It’s a hard fact to digest that the population on the planet earth has bombastically raised to 7.9 billion. As a matter of fact it took 2 million years of human prehistory and history of world’s population to reach 1 billion and this number got multipled so fast that it took just 200 years to grow to 7 billion. India and china alone contribute to 36% in population of the total population of the world. And India is expected to add 273 million people to its population between now and 2050. A UN report said in 2019,forecasting that the country will cross China as the world’s most populous country by 2027.

Population growth in India

In 2019,India has an estimated population of 1.37 billion. But denying the fact the good news is that the fertility rate of women have dropped significantly. It has dropped down from 3.31 children per women in 2000 to 2.2 children per women in 2017.Over the period of time it is nearing the replacement rate of 2.1. In spite of the fact that the population policies, family planning and welfare programs undertaken by the government of India have lead to continuous decrease in fertility rate, yet the actual stabilisation of the population has not been achieved. There is also decline in decadal growth from 21.15% in census 2001 to 17.64% in census 2011.

Causes of overpopulation

1.The decline in death rate- Due to science and technology we have excelled ourselves in field of science and medicine. And as a result we have come up with better treatment facilities of any disease.

2.Agricultural Advancement- Agriculture advancement in 20th century have allowed humans to increase food production using fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and yield further. This allowed humans with more access to food that leads to subsequent population explosion.

3.Better medical facilities- Technological innovation was perhaps the biggest reason why the balance has been permanently disturbed. Illness that had claimed thousands of lives until now were cured because of the invention of vaccines.

4.More hands to overcome poverty- Families that have been through poverty, natural disaster or are simply in need of more hands to work are a major factor for overpopulation. According to the UN the 48 poorest countries in the world are likely to be the Biggest contributors to population growth.

5.Technological advancement in fertility treatment- with the latest technological advancement and more discoveries in medical science, it has become possible for couples who are unable to concieve to undergo fertility treatment methods and have their own babies.

6.Lack of family planning- most developing nations have a large number of people who are illiterate, live below poverty line and have little or no knowledge about family planning. Those people are unable to understand the harmful effect of overpopulation and lack of quality education prompt them to avoid family planning measures.

7.Poor contraceptive use- Poor family planning on the part of partners can lead to unexpected Progencies. As per statistics 76% of women aged between 19 and 49 in great Britain used at least one form of contraceptive, whereas study by WHO shows that this figure drops to 42% in underdeveloped countries, which leads to higher birth rate.

Effects of overpopulation

1. Uneven relationship between resources and demography- earth can produce only substantial amount of resources like food and water which is falling short for current needs.

2.Degradation of environment- with the overuse of coal, oil, and natural gases, it has started producing some serious effects on our environment.

3.Conficts and wars- conflicts over water are becoming a source of tension between countries which would result in wars. Starvation is a huge issue that the world is facing and the mortality of children is being fuelled by it. Poverty is the biggest hallmark we see when talking about overpopulation.

4.Rise of unemployment- unemployment is a major cause of overpopulation. As there are fewer jobs to support a large number of people. This gives rise to theft, crime as people want to feed their families and provide them with basic amenities.

5.Pandemic and Epidemic- Overpopulation lead to unhygienic living conditions, malnutrition and inaccessible, inadequate or non extant health care for which poor are more likely to be exposed to infectious diseases.

6.Malnutrition, Starvation and famine- when the availability of resources is scarce, starvation, malnutrition along with ill health and disease caused by diet deficiency such as rickets become more likely.

7.Water shortage, sewage treatment, inadequate rainfall- Roughly 1% of the world’s water is fresh and accessible. Overpopulation is a major issue that creates immense pressure on the world’s fresh water supplies.

8.Extinction-the impact of overpopulation on the world’s wildlife is severe. As deemed for land grows, the destruction of natural habitat such as forest, becomes common.

9.Faster climate change- According to 97% scientific community, human activities are changing global temperatures. If more is not done to reduce individual carbon footprint on a large scaleb, large population may spped these changes up.

Solution to overpopulation

1.Better education- the fastest and most efficient way to stabilize the world population is to send girls to school and empower women and to give everyone access to and education on birth control.

2.Making people aware of family planning- we must focus on agressive campaigning to make people aware of the overpopulation and it’s adverse effects on the future generations to come. Public participation campaign is must needed to Make them aware. As a culture we need to emphasize the benefits of having one- child family.

3.Population Stabilization- Delay the age of first marriage but you may shrink the reproductive age by getting people to have their question first child later by spacing out the number of children.

4.Tax benefits or Concession- people having one chilld should be benefited by exemption from paying taxes as this would encourage others to have one child.

5.Knowledge of sex education- It is one thing we people don’t talk about. This should be spoken to people and imparted proper knowledge of the biology of human body.