Gift Wrapping the Future as a present to the present

Description

This paper focuses on the environmental, ecological and justice impacts of poor environmental quality caused by India’s rapid industrialisation in recent decades. It argues that the future health and wellbeing of the country’s citizens and biological resources are being sacrificed on the altar of “progress.”
In 2013, in conjunction with the WHO, “India became the first country globally to develop country specific targets and indicators” (WHO, 2023). The average exposure to small particulate matter (PM2.5) has dropped by 10 per cent since then, but India remains the country with the 9th highest average concentration of PM2.5, at 50.17 (ten times higher than the UK) (WHO, 2022). That average concentration is not uniform, however, and ranges from 90 in Dadra and Nagar Haveli down to 7 in Jammu and Kashmir (AQI, 2023) with a band of highly polluted states in the North East of the country.
It is not just in terms of air quality where India falls short of global standards, however. In the majority of India’s rivers, heavy metals and coliform bacteria were present at levels harmful to human health (CSE, 2022). High heavy metal concentrations have been linked to antibiotic resistance in humans (Trpiathi et al, 2021)) and species decline (Tóvar-Sanchez et al, 2018).
The paper demonstrates the link between industrialisation, air quality, water quality, human health and biodiversity loss in India, and suggest approaches through which the country might continue its economic development without destroying its living resources.


Sources
AQI, 2023, Real-time India Air Quality Index, https://www.aqi.in/uk/dashboard/india
CSE, 2022, State Of India’s Environment 2022: In Figures, Delhi: Centre for science and Environment, https://www.cseindia.org/state-of-india-s-environment-2022-in-figures-11271
Tovar-Sánchez, E., Hernández-Plata, I., Martínez, M.S., Valencia-Cuevas L., & Galante, P.M., 2018, Heavy Metal Pollution as a Biodiversity Threat, in Saleh, H., & Aglan, R., 2018, Heavy Metals, London: IntechOpen Ltd.
Tripathi, M., Kumar, S., Yadav, S., and Prasad, N., 2021, Heavy Metal Pollution in Indian River and Its Impact on Health in Maishra & Upadhyay, 2021, Environmental Communication Land to Lab 1st Ed, New Delhi: Shree Publishers and Distributors
WHO, 2022, PM2.5 Exposure: Country Average, World Health Organization, https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.152?lang=en,
WHO, 2023, India: Air Pollution, World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/india/health-topics/air-pollution

Period	30 May 2023 → 31 May 2023
Event title	CEEC/GSA conference 2023
Event type	Conference
Degree of Recognition	International