Sanjay Vats* and Vibha Sharma
*Department of Chemistry, Meerut College, Meerut (U.P.)
Department of Chemistry, N.A.S. (P.G.) College, Meerut (U.P.)
Received-06.01.2022, Revised-15.04.2022, Accepted-26.06.2022
Abstract: Our environment is largely affected by poverty in various forms. Deforestation, water pollution, air pollution, climate change etc. are the environmental hazards caused due to poverty specially in a developing country like India. Due to environmental degradation, there is a climate change and global warming is increasing due to lack of capital to invest in environment friendly technologies.Environmental damage is seldom caused by the people living below poverty line but they bear the brunt of environmental damage and caught off in a downward spiral. On an average every Indian contributes 0.56 tonne per year of carbon- 0.19 tonne per capita among the poor and 1.32 tonne among the rich. India’s position in the carbon emission is third which is 6.8% of the total global emissions.Poverty alleviation and environmental degradation are the most serious global issues that are closely interlinked but are often treated separately.The human activities and the issues of the environment are inter-related as the human interact with his surroundings.Deforestation is the biggest harm done to the environment by poverty in India.Another way of environmental degradation due to poverty is air and water pollution in the country.The growth of population puts more pressure on the environment. The limited resources of the environment find it difficult to fulfil all the needs of the people and more births from the poor communities puts further pressure on the environment. Rethinking regarding the approaches to environmental issues is required. The need is to have a sustainable use of the environmental resources and there must be a recognizable interconnectedness between human beings and the environment if true environmental and social justice is to be obtained. In India, public authorities and various government and non-government organizations can play an important role in creating awareness among the poor people to save and sustain our environment.
Keywords: Livelihood, Environmental degradation, Deforestation, Poor communities
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