A future of its own...

Without travelling to India and experiencing the culture and people first-hand, it is difficult for a westerner to fully grasp the dependence that the people of India have on the environment.  Entire villages and communities still attribute their survival to a thriving relationship with agriculture and what the earth can provide.  With 70% of people in India living in rural areas, it doesn’t take a scientist or a scholar to recognize that the survival of the country itself rests in the protection and conservation of the environment which sustains it.  This is why things like ecotourism are so crucial to the progress that India will make in the future.  Something as seemingly small as saying “We are going to protect our land” has the potential to impact millions of lives in the future.  Indian cities are becoming rapidly congested, much of this due to the fact that people are being forced out of the rural areas because environmental issues and degradation are leading to rapidly declining rates of success in the agricultural sector.  Environmental concern is crucial for India as it progresses in the future and tries to balance its growing population.   Unless the environmental issues are put at the forefront, India will surely struggle to see prosperity in its growth.

One of the issues that came up many times in our lectures was that of flood plains and water bodies disappearing because of urbanization.  As we saw more than once, in Tamil Nadu there is an area where there used to be ample room for rice paddy and flood zones some 20 years.  Now, any signs that it used to be an environmentally crucial area are gone.  There are now buildings and construction in place of what was.  These practices are detrimental not only to the environment and its availability to the people; they also have an effect on the urbanized areas.  When flood zones are taken over by industrialized zones, there are multiple issues that need to be dealt with, including increased flooding in the surrounding areas and sinking of the buildings placed in that zone. 

One of the professors who spoke to us spoke about Kaattuppalli Island, just to the northeast of Chennai.  This island has been largely affected by the industrial plants that have built up around it.  The water is now highly polluted and many of the species in the ocean are dying off rapidly.  Similarly, the villagers in the area who have been making their living for centuries from fishing are now becoming sick and seeing both minor and major health problems due to the pollution.  These villagers are losing their way of life because a supposedly “new and better” life is being implemented in the name of industrialization. 

Neglect of the environment leads to multiple issues no matter where you are in the world. However, in a country where more than two thirds of the people rely directly on the land in some way or another, the demands and concerns become increasingly high.  It is my view that India needs to stop looking to the Western world for examples of how to grow.  While growth is necessarily to a country, especially economically, it should not require the country to sacrifice its people and its culture as the cost.  India is a country which is very different from the U.S. The United States has its own slew of environmental issues, however it also has the money to make these problems less noticeable or to cover them up for a time with some “quick-fix” solution.  India, in my opinion, should not see urbanization as the only path to success.  There are many cultural practices in India, going right into religion, which have a much more innate and worldly environmental view than the practices in the West.  India needs to embrace these aspects of its culture and use them as the catalyst for environmentally conscious growth.  There are many ways to reach the top of a mountain, but tearing the mountain down is not one of them. India has the chance to learn from more “developed” countries and to see the multitude of negative impacts that urbanization has had.

Trash, trash, everywhere!

One of the biggest problems that India currently faces is issues regarding sanitation.  As was visible on the trip, one of the leading contributors is the lack of infrastructure when it comes to waste management systems.  With people defecating on the street and trash scattered everywhere, it is certainly difficult to maintain visual and practical cleanliness, but even more difficult to keep things like water sources clean.  However, the issues seem to go much deeper than just installing more toilets or allowing for more accessible waste management.  It was clear to see through many of the lectures in India and first-hand experience that many of the issues regarding sanitation in the country are rooted in a complex web of cultural habits and lack of enforcement.  Without change in both, changes are seemingly impossible. 

A common problem throughout many of the NGOs working in India is the struggle to find a way to get villages and individuals to actually use sanitation facilities once they are brought about.  Many of these organizations expressed concerns that even if they have the money and resources to build toilets in villages, most are never put to use because the villagers don’t have any incentive to utilize them.  This is due to many reasons; often, the villagers believe it to be “dirty” to use the bathroom in the house, the same place where they cook, but many times it is simply because it is easier for them to go outside and not have to worry about emptying any bins or toilets.  The disconnect that appears in many of these cases results because “western” practices are being brought into villages where cultural habits and practicality outweigh almost anything else. 

On the other hand, it was clear to see that the infrastructure was also lacking, especially in terms of waste management.  Even if people desired to throw their trash away properly, the availability of proper receptacles is so low, that it is a difficult thing to do.  I am adamant about not littering and I don’t know if it’s something that I have ever done in the U.S. However, when looking for a trashcan in India, there were many times where none was available and I had the urge to just throw my trash down with the rest of it, thinking that it wouldn’t make a difference.  This just reinforces the idea that environment also reinforces cultural practices.  In essence, India cannot make changes without the two ideas working hand in hand; culture and infrastructure.  There needs to be participation from the people, on a level where they actually feel moved to make changes, but there also needs to be incentive to actually take those actions and reasonable resources to such.   

India has seen such rapid growth and urbanization in the past few decades and it is clear to see that the environment has suffered in many ways.  The country is moving more and more quickly towards the “western world.” However, India also has thousands of years of history and culture behind it, which cannot simply be forgotten in the name of globalization.  This causes tension because there is a constant struggle between the way things have been done for centuries, and the direction that the country is now going.  In order for India to be successful in the future, both within its own economy and in regards to the larger picture (such as the environment) there needs to be a compromise  A transition needs to be made somewhere along the way that focuses on finding a balance between the two competing cultures; traditional India and modern India.  If approaches can be made which simultaneously address policy/infrastructure and cultural habits, India has much hope in the future.