UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 1 : Questions on role of Florence Nightingale and community participation in combating river pollution (Week 97)

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— Underlining key phrases offers you an edge over different candidates and enhances presentation of the answer.

— Utilizing flowcharts/tree-diagram in the solutions saves a lot time and boosts your rating. Nonetheless, it needs to be used logically and solely the place it’s required.

Manner ahead/ conclusion

— The ending of the answer needs to be on a constructive word and it ought to have a forward-looking method. Nonetheless, when you really feel that an essential drawback should be highlighted, you could add it in your conclusion. Attempt to not repeat any level from physique or introduction.

— It’s possible you’ll use the findings of experiences or surveys performed at nationwide and worldwide ranges, quotes and many others. in your solutions.

Self Analysis

— It’s an important half of our Mains answer writing practice. UPSC Essentials will present some guiding factors or concepts as a thought course of that can enable you to guage your solutions.

THOUGHT PROCESS

It’s possible you’ll enrich your solutions by some of the next factors

QUESTION 1: Consider the effectiveness of community participation and public consciousness campaigns in combating river pollution. How can native communities be empowered to take energetic roles in river conservation?​

Note: This isn’t a mannequin answer. It solely gives you with thought course of which you will incorporate into the solutions.

Introduction:

— In a contemporary report submitted to the Nationwide Inexperienced Tribunal (NGT), the CPCB said that statistical evaluation revealed that the water in the Ganga at Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj was secure for swimming in the course of the Maha Kumbh.

— The report brings consideration to the bigger problem of river pollution in India, which is exacerbated by rising urbanisation and industrial development. River pollution has a adverse impression on public well being and the atmosphere, threatening biodiversity and aquatic ecosystems. The circumstance emphasises the vital necessity to fight river pollution and restore rivers to their former grandeur.

Physique:

It’s possible you’ll incorporate some of the next factors in your answer:

— Below the Nationwide Water High quality Community, the CPCB, in collaboration with State Pollution Management Boards (SPCBs) and Pollution Management Committees (PCCs), conducts periodic evaluations to guage the water high quality of numerous sources. Any size of the river with a Organic Oxygen Demand (BOD) of greater than 3mg/l is assessed as contaminated and unfit for outside bathing.

What are the causes of river pollution?

— The Supreme Courtroom dominated in January of this 12 months that tanneries in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district had brought on “irreversible injury to the waterbodies, groundwater, and agricultural lands” by discharging untreated or inadequately handled effluents into the Palar river. The Supreme Courtroom referred to it as ‘ecocide’. The case illustrates the intense penalties of industrial pollution on water our bodies.

— Untreated sewage remains to be the main trigger of river pollution in India. In line with the CPCB, greater than 60% of untreated sewage water is discharged into rivers each day, making the water hazardous and inflicting main issues for the native inhabitants and aquatic habitat.

— After untreated sewage, untreated industrial effluents are a serious supply of river pollution. Chemical, sugar, paper, and tannery industries all produce poisonous effluent, which poses main risks and, in some circumstances, deadly results.

— Agricultural runoff additionally contributes to river contamination. It incorporates pesticides and fertilisers, which add hazardous substances to the water.

— Sand mining and illegal encroachment are additionally inflicting substantial pollution in rivers. These operations interrupt the pure stream of rivers, improve the chance of floods in close by areas, and contribute to river pollution brought on by insufficient waste administration programs.

— Yearly, thousands and thousands of tonnes of stable rubbish are thrown instantly into our bodies of water resulting from insufficient waste administration amenities and ineffective waste administration regulatory enforcement.

Role of native communities in river conservation​

— Through the years, the Indian authorities has carried out a quantity of river restoration initiatives. Essentially the most notable is the Ganga Motion Plan (GAP), which was launched in 1985. It was carried out in two phases, with the first emphasis on sewage interception and remedy amenities.

— In 1996, the plan was mixed with the Nationwide River Conservation Plan (NRCP). Equally, the Yamuna Motion Plan was launched in 1993. It was executed in three phases however confronted comparable points to GAP.

— The Namami Gange Programme (NGP) took over from the GAP in 2014. The Nationwide Mission for Clear Ganga (NMCG) is implementing NGP. It took a complete technique and achieved important progress on the difficulty of sewage remedy infrastructure, however issues comparable to illegal encroachment, poor industrial compliance, and trash dumping proceed on an enormous scale.

Conclusion:

— The rejuvenation tasks have made some progress. Encouraging community participation by elevating consciousness and selling behavioural modifications in waste creation and administration might be useful. Moreover, as pollution change, preventive and controlling strategies should be up to date accordingly. Superior know-how, comparable to Synthetic Intelligence, can be utilized for real-time monitoring and waste administration.

— To some extent, rivers clear themselves. To make sure their pure stream, it’s vital to deal with issues comparable to important river sand mining and encroachment. There’s additionally a necessity to enhance coordination amongst pollution management authorities, in addition to collaboration between the federal government, trade, and the native community.

(Supply: Rivers in peril: How pollution endangers India’s water lifelines)

To learn extra: Rivers in peril: How pollution endangers India’s water lifelines

Factors to Ponder

How can river pollution be managed?

