A REPORT ON DPSIR(DRIVER-PRESSURE-STATE-IMPACT-RESPONSE) OF RICE MILL IN PARSA, CHITWAN

 INTRODUCTION

DPSIR (Driver ,Pressure ,State ,Impact and response) is causal framework for describing the interaction between society and the environment . It was developed by Anthony Friend in 1970s.It focuses on what has gone wrong with the environment and how to fix it. According to the DPSIR framework, there is a chain of causal links starting with driving forces (economic sector, human activities) through pressure (emission ,waste) to states (physical, chemical and biological ) and impact on ecosystem, human health and functions eventually leading response( prioritization  ,target setting ,indicators).

       State-Driver-Pressure-Impact –Response

I have chosen to focus on impact of rice mill on environmental assets and quality of life of people living around  rice mill. Popular rice mill at Parsa has been one of the leading rice mill producing rice grain from threshed paddy collected from community farming area. I have studied about various environmental impact due to established of the rice mill.

objectIVES

1. To get acquires with concept of DPSIR and its components.

2. To know how these elements are interrelated with each other.

3. To study and analyse the impacts of rice mill on environment.

4. To find out the mitigation measures of the negative impact on environment.

METHOLOGY

1. Site selection: Popular Rice mill located at Parsa chok , Chitwan was selected to relate DPSIR framework with existing environment impact. I selected this site for my study  due to easy accessible and in order to save my time and money. It is located 27 37 08 N and 84 34 33 E and 2004 above sea level. It has sub tropical zone with hot and humid  summer and cold winter with average temperature 27 . It has loamy soil.

2. Data Collection :I collected data through two sources:

a. Primary source:  I visited the area of Popular Rice Mill and collected information on the topic through self observation, interaction with workers and local people. Primary information was collected through visual observation and interview.

b. Secondary source: Different articles ,internet, reports were reviewed to get information.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Rice mill site has been visited and the studied information was analysed in the form of DPSIR framework. The component of the DPSIR framework are defined below:

1.Drivers:They are also called driving forces and refers to fundamental process in the society, which drive activities having a direct impact on the environment. The drivers of my study are :

a. Out of three crops grown in a year , rice is grown twice in Chitwan  which makes rice mill one of the growing industry here.

b .

c. To create employment opportunity in local level.

 d. To utilize fallow land for productive purpose.

2. Pressure : Driving forces lead to human activities such as production of rice grain in meeting need. The human activities exert pressure on environment , as a result of production or consumption process, which are listed below:

a. Production of rice grain: The threshed paddy from local farmer are collected .The husk and rice bran layer of the rice kernel are removed which makes the rice edible and free from impurities.

b. Production of different by products: Different by products of rice mill like rice husk,broken rice, rice bran are produced during rice processing process .

c. Production of vibration and sound pollution: Rice grain production process use heavy machines which cause vibration and sound pollution.

d.Air pollution and dust: Different gases, fuel used in rice processing process cause emission of different gases like co2,so2 e.t.c which cause air pollution . Also, processing process produce different dust and smoke.

3.State:As a result of pressure ,the state of the environment is thus combination of the physical , chemical and biological conditions.

a. Establishment  of rice mill in environment cause change in physical quality of environment.

b. Biodiversity: Rice mill directly or indirectly affect the surrounding biodiversity. The emission of different gases , dust,and noise affect biodiversity.

c. Soil quality:The soil of the mill site will deteriorate due to use of heavy machine , construction activities, production process while the by product of rice mill will increase fertility of surrounding soil.

4.Impact:The changes in the physical, chemical or biological state of the environment determine

the quality of ecosystems and the welfare of human beings around rice mill. In other word change in state may have environmental impact on functioning of ecosystem ,life style of people ,health condition ,social performance of society. The positive and negative impact of the rice mill are:

a. Positive impact:Establishment of rice mill in environment primarily make local people easy accessible to quality rice grain. On the other hand, different by product of rice mill can be effectively utilized in fertility improvement of soil,feed supplement in poultry farm. Similarly ,broken rice produced can be processed into flour ,alcohol. This create employment opportunity to local people and uplift their life standard.

b. Negative impact: vibration and noise pollution affect the local people as well as bees which are integral part of ecosystem. Regular inhalation of smoke and dust can cause short term health effect such as coughing, tonsillitis while in long term effect it can cause lung cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Sometime high voltage supply can cause electric shock to the workers, local people and birds.

5. Response: Response by the society and the policy maker is the result of undesired impact and can affect any part of the chain between driving force and impact. Sound absorbent should be used inside the mill. Plantation of trees around the mill also act as sound absorbent as well as air purifier. New machines should be used that produce minimum pollution.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:

While reviewing in short, any environmental impact can be linked in the form of DPSIR. The project has been accomplished through site visit, desk study and internet. The driver for the environmental impact due to rice mill establishment, impact on us and measure to overcome are studied and analysed.

It can be concluded that rice mill has both positive and negative impact. By mitigating the negative impacts as much as possible the project can be a success.