Rapid population growth coupled with economic development has developed many environmental issues owing to the unrestricted growth of industrialisation and urbanisation. Agricultural expansion and excesses along with deforestation have created an ecological imbalance across the world and has become a main point of focus for many industrialised countries.

According to estimates, India’s population will rise to 1.26 billion by 2016. Experts believe that India will have the highest population in the world with China ranking second by 2050. This population increase will put a lot of pressure on the country’s ecological environment. In addition, water shortages, air and noise pollution, deforestation leading to excess of carbon dioxide gases, soil exhaustion and the release of carbon monoxide from the thermal power stations are all severely impacting on the environment. Although the government has started to implement laws and guidelines to address these issues such as noise level restrictions in both rural and urban areas, many more norms need to be put in place to help the country’s ecology without impacting negatively on its economic growth.
Apart from the Central Government, State Governments such as Andhra Pradesh Government, Karnataka Government as well as fuel companies are coming up with options to reduce the release of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide and other harmful gases in the environment. Delhi has introduced ultra-low sulphur diesel aimed at curbing air pollution.
Unfortunately environmental restrictions can sometimes be seen as obstacles and barriers to economic growth. However, a realistic balance needs to be found and India has to follow in the footsteps of other industrialised countries. Many scientific and technological advances are being made every day to find new alternative and environmentally-friendly solutions.
Discovering renewable types of energy such as wind, solar and hydro-power has played a major role and nowadays, many companies make use of these to limit the impact they have on the environment. The usage of Hybrid Electric Vehicles is also very environment friendly thanks to their electric propulsion systems instead of combustion engines. Looking at other areas, many steelworks use fewer raw materials, less water and power. Nuclear plants provide energy instead of coal, thus, contributing less to the greenhouse effect. In India, over thirteen major cities with Bharat Stage III emission regulations follow Bharat Stage V standards while the rest of India follows Bharat Stage III rules. India is indeed taking the steps to find the best solution for effective reduction of global warming and persistent growth of economy at the same time. However, ultimately these initiatives and responsibility also need to be passed down to the population and each individual needs to be accountable for the environment they live in.