Letters to the EDITOR: Contain population

Contain population

In 1989, the United Nations Development Programme declared World Population Day to be observed on July 11 every year. India has the world's largest population after overtaking the Chinese mainland in April 2023, and so it is very significant to prioritize the containment of the exponential growth of India's population for its developmental goal. As per the estimates, India's population will be 1.515 billion in 2030, up from 1.417 billion in 2022. During the same period, China's population is expected to fall slightly from 1.426 billion in 2022 to 1.416 billion in 2030. India's population is to peak at 1.70 billion in the 2060s. India's current population is slightly more than 1.44 billion as of July 2024. The unchecked growth of population in India has had a serious impact on literacy, healthcare, poverty, unemployment, a shortage of resources, income generation, and the standard of living. The overpopulation has caused increasing exploitation of the earth's resources and has already shown a direct negative impact on climate change and global warming. The increasing extraction of oil, gas, coal, and minerals and the felling of trees that generate waste and pollutants have reduced air and water quality and harmed the health of humans and other species. In conclusion, the Centre will have to develop a strategy to contain the rapidly growing population of India in a realistic proportion in order to balance sustainable economic growth.

Pannalal Dey

Guwahati