SYLLABUS FOR ENVIRONMENT

In short:
Causes of air pollution: Industrial emissions, vehicular exhaust, burning of
fossil fuels, deforestation, construction activities.
Analysis of Air Pollutants: Methods of measuring particulate matter (PM 10,
PM2.5), fugitive dust, NOx, SOx, CO, VOCs, and
Ozone levels.
Air Pollution Control Measures & Scrubbers, electrostatic precipitators, bag filters,
Equipment: cyclones, catalytic converters, types of dust
suppression.
Methods &Approach of Air Pollution Source reduction, air quality monitoring, adopting
Control: cleaner technologies, emission standards.
Different sources of water pollution: Domestic effluents, sewage discharge, Industrial
effluents, mine surface run off, agricultural runoff,
plastic waste, oil spills.
Water Pollution & its control: Wastewater treatment (primary, secondary,
tertiary), effluent treatment plants, rainwater
harvesting, bioremediation, sewage treatment
plants, effluent treatment plants, etc.
Soil polluting agencies & effect of Pesticides, fertilizers, heavy metals, mining
solution: activities, landfill leachates.
Soil remediation methods: bioremediation,
phytoremediation, soil washing.
Solid waste disposal: Landfilling, composting, incineration, waste-to-
energy technologies, recycling, hazardous waste
management.
Noise and Environmental Sources of noise pollution: industrial activities,
management system: traffic, construction.
Noise control techniques: soundproofing, green
buffers, regulatory standards.
Environmental legislations, Key acts: Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution)
authorities & systems: Act, Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution)
Act, Environment (Protection) Act.
Regulatory authorities: Central Pollution Control
Board (CPCB), State Pollution Control Boards
(SPCBs), Ministry of Environment, Forest, and
Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
Environmental management systems (EMS), ISO
14001 standards, Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management
Plan (EMP)

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In Detail:

Principles of water chemistry: Water quality parameters and their measurement

pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical
oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand
(COD), total dissolved solids (TDS).
Heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium), nitrates,
phosphates.
Organic pollutants: pesticides, herbicides, etc.
Analytical techniques for water quality:
spectroscopy, titration, ion chromatography, etc.
Soil chemistry; Organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium,
cation exchange capacity, base saturation, sodium
absorption ratio, soil Ph, Soil fertility.
Soil nutrients and their role in plant growth.
Soil contamination and remediation methods
Atmospheric Chemistry: Composition of the atmosphere; Urban
atmosphere-smog and particulate pollution.
Environmental Microbiology & Bacteria, fungi, algae, viruses, and their
Characteristics of diverse groups of environmental roles.
microorganisms;
Prokaryotic and eukaryotic Characteristics of diverse groups of
microorganisms; microorganisms; Classification of microorganisms;
Microbial diversity; Plant-microbe and soil-microbe
interactions; Role of microorganisms in wastewater
treatment, bioremediation and biogeochemical
cycling.
Microbiology and health: Pathogens and modes of transmission; Indicator
organisms; Quantification of coliforms using MPN
and membrane filtration techniques.
Pathogens, infectious diseases, waterborne
diseases, and their control.
Role of microorganisms in Biological treatment processes: activated sludge,
wastewater treatment: aerobic digestion, anaerobic digestion, biofilters,
sequential batch reactor etc
Role of microbes in nutrient removal and sludge
stabilization.
Surface Water Resources: Hydrological cycle and water balance, precipitation,
infiltration, evapotranspiration, runoff, Flow
hydrographs; Unit hydrographs; Stage-discharge
relationship: Reservoir capacity; Reservoir and
channel routing: Surface run-off models; Surface
water management; Rain water harvesting and
storage.
Groundwater Resources: Geologic formations as aquifers; Vadose and
saturated zones; Confined and unconfined aquifers
and their parameters - porosity, permeability,

