Overpopulation in India has led to several environmental problems. It is the root cause of issues like food shortage, water scarcity, increased pollution, and deforestation. The high population growth is attributed to factors such as declining death rates, poverty, illiteracy and lack of family planning programs. Measures to control overpopulation include increasing female education, employment opportunities, and implementing policies like the two-child norm along with better access to contraceptives. Addressing the root causes of overpopulation can help curb its effects and promote sustainable development.

1.
An
Environmental
Problem:
Overpopulation
in
India
Introduction:
This research paper is about an environmental problem; that is; ‘Overpopulation in India’.
Among all the environmental problems, I chose ‘Overpopulation in India’, because it has
been the root cause of all the environmental problems in India. Secondly India being one of
the countries who is about to surpass China in terms of population, is the most appropriate
country to associate with the overpopulation issues.
My main objective in this research paper is to show how this one issue of overpopulation has
given rise to several other environmental problems in India. In this paper I am showcasing the
causes of overpopulation and what effects it is having on the environment. Along with that I
will also putting down the measures which can curb overpopulation in India.
In the end the research paper conclude depending on the finding of different literature
reviews as in how overpopulation became the father of all environmental problems.
Effects, Causes and Measures:
Overpopulation is like an unwelcomed circumstance where the number of inhabitants in the
land surpasses the sustaining ability. Overpopulation is trending in today’s world and
especially in third world countries like India because of reasons like decline in the death rate,
illiteracy, better technology and medical facilities, immigration and lack of family planning.
Census of India, Provisional Population Totals, 2001 said that the although birth rate
in India has fallen since 1981 to 1991; i.e.; from 33.9 per thousand populations to 29 per
thousand populations in 1991, plus it declined more to 25 per thousand populations in 2001,
simultaneously crude death rate decreased from 12.5-9.8 per thousand populations and then

2. finally in 2001 it was 8 per thousand populations. Hence there has been a fall in the natural
growth rate of India's population from 21.4 percent in 1981 to 17 percent in 2001, as well as
in the total fertility rate from 4.5-3.1 children per women in the two decades. Along with all
these there was a gradual decline in the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) per thousand 110 in
1981 to 72 in 1991(Nagdeve, 2007). On the other hand illiteracy and poverty was so much
connected to each other that they jointly formed a cause of over population.
Since majority of the population is below the poverty line, many did not get the access
to education and hence this is how illiteracy still prevails to India to a very high extent. Due
to this problem every family wanted more hands to work for them and curb the monetary
drawbacks and so this is a way population kept increasing. There is no proper family
planning, plus the demand for a male inheritor in families was another reason. Family
planning began in India in the year 1952 when the population rose to 400 million. On the
other hand, there were also early marriages of girls and so they became young mothers and
thus this lead to the increase in birth rate. With the emergence of better medical facilities and
a boon in technology, the fertility rate also increased and this was another reason behind the
increase in population. Lastly we have the immigration factor that is usually when people
migrated from rural to urban area for better employment and lifestyle and also the refugees
from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and other neighbouring countries added the population of
India to a huge extent.
Thus we have seen that overpopulation has causes in India and they came up with various
environmental effects. The most important is the overconsumption of resources which
included food, water, minerals, oil and other necessities.
Since the population bomb is constantly ticking away we have seen that food
consumption became a very big problem which also gave rise to other problems like
agricultural lands were increased by clearing forest areas which in turn gave rise to
deforestation. Due to the increasing per capita consumption of food there has been more
intensification of agriculture where more chemical pesticides and fertilizers is increased for
faster production of crops (as bio-fertilisers and bio-pesticides makes the crop production
process slower) and thus the use of these intoxicated chemicals is leading to the depletion of
the soil quality where at a certain point of time the depleted land is abandoned and are of no
use. Even the chemicals can also have hazardous health effects on living beings as the DDT
ends up in the food chain. The increasing per capita food consumption has also led to the
production of GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) food crops which are still a

