PREFACE

The environmental problems and development problems are closely related to one another. The problems of environment are of two varieties (i) those arising out of poverty or inadequacy of development and (ii) those arising out of the development itself. The first category is bad water, poor housing, disease and sickness, lack of sanitation and sewerage facilities, malnutrition, natural disasters, poor economic conditions, that prevail in both rural and urban areas. Though we made remarkable progress since independence, increased our gross national product and per capita income, enormous population increase in the same period has substantially increased the demand for various items of production. The remedial measure for this is only in - the development. The second category, the process of development itself may bring in various environmental problems such as. depletion of natural resources, deterioration in the assimilative capacity of ecosystem, air water and soil pollution, contamination and bioaccumulation of toxic material in environment destruction of natural ecosystem, unplanned development of settlements with consequential effects, impact on health of the population, climatic influences with resultant effects on agriculture, water resources, etc. Any major economic development plans are bound to have certain positive and negative environmental aspects associated with it. The need of the hour is to ensure that such development is in consonance with the natural environment with minimal adverse effects. We should see that all precautions arc taken by providing suitable mitigative measures, safeguards and they should he managed at the best possible level at all times.

There is certain amount of inherent antagonism between the development and environment. But we cannot forego development. The people have to be raised from the level of poverty. The growing population, which is negative effects of development actually, is to be provided with improvement in standards of life. But in our anxiety to create better conditions for man. we cannot ignore that deleterious effect of our development projects on environment. So we rave to resolve this inherent conflict between development and environment. We have to harmonize the demand* of the growing population and the consideration of conservation of the eco-system It may cot be out of place to mention that development projects may have at a function positive as well as negative aspects. What is require needed is the development of processes and technologies for reducing the efficient pollution by inventing gadgets or devices appropriate from the point of view of in this cost and efficacy. Development of cheap and appropriate pollution control technologies should from an integral pan of survey, analysis and factor monitoring of environmental pollution.

A delicate balance exists between man and his environment Lately, this balance has been seriously disturbed by man's direct as well as indirect activities. Thousands of toxic containments of various types, viz. inorganic, organic and organic-metallic, have found their ways to our environment. Many of them are highly.