{"id":29817,"date":"2018-10-26T12:37:03","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T07:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=29817"},"modified":"2018-10-26T12:37:03","modified_gmt":"2018-10-26T07:07:03","slug":"the-risks-in-fracking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/the-risks-in-fracking\/","title":{"rendered":"The risks in fracking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/the-risks-in-fracking\/article23650260.ece\"><b>The risks in fracking<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Context:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prospects and risks associated with the process of fracking for extraction of shale gas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What is shale gas and oil?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unconventional natural resources<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Found at 2,500-5,000 m below the earth\u2019s surface within a special form of sedimentary rock termed shale rock. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What is fracking or hydraulic fracturing?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Process used for extracting shale gas and oil<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">High volumes of water mixed with certain chemicals are pushed down to break the rocks release the trapped energy minerals.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>India Scenario:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2013, GoI approved the policy guidelines for the exploration and exploitation of shale gas and oil<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It permitted national oil companies to engage in fracking. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b><i>India has identified six basins as areas for shale gas exploration:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cambay (Gujarat),<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Assam-Arakan (North East),<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gondwana (Central India),<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Krishna Godavari onshore (East Coast),<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cauvery onshore, and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indo-Gangetic basins<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the benefits of commercial exploitation of Shale Deposits for India?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meet energy demands<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Decrease oil and gas imports<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Improve balance of payments<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the concerns associated?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Commercial exploitation of shale deposits by fracking have <\/span><b>social and environmental<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> concerns associated<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Water pollution<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: As chemically-treated water is used to bring out the gas, fracking will lead to surface and groundwater pollution<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increased air emissions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increased seismic activity<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Conflict:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> High water requirements for fracking may clearly put shale gas explorers in conflict with the local population.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the legal hurdles involved?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Right to clean and healthy environment is a fundamental right under right to life<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Further, the state has the duty to protect its natural resources from harm<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the risks of fracking to groundwater materialises, the judiciary can hold state responsible for it and order for preventive and corrective measures<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government is also obliged to adopt measures in accordance to the \u2018precautionary principle\u2019<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The principle states that where there is a significant risk to the environment or human health, precautionary measures must be undertaken, irrespective of any scientific uncertainty<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Further, the Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection, Regulation and Management of Groundwater, 2016 has set certain priority uses of groundwater- right to water for life, water for food security, supporting sustenance agriculture, sustainable livelihoods and eco-system needs<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only after meeting these needs groundwater can be used for other purposes<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Way Ahead:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Countries like Germany and France; sub national governments like Scotland have banned fracking<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keeping in mind the risks involved, the government should impose a prohibition on fracking<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The risks in fracking Context: Prospects and risks associated with the process of fracking for extraction of shale gas. What is shale gas and oil? Unconventional natural resources Found at 2,500-5,000 m below the earth\u2019s surface within a special form of sedimentary rock termed shale rock. What is fracking or hydraulic fracturing? Process used for&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/the-risks-in-fracking\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The risks in fracking<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-test-1","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29817\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}