3. controversy in terms of food safety regarding allergies and it can also affect the natural
ecosystem.
Similarly ground water depletion is another huge problem where some parts of the
country are facing water scarcity. Overuse and exploit of groundwater due to overpopulation
has decreased the ground water table is gradually going down. Even the increasing amount of
water pollution due to overpopulation is also depleting the quality of ground water. Pesticides
and fertilizers from the agricultural fields are contaminated in the water bodies especially
during heavy monsoons, where the concomitants pollute the water (Nagdeve, 2007). All these
gave rise to water-borne diseases like cholera, typhoid, etc.
In the same way air pollution which has just increased due to more air-conditioners
and private transport is also leading to air-borne diseases like lung cancer, bronchitis, etc. The
Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India(2009).The State of Environment
Report- India reported , “Air borne emissions emitted from various industries are a cause of
major concern. These emissions are of two forms, viz. solid particles (SPM) and gaseous
emissions (SO, NO, CO, etc.). Heavy polluting industries were identified which are included
under the 17 categories of highly polluting industries for the purpose of monitoring and
regulating pollution from them.” Even since the per capita energy increased in terms of
electricity, production in factories was uplifted; this indirectly led to more emission of gases
and more consumption of mineral resources.
A work by C.M Lakshmana (2013). Population, development, and environment in
India. Chinese Journal of Population Resources and Environment says, “India has 31.4
million middle-class households, and this figure is expected to increase to 53.3 million by
2015–2016. Currently, the middle class that represents about13.1% of India’s population
owns 49% of the number of cars, 21% of TVs, 53.2% of computers, 52.9% of air
conditioning units, 37.8% of microwaves, and 45.7% of credit cards.” Thus we can see that
the per capita energy consumption is directly proportional to the environmental impact. Even
use of other resources like oil has also caused oil spills n seas which have also affected the
life of marine animals where many died of getting choked by oil while others came up with
reproductive problems.
The wild life has also been disturbed by the swelling human habitat through
deforestation which is done for resources, as well as to urbanize the area for the development
of transportation and communication. According to the Compendium of Environment
Statistics - India, 2007, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of
India(2009).The State of Environment Report- India stated, “Between 2003 and 2005, the

4. total forest cover had decreased slightly by 728 sq. km. The states, which have shown a
decline in the forest covers, are Nagaland (296 sq. km), Manipur (173 sq.km), Madhya
Pradesh (132 sq. km) and Chhattisgarh (129 sq.km).” Secondly the wildlife has also been
disturbed by the climatic change that is global warming which is also an indirect effect of
overpopulation.
India is stretched to the limit by overpopulation. Gautam Bhatia (2006, Dec 4). Mail Online
India reported, “In 1990, according to the National Building Organisation, housing
requirement in the country stood at two crore units; a decade later, and after a substantial
construction input from government and related building agencies, the backlog rose to four
crore; today the housing demand stands at a whopping 5.5 crore. Increasing demand
obviously also dents standards.”
There has been an increase in the production of electricity from 5 billion KWH in
1950-51 to about 500 billion KWH in 2000-2001 and thus we see that the apportion of
thermal and hydropower has altered considerably, i.e., thermal power has uplifted from 51%
in 1950-51 to about 82 % in 2000-2001 while dropped from 49 % in 1950-51 to about 15% in
2000-2001. On the other hand we have nuclear power with insignificant percentage. Thus we
see that burning of coals and fossil fuels, emitted huge amount of greenhouse gases which led
to global warming (Nagdeve, 2007). Global warming has not only affected the wild life but
also the agricultural resources as they changed the pattern of climate and precipitation.
Venkataramanan, Smitha(2011). Causes and effects of global warming. Asia Pacific Journal
on Environment and Development stated, “Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns
increase the frequency, duration, and intensity of other extreme weather events, such as
floods, droughts, heat waves, and tornadoes. Other effects of global warming include higher
or lower agricultural yields, further glacial retreat, reduced summer stream flows, species
extinctions. As a further effect of global warming, diseases like malaria are returning into
areas where they have been extinguished earlier.”
Overpopulation might seem uncontrollable but then also it can still be curbed in India and
this can be solved by solving the problems which are connected to it.
Firstly removing illiteracy can help a lot. Encouraging female education and employment can
be of great help. Girls who get married at a young age can get educated and earn bread for
their family. Literacy will help the people to understand birth control and contraception;
hence family planning will come in the picture. Adopting two child policies can even help a

