Population explosion and challenges

It seems just yesterday; we were anticipating the start of the year 2002 but now it is all in the past. Just on the doorstep, we are yet to experience the problems that will be yielded by this era. With an increase in population, the 21st century will be Darwin’s "Survival of the fittest". Human beings, at the rate they are continuing to grow number wise, is really alarming.

The rapid growth of population often referred to as population explosion is today’s one of the pressing problems. Until about 800 AD, the world’s population stayed below 200 million. Since then it has risen dramatically. The rise has been the greatest in the 20th century. The population has recently risen to about six billion; it is three times as large as it was in 1960. Experts predict that by 2020 there will be about ten billion people, causing serious problems of hunger, overcrowding and environmental pollution.

This enormous increase in population is due to better food, better hygiene and, above all, the advances made in medicine. The average life span of a human has increased from what it was a decade ago. Rapid developments in modern medicine have conquered many diseases and consequently the death rate has decreased. The population goes on increasing at an alarming rate in spite of the use of birth control methods in many parts of the world.

With the increase in population, naturally other crises arise. As mentioned above there is a problem of pollution. As the number of people increase, wastes and garbage pile up. Eventually this affects the environment, and a good example of this is the ozone layer. Day by day, the layer around the world that shields us from harmful rays of the sun is being slaughtered. Due to pollution, humans are facing the problem of disastrous disease like lung cancer. Where are those tension free, blithe and pertinent people of the past? Will they ever exist again? All we have are people living beyond their ages, cramped into nursing homes, awaiting death. What kind of future do the children and youth have? Will they have education, employment, enough food, housing, basic health services, clothing and clean air to breathe?

In Nepal, the problem of population growth cannot be ignored. The current population of Nepal is twenty three million. Out of this, the urban population is three million and the growth rate is four per cent. It is predicted that if the current trend continues then a wide gap between the birth rate and death rate will result. This gap will head into a stage of demographic transition that is termed as population explosion. Nepal has already started population explosion and there are many reasons behind this. The problem being encountered is lack of socio-economic development, poor education, unhygienic practices and unavailability of medicine. Data projection shows that the population of Nepal in the year 2016 could be a staggering thirty two million. The urban population could be five million and the growth rate four per cent. Considering the present situation, it will be impossible to sustain such a large number of people.

We have to just stroll along our neighbourhood to realise the amount of problems that are arising. Somehow, with the rapid expansion of Kathmandu due to the alarming rate of migration from the rural areas, the whole urban system has gone haywire. As we wake up each morning, we can only hope that the day will end without any trouble. Sometimes there is no water or electricity or some organisation has put on a strike for gas; and those who can afford are impelled to eat out. The roads are so congested that one has to find one’s way amidst a flood of cars, buses, bicycles and those clever motorbikes that seem to weave through the traffic.

According to Dr Prakash Dev Panth, Associate Professor at Tribhuvan University, "The fertility and mortality rate in Nepal in the recent past has started to decline sharply and will lead to the overall increase in population. Given the current food production scenario, about fifty percent of the present children are suffering from malnutrition. This is concrete evidence of food deficiency. Nepal’s outlook in terms of its future population size clearly indicates a bleak scenario."

In order to combat this problem, it is necessary to extract political commitment, increase resources and agricultural production, extensive research, sustainable development and appropriate resource allocation. Other approaches that can contribute to reducing population growth are improved socio-economic conditions (including availability of prenatal, obstetric, paediatric services) and efforts to provide basic water, sanitation and health service.

The population growth and the agricultural production increase due to the Green Revolution have been sustained in the last century in countries like Sri Lanka, the Philippines, China and India. However, scientists predict that the Green Revolution will be useless for this century. They believe that the food crisis can be resolved through extensive research in biotechnology (genetic engineered agricultural production). Sadly, Nepal could not even successfully implement Green Revolution in the last century.

The problem of survival for humankind has never been as great as it is today. If nothing is done to resolve the problems society is facing today; humans will be on the verge of extinction. The fate of humanity is rapidly going down the drain. We have entered the new millennium, and with it have come up challenges.