Impact of Environmental Pollution on Maharashtra

Urbanisation is considered as one of the indicators of economic growth. It is said that, greater the urbanisation then higher the economic growth and vice versa. It is a fact that we found the concentration of the economic growth in the urban areas, especially in the developing countries like India. Nevertheless, the centralisation of the economic growth along with the availability of economic and social infrastructures results in the rapid growth of the cities and metropolitan cities. There population growth coupled with migration of the population from rural and semi urban areas leads to urbanisation and thereby the rapid growth of cities and metropolitans, which over crowded them day by day. Urbanisation contributes in several ways to the environmental problems and consequently environmental damage. This disturbs the environmental balance and becomes responsible for the various evil consequences. Thus, urbanization is very closely related to environmental deterioration and put forth environmental bad effects and environmental damage cost, which is an important but less attention paid component in the Economics of Environment. This demands to examine the relationship between urbanisation and environmental degradation, and thereby the environmental damage cost to be borne by the society as a whole. We found rapidly growing urbanisation in general in India and Maharashtra in particular. The present study examines the extent of urban environmental problems in the state of Maharashtra in India. Their causes and remedial measures on the same. The very important point of its significance is, it calculates the cost of environmental damage taking into consideration some attributes of environmental degradation with special reference to Western Maharashtra, which has industrially and agriculturally developed districts. This provides guidelines in estimating the intensity of the problem of environmental pollution. It provides a road map for government and decision-making authorities in taking due course of action so as to tackle environmental problems under area covered. The state governments as well as union government of India do benefit a lot in formulating and implementing environmental policies. Human resources will be cautious and familiar with evil effects of environmental damage and its cost to be suffered by them. The study brings forth the economic losses due to deterioration of the environment. It is against this backdrop, undertaking of the present study is very much essential and urgently needed. The foregoing analysis reveals that environmental damage cost in urban Western Maharashtra is huge calculated on the basis of both the method, i. e. impact pathway approach, as well as the contingent valuation methods. But the estimates of the contingent valuation method indicate higher environmental damage cost in Western Maharashtra than that of impact pathway approach. Further it is higher for estimates based on willingness to accept than willingness to pay. It is of significant level in comparison with both the income of Western Maharashtra, as well as GSDP of the Maharashtra.


