Explore solutions to global POPULATION PROBLEMS AND CONTROL measures in this comprehensive guide. Learn about sustainable practices, family planning, and societal interventions to address the challenges of overpopulation. Discover key strategies for achieving a balanced and harmonious coexistence with our planet.
- Human Population: The sum total of human beings on earth.
- Demography: The scientific and statistical study of human population. It deals with population growth, its composition (age, sex, ratio) and its distribution in space.
- Population density: The number of individuals per square kilometer (km2) at any given time.
- Birth rate (natality): The number of live births per 1000 individuals of population per year.
- Death rate (Mortality): The number of death per 1000 individuals of population per year.
- Population growth rate: The difference between the birth rate and the death rate.
- Census: The official data of registered number of people in a selected area.
Population growth in India
India’s population is expanding at an unsustainable rate and is projected to surpass 1.5 billion people by 2030 and 2 billion people by 2050. The country’s rapid population growth puts pressure on resources and services, leading to environmental degradation, poverty, and inequality. Every population has an inherent tendency to grow. Similarly, the human population is growing.
Factors responsible for population explosion in India.
Advancement in Agriculture: With the advancement in the agriculture sector, the availability of food has increased leading to less of starvation and malnutrition.
Advancement in Medicine: With the advancement in medicine, various disease can be controlled now. Thus, has led to increase in life span. Thus, more and more people live longer, reach reproductive age and produce more children.
Religious and social customs: Because of prevailing social custom and belief’s many people do not accept family planning measures, leading to rise in population.
Industrialization: Advancement in industrialization helps in better storage and distribution of food, more employment opportunities and more prosperity.
Illiteracy: A sizeable number of out population is educated, and yet a large proportion is still illiterate. They are not aware of the functioning of reproductive system and hence the consequence of overpopulation.
Economic reasons: Children instead of attending school go to walk and increase the income of the family.
Desire for a male child: Even after so much emphasis on gender equity, because of patriarchy in many families, the many families, the male child is considered to be essential for continuing the name of the family. The parents want to have at least one son and in this process they give birth to many children sometimes.
The problems posed by increasing population are of two types:
- Problems posed to large families, and
- problems posed to the Country.
1. Problems for large families
A large family having many children causes many problems such as
(a) Poor health of the mother: Because of frequent pregnancies, the mother may suffer from ill health.
(b) Poor housing: More family members need more space. The family may not afford a good, clean and spacious house.
(c) Economic pressure: The large family will need more resources, leading to immense economic pressure on the parents and children affecting the quality of life.
(d) Poor health: The family members may not get enough food, leading to malnutrition and deficiency diseases. They will require constant medical facilities being expensive, it may not be possible to provide everyone adequate medical support.
(e) Improper Education: Proper educational facilities for children may not be affordable.
Problems Posed to the Country
A high population growth has severe environmental implication like overcrowding, decrease in per capita income, depletion of food, land, fuel and consumer resources. Some such problems are listed below:
(a) Urbanization and Environmental degradation: Due to increasing population, farmlands in the rural areas can no longer support the additional people. Thus, a large number of people migrate to urban areas with the hope of finding jobs and better life. This leads to an increase in the Urban population. The growth in urban population stresses the urban environment by increasing the number of squatter settlements, and slums with no proper sanitation facilities, thus causing air, water and soil pollution beyond permissible limits.
(b) Increasing Population and Transportation: Increase in population requires a corresponding increase in the means of transport. Increase in the number of automobiles as a consequence of phenomenal growth in population has increased the pollution load (air pollution, water pollution and solid waste).
(c) Increasing population and education: Education is most important for Heredity economic and social upliftment. Although literacy rate is growing, we still have a vary large number of illiterates in the country. The increasing population further adds up to the problems of providing education to all.
(d) Increasing Population, Agricultural development and Environmental degradation: In order to meet the food requirement of the ever-increasing population of the country new agricultural techniques have been adopted.
(e) Increasing population and food requirements: Increasing population will need more food. For this purpose, new agricultural land has to be created. So, forests will be cut down for cultivation. Due to deforestation, excessive irrigation and natural hazards, such as floods are frequent, land is being degraded and wasteland is increasing. The increased use of fertilizers and pesticides to boost agricultural productivity has immense adverse effects on land and water resources of our country. Agricultural land has been extensively polluted due to pollution from fertilizers and pesticides.
(f) Increasing population and water: The availability of water is limited. Increasing population need more water for drinking, bathing, washing etc. Thus, availability of water is becoming scarce/
(g) Increasing population and depletion of mineral reserves: our mineral reserves are limited, once finished they cannot be replenished (i.e. they are nonrenewable). More population means more requirements of minerals, leading to fast depletion of mineral resources.
(h) Increasing population and depleting energy sources: Energy is needed for almost all our day-to-day activities whether for cooking, transportation, factories or at home. Presently we are largely dependent on fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum for energy. At the current rate of consumption, our fossil fuel reserves will be exhausted in short times.
Population control and family planning
It is very necessary to control the overgrowing population. It is necessary to educate people to accept small family norms and create awareness about population explosion and its impact on the family, society and the nation. The government has taken many measures for providing family planning guidance and support and notes family welfare measures.
There are various ways to prevent fertilization and hence to check the increase of population. Some of these are discussed here.
EDUCATION
The most effective method for control of population is to impart education to the masses about the consequences of population explosion and various ways of fertility control. Education helps to make people aware of the advantages of a small family and the disadvantages of large family. Preventive methods for population control and family planning. Following are some methods of birth control
(i) Rhythm method – The period in the menstrual cycle before ovulation phase is termed ‘safe period’ as no egg is available for fertilization by the sperm. This method, however, is not reliable.
(ii) Use of condoms in male and diaphragms in females prevent sperms from meeting the ovulated egg.
(iii) Intrauterine devices such as copper T are inserted in the female body so that implantation is not possible. This method requires advice and help from the medical doctor.
(iv) Oral contraceptive pills are tablets which have to be taken as per directions from a medical practitioner. These pills interfere with ovulation and in turn prevent fertilization.
(v) Vasectomy and Tubectomy are surgical methods. In males, the vas deferens through which sperms travel out of epididymis is ligated (tied) by the surgeon to prevent sperms from going out of the body. This method is temporary and can be reversed by the surgeon if required. For Permanently preventing fertilization the vas deferens is cut and the open ends ligatured (tied by thread). Tubectomy is sterilization of the woman by cutting fallopian tubes and ligaturing them so that ovulated egg cannot pass down for fertilisation.
In case preventive measures fail or if the foetus is found to have a defect, the foetus may have to be aborted. Abortion or Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) is to remove the unwanted foetus from the mother’s body. However, it is advised to always seek professional medical help for MTP.
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