India's Population Hits 1.4 billion. Let's Break Down the Impact on the Environment

Based on the projections by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) as published in its report “State of World Population Report”, India’s population is expected to surpass that of China by 2.9 million by mid-year 2023. India’s population will reach 1.4286 billion, compared to China’s 1.4257 billion.

Let’s break down this impact on the environment. Here are a few things that are on my mind as India reaches the most populous nation in the world.

1. Strain on Water Resources leading to over-extraction of groundwater and increasing scarcity of water.

2. Land degradation as cities expand leading to deforestation and soil erosion.

3. Improperly managed waste generation including e-waste, plastics and other hazardous waste.

4. Strain on natural resources as the economy expands.

5. Increase in air pollution as population needs of vehicular transportation, power generation and other polluting industries also increase.

6. Threat to biodiversity as human activity expands

7. Climate change for all the reasons above

The Indian Government will need to enact targeted policy changes to mitigate the effects of the increasing population on the environment. These include sustainable development practices such as renewable energy, public transportation, and land use planning. It is important for the government to enact and enforce environmentally friendly regulations that will protect natural resources. Water conservation and waste management will require concerted efforts such as encouraging rainwater harvesting and recycling of waste. Finally but importantly, the community will need to work in partnership with the government to ensure environmentally friendly practices. Education, public awareness campaigns, and community outreach programs must be central to policy changes that the Government of India enacts.

Air Pollution: New York vs New Delhi, what are the differences?

I would have been in New York this week as the summer holidays started June 1, but instead, I will be working on a project on the impact of the farming practice of crop burning in Punjab on air quality in New Delhi​.​

Reading about the hazardous situation in New York due to the forest fires in Canada, made me think of the similarities and differences between the experience in both situations. We've now all read about the air in New York turning to an ominous red colour with poor visibility, giving a dystopian feeling to the impact of climate change on the planet. Of the 32 million people living in Delhi who heard or read about the situation in New York, most must have thought that New York's situation is almost a daily occurrence in our city. New Delhi is the 4th most polluted city in the world according to IQAir’s 2022 World Air Quality Report. The AQI has reached over 1200  (if that's even a real number, since AQI monitors max at 999, which means on very bad days the measurements are well off the charts), on days just following the festive season of Diwali when firecrackers are used to celebrate, which is also sandwiched between the harvest seasons of rice and wheat that is the reason for crop burning in Northern India. This past week, New York reached 868, the highest ever recorded in the United States. The sources of pollution, the level, and the duration all vary from that of the situation in New Delhi. Below is my list of the difference and similarities between the situation in New York and New Delhi.

• AQI peaked at 868 in New York on June 7, 2023 and over 1200 in New Delhi on November 2, 2019

• 8.8 million people were impacted in New York vs. 32.9 million in New Delhi (NCR)

• The source of the pollution in New York is from the forest fires in Canada. The sources of pollution in Delhi are industrial activity, construction, motor vehicle emissions, crop burning, burning garbage, wood-burning fires, and cow dung combustion.

• New York is on the Atlantic coast and wind patterns allowed for the pollution to dissipate within days. New Delhi is a land-locked city, considered to be in a valley, that traps poor air for a longer duration.

•  Most of the people of Delhi are largely unaware of the levels of pollution in the city. Every New Yorker was aware of the situation.

• New Yorkers either stayed home or were masked if outdoors, many schools were closed, museums were closed and events around the city were postponed. In Delhi, only a select few wear masks and outdoor activity is rarely cancelled.

• The situation in New York was a discrete event, while the air quality in New Delhi is an ongoing battle!

I was born and raised in a city where I have only known air pollution. Back in 2015 when I was 9 years old, we started wearing masks and outdoor activity at our school was cancelled when the AQI reached above 300. This has been my motivation to start this blog and continue my research this summer on the impact of crop burning on the air quality in New Delhi.

RIGHTS OF NATURE: What does it mean?

Rights of Nature is a transformative legal thinking that recognizes that ecosystems and species have the same intrinsic rights and protections that human beings and corporations enjoy. The philosophical thought behind the ‘Rights of Nature’ is that our ecosystem does not only exist for the benefit of human beings but also deserves to be protected and respected for its own sake. Further, it promotes the idea that human beings are interconnected with nature around them and ensuring the well-being of the natural world in turn supports the well-being of human beings.

The Ecuadorian Constitution was the first national constitution to recognize the Rights of Nature by granting legal standing to ecosystems and allowing citizens to sue on their behalf. Although the Rights of Nature have not yet been formally recognized in India's legal system, the Constitution of India provides for the protection of the environment as a duty of every citizen and the Supreme Court of India has issued several landmark judgments that prioritize the protection of the environment. Additionally, there are several laws in India that protect the environment, including the Wildlife Protection Act, the Forest Conservation Act, and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act among others. Finally, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) was established in 2010 to hear cases related to environmental protection and conservation.

Recently, I had the privilege to participate in a case study organised by Khoj International Artists’ Association, a New Delhi-based arts organization that conceived a mock hearing to petition the Union of India, Ministry of Environment and key ministrates in the areas of, Punjab, Haryana, and the Union Territory of Delhi, to impose a prohibition on stubble burning and monetary fines on a fictitious farmers union. The cornerstone of the petition was the request to include Rights of Nature as part of the Right to Life in Article 21 of the Constitution of India. I was one of three petitioners that included Khoj, artist Zuleikha Chaudhuri and myself as the youngest petitioner representing the youth of this country. The hearing included three practising lawyers, three subject expert witnesses, and three retired judges. In the final judgement as summarised by Khoj, the Bench recognised the urgency with which Rights of Nature needed to be upheld. However, the judgement acknowledged that the issue of stubble burning is a complex one and that a complete ban on the practice is not an equitable solution even as technological advancements in the field may provide us with answers in the future.