Is Overpopulation an issue?
Human overpopulation happens when a great number of people goes over the carrying capacity of a region that the group is in. When there isn’t enough environmental resources to support the number of people living in that region major problems start to happen. Overpopulation is today’s most pressing environmental issue. Having a large population is not a problem if the area has enough living space and supply of food. . “Overpopulation can result from an increase in births, a decline in mortality rates, an increase in immigration, or an unsustainable biome and depletion of resources” (Marquand). In India Today, the problem has assumed serious proportions. There has been a great increase of population within the last year. “The population of India is expected to surpass China by 2050 and reach the two million mark by the year 3000” (Eapen). As the problem has increased in India many people have started to question why it should be stopped and how.
Over population in India has really affected the lives of its people by destroying the standard of living and threatening the cultural environment of the Indian people. “It is estimated that 300 million Indians live below the poverty level. Unless steps are taken to curb his massive population explosions, experts predict a social explosion in the coming years. According to India’s Nobel Prize winning economist, the literacy rate is 52% of adults, and malnourishment strikes 64% of the Indian children. A recent study showed that more than half of the children under 12 in seven Indian cities are affected with lead poisoning” (Eapen). Unemployment is one of the risks that comes with a region being overpopulated. When you have too many people in a region more people become jobless. Currently about 130 million people are jobless (Eapen). People start to work for less money as jobs become scarcer in India. Minimum wage in India is $0.28, and people are known to work for less than that. The amount by itself is nowhere near enough to raise family and afford decent standard living. With the lack of money and unemployment basic resources like water, electricity, sanitation, housing, transportations, proper health care, and good roads are almost nonexistent. People are more likely to get dieses like malaria or cholera because of the lack of proper sanitary facilities. These are a couple of many reasons that the growth in India has to stop.
Some ways to stop the problem in India would be putting limits on the number of children each family can have. “Rajani Bhatia, a women’s rights activist, insist that