India’s Environmental Challenges and Hopes

India so called growing economic power house of the world, which is in its full speed on development track. Entire world is recognizing it‘s all round developments activities, economic potentials, global economic driver capabilities and very key influences on global economy in future. A country with numerous missions & visions like 2020, 2050…. so on. Why not..? Every country should have one for growth and development, but at what cost.?

India is also member or leader of various groups of underdeveloped or developing nations on numerous issues (economy, environment and sustainable growth etc). On environment front most of the members of such groups blame, on various occasions, to developed countries for not giving sufficient subsidies and helps to implement the measures for the sustainable growth along with rapid economic developments, but actually they hide their own incation. There are points, negotiations and disagreements on these issues.

Most of the environmental summits go in waste only in blaming each other and discussing who has done more harm to environment and who has less ... and time up. Is there going to be a way out by such attitude? Is there should be one as an eye opener to tell you how dirty, polluted and filthy your house is? If you clean your house, is it the developed nations are going to make it dirty or pollute it or its advantage will be going to them. Growth is must and should be on priority but providing clean, green, safe, healthy and hygienic ambience, environment and nature to your citizens is also must.

Solutions are not far away. What are your issues with other developed nations do ask and fight for the same but that is not only option one should wait for to resolve and in fact it’s not going to do any magic to ameliorate the situation. Solution lies in the way  you handle your local natural resources, how you implement and guide industrial activities, infrastructure & development courses, plans and regulations for wild lives, rivers, biodiversities conservations, forests and agriculture and planning for cities & towns.

Take a case of India with so much cultural, social and natural diversities, has started its economic growth race blindly. It has gain enough so far but lost also equally if not more. With uneven industrial distributions and lack of proper planning has given it population congestion at industrial areas, overcrowded cities causing more pressure on natural recourses of one particular place, pressure on infrastructure, pollution and many more uncountable unwanted things.

Indian cities are extremely ill prepared to address the environmental fallouts of the aggressive building construction that is underway, according to Centre for Science and Environment. A statement issued by the centre said that 70% of the building stock that will be there in 2030 is yet to be built in India but without resource efficiency measures this will severely affect liveability of cities.

Since 1991, Indian policies on economic reforms have sidelined environmental concerns. The hard fought gains of the 1970s and 1980s (including new policies and laws on forests, wildlife, environment protection, water and air pollution, and the creation of a dedicated ministry) have been increasingly diluted, or sidestepped, in the blind pursuit of economic growth.

The 2010 McKinsey estimates confirm that the national power demand can be reduced by as much as 25% in 2030 by improving energy efficiency of buildings and operations. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency has also stated that even existing buildings have the potential to save 30-50% of energy. Similarly, substantial water savings is possible. Only by improving the water efficiency of the water fixtures the water demand can be reduced by more than 30% , said the statement by CSE.

Is There Hope?

With a dedicated ministry (MoFE) and continuous active pressure from civil societies and NGOs govt has drafted and implemented many policies and acts.

A few proposals in the 11th five-year plan, a committee to recommend a low carbon economy, state governments declaring a move towards organic production, rights-based laws. These are a few such signs. But lost, nonetheless, in the bigger picture of ‘growth at all costs’. Much more hopeful are the thousands of grassroots initiatives in sustainable agriculture, rural and urban renewal, decentralized water harvesting and energy production, meaningful community-based education and health, empowerment of the poorest that dot the country. Learning from them, helping them scale up and spread out, would be the single-most important step for the government.

Hopes lies with many civil and NGOs societies working at the grassroots level like CSE(Centre for Science and Environment) and Kalpavriksh .

--“A town is saved, not more by the righteous men in it than by the woods and swamps that surround it.”     - Henry David Thoreau

Share views and any real doings and hopes for degrading nature that is worth wide range implementation. Your concerns and affection to Environment.

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CSE, green environment, India, Pollution, renewable energy