Development work done causing harm to environment been the norm in India
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Dams have killed rivers - stopped their flow and essence in the name of Development - DAMMIT!!
The principle of Sustainable Development, involves pursuing infrastructural Development activities in a planned fashion balancing it with appropriate safeguards to Environment from potential damage. However, in India Development activities from building of roads, highways, industries, thermal plants, metro rail projects, dams on rivers etc has always been done disregarding the concept of Sustainable Development. This is why so called developed Metro Cities in India are saturated with all kinds of constructions(flyovers, heat radiating glass Corporate buildings with air conditioners,Malls) but without the beauty of Nature surrounding it.
Yup, there have been industries, companies, real estate houses constructed on lake beds. Highways have been built cutting into forest land , dams have been built unnecessarily on pristine rivers of India, that has taken away the river’s natural flow and killed it. RIver sands have been mined, industrial and human waste have been freely let into lakes and rivers, effectively converting them into sewages. Mineral and coal mining on forest and eco-sensitive regions have toxified otherwise fertile soils and made lands barren. There are numerous instances of such development activities having destroyed the environment - taking away the trees, lakes, forests, rivers etc of the country.
A Development model that’s already initiated a climate crisis in the Country
Now,as a result disasters have been happening - from heated weather on otherwise cool Cities, to shortage of water, wild animal encounters causing man-animal conflicts, floods, droughts, bad quality polluted air and more. These are definite signs of climate change. However the Government and Society still pursues development in the above explained fashion, without realising that the climate change crisis is a serious issue that can endanger the entire species of human kind. The justification for pursuing this model of developed has always been for the economic and infrastructural progress of the country
Society that’s deprived of wilderness can’t be truly living happily
As a country with a population that aspired for materialistic living - cars, big flats, big pay cheque, we got a capitalistic mindset ourselves joining the rat race for our living without considering whether we are really living a good quality of life that’s balanced. Sure we got cars, but do we have enough greenery, birds, lakes, good roads to cycle around us for us to recreate and ensure we experience elements of wilderness. Have we got peace of mind, satisfaction, do we spend quality time with ourselves or just do things as a way of life to maintain this standard of living without authentically being happy.
Even to be the best of ourselves, to discover ourselves and be happy we need to be with wilderness, away from this clutter of the City, of stress, and time off from family and society who general impose standards to maintain status quo - from getting that usual decent paying secure job, to marriage, to having kids on time, the Indian society can be imposing. We need to expand our perspective, our scope of life by escaping to wilderness and in India that’s hard to find, at least I think so.
Dirty Tourism having destroyed the beauty of otherwise wonderful, nature rich places
For example, people don’t find it necessary to explore the wilderness of forests, rivers in its wild State. Mostly they do dirty tourism to while away their time resulting in littering of tourist spots with garbage like their beer bottles, chip packets, plastic disposable mineral bottles etc. I would say most Indians don’t appreciate wilderness, there is a disconnect.
Meanwhile while Cities are over built with development and are overpopulated, the villages of India don’t have basic infrastructure like schools, health care facilities etc.
Therefore, I feel my country that has been rich with rivers, forests and is home to Himalayas, has been dulled environmentally. Even Himalayan places, I hear, are polluted because of Tourism. Tourist garbage, pollution from their waste, carbon pollution from their travel on vehicles. It’s awful…
Government has promoted such tourism, for revenues with hotels coming up on eco-sensitive zones but not regulating it to maintain the natural State of the environment which has resulted in environmental degradation. It’s not so wonderful and exciting to travel now I suppose like it was in earlier years for sure.
On the Global Stage India in principle proclaims it’s stance is on protecting Environment
Definitely, India has not adhered to the principles of Sustainable development even though the country has signed international agreements, proclaiming their stance on protecting the environment, being party to the Rio declaration adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992, Paris agreement etc.
What is more is that this development has not only come at a huge cost causing damage to environment but social equity and justice has been breached as well.
As for many forests that were encroached, tribals have lost their ancestral land, which they actually protected. For rivers that were damned, lands of innocent farmers, fishermen were submerged and rendered homeless. For the claim that India established and built solar parks, farmers land was unjustly taken away for that. So, India’s development pattern has always been unsustainable, inequitable.
To be continued...
they sacrifice nature for the material and then when they lack nature is when they consider that so much is needed. in Venezuela the same thing is happening they are finishing off the Amazon for gold without thinking about the damage that they and their children
Hi @mintymile
This post is very meaningful of you, you can tell, you can feel it.
It's hard what happens. That "sustainable development" is a campaign more than a reality. Many governments advertise that, but in the end they give in to a few dollars and allow the different manufacturing companies to do whatever they want.
For example, to pollute rivers and lakes, to accelerate global warming. The situation is terrible, but what I have seen is that it happens in most countries, here it is similar, many rivers polluted, literally lost by the creation of companies.
The fact that in the future we will need to buy or rent oxygen in order to be able to breathe is close to reality.
@tipu curate
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