking is Uttarakhand (9th), Arunachal Pradesh (10th) and Meghalaya (11th). Nagaland despite being a poor performer in the PAI 2021 Index has come out to be the top performer in Delta, similarly, Mizoram’s performance in Delta is also reflected in it’s ranking in the PAI 2021 Index
- In terms of Equity, in the Large States category, Chhattisgarh has the best Delta rate on Equity indicators, this is also reflected in the performance of Chhattisgarh in the Equity Pillar where it ranks 4th. Following Chhattisgarh is Odisha ranking 2nd in Delta-Equity ranking, but ranks 17th in the Equity Pillar of PAI 2021. Telangana ranks 3rd in Delta-Equity ranking even though it is not a top performer in this Pillar in the overall PAI 2021 Index. Jharkhand (16th), Uttar Pradesh (17th) and Assam (18th) rank at the bottom with Uttar Pradesh’s performance in line with the PAI 2021 Index
- Odisha and Nagaland have shown the best year-on-year improvement under 12 Key Development indicators.
- In the 60:40 division States, the top three performers are Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu and, the bottom three performers are Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.
- In the 90:10 division States, the top three performers were Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Mizoram; and, the bottom three performers are Manipur, Assam and Meghalaya.
- Among the 60:40 division States, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are the top three performers and Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Delhi appear as the bottom three performers.
- Among the 90:10 division States, the top three performers are Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland; and, the bottom three performers are Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh
- Among the 60:40 division States, Goa, West Bengal and Delhi appear as the top three performers and Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar appear as the bottom three performers.
- Among the 90:10 division States, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura were the top three performers and Jammu & Kashmir, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh were the bottom three performers
- West Bengal, Bihar and Tamil Nadu were the top three States amongst the 60:40 division States; while Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan appeared as the bottom three performers
- In the case of 90:10 division States, Mizoram, Assam and Tripura were the top three performers and Nagaland, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand featured as the bottom three
- Among the 60:40 division States, the top three performers are Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and the bottom three performers are Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Goa
- In the 90:10 division States, the top three performers are Mizoram, Sikkim and Nagaland and the bottom three performers are Manipur and Assam
In a diverse country like India, where each State is socially, culturally, economically, and politically distinct, measuring Governance becomes increasingly tricky. The Public Affairs Index (PAI 2021) is a scientifically rigorous, data-based framework that measures the quality of governance at the Sub-national level and ranks the States and Union Territories (UTs) of India on a Composite Index (CI).
States are classified into two categories – Large and Small – using population as the criteria.
In PAI 2021, PAC defined three significant pillars that embody Governance – Growth, Equity, and Sustainability. Each of the three Pillars is circumscribed by five governance praxis Themes.
The themes include – Voice and Accountability, Government Effectiveness, Rule of Law, Regulatory Quality and Control of Corruption.
At the bottom of the pyramid, 43 component indicators are mapped to 14 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are relevant to the States and UTs.
This forms the foundation of the conceptual framework of PAI 2021. The choice of the 43 indicators that go into the calculation of the CI were dictated by the objective of uncovering the complexity and multidimensional character of development governance
The Equity Principle
The Equity Pillar of the PAI 2021 Index analyses the inclusiveness impact at the Sub-national level in the country; inclusiveness in terms of the welfare of a society that depends primarily on establishing that all people feel that they have a say in the governance and are not excluded from the mainstream policy framework.
This requires all individuals and communities, but particularly the most vulnerable, to have an opportunity to improve or maintain their wellbeing. This chapter of PAI 2021 reflects the performance of States and UTs during the pandemic and questions the governance infrastructure in the country, analysing the effectiveness of schemes and the general livelihood of the people in terms of Equity.
Growth and its Discontents
Growth in its multidimensional form encompasses the essence of access to and the availability and optimal utilisation of resources. By resources, PAI 2021 refer to human resources, infrastructure and the budgetary allocations. Capacity building of an economy cannot take place if all the key players of growth do not drive development. The multiplier effects of better health care, improved educational outcomes, increased capital accumulation and lower unemployment levels contribute magnificently in the growth and development of the States.
The Pursuit Of Sustainability
The Sustainability Pillar analyses the access to and usage of resources that has an impact on environment, economy and humankind. The Pillar subsumes two themes and uses seven indicators to measure the effectiveness of government efforts with regards to Sustainability.
The Curious Case Of The Delta
The Delta Analysis presents the results on the State performance on year-on-year improvement. The rankings are measured as the Delta value over the last five to 10 years of data available for 12 Key Development Indicators (KDI). In PAI 2021, 12 indicators across the three Pillars of Equity (five indicators), Growth (five indicators) and Sustainability (two indicators). These KDIs are the outcome indicators crucial to assess Human Development. The Performance in the Delta Analysis is then compared to the Overall PAI 2021 Index.
Key Findings:-
In the Scheme of Things
The Scheme Analysis adds an additional dimension to ranking of the States on their governance. It attempts to complement the Governance Model by trying to understand the developmental activities undertaken by State Governments in the form of schemes. It also tries to understand whether better performance of States in schemes reflect in better governance.
The Centrally Sponsored schemes that were analysed are National Health Mission (NHM), Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services scheme (ICDS), Mahatma Gandh National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SmSA) and MidDay Meal Scheme (MDMS).
National Health Mission (NHM)
INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES (ICDS)
MID- DAY MEAL SCHEME (MDMS)
SAMAGRA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN (SMSA)
MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE SCHEME (MGNREGS)