Dear All
The Indian Geophysical Union (IGU) is going to organize the above National Seminar during Jan 2014 at NGRI, Hyderabad.
The topic is the most needy as Earth Systems are giving alarming signals in various modes reflecting its instability?????
It is up to the Geo-Scientists in general and particularly the Geophysicists to understand the Mother Earth at Mapping, Planning, Exploitation, Development and Resettlement so that the Earth Resources will be utilized effectively with better sustainability.
I have submitted the extended abstract and got approved for Oral Presentation and the same is pasted below as:
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SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT – AN OPPORTUNITY FOR GEOPHYSICS
N Lakshmi Narayana
M.Sc., Tech;
PGDEEM; PGCMRR;
PGDRD; PGDNGOM; PGDCBR P & M;
PGDEE
Director,
GEO REHABILITATION CENTRE,
ABSTRACT
Keywords: Natural Resources, Mapping,
Exploration, Exploitation, Monitoring, Evaluation, Pollution, Environment,
Empowerment, Sustainability, Quality
of Life.
Statement of the Problem: Business
oriented exploitation of the Natural Resources has resulted for complex and
dynamic environmental challenges which further affected the health & wealth
of the people & environment with poor sustainability.
Objectives of the Study:
The objectives of the study are need based matching to the needs of the people
and environment and specific for achieving the sustainability through
geophysics which includes:
Ø To understand the utility of Natural Resources for Sustainable Development,
Ø To understand the shift in the Process of Development,
Ø To understand the Environmental Challenges,
Ø To understand the SWOT of Geophysics, and
Ø To understand the Opportunities for Geophysics.
Background: In a simple
form “Natural Resource is anything people can use which comes from nature and people do not make
natural resources, but gathers them from the earth”. It is the tradition and
belief that the wealth of the Natural Resources (NRs) is directly related with
the health & wealth of the people & environment. India has got
sufficient natural resources to cater the needs for the people.
The broad spectrum of natural resources has
been shown in Fig.1 which includes air, water, copper, wood, oil, renewable energies, iron, coal, natural gas, soil and others which occurs
naturally. The exploration and excavation of
natural resources in the name of Development are expected to support the health
& wealth of the people & environment with better sustainability.
It was the tradition and culture to respect
the natural resources as people believes that without them their life is in
danger and the God may curse with dire consequences. In due course of time, the
concept of people oriented development (POD) has slowly moved towards the business
oriented development (BOD). In this process, the term of ‘excavation’ has
transformed to ‘exploitation’ as the majority of the concept of development has
business for some selected groups. On other hand, the development has moved
from ‘need based’ to ‘selective based’ which brings wealth to the smaller
groups leaving majority of the people to struggle for their critical needs. The
end of this shift has affected the health & wealth of the people & environment
with several challenges which further affects their sustainability. People
expect the eco-friendly technologies with effective service delivery systems
(SDS) with improved Availability, Accessibility and Affordability (3As). The
need of the hour is to understand these challenges and move for sustainability
of the ‘Earth System’ with innovative & creative strategies &
interventions.
The World Summit held on Sustainable Development (2002) insists for
specific objectives which include:
o to maintain the overall quality of life;
o to maintain continuing access to natural resources;
o to avoid lasting environmental damage;
o to consider as sustainable a development which meet the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs.
Accordingly, the SD depends on four key
elements which include Social Development, Economic Development, Individual
Development and Environmental Development (SEIE) and its linkage is shown in
Fig. 2.
The area with grey color indicates the SD
which is directly related with the Quality of Life (QOL) of the people.
Environmental Challenges:
It is the fact that the business oriented development has affected the health
& wealth of the people & environment by creating several challenges and
some of significant were listed below with details in brief as:
ü
Water: India’s poverty alleviation programme
never included ‘water’ and mostly confined to “Roti, Kapada & Makhan”. In
due course of time, the initiatives of rainwater harvesting, watershed
development and recharging groundwater are insufficient compared to that of the
withdrawal or demand. This process of imbalance over the period has resulted
for the present day crises which everyone is facing and threatening the life of
the people all over the globe. As there is no life without water, the move is
towards ‘Right to Water’. Some of the water related challenges includes:
o
Disappearance of surface water
bodies, and getting polluted;
o
Poor recharge and lowering of
groundwater levels;
o
Poor storage and management of
watersheds;
o
Pollution to the groundwater
salinity, fluoride, arsenic etc.;
o
Higher demand and lack of
matching resources; and
o
Consequences on the health of
the people and other natural resources.