5. lot in getting rid of this problem. A child should be given birth by the will that the parents
should be able to give the monetary help and other necessity to the child, but not by chance
which usually happens when parents are willing for a male child and so they gave birth to
many until and unless a male child was born. Secondly literacy can also help in employment
which can mark an end to poverty and giving birth to more children for getting more bread
earners for the family will be stopped. In fact all these would work more well if the
government decided to pay certain allowance to those who have been genuinely following the
family planning policy. There can be communal health program where government can
provide contraception pills, condoms, birth control pills, IUD, sterilization, etc. Even
awareness programs can help to a great extent. Other measures that can be taken for
controlling overpopulation can be the proper checking of illegal migrations in border areas.
Thus according to my point of view if the root causes are solved then getting rid of the
overpopulation won’t be a tough nut to crack.
Conclusion:
This research paper is done to showcase how one problem of overpopulation can give rise to
so many other environmental problems. From my research I have found out that all the
environmental problems are pretty much interconnected with each other and so the root
problem overpopulation is to be tackled the most. Whether its global warming, pollution,
over exploitation of resources, wildlife lost, soil degradation, etc. are all a part of parcel of the
effects of overpopulation. The main causes of overpopulation basically happened to be
poverty and illiteracy which in turn also hampers the economic development. Thus
overpopulation is not only an environmental problem but also an economic problem. But on
the other hand we have seen that with economic progress the death rate begins to decline, so
in such cases birth control through family planning can only help. The ill effects of
overpopulation which has taken place till now cannot be changed but at least measures can be
adopted to prevent it further.

6. References :
Ø Nagdeve, D. A., (2007), Population Growth and Environmental Degradation in
India. Asia Pacific Journal on Environment and Development, Vol. 14 No 1, 2007 pp.
41-63, published by Bangladesh Unnayan
Parishad,Dhaka. http://paa2007.princeton.edu/papers/7192
Ø Rumani Saikia Phukan (2014), Overpopulation in India – Causes, Effects and How
to Control it?.
Retrieved
from
MapsofIndia.com
http://www.mapsofindia.com/my-­‐
india/india/overpopulation-­‐in-­‐india-­‐causes-­‐effects-­‐and-­‐how-­‐to-­‐control-­‐it
Ø Subhi Aggarwal(2014), Impact of India’s Population Growth on Economic
Development. Paripex-Indian Journal Of Research, Vol 3 , Issue 5
Ø CM Lakshmana(2013), Population, development and environment in India. Chinese
Journal of Population Resources and Environment, 2013Vol. 11, No. 4, 367–374,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10042857.2013.874517
Ø Gautam Bhatia (2006, Dec 4). India is stretched to the limit by overpopulation.
Retrieved from Mail Online India .
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2517637/India-stretched-
limit-overpopulation.html
Ø M. Venkataramanan and Smitha(2011). Causes and effects of global warming.
Indian
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file:///C:/Users/Priya/Documents/overpopulation%20research/29971-29673-1-PB.pdf
Ø State
of
Environment
Report
–
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of
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and
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file:///C:/Users/Priya/Documents/overpopulation%20research/home-SoE-Report-
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Ø Overpopulation. Conserve Energy Future. Retrieved from http://www.conserve-
energy-future.com/causes-effects-solutions-of-overpopulation.php
Ø Population Explosion in India
http://www1bpt.bridgeport.edu/~darmri/population_explosion.html