State of India’s Environment

Subject: Environment

Context:

Centre for science and environment has released state of environment 2020 report

Findings

• The report outlines the status on progress of sustainable development goals(SDGs), state of forests, groundwater development, wasteland and live stocks.
• It has been observed in the report that the country facing challenges in achieving 9 of the total 17 SDGs which is pushing down its global ranking on preparedness. The report also focused on environmental crimes in the country and global economic risks
• India had one in five of all internal displacements caused by disasters across the world in 2019, mostly caused by floods, cyclones and drought
• It notes that there were 747 more tigers in 2018 than in 2014. However, the net area meant for tiger conservation shrunk by 179 sq.km.
• Forest cover has shrunk in 38% of districts, while five out of 21 river basins are now in a state of absolute water scarcity
• Nineteen extreme weather events in 2019 claimed 1,357 lives, with heavy rain and floods accounting for 63 per cent of these deaths
• There was a 69 per cent increase in the number of heat wave days between 2013 and 2019 as well, the report said. Over 5,300 people died from heat waves in the past seven years, the report pointed out.
• Cold waves increased by 69 per cent within a year, between 2017 and 2018, with the latter year reported to have an extremely cold winter, with the most casualties (279) in the past seven years.
• The Union government decreased its expenditure on natural disasters, even as the impact suffered by people from them increased, according to the report.