CHAPTER-1
Introduction
Population explosion is not only a problem in India; it has
reached a menacing proportion all over the world, especially in the poorer
countries. The problem of the population explosion
has lost much of its urgency. Since it came to the fore in the 1960's,
population growth on the world level has consistently decreased. In the
developed countries, population growth is practically zero, in the developing
countries it is rapidly decreasing.
The population of India was around 361 million during the
census of 1951. It reached over 1.21 billion during the census of 2011.
Some statistics relating to population growth indicate that
by 2022, the population of India is likely to pass the 1.5 billion mark. Thus,
there is no denying that India is currently experiencing a population
explosion.
Objectives
(i) recall the concept of environmental
degradation and factors that cause it;
(ii) explain how
exploitation of natural resources leads to environmental degradation;
(iii) explain
the relationship between population growth and environmental degradation;
(iv) discuss the
impact of industrialization on abiotic (air, water and soil) and biotic resources (plants and animals) of
the environment;
(v) list local,
regional and global backlashes caused by environmental degradation;
(vi) Describe
the impact of environmental degradation on life
Overpopulation,
Under Population, Optimum Population
Overpopulation:
The term ‘overpopulation’ means too great a population for a given region to
support. There may be two causes:
(i)
Population growth exceeds the existing resource base;
(ii)
Existing resources have been depleted.
Some
authors distinguish absolute overpopulation (where the absolute limit of
production has been attained but standards of living remain low) from relative
overpopulation (where present production does not support the population but
the production can be augmented).
The
situation of overpopulation displays the following socio-economic
characteristics: high unemployment, low incomes, low standards of living, high
population density, malnutrition and famine.
Regional
overpopulation when found in rural areas is attributed to:
(i)
Rapid increase of rural population,
(ii)
Skewed distribution of agricultural land,
(iii)
Agricultural mechanisation,
(iv)
Lack of development of non- agricultural sector,
(v)
Low agricultural yield,
(vi)
Lack of social development, and
(vii)
Non-resilience of the agricultural sector.
Under
population: Under population exists when a population is too
small, therefore unable to fully utilise the available resource endowments.
Under population is also characterised by a situation where the available
resources are capable of supporting a much larger population with no reduction
in living standards. The situation is found in regions of low technical
development such as equatorial Congo, Amazon River basin or the rich Prairie
region of North America.
Optimum
population: Optimum population has been defined as that size
of population enabling per capita output of the maximum orders accompanied by
the highest possible standards of living under a given set of economic and
technological conditions. Therefore, optimum population lies between two
extremes, i.e., overpopulation and under-population, although the size of
optimum population is not sacrosanct.
Population
Explosion: Causes & Effects
Causes
The
causes of population explosion are as follows:
·
Accelerating birthrate: Due to lack of awareness about
the positive impact of using birth-control method, there has been a steady
growth in birthrate.
·
Decrease
in infant mortality rate: An
improvement in medical science and technology, wide usage of preventive drugs
(vaccines), has reduced the infant mortality rate. There has been great
improvement in medical and health-care facilities during the past few decades.
·
Increased
immigration: An
increase in immigration often contributes towards population explosion,
particularly in developed countries. It happens when a large number arrive at
an already populated place with the intention to reside permanently.
·
Less
space than required: In
urban cities, it is often found that there is very less scope for making
available extra space to absorb the additional population. In such cases, a
large population is seen packed into a smaller space.
·
Improved Medicare: With the development of
medical science man is capable of eliminating epidemics like cholera measles,
flue, chicken pox, small pox etc. the diseases like cancer, ulcer, appendicitis
etc. can be cured with suitable surgery.
·
Proper sanitation: The present society is provided
with improved public health system. That is, the steps have been taker to
provide pure drinking water, proper drainage system, and latrin to avoid open
defecation.
·
Adequate food supply:
With the development in agricultural technology and efficient transport
system, all parts of the world are getting adequate food for their maintenance.
·
Illiteracy:
In some parts of the world, illiteracy is one to the causes of
population explosion.
·
Improved living standard:
With improved living standard, the fertility rate has become higher resulting
in population explosion. High fertility which has been traditionally associated
with prosperity, prestige and security for the future, now jeopardizes chances
for many to achieve health and security.
Effects of Over Population
Even
after 67 years of independence, the scenario of our country is not good, due to
over population. Some major impacts of high population are as follows:
- Unemployment: Generating employment for
a huge population in a country like India is very difficult. The number of
illiterate persons increases every year. Unemployment rate is thus showing
an increasing trend.
- Manpower utilization: The number of jobless
people is on the rise in India due to economic depression and slow
business development and expansion activities.
