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ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION-RISK TO HUMAN SURVIVAL 45
undoubtedly a great task but it is not a utopian idea. India's freedom movement with Gandhiji as its leader has shown this to be a reality and if it is given an emotional colour as the freedom movement had it can pay dividends. The ray of hope lies in the fact that the environment affects all of us, and it should be handled by all. An equitable distribution of nature's wealth is the necessary foundation for this. If the world is for all then the above seems the only alternative, otherwise, the rich and not the meek shall inherit the earth.
It is often said that the environmentalists are against development. The question simply is, 'Is development for a living human race or a dead human race ?' or 'Is it only for the urban rich ?' If it is for a living human race then development cannot afford to be arbitrary. Development, technology cannot just be in the hands of a few, who are motivated by short-term gains, notwithstanding the harm it causes.
Environment and Diseases
Rapid industrialisation, urbanisation and over-population all over India are resulting in an alarming resurgence of many diseases such as plague, tuberculosis, malaria, kala azar, cholera, typhoid, dengue and many others. Too many people live too close to one another, thus infection spreads like wildfire. Experts blame environmental changes for such outbreak of diseases and their re-emergence, resulting in a breakdown of our health system. Massive deforestation has resulted in unknown viruses and bacterias getting disturbed from the safe haven of the flora and fauna of these forests. This has become a new threat to human beings. Before these forests were cut, these viruses were fully settled in their own eco-system, where they were not harmful. But with deforestation these viruses found new victims and new abodes, thus they are becoming a cause of concern. They may not immediately cause epidemics but we canot ignore the fact that the conditions for their spread are favourable. Virulent strains of microbes, many of them are immune to antibiotics are attacking our country in a rapid force. Urbanisation of small towns and growth of large cities has also created nurseries for old and new microbes. After the seventies we felt relaxed and heaved a sigh
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