Environmental Degradation Costs India around $80 Bn Every Year

Bangalore: India, over the last decade has witnessed a rapid economic growth. Although this growth has brought welfare and benefits to the country, to a large extent the environment has been greatly affected due to the serious air and water pollution that arises out of such development. So, the country’s significant growth rate is often hindered by a degrading environment and growing scarcity of natural resources, reported the World Bank.

Mirroring the size and diversity of the economy of India, environmental risks are extensive and are driven by both prosperity and poverty. As per the most recent report by the World Bank, environmental degradation costs India around $80 billion every year or 5.7 percent of the nations’ economy.

India ranked 126th overall in the ‘Air Pollution (effects on human health)’ in the new survey of 132 countries whose environments were surveyed. As such, the survey concluded that India has the worst air pollution in the whole world, beating neighboring countries like China, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Also, as per the WHO survey that was conducted across the G-20 economies, out of the 20 most polluted cities of the world, 13 are in India.

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