The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has unveiled the State of India’s Environment Report 2022. This annual publication is in collaboration with Down To Earth magazine and provides an in-depth analysis of various environmental issues. It explores key subjects such as climate change, migration, health, food systems, biodiversity, forest and wildlife, energy, industry, habitat, pollution, waste, agriculture, and rural development. CSE, a public interest research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, is responsible for compiling this comprehensive report.
India’s Progress on National Targets
The report gauges India’s progress in meeting its national targets across a range of sectors. Let’s go through them one by one.
In Economy, India aimed to boost its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to nearly USD 4 trillion by 2022-23. However, by 2020, it had only reached USD 2.48 trillion, largely due to economic shrinkage during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As for Employment, India set a goal to increase the female labour force participation rate to at least 30% by 2022-23. So far, it stood at just 17.3% in January-March 2020.
Under Housing, India targeted to build 29.5 million housing units under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)-Rural and 12 million units under PMAY-Urban. Unfortunately, only 46.8% and 38% of these goals have been accomplished respectively.
Looking at Drinking Water, the ambition was to provide safe piped drinking water to all by 2022-23. As of now, only 45% of this target has been achieved.
For Agriculture, there was an aim to double farmers’ income by 2022. Although there has been an increase in the average monthly income of agricultural households, this can be attributed more to higher wages and revenue from animal farming than crop production.
Digitisation of Land Records was another important objective, with the aim being to digitise all land records by 2022. While some states have made good progress, others have lagged behind significantly. Overall, it’s unlikely that the target will be met given the deteriorating quality of land records in 14 states since 2019-20.
As for Air Pollution, there are aims to decrease Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 levels in Indian cities to less than 50 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3). Despite traffic restrictions due to the pandemic in 2020, 23 out of 121 monitored cities still exceeded this limit.
In Solid Waste Management, the goal is to achieve complete source segregation in all households, with only 78% progress achieved so far.
India’s Performance on Sustainable Development Goals
India’s performance on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 by 192 United Nation member states has seen the nation slip three spots to rank 120. The country’s rank dropped primarily due to difficulties faced in 11 SDGs including zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, gender equality, and sustainable cities and communities. Poor performance was also seen in areas like quality education and life on land.
The Performance of Individual Indian States
The report also sheds light on how individual Indian states are progressing towards meeting the SDGs. Jharkhand and Bihar were found to be the least prepared to meet the SDGs by 2030. On the other hand, Kerala ranked first, followed by Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh sharing the second position. The third place was held jointly by Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Amongst Union Territories, Chandigarh came first, with Delhi, Lakshadweep and Puducherry in second place and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in third.
While India is making strides towards achieving its national targets and SDGs, there is still a long way to go. The State of India’s Environment Report provides essential insights that can help guide the nation’s ongoing efforts towards sustainable development.