& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

IS IT TOO LATE TO SAVE THE NORTH SEA?

by Nicholas Cole
***Environmental protection groups campaigning to *ave the North Sea *ay. “ Urgent action i* needed now to atop pollution before disaster strike*. * Yet only now, more than 20 years after scientists started war-ung of the danger*, are firm steps toward* a clean-up being taken by the countries concerned. Gemini New* Service tackle* the que^ion: Are they doing enough?
To geographers. the North Sea is just an arm of tlx: Atlantic, and a relatively small one at Ihal — 960km long and 640km wide. They note In gazetteers that It has "good fisheries."
For how much longer? Avoided by swimmers al many coastal resorts, and Infested with crabs that have turned an unnatural shade of black, the North Sea has become the "Cesspit of Europe " One informal estimate suggests that enough waste is pumped into its water’s each year to cover, an area of nine square miles to a height of 16 storeys.
The pollutants. chiefly a foul ■cocktail" of raw human sewage, dangerous chemical effluents, radioactive waste, detergents. 611 spillage, coal spoil and ash from power sta Hons, do not behave In such neatly-contained ways.
Nor do they all "break down" and disperse, as once was fondly supposed. Many remain in suspension. They clog the little owan shared by light countries lo an extent which. some scientists believe, lias already exceeded its natu-.ral capacity for absorption
Symptoms that tlic sea ini mortaliscd in Alfred
Tennyson’s poem "Break,
break, break on thy cold grey stones...* has deteriorated Into what anti pollulion protesters call 'a sea of troubles" include:
• Beaches closed due to viral and bacteria) conluminolkMi
• Exceptional algae 'bkxims' which arc killing fish, especially in tlic shallow, poorly-circulating eastern waters meanwhile causing damage reckoned In millions of pounds lo Scotland’s fish farms
• A viral epidemic wlii« It led lo the deaths of onr 17.000 common seals
• Seabird cokmies falling to breed
• Over-enrichment of sea nutrients, leading lo oxygen debt tcncics
• Official warnings ihal certain shellfish could prove fatal if calcn.Thc underlying fear is thal It wiM be only a matter of lime before contamination enters the human food chain In a big way
In January. Britain brought into force the initial provisions of an Environmental Protection Act designed lo "prevent
and minimise" the discharge of dangerous substances from 5.000 Industrial plants.
The legislation applies al first- to new processes only. Existing ones will not come into scope until January 1994. Their operators an- being allowed time to make the in vestment needed for compliance with Ihc lalcM controls
Britain has been called.The Dirty Oki Man of Europe-" a la bcl stemming from tlic ai i usa Hon that it is Europe's worst polluter. Government sources holly deny this. Ilxy insist Ihal just one per cent of North Sea ontamlnatkn Hums from sewage dumped by Britain and that 65 per cent of pollution Is caused by sewage dumping in Ilie rivers of mainland Europe.
The Rhine and Meuse sliurc the blame, followed closely by tlx- Scheldt—into which IikIiis-trial waste from 1.500 Belgian firms alone allegedly pours each day—and Ihc rivers Elbe and Weser. Some arc In place said lo be * biologically dead."
The politics of polhilion arc less fractious Ilian all this sug geMs. Marine minister* have
aiiecd in principle for years lh.it a efean up Is vital. -Ilwir problem has been deckling on Ihc best upproatlws and how lo Impk-mcnl them.
Al the third International Conference on tlic l,niccHon of Ihc North Sea Ix-M In the Hague last March, they assented lo a package of mra si ires llial chiefly included:
• Minimising or phasing oui sea disposal of wastes containing dangerous stlbMa-imcs such us lead, mercury .md cadmium
• Compiling a list of dangerous substances whose out pul slxnikl be halved by 1995.
• Setting environmental quality standards lo ensure pollution is kept below "harmful levels".
• Preventing agricultural pesticides from reaching ihc North Sea. Ministers also endorsed the need fur un inlc grated an precautionary up praach and stepping up In spcclions lo ensure compliance with pollution and safely needs.
Vet converting Ihc North Sea from sludgy brown hack to
ecologically sound green will not liappcn overnight, or even In tin- next 12 namtlis.
Comments Paul Horsnsm. Ixiid of the Imus department al Greenpeace: Toxic metals such as mercury and IcimI arc Mill being pill there. uncll al lower levels. Hwy are going to provide problems for food Kilns. and for animals, for years to come "
lie says Greenpeace would like iwH just updating of old deadlines but a policy framework plus commitment lo "forced targets* for prompl n-duetkm of poisonous waste dumping hi wm.
It’s going to haw lo liap pen." he gis-s on. adding I Kit Issues such as nutrient cn-rkhmcnl arc now "on the In lemiilkmal polHxal iuk-iida for I lx- future "
Only this year is a "Kiscliiw assessment" of atmospheric pollutants Ix-ing made. In cooperation with the United Nations. Not untH 1993 will u "status report* on (pkiltly standards be ready Ending sea disposal of wntn-alrd sewn# and slixh* b cxpci led lo lake nil'll I99H.
And while Britain and Friuwc Iwvc already bnius-d lite use of ships mill foiling paint containing T|i f Irtlmiyliin. one of ihc most poiMMMHis known rhrmfrals -nu vessels over 75 fl bmg. txls-r Enro nsnmunilv isilvus ail not due lo follow suH until
Finding alternatives 'to M-wiige dumping will. Il Is es I inerted. Involve a capital outlay of 7 Isllsiii tn Brttutn akmr