The Hindu Business Line : Urbanites, the resource burners

AS PER A UN report, the world's urban population is estimated to swell to five billion by 2030. Of this, 40 per cent, that is, two billion, will be forced to live in city slums. In India, as the forces of globalisation transform the rural economy, the next two decades are likely to see more explosive growth of the cities.

More than the increase in population, it is the adoption of a consumerist Western lifestyle that is causing greater environmental damage. Even as poverty in countries such as India and China is being rapidly brought down, poverty of another kind, that is, of natural resources (such as clean air and pure drinking water) is rising.

Urbanisation, a global phenomenon

In 1800, only 5 per cent of the world's population lived in cities; the figure has now touched 50 per cent. In 1971, India's rural-urban population ratio was 80:20. This has increased to 75:25 as per the 1991 Census. This ratio is expected to catch up with the world average.

The entire Third World is witnessing an urban revolution, with rapid changes in lifestyle and consumption patterns.

Urbanisation and adoption of a Westernised living style is likely to be the single biggest reason for environmental degradation in the coming years.

Effects of urbanisation

Urbanisation invariably involves aping a western lifestyle, with big increases in the per capita consumption of water, electricity, fossil fuels and protein-/fat-rich food.

Such an urban lifestyle puts high demand on resources, which the rural economy, usually much poorer, supplies. In return, the cities generate huge amounts of solid waste which are dumped in landfills outside city limits, clouds of air pollutants from vehicles and thermal power stations, and wastewater from sewers that is pumped into the city's water bodies.

Is the Western model suitable?

The per capita cost of creating Westernised urban infrastructure is $1,200-1,500.

At the current income levels, it will be impossible for our municipalities/governments to provide the same at costs affordable to the poor.

The Western technologies on water management, garbage disposal, sewage water treatment and housing are not only capital and energy intensive but unsuitable for the countries hot tropical climate.

Our bankrupt local municipal bodies will not be able to raise the huge amounts of funds required for modernising the older parts of city.

More income, more environmental damage

Rising income levels leads to exponential increases in water, power and fossil fuel consumption.

As the 1.6 billion people from India, China and Brazil, currently in Tier 4 of the population pyramid, move up the ladder, they are likely to quickly adopt a westernised urban lifestyle, which would result in greater strain on the natural resources.

Is rural India turning into a cauldron?

Thus, the challenge before the country is to successfully recreate a new, low-cost model of urban infrastructure that arrests the proliferation of slums.

For this, financial resources have to be raised expeditiously. In cities, lack of the basic needs of roti, kapda and makan for the landless poor who are forced to live in slums and shanty colonies may soon turn the country into a cauldron.

The teeming millions may lose faith in the democratic process if they are not assured clean water, a square meal and a roof to stay.

Financial losses too

Pollution of air, water and land due to unscientific techniques of garbage disposal, overuse of groundwater and subsidised fertilisers, release of untreated sewage and effluents into rivers, and infrastructure bottlenecks in the cities are causing huge economic losses and environmental damage.

It is estimated that slow-moving vehicles and traffic bottlenecks alone result in a wastage of 10-15 per cent of our petroleum fuels, apart from causing air pollution.

As per a TERI report, losses due to pollution and environmental degradation run to Rs 10,000 crore a year.

How to be a green citizen

How many of us are aware that the Singapore Government auctions permits for owning private cars every year at Rs 17 lakh. This discourages use of private cars, thereby reducing congestion on roads. On the other hand, in India, the influential urbanites clamour for more flyovers and free parking facilities for cars.

Here are a few suggestions for the burgeoning middle-class urbanites:

Reduce consumption of water by using recycled wastewater for all non-potable use.

Opt for glass, plastic and metal instead of wood.

Reduce the number of household gadgets that consume higher power.

Do not mix household garbage. Dispose of manmade things such as plastic, paper glass for recycling.

Buy organic foods, grown without the use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers.

Avoid using personal transport as much as possible; instead, opt for public transport, carpooling, cycling, and so on.

Plant more trees wherever possible. Gift saplings rather than bouquets at functions.

Do not blindly imitate a consumerist, western style culture, as this generates massive solid waste in landfill — soft-drink bottles, plastic cups, children's diapers, battery cells, and electronic waste such as computer parts, floppy drives and cassettes are cases in point.

Reduce, recycle and reuse can be the 3R mantra for urbanites.

(The author is Founder and Managing Trustee, SLK Foundation, a registered charitable trust. E-mail to: Pankaj_Pandit@vsnl.com)

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