Climate change is occurring: 90% Indians feel temperature gone up, rainfall decreasing

New Delhi: Every nine of 10 Indians in eight cities felt that climage change was concurring, average temperatures had risen and rainfall levels had gone down over time, a study said.

Moreover, around 86 per cent of respondents felt that polythene bags should be banned, while 80 per cent of them were aware of the problem of e-waste, and most respondents either repaired or re-used electronic goods, the study by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) said.

Over 70 per cent of respondents were aware of water being subsidised. Of those who were aware, over half felt that water should be charged as per usage, while 35 per cent were against it, it added.

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The Environmental Survey 2014 was initiated to gauge the perception, awareness, opinion and behaviour of people towards environment in India. The survey covered Delhi, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Indore, Jamshedpur, Kanpur and Pune.

“A majority of the respondents (90 per cent) across cities felt that global warming was occurring. Out of those felt that temperature had increased, while rainfall had decreased over time.”

In Indore, Jamshedpur, Coimbatore, Pune, Delhi, and Mumbai, most respondents felt that the number of windy days had shown a decreasing pattern, while in Kanpur and Guwahati most felt that the pattern had become more extreme, it said.

On the whole, a large majority felt that air quality had worsened and the number of bird species had declined in their cities. However, a majority of people felt that drinking water availability and quality as well as waste management in their cities had improved, it added.

“This time, we have focused on cities which normally don’t get the kind of attention they deserve. If we want to bring about improvement in environmental quality, then the foundation on which any such effort would rest, would be on the awareness of the public,” TERI Director General R K Pachauri said in a statement.

On government’s environment related policies, the survey said, “By and large, people were aware of the policies but were concerned about their adequacy and level of implementation.”

In Jamshedpur, the majority felt that there were no policies for air pollution and over 20 per cent of respondents felt that there were no policies to address water conservation and pollution, waste management, and climate change.

The survey said over 90 per cent felt that the quality of the environment had an immediate impact on health. Close to 40 per cent of the respondents felt that environment and development went hand in hand.

“More than 30 per cent respondents opined that the government should prioritize environment over development.” In terms of efforts to improve environment, the survey said almost 90 per cent of respondents felt that improper waste management imposed severe to moderate health hazards.

More than 50 per cent of respondents were not willing to segregate their waste into biodegradable and non-degradable, it added.

Generating less waste was seen as the best strategy to address the problem of waste management followed by segregation of waste, it added.

That apart, the survey said that over 40 per cent of the respondents ranked the government the highest followed by general consumers. Nearly one-third of respondents felt that academic and research organizations were putting in the least effort to address environmental concerns, it added.

PTI