The Energy and Resources Institute (formerly Tata Energy Research Institute - TERI) has released the findings of its 2014 Environment Survey, which was initiated to gauge the perception, awareness, opinion and behaviour of people towards environmental issues in India.
This year, the survey covered eight cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Indore, Jamshedpur, Kanpur and Pune. The focus of the survey was on the general environment, and in particular, water and waste related issues. The survey comprised a sample of 11,214 citizens spread across the selected urban agglomerates of India.
Dr ProdiptoGhosh, Distinguished Fellow, TERI, said "TERI's Environmental Survey 2014 of residents from eight major cities of the country provides usual insights into the attitude and perceptions regarding India's environment. Urban respondents felt government and consumers played a positive role for improving the environment. The survey will be of immense value to policy-makers in identifying areas where sound environment management policy can play a significant role, and where greater efforts of outreach and awareness building are necessary."
Almost 81 per cent of the respondents perceived the air quality to have worsened in recent years, 56 per cent felt that green cover in the surrounding areas had declined, and nearly 70 per cent felt that waste management had worsened. Around 50 per cent of the respondents felt that drinking water quality and availability had improved.
Almost all the respondents (98 per cent) felt that climate change was occurring with 93 per cent of those surveyed indicating a rise in temperatures and 71 per cent indicating a decline in rainfall in recent years.
About 45 per cent of respondents felt that protecting the environment went hand in hand with the objectives of development, while about 42per cent felt that the government should prioritize development over environment. Across environmental issues, respondents were either of the opinion that relevant policies did not exist and where they did exist, these were inadequate or not implemented properly. In terms of efforts for protecting environment, maximum number of respondents assigned the first rank to consumers, and assigned the lowest rank to the government.
Jamshedpur is located in the East Singhbhum district of the State of Jharkhand in India on the Chota Nagpur plateau and is surrounded by the Dalma Hills and the rivers Subarnarekha and Kharkhai.