Pew International Journalism Program

South Asia's Push for Economic Growth is Also Endangering its Environment

By Sara Olkon, Fall 2002 Pew Fellow

Washington, September 20, 2002 - South Asia's drive to improve the economic conditions of its vast population is also contributing to environmental degradation, said Walter Andersen, a top analyst on South Asia for the U.S. State Department.

"The environment is often the last thing considered,'' said Andersen, speaking recently to Pew Fellows at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). "Rapid industrialization is key.''

He pointed to India, a country trying to triple its GDP as part of an effort to become a member of the United Nations Security Council. In fact, economic growth has led to real improvements in living standards in India, Andersen noted. From 1990 to 2000, the poverty rate among India's more than 1 billion citizens fell from 40 percent to 27 percent, and while its rate of growth has declined somewhat in recent years, it is still an impressive six percent. Some Hindu nationalists are vying for nine percent.

Regional politicians are under intense pressure to insure economic growth, Anderson said. Zero growth means either taking resources from the privileged to help the poor - a move that could be politically dangerous - or inaction, which could lead to violence, as appears to be happening in Nepal.

Ironically, in India, the increasing politicization of formerly disenfranchised lower-castes and farmers' parties also contributes to a less-than-friendly eco-climate. The Dalits [members of historically oppressed castes] are pushing for more jobs, not environmental controls. "In 50 years, a group that has been powerless now governs India's largest state,'' said Andersen, referring to Uttar Pradesh. "They realize that numbers count.''

Anderson said one of the costs, however, is that New Delhi now ranks fourth in the world for worst air pollution in a major city. The biggest source of this comes from vehicle emissions, worsened by inadequate monitoring of carbon monoxide levels, leaded fuels and the high number of inefficient, two-stoke engines. Corruption among low-level bureaucrats often undermines measures to control emissions, Anderson said.

Still, environmentalism in India does have a voice, notably in activists such as the writer Arundhati Roy, who spoke out as part of a recent campaign to stop the government from building a huge dam in the Narmada Valley. The project threatened to displace thousands of peasant farmers and destroy flora. Funding from the World Bank was pulled in the wake of vocal protests.