EnviStats – India 2022 (Volume II: Environment Accounts)

As per the physical asset accounts for 2020-21, the total addition to the stock of coal during the accounting year was around 13,707 million tonnes. The total reduction in stock during the same period 3,365 million tonnes. As a result, the closing stock of coal in the country in 2020-21 was 95,906 million tonnes, the report notes.

The report states that the total closing stock for lignite in the country in 2020-21 was around 2,196 million tonnes whereas that of crude oil was 3.4 million thousand barrels. The closing stock of natural gas during the same time measured 1,141,307 million cubic metres.

The total supply of energy in the country rose from 76,395 petajoules in 2015-16 to 87,599 petajoules in 2019-20. Of these, the contribution through imports was around 16,425 petajoules.

In Delhi, the total municipal solid waste residuals generated during the year 2020-21 amounted to around four million tonnes, the report notes. The amount of construction and demolition waste residuals were the next highest at 1.3 million tonnes followed by plastic waste (546 thousand tonnes), bio-medical waste (11.3 thousand tonnes), hazardous waste (3.2 thousand tonnes) and e-waste (610 tonnes).

Of the four million tonnes of municipal solid waste, 2.01 million tonnes went to landfill and around 1.9 million was collected for recycling. The report also states that all of the 1.3 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste was collected for recycling.

One of the most productive and diverse yet ecologically sensitive ecosystems, wetlands, provide multiple services to human beings and the economy. India has almost 16 million hectares of wetlands. These can include lakes, rivers, streams, reservoirs, ponds, creeks, salt marshes, mud flats, mangroves and coral reefs.

Of the total area covered by wetlands in India, 25.9 per cent is made up of coastal wetlands whereas 74.1 per cent is inland. Inland wetlands are of two kinds: natural – covering 7 million hectares – and man-made (4.8 million hectares). Similarly, coastal wetlands are also divided into natural – which cover 3.6 million hectares – and man-made (511 thousand hectares).

Between 2006-07 and 2017-18, as much as 25,289 hectares of area under wetlands has disappeared. On the other hand, 361 thousand hectares of wetlands have been created anew. Most of these consist of inland man-made wetlands – 321 thousand hectares.

Among all the states and union territories in India, the largest growth in the area of wetlands – between 2006-07 and 2017-18 – was witnessed in Maharashtra (170 thousand hectares) and Madhya Pradesh (102 thousand hectares). The largest losses in the area under wetlands were recorded in Bihar (14.9 thousand hectares) and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (10.3 thousand hectares).

Total area under mangrove cover in the country increased from 4,448 square kilometres in 2003 to 4,992 square kilometres in 2021, the report notes. In the different ‘canopy classes’, very dense mangroves covered 1,475 square kilometres and moderately dense mangroves covered 1,481 square kilometres. The total area under open mangroves was reported to be 2,036 square kilometres.

Citing the India State of Forest Report 2021, the report states the total area under forest cover in India measures around 760 thousand square kilometres. Of these ‘very dense forests’ account for 99.7 thousand square kilometres and ‘moderately dense forests’ make up 306 thousand square kilometres. Area under ‘open forests’ and ‘scrub’ measures 307 thousand and 46.5 thousand square kilometres respectively.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species categorises species as one of the following: extinct, extinct in the wild, critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, near threatened and least concern. According to the report, in 2022, 553 species of mammals and 214 species of amphibians in India fell under one of these categories.

Focus and Factoids by Udita Mukherjee.