ü
Minerals: The development of the people
is very much linked with the exploration and excavation of various minerals
like coal, lignite, iron, natural gas, oil, radioactive minerals, and others.
Some of the significant challenges with the mining of minerals were listed
below as:
o
Unmatched Resettlement &
Rehabilitation supports for the Project Affected People (PAPs) in the mining
both open and underground mode;
o
Affecting the health &
wealth of flora & fauna, water, people and other natural resources;
o
Creation of voids in the subsurface
and resultant subsidence, fire zones and other such foundation issues;
o
Mineral processing and its
pollution to the soil, water and people; and
o
Other consequences.
ü
Land: It is the fact that ‘land’ cannot
increase matching to the population and their demands but it can be used
effectively with higher productivity. Some of the challenges with the land
utility were listed below as:
o
Encroachment and disappearance
of surface water bodies with pollution;
o
Soil pollution with lesser
productivity;
o
Landfills and lack of mapping
land as productive or unproductive;
o
Loss of productive land to
business oriented infrastructural development & power generation; and
o
Other consequences on
associated natural resources.
To sum up, the usage
of natural resources for business oriented development has resulted for several
challenges which are complex and dynamic and the key challenges include:
Ø Higher Pollution with scarcity for Resources;
Ø Alarming Global Warming and Climate Change;
Ø Imbalance in the Ecosystem;
Ø Loss of productive land;
Ø Degraded health & wealth of the People; and
Ø Non acceptance of the people for developmental projects /
activities.
Under these
challenges the need of the hour is to look for a tool or strategy or
intervention which minimizes or eradicates its impact and thus improves
sustainability.
SWOT of Geophysics: The subject ‘Geophysics’ is well connected with the Natural
Resources, Society and Environment (NRSE) and established with technological
modernization at all levels of exploration, excavation, monitoring and
evaluation (EEME). These linkages have been shown in Fig. 3 & 4
respectively.
The concept of NRES indicates that Geophysics has contributed
significantly either directly or indirectly for the health & wealth of the
people & environment.
The EEME model reflects that the Geophysical service delivery system
(SDS) needs to be effective in terms of Availability, Accessibility and
Affordability (3As) in achieving the sustainability of the development by
protecting the people and environment. The role of geophysics is very much
limited in the areas of Excavation, Monitoring and Evaluation unless complex
situation arises. Broadly, Geophysics has got good number of strengths and
effective in terms of technology, accuracy, quality and cost. In spite of its
best utility, Geophysics has got some weaknesses or limitations which includes
lack of professional status, limited number of institutions, lack of human
resources, limited scope for integration, limited employment opportunities, low
brand image and limited reach to the society / people.
Opportunities for
Geophysics: In spite of all the limitations
prevailing at present, Geophysics has got several opportunities in addressing
the needs and demand of people and industries. Some of the significant issues
and geophysical interventions were briefly furnished below as:
ü
The limitations cited as above can be
minimized by improving the HRD with better brand image and employment
opportunities;
ü In the process of integration, the advantage or specialization needs
to be retained as it is the day of specialization;
ü
The issues with the water resources can be
addressed effectively with the use of matching geophysical tools. The saline
water intrusion can be mapped effectively along the coastal belt and can be
managed with need based interventions. The impact on water system due to mining
both open and underground can be mapped and managed accurately with suitable
recharging interventions. The concept of water storage, utilization, recharge
and management (SURM) can be handled affectively (Fig. 5) for creating better
access for Quality of Water (QOW) which further leads for Quality of Health
(QOH), Sustainability and Quality of Life (QOL).
ü
Mapping
of voids in subsurface, or insufficient filling of abandoned or closed mines,
pollution due to mineral processing and
effective assessing & monitoring of resettlement and rehabilitation can be
addressed.
ü
Mapping and utilization of land for
infrastructural developments in general and particularly for the power
generation can be done with in-situ scanning for effective decision making thus
gets better acceptance from the people as well as the stakeholders;
ü
Geophysics can also play an important role in
the areas of excavation, monitoring and evaluation in addition to the
exploration (EEME Model); and
ü
The Geophysical modernization
and its utilities are well accepted and finds key role in all the issues
related with the sustainability of the earth system.
The need of the hour is to
increase the level of sustainable development. The
conceptual enhancement of sustainable development from SD1 to SD 2 is shown in
Fig. 6. The idea is to reach the level of SD 2 without compromising the
development of each component both quantitatively and qualitatively. It is not
that difficult to achieve SD 2 or higher QOL but only needs the concern and
commitment of the policy makers, planners, executors and other stakeholders and
certainly Geophysics play key role in the whole process of achieving
sustainable development.
