EnviStats – India 2022 (Volume I: Environment Statistics)

According to data from the Indian Meteorological Department, the annual rainfall for 2021 was 1236.1 millimetres, lower than the previous two years.

The Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India, 2016, showed that a whopping 96 million hectares of land in the country was classified as ‘total area under desertification’.

Barren lands or wastelands in the country reduced in area in the five years between 2008-09 and 2015-16 as per data from the Wastelands Atlas of India 2019. It fell from 566,070 square kilometres to 557,666 square kilometres in that period.

Data from the Wildlife Institute of India showed that as of February 2022, there were a total of 564 wildlife sanctuaries, 218 community reserves, 106 national parks, 99 conservation reserves and 18 biosphere reserves in the country.

Vertebrate species considered ‘critically endangered’ number (approximately) highest among Pisces (36 species) followed by Amphibia (20), Aves (17), Mammalia (12) and Reptilia (10). Among the species of wetland flora and fauna, India is home to a total of 94 threatened birds, 430 threatened fishes and 88 threatened turtles.

The report includes figures from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India on solar photovoltaic systems installed in the country as of 2021. These systems include lanterns and lamps (7,948,219), home lights (1,723,479), streetlights (830,373), pumps (286,830) and stand-alone power plants (216,408).

According to 2018 data from the National Sample Survey as many as 31.2 per cent of households in India used firewood, chips and crop residue as cooking fuel. The figure was highest in Odisha (61.7 per cent) followed by Tripura (58.2 per cent).

The total area under organic farming in India – registered under accredited certification bodies – 1,492,611 hectares in 2020-21. Of this the highest amount was recorded in Madhya Pradesh (540,994 hectares) followed by Maharashtra (219,659 hectares) and Rajasthan (177,599 hectares).

Data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare show that compared to 1951, the area cultivated under rice, wheat and maize has increased. Whereas the area under jowar, ragi, and bajra has fallen. For example, area under wheat rose from around 10,010 thousand hectares in 1950-51 to 31,357 thousand hectares in 2019-20. Conversely, area under jowar fell drastically from 15,554 thousand hectares to 4,824 thousand hectares in the same period.

The total consumption of nitrogen-, phosphorous- and potassium-based fertilisers increased from 259.48 lakh tonnes in 2016-17 to 293.69 lakh tonnes in 2019-20.

Data from 2017 shows that all of the 10 most populated cities of India generated more sewage than they could safely treat. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the total sewage treatment capacity (in million litres per day or MLD) for these 10 cities was just around half of the total sewage generated – 9,576 MLD and 18,269 MLD respectively.

As of 2020, the states Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland and the union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep had no ‘operational treatment capacity’ for urban wastewater.

Maharashtra generated the highest estimated amount of plastic waste in the country – 4.4 lakh tonnes – in 2019-20 according to data from the CPCB. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy data also noted that the state had the highest estimated potential to generate energy from waste as of 2022.

Focus and Factoids by Yazhini Sathiamoorthy.