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 transmissivity and storage coefficient; Darcy's law
and applications; Steady state well hydraulics.
Water & Wastewater Treatment and Primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment
Management: processes.
Advanced techniques: membrane filtration, reverse
osmosis, desalination.
Sludge treatment and disposal, recycling and reuse
of treated water.
Screening, sedimentation with and without
coagulation, filtration, desalination, disinfection;
Water distribution and storage Point and non-point
sources of wastewater; Population forecasting
methods; Design of sewer and storm water sewers;
Sewer appurtenances; Preliminary, primary,
secondary and tertiary sewage treatment, Sludge
generation, processing and disposal methods;
Sewage farming.
Sources and characteristics of industrial effluents;
Concept of Common Effluent Treatment Plants
(CETP); Wastewater recycling and zero liquid
discharge.
Air Pollution Sources & Control: Emission sources: industries, vehicles, construction.
Air quality management and control equipment
such as gravitational settling chambers, cyclone
separators, wet collectors, bag house filters, ESP
etc.
Structure of the atmosphere; Natural and
anthropogenic sources of pollution; Atmospheric
sources, sinks, transport; Indoor air pollution;
Effects on health and environment; Air pollution:
gases and particulate matter, Air quality standards;
Primary and secondary pollutants; Criteria
pollutants, ambient and source standards, air
quality indices, visibility.
Particulate pollutants: measurement and control
methods; Control of particulate air pollutants using
gravitational settling chambers, cyclone separators,
wet collectors, fabric filters (Bag-house filter),
electrostatic precipitators (ESP).
Air quality management: Point, line and area
sources; Inventory; Influence of meteorology –
wind rose diagrams, stability, mixing height,
topography, dispersion modelling, monitoring.
Noise Pollution: Sources: industrial machinery, transportation,
urban activities.
Noise abatement measures, regulations, and
standards.

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 Noise Management: Health effects; Standards;
Measurement and control methods.
Gaseous Pollutants: Measurement and control methods; Control of
gaseous contaminants: absorption, adsorption,
condensation and combustion; Control of sulphur
oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and
hydrocarbons; Vapour-liquid and vapour-solid
equilibria; Diffusion, Fick's law and interfacial mass
transfer. Automotive emission controls, fuel quality,
diesel particulate filters, catalytic convertors.
Solid Waste Management: Collection, segregation, recycling, composting,
incineration.
Integrated solid waste management system.
Waste hierarchy; Rules and regulations for solid
waste management in India.
Municipal solid waste management: Sources,
generation, characteristics, collection and
transportation, waste processing and disposal
(including reuse options, biological methods, energy
recovery processes and landfilling).
Hazardous Waste Management: Classification of hazardous waste, disposal
techniques, remediation.
Hazardous waste management: Characteristics,
generation, fate of materials in the environment,
treatment and disposal.
Soil contamination and leaching of contaminants
into groundwater.
Management of biomedical waste, plastic waste
and E-waste: Sources, generation and
characteristics; Waste management practices
including storage, collection and transfer.
Global and Regional Environmental Climate change, global warming, ozone depletion,
Issues: acid rain. Deforestation, loss of biodiversity,
desertification.
Global effects of air pollution - Greenhouse gases,
global warming, climate change, urban heat islands,
acid rain, ozone hole.
Ecology and various ecosystems; Biodiversity:
Factors influencing increase in population, energy
consumption, and environmental degradation.
Sustainable Technology and Sustainable Development: Definition and concepts
Innovation: of sustainable development; Sustainable
development goals; Hurdles to sustainability;
Environment and economics.
Environmental Impact Assessment EIA process as per EIA Notification 2006, scoping,
(EIA), Environmental Auditing and environmental management plans (EMP).
Risk Assessment: Environmental Auditing and Risk Assessment.

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 Van Samrakshan evam samvardhan) adhiniyam,
1980 (earlier knows as Forest Conservation Act,
1980) and rules 2023 – detail process for obtaining
forest clearance for linear and non-linear and
hybrid projects, compensatory afforestation, net
present value, safety zone charges, soil & water
conservation, fire management in forest areas,
wildlife conservation management plan etc.
Environmental Legislations and Environment (Protection) Act, Water (Prevention &
Policies: Control of Pollution) Act, Air (Prevention & Control
of Pollution) Act, EIA Notification 2006, Hazardous
Waste (Management & Handling Rules), Bio-
Medical waste Management Rules, Batteries
Management & Handling rules, E-Waste
management rules, Solid waste management rules,
etc. Role of CPCB, SPCBs, MoEF&CC, NGT.

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