Study Mussoorie’s specific carrying capacity, govt told
- February 3, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Study Mussoorie’s specific carrying capacity, govt told
Subject: Environment
Section: Ecosystem
Concept:
- Taking suo motu cognizance of a newspaper report that has warned of a Joshimath like situation in Mussoorie town, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued directions to the Uttarakhand government to conduct a study of the specific carrying capacity of the hill station.
- The green court has also formed a nine member committee to suggest remedial measures for preventing environmental damage to the town, one of the most visited tourist destinations in the State.
What is Carrying Capacity?
- Carrying capacity is the maximum population size that an ecosystem can sustainably support without degrading the ecosystem.
- In the broader sense, carrying capacity also means that all plants and animals which an area of the Earth can support at once.
- Change in carrying capacity for one species affects other populations in the area.
- Deaths and long-term damage to an ecosystem occurs when a population exceeds the carrying capacity of its ecosystem.
- Disease, competition, predator-prey interaction, resource use and the number of populations in an ecosystem all affect carrying capacity.
Carrying Capacity and Sustainable Development
- Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report,1987 defines Sustainable Development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
- The idea of sustainability presupposes development within the confines of carrying capacity of ecosystems.