Population Growth and Environmental Pollution in four Major States of India (Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Delhi)

Environmental pollution is a global problem. In India, it has assumed threatening proportions mainly due to poverty, continuing forest devastation, the negative impact of economic development, and sheer greed. Since independence in 1947, the Indian ecosystem has received some major setbacks as a result of haphazard industrial and urban development. Of the country's 304 million hectares 50% are subject to ecological degradation. About 80 % of the population lives under substandard conditions. The 14 major rivers, including the Ganga, which provide nearly 85% of the country's drinking water, are all polluted. City dwellers breathe clean air for about 2 hours in the morning. Human diseases caused by contaminated or substandard food have doubled during the last 30 years. Over 80 % of all hospital patients are the victims of environmental pollution.