• UGI USER
  • Dec 25, 2022
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Green Wall/ Bengal Barrier

Context: Experts question plan

What is the plan?

  • West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) has decided to set up 800 km Bio-Shield along its western fringe to stop pollutants from entering the State.
  • Bio-Shield – A wall of Mega Plantations
  • WBPCB says pollution from other states is responsible for close to half of West Bengal’s pollution load.

Why are experts against it?

  • It’s possible that the execution will cost many crores, take years to complete, and be ineffective.
  • Research has shown that during the winter, transboundary air pollutants, particularly the most harmful PM 2.5, typically migrate at least 500 metres above the surface, beyond the shield’s protection.
  • Research reveals that, relative to other states, West Bengal receives less transboundary pollution.
  • There is no proof that such a plan will succeed.

The Great Green wall of Sahel Region

  • It is an effort to enhance the area that may be used for agriculture in the Sahel, a region that borders the Sahara Desert in Africa.
  • Eleven countries, including Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and Senegal, are funding initiatives ranging from agroforestry to sustainable development.
  • GEF, WB, UNFCCD, and other organisations are involved. According to UNEP, this programme is one of the ground-breaking ones that is reviving nature.

Other Initiatives:

Great Green Wall of Africa

  • It aspires to change millions of lives in the Sahel, one of the world’s poorest regions, and repair Africa’s damaged environments.
  • Only 15% of the African project has been completed so far.
  • The Wall, an 8,000 km natural wonder spanning the whole breadth of the continent, will be the largest living structure on the earth once it is entirely constructed.
  • African nations requested financial assistance from the international community at the UNCCCD COP14 in order to build the Wall in the Sahel part of their continent by 2030.
    • Sahel is a semiarid region of western and north-central Africa extending from Senegal eastward to Sudan.
    • It forms a transitional zone between the arid Sahara (desert) to the north and the belt of humid savannas to the south.

Aravali Mountain Range

  • The Aravallis are the planet’s oldest fold mountains. According to geological studies, it is three billion years old.
  • Over 800 kilometres separate Gujarat from Delhi (through Rajasthan and Haryana).
  • The Guru Peak atop Mount Abu is the highest peak in the Aravalli Range.
  • Influences Climate:
    • The climate of northwest India and beyond is impacted by the Aravallis.
    • The mountain range nurtures the sub-Himalayan rivers and feeds the north Indian plains by gently guiding the monsoon clouds eastward towards Shimla and Nainital during monsoon season.
    • It shields the productive alluvial river valleys (such as the para-Indus and Gangetic) from the harsh winter winds that blow in from Central Asia.