Population and Environment in India

Dewaram A. Nagdeve, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

Rapid population growth and economic development in country are threatening the environment through expansion and intensification of agriculture, uncontrolled growth of urbanization and industrialization, and destruction of natural habitats. The present paper is an attempt to study the population change and its impacts on land, forest and water resources. The data have been analyzed from various secondary sources of data. Conducted an analysis of changes and trends over last forty years. The analysis reveals that outcomes of high population growth rates are increasing population density and number of people below poverty line. Population pressure contributes to land degradation and soil erosion, thus affecting productive resource base of the economy. Rapid population growth plays an important role in declining per capita agricultural land, forest and water resources. The importance of population and environment has been highlighted. The paper concludes with some policy reflections and emphasizes the potential importance of natural resources.