Major environmental issues in India include land degradation, resource depletion, loss of biodiversity, and pollution. Rapid population growth and economic development are contributing to increased pressure on natural resources through urbanization, industrialization, and intensive agriculture. As India's population continues to rise, these factors will exacerbate issues like water scarcity, soil erosion, deforestation, and air and water pollution. Economic development can also influence the impacts of pollution - in China, the elderly in more developed urban areas have worse health outcomes in response to air pollution compared to less developed areas.

1. Environmental issues in India
• The rapid growing population and economic development is leading to a
number ofenvironmental issues in India because of the uncontrolled
growth of urbanization andindustrialization, expansion and massive
intensification of agriculture, and the destruction of forests.
• Major environmental issues are forest and agricultural degradation of
land, resource depletion (water, mineral, forest, sand, rocks
etc.), environmental degradation, public health, loss of biodiversity, loss
of resilience in ecosystems, livelihood security for the poor.[1]
• It is estimated that the country’s population will increase to about
1.26 billion by the year 2016. The projected population indicates that India
will be the first most populous country in the world and China will be
ranking second in the year 2050.[2] India having 18% of the world's
population on 2.4% of world's total area has greatly increased the
pressure on its natural resources. Water shortages, soil exhaustion and
erosion, deforestation, air and water pollution afflicts many areas.
• India's water supply and sanitation issues are related to many
environmental issues.

2. • Major issues
• One of the primary causes of environmental degradation in a country could be
attributed to rapid growth of population, which adversely affects the natural
resources and environment. The uprising population and the environmental
deterioration face the challenge of sustainable development. The existence or the
absence of favorable natural resources can facilitate or retard the process of socio-
economic development. The three basic demographic factors of births
(natality),deaths (mortality) and human migration (migration) and immigration
(population moving into a country produces higher population) produce changes
in population size, composition, distribution and these changes raise a number of
important questions of cause and effect. Population growth and economic
development are contributing to many serious environmental calamities in India.
These include heavy pressure on land,land degradation, forests, habitat
destruction and loss of biodiversity. Changing consumption pattern has led to
rising demand for energy. The final outcomes of this are air pollution, global
warming, climate change, water scarcity and water pollution.

3. • Environmental issues in India include various natural hazards, particularly cyclones
and annual monsoon floods, population growth, increasing individual
consumption, industrialization, infrastructural development, poor agricultural
practices, and resource maldistribution have led to substantial human
transformation of India’s natural environment. An estimated 60% of cultivated land
suffers from soil erosion, waterlogging, and salinity. It is also estimated that
between 4.7 and 12 billion tons of topsoil are lost annually from soil erosion. From
1947 to 2002, average annual per capita water availability declined by almost 70%
to 1,822 cubic meters, andoverexploitation of groundwater is problematic in the
states of Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh. Forest area covers 18.34% of India’s
geographic area (637000 km²). Nearly half of the country’s forest cover is found in
the state of Madhya Pradesh (20.7%) and the seven states of the northeast
(25.7%); the latter is experiencing net forest loss. Forest cover is declining because
of harvesting for fuel wood and the expansion of agricultural land. These trends,
combined with increasing industrial and motor vehicle pollution output, have led
to atmospheric temperature increases, shifting precipitation patterns, and
declining intervals of drought recurrence in many areas.

4. Air Pollution, Economic Development
of Communities, and Health Status
Among the Elderly in Urban China
• In Western societies, the impact of air pollution on residents' health is higher in
less wealthy communities. However, it is not clear whether such an interaction
effect applies to developing countries. The authors examine how the level of
community development modifies the impact of air pollution on health outcomes
of the Chinese elderly using data from the third wave of the Chinese Longitudinal
Health Longevity Survey in 2002, which includes 7,358 elderly residents aged 65 or
more years from 735 districts in 171 cities. The results show that, compared with a
1-point increase in the air pollution index in urban areas with a low gross domestic
product, a similar increase in the air pollution index in areas with a high gross
domestic product is associated with more difficulties in activities of daily living
(odds ratio = 1.41, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.09, 1.83), instrumental activities
of daily living (linear coefficient = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.58, 1.37), and cognitive function
(linear coefficient = 2.67, 95% CI: 1.97, 3.36), as well as a higher level of self-rated
poor health (odds ratio = 2.20, 95% CI: 1.68, 2.86). Contrary to what has been
found in the West, Chinese elderly who live in more developed urban areas are
more susceptible to the effect of air pollution than are their counterparts living in
less developed areas.

5. Economic Development And Pollution
• The industrialization of China and India pose a significant threat to the
world's environment because a large number of people in those countries
are going to pass through a phase where they are engaged in enough
industrial activity to generate pollution but where they are going to have
earnings per person so low that they will not be strongly inclined to make
political demands for reduction of pollution.
• Economists have noted (and, yes, I need to go dig up some links in support
of these points) that there are threshold levels of per capita GDP where
populaces begin using different types of products. So, for example, there is
a per capita GDP level at which laundry detergent demand becomes
noticeable and other per capita GDP levels at which the demand for
replaceable blade shavers and electric shavers start to be felt. This
phenomenon is found for a large variety of products and services.
Consumer goods companies such as Procter & Gamble use this knowledge
as a guide for when to try to introduce various products and types of
packaging in different countries. Even the sizes of portions sold change as
people become more affluent.

6. • Economists even argue that there is a level of living standard at
which populaces will begin to make substantial demands of political
systems to reduce pollution. As living standards continue to rise the
demand for cleaner environments inevitably becomes stronger as
people reach the point of having satisfied other desires. Among
industrialized countries living standards had some influence on
which countries developed environmental movements first. The
United States, with a higher per capita GDP than Europe, adopted
many environmental regulations before European countries did
and, for example, banned the use of lead in gasoline many years
before most European countries did. Also, leaded gasoline continue
to be used in Mexico many years after it was banned in the United
States. This makes sense. Mexicans were poorer and were more
concerned about getting cheaper gas and cheaper cars than in
getting cleaner air.