Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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ISSN 2049-8373
Research Review
Abstract
Land use changes result from population growth and migration of poor rural people to urban areas for economic
opportunities. Changes in land use directly influence the regional air quality, energy consumption and climate at global,
regional and local scales. Controlled, coordinated and planned urbanization is a gift to the human society. However,
unplanned urbanization can be a disaster. Urban sprawl refers to some types of uncoordinated land use resulting from lack
of integrated and holistic approach in regional planning. Information related to the rate of growth, pattern and extent of
sprawl is required by urban planners to provide basic amenities such as water, sanitation, electricity, etc. Urban sprawl
increases traffic problems, depletes local resources and destroys open space. Thus, it is very important to examine causes of
urban spread out, its associated problems and possible solutions in India. This paper provides a valuable basis to understand
the major issues faced by urban citizens in India as a consequence of land use changes. The suggested solutions are very
helpful for the strategic planning in future.
Keywords: Land Use Changes, India, Environmental Impact, Pollution
1. Introduction
Agriculture, industry, energy production, urban
development, grazing, logging, mining and other
land uses relate to human activity or economic function
associated with a specific piece of land. Generally land
use is constrained by soil characteristics, topography,
vegetation, climate, and other such environmental
factors. But it also reflects the importance of land as a
crucial and finite resource for most human activities.
Land use is a product of interactions between
cultural backgrounds, state and physical needs of the
society with the natural potential of land (Karwariya &
Goyal, 2011).
Often improper land use is responsible for various forms of
environmental degradation. It is essential to know the
natural characteristics, extent and location, its quality,
productivity, suitability and limitations of various land
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S. Chawla / Journal of Environment (2012), Vol. 01, Issue 01, pp. 14-20
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S. Chawla / Journal of Environment (2012), Vol. 01, Issue 01, pp. 14-20
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S. Chawla / Journal of Environment (2012), Vol. 01, Issue 01, pp. 14-20
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Table 1. Number of Rural and Urban Settlements and their Population in India (IIHS, 2012)
Settlements
Population (%)
Year
Rural
1991
2001
2011
Urban
Rural
Urban
3,351
5,161
7,935
74.5
72.2
68.8
25.5
27.8
31.2
634,321
638,588
640,867
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3. Discussion
3.1. Vehicular Pollution Control using Auto-Catalyst
The chemistry of platinum group metals (pgms), namely,
platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and
osmium, is dominated by the catalytic properties of the
metals. Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC) uses a Platinum
Group Metal (PGM) catalyst. Diesel Particulate Filter
(DPF) may also be catalysed by pgms to aid regeneration.
Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) absorbers based on pgm, hold
NOx until the downstream Selective Catalytic Reduction
(SCR) or NOx trap catalysts are warm enough to remove
NOx. Reformer catalyst containing rhodium converts some
of the fuel into CO, CO2 and H2 in reforming process. This
H2 is introduced into the engine alongside the fuel. This
helps combustion and can also reduce emissions of NOx
and particulate matter (PM). Three-way catalyst (TWC),
combination of platinum, palladium and rhodium, removes
hydrocarbons, CO and NOx and help in deodorisation of
the exhaust gases in motor vehicles (Millington & York,
2012).
Table 2. Emission Control Technologies used for Various Classes of Diesel Commercial Vehicles in India (Kapoor, 2012)
Size (Tones)
3.5 to 7.5
7.5 to 12
>12
EGR
EGR+DOC
EGR+DOC+DPF
SCR
Yes
Yes
-
Yes
Yes
-
Yes
Yes
-
Yes
Yes
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4. Conclusions
This paper has reviewed the key policy and governance
challenge in India originated as a result of land use
changes resulting in urban sprawl. Air legislation standards
are getting stricter day by day to cut in pollution resulted
from urban spread out. As automobiles will be driven
by an increasing number of users who live in urban areas,
so stricter emission standards will increase the demand
of auto-catalysts used in catalytic converter. In summary,
this paper provides an important insight into possible
solutions for various problems resulting from the urban
sprawl.
Acknowledgements
Author is greatly indebted to Dr Ashok K Chauhan,
founder President, Prof. B.P.Singh, Senior Director and
Prof. Rekha Agarwal, Director; Amity School of
Engineering & Technology for their continued guidance
and encouragement. He is thankful to Dr. Alok
Saklani, Prof. and Director of Apeejay School of
Management for his valuable guidance during the faculty
development course. He is also thankful to Ms Rachana
Nagal and Ms Neera Bhutani for language corrections.
A draft of this paper has been significantly
re-written and updated based on valuable reports from
unspecified referees, and their comments are gratefully
acknowledged.
References
Apte, J.S., Kirchstetter, T.W., Reich, A.H., Deshpande,
S.J., Kaushik, G., Chel, A., Marshal, J.D., and Nazaroff,
W.W. (2011) Concentrations of fine, ultrafine and back
carbon particles in auto-rickshawas in New Delhi, India.
Atmospheric Environment, 45(26), pp. 4470-4480.
Balakrishnan, K., Dhaliwal, R., and Shah, B. (2011)
Integrated urban-rural frameworks for air pollution and
health-ralated research in India: They way forward.
Environ. Health Perspect., 119, pp. a12-a13.
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