The World Environment Day slated for observance on June 5, The Pioneer spoke to a number of environmentalists on the issue of plastic pollution which is choking the course of many rivers, including the sacred Ganga, and innumerable water bodies, posing thus a grave threat to the environment. The projects being launched by the Governments which involve humungous sums are failing to yield the desired results on the ground. Things are indeed grim as a team of scientists has pointed out that ten of the world's principal rivers, including Ganga and Brahmaputra, together account for about 90 per cent of plastic waste deposited by rivers into the sea. The study published in a renowned journal reveals that plastic waste is gathering in huge volume along the catchment zones of the rivers, killing the aquatic life and disturbing the whole of the ecosystem. Besides, the waste that accumulates in landfills causes drastic effect on our food chain.
Devendra Swaroop Bhargava, former professor of Environmental Engineering and Pollution Control at IIT Roorkee and AIT Bangkok, said that most of the institutions, including the IITs, are now churning out the pseudo engineers who later grab prime positions in the environment- related organisations with no knowledge of how the environmental problems can be rightly solved. “Environmental Engineering or Public Health Engineering had been a Master's level specialisation subject of Civil Engineering and it involves knowledge of hydraulics and mathematics at the highest applied level.
Apart from a rigorous training in the physical, chemical, biological analysis of water and wastewaters, the subject involves knowledge of Structural Engineering in the design of water or wastewater treatment, supply-collection units and related structures. However, regrettably, this knowledge is lacking in the present-day environmentalists, engineers and those who are acting as the decision makers in the important governmental bodies,” he said.
Another civil engineer from IIT Roorkee, Satyendra Mittal echoed the same idea and said that such pseudo environmentalists who are holding prime positions in the departments dealing with environment are solely responsible for the failure of the numerous environment-related and Ganga- related projects despite the governments doing everything to make such projects successful. “I have no doubt that such people are dominating the functioning of the ministry of environment, pollution control boards and research organisations. Besides, they are also influencing the proceedings of the courts while sitting there as advisors. Things are most unlikely to change for the better unless these important bodies are freed from such people who flaunt themselves as environmental engineers,” he said.
“No matter, how sternly the National Green Tribunal or the district administrations act to eliminate the pollution menace, things would not change on the ground until it is ensured that the policy makers and the decision makers have basic knowledge of water systems, hydraulics and structural engineering,” Mittal added.