what is land pollution essay
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The object of this project is to gain a more a holistic and deep understanding of the Legal and Regulatory framework governing Land Pollution in India By looking into the origin of Environment we understand how the society till date has shaped and what is the Causes and Effects of Land Pollution and what contribution the Law has given . Another very important object of this project is to understand what the need of Environmental Law in the society was.
The method of research adopted is doctrinal in nature. I have referred sources on the net as well as a few books on Environmental Law available in the university library besides adding my personal views and knowledge of the topic.
Land pollution is the contamination of the Earth’s land surface through misuse of the soil by poor agricultural practices, mineral exploitation, industrial waste dumping, and indiscriminate disposal of urban wastes. It includes visible waste and litter as well as pollution of the soil itself.
Soil pollution is caused by chemicals in herbicides and pesticides for agricultural activities as well as littering of waste materials in public places such as streets, parks and roads. The accumulation of waste is a threat to the health of people in residential areas and waste decays also encourages household pests and turns urban areas into unsightly, dirty and unhealthy places to live in. These problems result in the loss of 6 million hectares of land each year. It also results in the loss of 24 billion tons of topsoil each year and a loss of at least 15 million acres of prime agricultural land to overuse and mismanagement every year. Some measures of land pollution are through the education of people through campaigns, recycling to reduce wastes. Laws have also been passed by governments to deal with land pollution.
When we hear a person describe a place as ‘dirty’, what usually comes to our minds is the bad condition of the place. The place, which could be your bedroom, is imagined to have clothes scattered on the floor and books unarranged on the shelf. However, I define the word ‘dirty’ in a more specific manner. ‘Dirty’ in my definition, means that there are rubbish or litter on the floor. This makes the atmosphere of that certain place unpleasant not only to the eye, but also to the mind. Land pollution is therefore the dirtying of the land. It comes about due to inconsiderate dumping of waste, littering and ineffective waste disposal methods.
Mixing of harmful substances with soil is called land pollution. When the natural soil gets mixed with the harmful and toxic elements due to various means, it pollutes the soil and alters its original physical and chemical characteristics. Animals waste too pollutes land.
The effect of such soil pollution is quite harmful and dangerous on human life as well as on plants and animals. Soil pollution slowly and steadily causes environment and air pollution as well by vaporization of various harmful chemicals from the contaminated land. Polluted land results into further pollution of plants and ground water resources which ultimately leads to polluting entire web of food chain in the ecosystem.