India loses $80 bn due to pollution: World Bank

Environmental degradation in the region continues to worsen — driven by the familiar factors of increasing industrial and urban pollution in urban areas, and degeneration in rural and coastal areas from the unsustainable use of land, forest and water resources, the report says.

Deteriorating water quality due to poor sanitation, industrial effluents and pesticide runoff; lack of clean water, poor solid waste management and air pollution are the key environmental problems in South Asia, it said.

Dwindling forests, coastal wetlands andfreshwater bodies; poorly managed protected areas; soil degradation in agricultural lands; energy-related damage from commercial sectors and the impact of global climate change, particularly in low-lying areas like Bangladesh, were the other problems identified in the report.

However, the bank recognises some notable environmental initiatives by private, government, and non-government organisations (NGOs).

Private sector investments in checking industrial pollution and common effluent treatment plants are expanding in India, partly in response to International Standards Organisation (ISO) initiatives and voluntary compliance by some large industries, the report says.

Cleaner vehicle fuels, such as unleaded gasoline in major Indian cities and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) are being introduced in India and Bangladesh.

Joint forest management involving both communities and government is slowing forest degradation in some of the hill areas in India and Nepal. Private plantations are increasing tree coverin degraded areas such as West Bengal.

Investment in renewable energy in India and Sri Lanka, especially wind and small-scale hydro, has been significant.

But it criticises political leadership for its “lack of support” for environment issues and says they react only to crises instead of taking a lead in preventing environmental degradation in the South Asian countries.

“The region needs more than isolated environmental initiatives. It needs improved planning and management, which is largely an institutional challenge. But political support for environmental management is sporadic at best, and surfaces mainly in reaction to a crisis,” the World Bank report says.