2. Meet a political or a social leader or a government official. Find out his/her thoughts on the social or political or environmental problems faced by India. Discuss the same in the classroom and write your views on how to solve the problems mentioned by the person.
Answers
Explanation:
Air pollution, poor management of waste, growing water scarcity, falling groundwater tables, water pollution, preservation and quality of forests, biodiversity loss, and land/soil degradation are some of the major environmental issues India faces today.
Environmental and Social Issues
Air emissions and air quality.
Energy use and conservation.
Wastewater and water quality.
Water use and conservation.
Hazardous materials use.
Wastes.
Land contamination.
Biodiversity and natural resources.
Explanation:
We are facing various environmental challenges. It is essential to get the country acquainted with these challenges so that their acts may be eco-friendly. Some of these challenges are as under:
1. Growing Population:
A population of over thousands of millions is growing at 2.11 per cent every year. It puts considerable pressure on its natural resources and reduces the gains of development. Hence, the greatest challenge before us is to limit the population growth. Although population control does automatically lead to development, yet the development leads to a decrease in population growth rates.
2. Poverty:
India has often been described a rich land with poor people. The poverty and environmental degradation have a nexus between them. The vast majority of our people are directly dependent on the nature resources of the country for their basic needs of food, fuel shelter and fodder. About 40% of our people are still below the poverty line.
Environment degradation has adversely affected the poor who depend upon the resources of their immediate surroundings. Thus, the challenge of poverty and the challenge environment degradation are two facts of the same challenge. The population growth is essentially a function of poverty. Because, to the very poor, every child is an earner and helper and global concerns have little relevance for him.
3. Agricultural Growth:
The people must be acquainted with the methods to sustain and increase agricultural growth with damaging the environment. High yielding varieties have caused soil salinity and damage to physical structure of soil.
4. Need to Ground Water:
It is essential of rationalizing the use of groundwater. Factors like community wastes, industrial effluents and chemical fertilizers and pesticides have polluted our surface water and affected quality of the groundwater.