Speaking at the Goa University on Monday, noted historian Ramchandra Guha said, of the four challenges faced by the country, one is environmental degradation. He wasn’t referring to the ‘climate change’ cliché that pops up every time a natural calamity occurs or the environment is discussed. Climate change is a serious issue, but it is the sum total of a lot of other issues and unless these are broken down into smaller, more manageable packages, the large issue is not going to be resolved. Guha drew attention to the condition of soil, air and water which affects everyone. Attempting to attach an economic figure to the problem, Guha said some economists say that environmental degradation shaves off 3 per cent of the annual GDP.
India, with a population of 1.27 billion people, is facing huge environmental problems, from the pollution of its most sacred river, the Ganges, to the quality of air in New Delhi. The growth of the GDP in the decades since the economy was liberalised has brought in more cars and two wheelers which contribute 30 per cent of the greenhouse gases that are threatening to alter climate patterns. Sadly, the structures required to regulate traffic and encourage people to use public transport as against private vehicles, is missing. The odd-even experiment by the Delhi government helped decongest the city, but a recent study shows that it had no impact on the air quality. Most large cities suffer from the same problem and all policies are aimed at making more road and parking space for vehicles instead of the other way round. India ranks 174 out of 178 countries on the Environmental Protection Index for air quality and that alone indicates the huge gap between good intentions and reality.
At one end, India is struggling to raise people out of poverty and at the other it is trying to create better lifestyles for upper and middle class families. The dream of reaching the living standards experienced in developed countries is driving the economy and depleting natural resources at a rate unknown in the past. Waste is a by-product of this process and so is carbon dioxide. Consider this, Americans constitute 4.5 per cent of the world’s population, but they consume 25 per cent of the coal and generate 20 per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide. The developed world has achieved high standards of material prosperity but this came at a very high cost and more depletion is expected to occur as the developing world tries to catch up.
India’s challenge, as mentioned by Guha, lies in governance which is severely compromised by corruption. The huge number of deaths and collapse of buildings in the flash floods that occurred in 2013 were blamed on illegal constructions along river banks and depletion of river bed due to illegal sand extraction. An order passed by the National Green Tribunal banning sand extraction without proper environmental clearances could not be implemented by state governments on account of the lack of political will.
Perhaps, the best theory that explains environmental degradation and preservation is the environmental Kuznet curve. According to this theory, initially GDP growth results in environmental degradation, but as incomes reach an average peak the reverse begins to occur because, having provided for family, people turn their attention to the environment. This might explain why those living in developed areas place environment protection ahead of growth. The real challenge though, is balancing the needs of the environment with growth.
