Environment : Insufficient Concern

Early this month the environment ministry took another step towards bringing the country closer to honouring the international obligations under the Montreal Protocol. It released the revised draft of the Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation) Rules, 2000 which sets the limits for production and use of substances that have been declared as contributing to ozone depletion.

India acceded to the Montreal Protocol in 1992. The following year India prepared a detailed country programme to phase out ozone depleting substances (ODS) in accordance with the national industrial development strategy. In 1997 the amount of ozone depleting substances being produced in India was 39,483 MT which was 5,000 MT more than in the previous year and consumption of these substances was 14,085 MT. India's per capita consumption is less than 3 gm and even between 1995 and 1997, when consumption was high, it did not cross 20 gm, well below the 300 gm permitted under the Montreal Protocol. India uses all of the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) it produces. Seven of the 20 substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol are produced and used here. Use of ODS as solvents accounts for the maximum consumption, while refrigeration, air-conditioning and foam are the next large users, with aerosols being the smallest consumer.