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Delhi residents favour environment over development: Survey
Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jun 4, 2014, 03.43AM IST
People walking in a public garden in Delhi. (TOI photo)
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NEW DELHI: Delhi appears to be more environment conscious than Mumbai and Pune as Delhiites largely would like the government to prioritize environmental protection over its development objectives.
An environment survey, conducted by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) across eight cities, on Tuesday revealed that over 50 per cent of respondents in the national Capital favour prioritizing environment over development as against 44 per cent of their counterparts in Mumbai and 19 per cent in Pune.
More people in Mumbai and Pune feel that environment and development can go hand in hand.
TERI, an independent research institute, had conducted the survey through interviews of 11,214 respondents across Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kanpur, Indore, Jamshedpur, Guwahati and Coimbatore between December 2013 and February 2014.
The findings of the survey — released two days ahead of World Environment Day — may take this 'environment and development' debate further, specifically when new environment minister Prakash Javadekar has pitched for carrying forward both environmental protection and development goals simultaneously.
Immediately after taking charge, Javadekar had on May 29 articulated his government's priority saying, "The government believes in 'environment and development' and not 'environment versus development' ... Both the objectives can go hand in hand."
Interestingly, TERI's survey echoes what the new minister feels. It found that 40 per cent of respondents felt environment and development could go "hand in hand" with no apparent trade-off. However, a significant 30 per cent thought the "government should prioritize environment over development" with the remaining 30 per cent weighing more in favour of development.
Reacting to the findings, TERI director general RK Pachauri said, "I hope through this survey we are able to bring about the level of awareness that really lays the foundation for action in the right direction. If we don't, then we would all be taken over by urban blight."
The survey, conducted to gauge the perception, awareness, opinion and behaviour of people towards environment in India, came out with other important findings. It also reflects the perceived change in the state of environment in the country over the last five years.
It found that over 90 per cent of respondents across the eight cities felt that quality of environment had an immediate impact on health.
"Overall, a large majority felt that air quality had worsened and the number of bird species in their cities had declined. However, a majority of people felt that drinking water availability and quality as well as waste management in their cities had improved," said the Environment Survey 2014.
The survey's findings noted that over 70 per cent of respondents were aware of water being subsidized and over half of them felt that "water should be charged as per usage".
Over 80 per cent of respondents were aware of the problem of e-waste and most respondents either repaired or reused electronic goods. "Very few respondents disposed electronic goods along with household garbage ... Around 86 per cent of respondents felt polythene bags should be banned," the report said......................http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=Delhi-picks-environment-over-growth-04062014011027#
An environment survey, conducted by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) across eight cities, on Tuesday revealed that over 50 per cent of respondents in the national Capital favour prioritizing environment over development as against 44 per cent of their counterparts in Mumbai and 19 per cent in Pune.
More people in Mumbai and Pune feel that environment and development can go hand in hand.
TERI, an independent research institute, had conducted the survey through interviews of 11,214 respondents across Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kanpur, Indore, Jamshedpur, Guwahati and Coimbatore between December 2013 and February 2014.
The findings of the survey — released two days ahead of World Environment Day — may take this 'environment and development' debate further, specifically when new environment minister Prakash Javadekar has pitched for carrying forward both environmental protection and development goals simultaneously.
Immediately after taking charge, Javadekar had on May 29 articulated his government's priority saying, "The government believes in 'environment and development' and not 'environment versus development' ... Both the objectives can go hand in hand."
Interestingly, TERI's survey echoes what the new minister feels. It found that 40 per cent of respondents felt environment and development could go "hand in hand" with no apparent trade-off. However, a significant 30 per cent thought the "government should prioritize environment over development" with the remaining 30 per cent weighing more in favour of development.
Reacting to the findings, TERI director general RK Pachauri said, "I hope through this survey we are able to bring about the level of awareness that really lays the foundation for action in the right direction. If we don't, then we would all be taken over by urban blight."
The survey, conducted to gauge the perception, awareness, opinion and behaviour of people towards environment in India, came out with other important findings. It also reflects the perceived change in the state of environment in the country over the last five years.
It found that over 90 per cent of respondents across the eight cities felt that quality of environment had an immediate impact on health.
"Overall, a large majority felt that air quality had worsened and the number of bird species in their cities had declined. However, a majority of people felt that drinking water availability and quality as well as waste management in their cities had improved," said the Environment Survey 2014.
The survey's findings noted that over 70 per cent of respondents were aware of water being subsidized and over half of them felt that "water should be charged as per usage".
Over 80 per cent of respondents were aware of the problem of e-waste and most respondents either repaired or reused electronic goods. "Very few respondents disposed electronic goods along with household garbage ... Around 86 per cent of respondents felt polythene bags should be banned," the report said......................http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=Delhi-picks-environment-over-growth-04062014011027#
