Question

Short note on land pollution information

Answer 1

The land pollution is caused by solid wastes and chemicals. One of the major pollution problems of large cities is disposal of solid waste material including farm and animal manure, crop resi­dues (agricultural wastes), industrial wastes such as chemicals, fly ash and cinders which are residues of combustion of solid fuels, garbagae, paper, cardboard, plastics, rubber, cloth, leather, cons­truction rubbish, brick, sand, metal and glass resulting from demo­lition of buildings, dead animals like catties, dogs, cats, birds, containers, discarded manufactured products such as old refrigera­tors, washing machines and autos.Huge quantities of unwanted material cause serious disposal problems. The simplest method is crud tipping or open dumping, a common method used in most Indian cities. More satisfactory is controlled tipping or the sanitary landfill, which is recently adopted in Delhi for solid waste disposal. In sanitary land fill, a layer of about 2 metres of refuse is covered by at least 23 cm of earth, ash or other inert material, up to the level of the hole chosen.

The surface can then be used for housing or sports fields. Before such filling, the wastes can be pulverized by machines to a uniform particle size: by this means the volume is reduced and thus the life of the tip is extended, and some of the refuge is more quickly biodegraded.

Further, many of the chemicals emitted into the air such as radioactive minerals, sulphur, and lead, eventually come to earth to pollute the soil. Many pesticides and herbicides are applied by aerosol spray and find their way into the soil. These chemicals may have significant effects on plants and animals, causing a disruption in species composition of communities.

In forest ecosystems, these chemical pollutants may inhibit processes of soil formation, and reduce the capacity of the forest to maintain fertility of the soil.