Environment pollution in India
The rapidly growing population and econom-
ic development are leading to the environ-
mental degradation in India through the
uncontrolled growth of urbanization and in-
dustrialization, expansion and massive in-
tensification of agriculture, and the destruc-
tion of forests.
It is estimated that the country’s popula-
tion will increase to about 1.26 billion by the
year 2016. The projected population indic-
ates that India will be the first most populous
country in the world and China will be rank-
ing second in the year 2050[1]. India having
18% of the world’s population on 2.4% of
world’s total area has greatly increased the
pressure on its natural resources. Water
shortages, soil exhaustion and erosion, defor-
estation, air and water pollution afflicts many
areas.
India’s water supply and sanitation issues
are related to many environmental issues.
Major issues
One of the primary causes of environmental
degradation in a country could be attributed
to rapid growth of population, which ad-
versely affects the natural resources and en-
vironment. The uprising population and the
environmental deterioration face the chal-
lenge of sustainable development. The exist-
ence or the absence of favorable natural re-
sources can facilitate or retard the process of
socio-economic development. The three basic
demographic factors of births, deaths and mi-
gration produce changes in population size,
composition, distribution and these changes
raise a number of important questions of
cause and effect.
Population growth and economic develop-
ment are contributing to many serious envir-
onmental calamities in India. These include
heavy pressure on land, land degradation,
forests, habitat destruction and loss of biod-
iversity. Changing consumption pattern has
led to rising demand for energy. The final
outcomes of this are air pollution, global
warming, climate change, water scarcity and
water pollution.
Environmental issues in India include vari-
ous natural hazards, particularly cyclones
and annual