How river interlinking is the answer for drought hit areas in India?

What’s Organic Oxygen Demand?

Associated Earlier 12 months Questions

The interlinking of rivers can present viable options to the multi-dimensional inter-related issues of droughts, floods, and interrupted navigation. Critically look at. (2020)

Why is the world at this time confronted with a disaster of availability of and entry to freshwater assets? (2023)

QUESTION 2: Talk about the role of Florence Nightingale in reworking sanitation and public well being insurance policies in India in the course of the British colonial interval. How did her statistical method and advocacy contribute to those reforms regardless of by no means visiting India?​

Note: This isn’t a mannequin answer. It solely gives you with thought course of which you will incorporate into the solutions.

Introduction:

— Florence Nightingale was a famend British social reformer, statistician, and the pioneer of trendy nursing. She rose to recognition whereas working as a nurse in the course of the Crimean Conflict, the place she cared for wounded troopers. She was referred to as “The Girl with the Lamp” resulting from her practice of making rounds at evening.

— Nightingale based skilled nursing in 1860, when she opened her nursing college at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. It was the world’s first secular nursing college, and is at the moment half of King’s School London. The Nightingale Pledge, which new nurses take, was named in her honour, and her birthday is recognised globally as Worldwide Nurses Day.

Physique:

It’s possible you’ll incorporate some of the next factors in your answer:

— Nightingale’s Indian legacy isn’t with out controversy. She got interested in the nation following the Revolt of 1857, with the objective of reducing mortality charges amongst British troopers and thereby bolstering Britain’s defence of India. Nonetheless, her impression ultimately unfold to rural India, the place she campaigned for a compassionate, data-driven, and preventative method to healthcare.

— She by no means set foot on Indian soil, however her impression is as gritty and sturdy because the monsoon-soaked villages she labored to save lots of.

— Nightingale confirmed quantitative talent at a younger age, arranging backyard information into numerical tables by the age of 9. Her early love with statistics paved the best way for her subsequent contributions. Throughout the Crimean Conflict, she collected information like a biologist would acquire specimens, assembling a staff to analyse fatality statistics. Her research discovered a 60% annual mortality fee for troops aged 25-35, which is twice that of civilians, with thrice extra deaths in peacetime owing to congestion and filth than throughout fight.

— This led to the creation of the polar space diagram, usually referred to as the Nightingale rose diagram, which she first used in her 1858 ebook Mortality in the British Military. The determine, with blue wedges representing communicable illnesses comparable to cholera and typhus, pink for wounds, and black for different causes, visually indicated that avoidable illnesses killed extra folks than accidents.

— Her groundbreaking visualisation methods not solely modified how information was disseminated on the time, but in addition paved the best way for contemporary epidemiology, influencing the design of trendy public well being monitoring programs.

— Her statistical analysis in Life and Loss of life in India (1974) revealed that mortality charges amongst British troopers had lowered from round 69 per 1,000 per 12 months to 18.69 per 1,000 by 1871, which she attributed to the reforms she fought for.

— Via correspondence with British officers and Indian reformers, she understood that poor sanitation additionally harmed folks. In an 1865 letter to Sir Bartle Frere, Governor of Bombay, she said that “the identical causes which have an effect on the well being of the (British) military should additionally have an effect on… the entire inhabitants of India.”

— The 1857 revolt shocked Britain’s grip on India, and Nightingale thought of sanitation as vital not simply to imperial stability but in addition to human dignity.

Conclusion:

— Nobel laureate Amartya Sen credited Nightingale with discovering that famines in British India have been brought on by transport failures resulting from a scarcity of political and social construction. She was identified to criticise colonial insurance policies that contributed to famine susceptibility, together with poor agricultural methods and financial exploitation. She known as for reforms to assist peasants overcome debt and poverty. Her efforts might also have tackled the foundation causes of famines, comparable to lobbying for irrigation tasks, meals distribution networks, and long-term agricultural sustainability.

— Nightingale by no means travelled to Calcutta or trekked by way of the mud of Punjab, however her memos and manifestos rained down on everybody. She oversaw the 1859 Royal Fee on the Sanitary State of the Military in India, a bureaucratic behemoth she discreetly guided, drawing questions and scrutinising responses.

— Nightingale’s impression endured after independence. Her emphasis on data-driven coverage impressed India’s first 5-12 months Plan (1951), which targeted on rural well being. The Nationwide Rural Well being Mission (2005) and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (2014) each help her view that sanitation is a shared accountability.

(Supply: How Florence Nightingale revolutionised sanitation in India with out setting foot in the subcontinent, nursingcouncil.tripura.gov.in)

Factors to Ponder

Examine Florence Nightingale Awards

What’s the polar space diagram?

Associated Earlier 12 months Questions

Talk about the principle goals of Inhabitants Training and level out the measures to attain them in India in element. (2021)

The ladies’s questions arose in trendy India as an element of the nineteenth century social reform motion. What have been the foremost points and debates regarding girls in that interval? (2017)

Earlier Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 96)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 97)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 96)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 97)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 95)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 96)

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