- Pressure on infrastructure: Development of
infrastructural facilities is unfortunately not keeping pace with the
growth of population. The result is lack of transportation, communication,
housing, education, healthcare etc. There has been an increase in the
number of slums, overcrowded houses, traffic congestion etc.
- Resource utilization: Land areas, water
resources, forests are over exploited. There is also scarcity of
resources.
- Decreased production and
increased costs: Food
production and distribution have not been able to catch up with the
increasing population and hence the costs of production have increased.
Inflation is the major consequence of over population.
- Inequitable income
distribution: In
the face of an increasing population, there is an unequal distribution of
income and inequalities within the country widen.
- Stress on natural resources: In order to supply food, water, clothing’s etc. to the
increased population, the natural resources like forest, minerals, water,
land, wildlife etc. are under high stress.
- Waste accumulation: As the population
increases, a lot of waste is accumulated causing serious environmental hazards.
Control
Measures / Initiatives
Population
of India is quite large and rapidly increasing. One percent growth rate means
an addition of 1 crore people every year but actually speaking 2 crore persons
are being adding every year. So effective population control measures is the
need of the hour. We know that birth rate is mainly responsible for rapid
population growth.
Hence
measures which can reduce the birth rate should be adopted. These measures can
be classified into 3 heads.
A.
Social Measure:
Population explosion is a social
problem and it is deeply rooted in the society. So efforts must be done to
remove the social evils in the country.
- Minimum age of Marriage: As fertility depends on the age
of marriage. So the minimum age of marriage should be raised. In India
minimum age for marriage is 21 years for men and 18 years for women has be
fixed by law. This law should be firmly implemented and people should also
be made aware of this through publicity.
- Raising the Status of Women: There is still discrimination
to the women. They are confined to four walls of house. They are still
confined to rearing and bearing of children. So women should be given
opportunities to develop socially and economically. Free education should
be given to them.
- Spread of Education: The spread of education changes
the outlook of people. The educated men prefer to delay marriage and adopt
small family norms. Educated women are health conscious and avoid frequent
pregnancies and thus help in lowering birth rate.
- Adoption: Some parents do not have any
child, despite costly medical treatment. It is advisable that they should
adopt orphan children. It will be beneficial to orphan children and
children couples.
- Change in Social Outlook: Social outlook of the people
should undergo a change. Marriage should no longer be considered a social
binding. Issueless women should not be looked down upon.
- Social Security: More and more people should be
covered under-social security schemes. So that they do not depend upon
others in the event of old age, sickness, unemployment etc. with these
facilities they will have no desire for more children.
B.
Economic Measures:
The following are the economic measures:
- More employment opportunities: The first and foremost measure
is to raise, the employment avenues in rural as well as urban areas.
Generally in rural areas there is disguised unemployment. So efforts
should be made to migrate unemployed persons from rural side to urban
side. This step can check the population growth.
- Development of Agriculture and
Industry: If
agriculture and industry are properly developed, large number of people
will get employment. When their income is increased they would improve
their standard of living and adopt small family norms.
- Standard of Living: Improved standard of living
acts as a deterrent to large family norm. In order to maintain their
higher standard of living people prefer to have a small family. According
to A.K. Das Gupta those who earn less than Rs. 100 per month have on the
average a reproduction rate of 3.4 children and those who earn more than
Rs. 300 per month have a reproduction rate of 2.8 children.
- Urbanization: It is on record that people in
urban areas have low birth rate than those living in rural areas.
Urbanization should therefore be encouraged.
C.
Other Measures:
The following are the other
measures:
- Late Marriage: As far as possible, marriage
should be solemnized at the age of 30 years. This will reduce the period
of reproduction among the females bringing down the birth rate. The govt.
has fixed the minimum marriage age at 21 yrs. for males and 18 yrs. for
females.
- Self Control: According to some experts, self
control is one of the powerful methods to control the population. It is an
ideal and healthy approach and people should be provided to follow. It
helps in reducing birth rate.
- Family Planning: This method implies family by
choice and not by chance. By applying preventive measures, people can
regulate birth rate. This method is being used extensively; success of
this method depends on the availability of cheap contraceptive devices for
birth control. According to Chander Shekher, “Hurry for the first child,
Delay the second child and avoid the third.”
- Recreational Facilities: Birth rate will likely to fall
if there are different recreational facilities like cinema; theatre,
sports and dance etc. are available to the people.
- Publicity: The communication media like
T.V., radio and newspaper are the good means to propagate the benefits of
the planned family to the uneducated and illiterate persons especially in
the rural and backward areas of country.
- Incentives: The govt. can give various
types of incentives to the people to adopt birth control measures.
Monetary incentives and other facilities like leave and promotion can be
extended to the working class which adopts small family norms.
