The result of merciless and unnatural exploitation of nature is now standing before us with its extreme consequences. The intense heat that meteorologists have predicted in the coming months is not just seasonal fluctuations but a direct result of the indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources that has been going on for decades. The latest reports from Intergovernmental Climatic Change Studies make clear that global temperatures have already risen by about 1.1 to 1.2 degrees Celsius since the Industrial Revolution and will exceed the 1.5 degree limit in the 2030s if current emission rates continue.
The World Meteorological Organization recently warned that the past eight years have been the hottest years in human history and South Asia is particularly vulnerable to extreme heatwaves. When we look at the history of our development, our resources were exploited indiscriminately during the British rule, but the irony is that even after independence, we adopted the same model in a more intense form, as a result, man became free but nature still remained in bondage. According to the United Nations Environmental Agency, the world is losing approximately 10 million hectares of forest area every year, and India is no exception, where the rapid pace of urbanization and industrialization has put severe pressure on forests, water resources and biodiversity.
Generally, our need was for food, clothing, shelter and water, but we made development a blind race of consumption and expansion. The bigger the machines became, the more humans became dwarf and distant from nature. Data from the Food and Agriculture Organization show that excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has affected the fertility of about 33 percent of the world’s land. In India too, soil quality is deteriorating rapidly in many areas and the groundwater level is going dangerously low. According to the World Bank report, India is among those countries in the world where the water crisis is rapidly deepening and by 2030 the country’s water demand may double the available resources.
Ever since we raised the chimneys of industries in the name of development, pressed the button of mobile revolution and entered the digital world, the sounds of nature have started slowing down, the gurgling sound of waterfalls, the chirping of birds and the life-giving flow of rivers are becoming extinct. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the air quality of many major cities of India has reached dangerous levels, while the World Health Organization estimates that air pollution is causing millions of premature deaths every year. Now the question is whether in the name of development we need only Digital India or we also need Green India, will we secure the future by giving only internet in the hands of children or will we also have to give them clean air, water and greenery.
Green India and Digital India cannot be opposites but complementary, provided we learn to strike a balance. According to the International Energy Institute, rapidly moving towards renewable energy is the most effective way to deal with the climate crisis and India has also made significant progress in the field of solar and wind energy, yet this effort is not enough unless we control the consumption trend. Mahatma Gandhi’s statement becomes even more relevant today that the earth can satisfy the needs of all, but not the greed of any one. The irony of India is that on one hand there is the glamor of metros, metro, digital networks and tall buildings, while on the other hand, rural India still lacks basic facilities, farmers are sweating and children are studying in the light of lamp or kerosene, this inequality is not only the result of economic but also of the unbalanced model of development.
NITI Aayog reports have also highlighted water crisis, agricultural crisis and environmental imbalance as serious challenges. We have to accept that the path to development passes through green revolution, sustainable resource utilization and environmental protection, options like solar energy, wind energy, biogas, tidal energy have become not just options but a necessity. If water, minerals and natural resources are exhausted then neither industries will run, nor energy production will take place nor the dream of Digital India will come true.
The line of a poet seems true today that if you build a house, plant a tree also, because that tree will become the basis of breath of the coming generations. What is needed today is that we redefine the definition of development, link it not only with economic progress but also with environmental balance, social equality and human sensitivities, only then we will be able to give a clean, safe and balanced future to our 141 crore population and create an India where green revolution and digital progress move forward together, and not stand as substitutes for each other.
Sanjeev Thakur
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