The author has contributed significantly for the effective
utilization of geophysical tools in the area of Minerals, Water, and Land
covering exploration, excavation, monitoring and evaluation (EEME) and
presently transforming these benefits to the society by associating with the Community
/ Rural Development.
Conclusions / Recommendations: The efforts made in understanding the environmental challenges and
opportunities for Geophysics have lead for some conclusions which includes:
Ø
Geophysics is the non-destructive
and well established tool for mapping the subsurface with better accuracy in
in-situ environment;
Ø
Some of its limitations in
developing human resources and creating better employment opportunities can be
addressed by making it as a specialized engineering profession;
Ø
Geophysics is well linked with
the Natural Resources on one side and Society and Environment on other side;
Ø
The natural resources are
expected to be utilized for the need based development which supports the
health & wealth of the people & environment by deploying the model of
EEME with effective service delivery system having improved 3As;
Ø
The water crises which are
alarming can be addressed effectively with SURM interventions which further
assures for QOW, QOH, and QOL;
Ø
The land mapping for the
infrastructural development in general and particularly for power generation
can be handled with better accuracy and acceptance;
Ø
As an integrated strategy,
Geophysics play key role in addressing the issues of the Global Warming and Climate
Change;
Ø
Geophysics play key role in
achieving the sustainable development (SQ 1 to SQ 2) through SEIE model and
Ø
Finally, Geophysics leads in
achieving the sustainability of the Earth System with improved Quality of Life
(QOL) of the people.
References:
Some of the contributions made by the
Author:
1.
The
Principle of Complex Frequency Scaling - Applicability in Inclined Continuation
of Potential Field Methods. Geophysics. SEG, Vol. 49, Issue. 1. 1984.
2.
On
the Correlation of Geophysical and Drilling Results - Basemetals, Ambaji,
Gujarat. DGM, Mineral Wealth. Vol. XXI-II. 1985.
3.
Developments
in Radiowave Absorption Techniques in Geomapping. Site Characterization
Practice. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co., New Delhi. 1999.
4.
Geophysical
Approach to Study the Environmental Impact along the Coastal Belt of
Pondicherry and Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. 1999. Special Publication on
Exploration Geophysics in India, GSI, No. 49.
5.
Assessment
of Soil and Water Degradation along the Coastal Belt for Resettlement and Rehabilitation. Submitted for the award of PGCMMR, IGNOU, New
Delhi. 2004.
6.
On
the Role Geophysics in Rural Development - An Approach. Submitted for the award
of PGDRD, IGNOU, New Delhi. 2003.
7.
Water
Resource Management in Rural Development. Proceedings of International
Convention on Globalization and Rural Development. 2006.
8.
Access
for Water and Sanitation in Disability Rehabilitation – A Study in Rural
Environment of Andhra Pradesh. Proce. Of National Seminar on Cost Effective
Sustainable Sanitation. WASH Publication, New Delhi. 2010.
9.
Access
for Water and Sanitation in Disability Rehabilitation – An Inclusion Approach.
Proce. of International Seminar volume on “Water, Plumbing, Sanitation and
Health-Issues and Challenges”, K.C. Publishers. Bangalore. 2010.
10.
Access
for Water for Sustainable Development – Community Based Initiatives.
Professional social work: best practices and innovations in teaching, research
and extension. Authors Press New Delhi. 2011. ISBN 978-81-7273-510-4.
11.
Integrated
Water Resources Management in Saline Environment for Sustainable Development.
Water Governance. Allied Publishers, New Delhi. Feb. 2012. ISBN:
978-81-8424-752-7.
12.
Dr
Ambedkar’s Developmental Model-Challenges and Opportunities for better Quality
of Life. Ambedkar: Architect of Modern India. Publication of MGNIRSA.
Hyderabad. May 2013.
13.
Noble
Truths and Paths of Buddhism – An Opportunity for Sustainable Development.
Rise, Fall and Revival of Buddhism in India. Publication of MGNIRSA. Hyderabad.
2013.
14.
Urbanization
and Water – Opportunities for the Civil Societies for to improve Quality of
Life. Sustainable Water Treatment and Water Management Policy, Vol. II,
ICE-WWISH - 2013. Himalaya Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., Bombay. India. ISBN:
978-93-5097-895-5.
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Looking forward......
All the best.
