Population Growth and Environmental Degradation in India

Dewaram A. Nagdeve, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

This paper examines the relationship of population to the environment. With a growing population, poverty and urbanization is degrading the environment. An analysis of changes and trends over last fifty years was conducted. The study reveals that the country's population growth is imposing an increasing burden on the country's limited and continually degrading natural resource base. The natural resources are under increasing strain, even though the majority of people survive at subsistence level. Population pressure on arable land contributes to the land degradation. The increasing population numbers and growing affluence have already resulted in rapid growth of energy production and consumption in India. The environmental effects like ground water and surface water contamination; air pollution and global warming are of growing concern to increasing consumption levels. The paper concludes with some policy reflections, the policy aimed at overall development should certainly include efforts to control population and environmental pollution.