- Employment to Woman: Another method to check the population is to provide employment to women. Women should be given incentive to give services in different fields. Women are taking active part in competitive examinations. As a result their number in teaching, medical and banking etc. is increasing rapidly. In brief by taking, all there measures we can control the growth of population
CHAPTER-2
Sample Selection and Data Collection:
Sample Selection:.
The Panskura Block was selected as the unit of study on the grounds that, it is
one of’ the largest blocks in rural Panskura in terms of its population and the
people in the block belong to different socio-economic groups. An attempt was
made to investigate the nature and social implications of population growth at
the block-level. The focus was also on the attempt to know the reality of
changes in the past and present patterns of population growth.
In order to assess the issue of
population explosion in the study area , the researcher selected two types of
respondents i.e. rural Hindu family and rural Muslim family. After mapping the
area and selecting the respondents, the researcher pre-tested the interview
schedule and questionnaire, and then the whole data was collected from the sampled
respondents. After data collection the study went through tabulation, figures,
description, findings, conclusion and recommendations.
Data Collection: As
already mentioned, the study was carried out among 25 respondent families of
the block. The Heads of these 25 families on the criterion of income
were approached for the purpose of obtaining required information. The
selection of respondents was a conscious choice, in order to give
representation to all societal groups. These respondent families belonged to
the following income groups:
Map of the Selected Study Area
Causes of population explosion in the
study area
An extensive field study was carried out
in Panskura Block (Unit of study) of Purba Medinipur
district. The nature of population growth and its social implications were
analyzed in this study at the micro-level. The researcher found some reasons
promoting population growth in his study area.
1.
Child Marriage and Multi Marriage
System
Marriage of around 80% girls is took
place at their young age of between 15 to 20 years. Thus, the result of long
married life comes in the farm of excessive childbirth. Tradition of
multi-marriage system increases the rotation of childbirth.
2.
Religious Superstitions
The residents of this ares have a belief
that if a Hindu person does not has son, then who will perform the religious
ritual in its absence. Due to this, person remains engage in the continuous
process of giving birth, one by one, in search of male baby. In the same
manner, in Muslims both male and female child is a boon (gift) sent by Allah,
prevention of their birth by using any means of family planning is a sin.
3.
Illiteracy and Unawareness
Neither the people of the study area
have full knowledge of family planning nor do they know about the consequences
of excessive childbirth. This is one of the reasons of rising population.
4.
Poverty
Although people lives in slum, uses
their children as a tool, to earn money, hence they always try to increase the number
of children in their families. They have the tendency :more children, more
earning”.
5.
Lack of Social Security
Due to lack of social security system some
parent seeks shelter at the time of crises and for their old age, in
childbirth.
Present problem in the Selected area due
to population Explosion
1. Food Problem
Due to lack of consciousness about
family planning a new mouth is added to their family every year. Most of the
head of the families earn their bread by fishing or rickshaw pulling. So it is
not possible for him to feed them with his income.
2. Social
Problems:
The peoples of these slum areas face various social
problems due to the growth of the population
(a) Poverty
(b) Unemployment
(c) Illiteracy due to
inadequate schooling facilities
(d) Psychological
disturbances due to lack of individual attention towards children in large
families
(e) Inadequate or
substandard housing facilities
(f) Overcrowding at all
places
3. Health Problems:
(a) Repeated pregnancies will deteriorate
the health of the mother which may increase maternal mortality rate
(b) Higher infant and child deaths
(c) Lower expectation of life
(d) Inadequate nutrition
(e) Poor sanitation and pollution of
water, food, soil and air
Effect of population Explosion
on local environment
With growing population, requirement for
space, shelter, and commodities have exerted enormous pressure on the
environment. To provide for these, land use has change dramatically. It has
already been seen that forests have been cleared for cultivation of grain and
fruit crops.
1. Clearing land for cultivation to grow
more food
They convert the natural grasslands to
farmlands and irrigate arid lands to grow more food. But in doing so, the natural
resources have been depleted and the landscapes have undergone drastic changes.
2. Need for transport
Elaborate network of transport is
required to fulfill the growing need of teeming Thousands. Various modes of
transports have been developed which consume growing quantities of fossil fuels
such as coal, gas and petroleum, polluting the atmosphere
3. Slum development
Over population in these areas result in
congested roads and slum formation which lack basic amenities like drinking water,
drainage, waste disposal, lack of hygienic
conditions and filthy environment create potential conditions for public health
problems including spread of epidemic diseases.
4. Pollution resulting from overpopulation
Arpa
river are suffering from pollution due to discharge of effluents from
industries, human settlements, bathing, washing of clothes and throwing of
garbage into the river.
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