I) INTRODUCTION:
Urbanisation is considered as one of the indicators of economic growth. It is said that, greater the urbanisation then higher the economic growth and vice versa. It is a fact that we found the concentration of the economic growth in the urban areas, especially in the developing countries like India. Nevertheless, the centralisation of the economic growth along with the availability of economic and social infrastructures results in the rapid growth of the cities and metropolitan cities. There population growth coupled with migration of the population from rural and semi urban areas leads to urbanisation and thereby the rapid growth of cities and metropolitans, which over crowded them day by day. Urbanisation contributes in several ways to the environmental problems and consequently environmental damage. This disturbs the environmental balance and becomes responsible for the various evil consequences. Thus, urbanization is very closely related to environmental deterioration and put forth environmental bad effects and environmental damage cost, which is an important but less attention paid component in the Economics of Environment. This demands to examine the relationship between urbanisation and environmental degradation, and thereby the environmental damage cost to be borne by the society as a whole. We found rapidly growing urbanisation in general in India and Maharashtra in particular.
It is a fact that economic growth has been concentrated in urban areas or cities and metropolitan cities in the developing countries like India. Except agriculture, all other productive sectors such as secondary, tertiary development is concen-trated in the cities only. Likewise, socio-economic infrastructural facilities also have been centralised mainly in the urban areas. The noteworthy are roads, transport and communication, electricity, water supply, education, health and medical, entertainment, railways, and so on. Due to concentrated growth, the people prefer to stay in the cities to get employment opportunities. To derive the benefits of the social and economic infrastructures migration as well as population growth results in urbanisation and thereby over crowded cities. The concentrated economic growth materialised through the development of productive activities included in the secondary and tertiary sectors create the environmental problems like air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, land degradation, problem of wastes etc. and contribute to environmental deterioration and damage. Population growth in the cities and migration of the population results in overcrowding of the cities as the result of which the development of slums, encroachments over footpaths take place that contributes environmental degradation by creating over pressures on socio-economic infrastructural facilities as well as air pollution, water pollution, problem of waste management as well as land degradation.
Environmental degradation in urban areas in the form of air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, land degradation has severe consequences, which creates a significant environmental damage cost, which is to be borne by the society as a whole. The noteworthy evil effects of land degradation are unfavourable climatic conditions due to deforestation, salination of land, loss of cultivable land, decrease in fertile land, human diseases and health hazard, adverse effect on drinking water supplies, green house and global warming effects, fall in agricultural productivity, fall in rainfalls and drought conditions, starvation and malnutrition. Water pollution effects consist of water borne diseases such as dysentery, typhoid fever, cholera and hepatitis, reduction in utility for industry, fall in agricultural productivity, fall in availability of food resources, decline in aesthetic and recreational values, extermination of flora and fauna, teeth deformation, shifting of bones and paralysis, destroy of aquatic life etc. The major evil effects of air pollution include eye, throat, nose and irritation of respiratory tract, odour nuisance, increase in morality and morbidity rate, asthmatic attacks, bronchitis, cardiovascular and pulmonary disease, disease of bone (fluorsis) and mottling of teeth, damage of plant species, fluoride poisoning of animals, death of animals and paralysis, plant damages in the form of yellowing of leaves, death of plant tissues, necrosis, adverse effect on buildings, fabrics, cars, green house effects and global warming etc. The evil effects of noise pollution consist of damage to hearing cells, sudden rupture of an eardrum, hearing loss, workers tire so on, fall in quality and efficiency, disturbance in oral communication, misunderstanding in information transmission, delayed action, circulatory problems, blood flow disturbances, irregularities in heart rate, lack of concentration, nausea, headache, insomnia loss of appetite, peptic ulcer, tumour, adverse effect on pregnant mother, constriction of smaller blood vessels in fingers and eyes. All these evil effects of environmental damage lead to environmental damage cost to be borne by the people or society. That environmental damage cost is necessary to study and calculate. Even it is difficult to study all the effects of environment degradation and their costing, it is possible to quantify some environmental evil effects and their social cost to the society. The major items of evil environmental effects that can be quantified and their costing is possible are cost of effects on human health, land degradation, materials, buildings and vehicles, flora etc. Therefore, they are prominently considered in this study.
The present study examines the extent of urban environmental problems in the state of Maharashtra in India. Their causes and remedial measures on the same. The very important point of its significance is, it calculates the cost of environmental damage taking into consideration some attributes of environmental degradation with special reference to Western Maharashtra, which has industrially and agriculturally developed districts. This provides guidelines in estimating the intensity of the problem of environmental pollution. It provides a road map for government and decision-making authorities in taking due course of action so as to tackle environmental problems under area covered. The state governments as well as union government of India do benefit a lot in formulating and implementing environmental policies. Human resources will be cautious and familiar with evil effects of environmental damage and its cost to be suffered by them. The study brings forth the economic losses due to deterioration of the environment. It is against this backdrop, undertaking of the present study is very much essential and urgently needed.

II) DATA AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
The present study attempts to study the problem of urban environmental degradation with reference to Maharashtra in general and Western Maharashtra of India in particular. It examines the nature, causes, consequences and extent of environmental pollution in the context of Maharashtra state in general and a few cities of Western Maharashtra in particular, which are headquarters of the Municipal Corporations. The total number of Municipal Corporations was 22 in the year 2005-06. The present research study makes use of both the secondary data as well as Primary data. The secondary data has been collected from the publications of concerned Municipal Corporations, State Pollution Control Board, Central Pollution Control Board, Socio Economic Survey of various districts, Economic Survey of Maharashtra, Reports of Ministry of Environment and Forests, etc. The present research study covers the latest period of ten years from 2001-02 to 2010-11.