🌱 Clean Earth, Clear Future: Stand Up Against Pollution

Clean Earth, Clear Future: Stand Up Against Pollution

The planet we call home - the Earth - is struggling to breathe. From industrial cities with smoke-soiled skies to our oceans filled with plastic to our rivers and lakes filled with toxic waste, the Earth is gasping for breath. What was once a thriving ecosystem with clean air, clean water, and vibrant life is now attempting to breathe under the duress of human activities. The signals are prevalent: increasing global temperatures, dying species, unbreathable air, and toxic waste in every aspect of nature.
But here is the truth: we still have time to make some changes. The Earth has proven it can heal - but only if we stop doing harm. Let’s look at how pollution has brought our planet to the brink, what that means for our future, and how we can work to help it breathe again.

Our Current Situation (2025)

Air Quality

Information: The air in India is extremely polluted. IQAir’s report for 2024 (Air Quality and Health in 2024: Global & Regional Estimates of Health Effects of Air Pollution: Summary Report, 2024) suggests the level of PM2.5 (the tiny particles that harm health) in India is 50.6 µg/m³, which is five times the safe limits. Furthermore, PM2.5 levels for Delhi in 2024 are estimated to be 91.6 µg/m³, making it among the top-ranked polluted cities around the globe (see all rankings on IQAir.com). Kanpur, Patna, and other cities were all featured in the worst cities in the major list of the world's air pollution. In the data of Life and Death in India: Air Pollution in India Lancet, first published in 2021, and updated for the 2025 version, estimates of 1.67 million deaths each year that can be attributed to air pollution compose a significant burden on hospitals, with reference to respiratory and cardiovascular illness. 

Policy: The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was launched in 2019, and aimed for a PM2.5 reduction between 20-30% by 2024, or in comparison to data obtained from 2017. A study published in Nature Sustainability in 2024 indicated an 8.8% decline in PM2.5 for six cities in India. Overall, the decline in air quality appeared to be attributed more to improbable wet weather than air pollution programming and directives. The NCAP has introduced strategies in 122 designated cities, and changes in air pollution were found to vary greatly between those locations.

Gaps: The commitment to enforce guidelines is lacking. Bharat Stage VI, a program to avoid vehicle emissions, is effective in larger cities, but in smaller towns less control could often be obtained. The activities of farmers in Punjab caused the increase of 10% of crop waste burning in 2024, according to data shared and published with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), due to the non-availability of necessary equipment. Smaller towns lack the number of air monitors, so the leaders of those local governments cannot assess air quality. 

Scarcity & Pollution of Water

Data: According to NITI Aayog in 2018, 600 million indians will not have enough water anymore in 2025. It has been reported in the World Bank in 2024 that 21 cities, such as Bengaluru and Hyderabad, will run out of water by 2030. The Ganges River, where millions source water, has 1 billion gallons (CPCB, 2023) dumped into it daily, making the river unsafe as a drinking or bathing source simply due to pollution.

Policy: The Jal Jeevan Mission has been successful in providing 60% of rural households with piped drinking water by 2025, from just 17% in 2019. For sewage treatment, however, only 28% is treated (CPCB, 2025), and rivers and lakes remain polluted and untreated, signalling that we have been losing our golden opportunity.

Gaps: In dry agro-ecological regions such as Marathwada, people are left with no choice but to depend on water tankers since aquifers can be depleted. City lakes, such as Powai in Mumbai or Ujjani in Pune, have not been fixed for various reasons, including a lack of funding and a lack of concern from the public. States that share water resources, such as the Yamuna, want to argue, instead of trying to fix the problem.

Impacts of Climate Change

Data: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) report from 2022 stated that by 2035, area-averaged temperatures are expected to increase by 1.5–2 °C, resulting in a reduction in rainfall by 10% to 15%, with detrimental ramifications for agriculture. According to the State of India's Environment 2022, approximately 45 million people are likely to have been adversely affected by heat waves in 2024, and unusual rainfall led to urban and rural flooding.

Policy: The National Action Plan on Climate Change has supported the development of renewables, which comprise 46% of India's energy by 2025, an important progress. However, coal still generates 55% of electricity (CEA 2025), contributing to pollution. Many places have policies to moderate flooding, but they don’t work in many areas.

Gaps: In many agricultural areas based on rain, farmers lack access to drought-resistant seeds; only approximately 20% of seeds are drought-resistant. In 2024, flood walls around cities in Assam and Bihar failed to protect crops when floods riddled them, as they lacked strength and were poorly built. Hotter cities in India, such as Delhi, suffer from vegetation loss.

Waste Management

Data: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) notes that India generates 277 million tons of waste annually, and it is estimated that 90% of the world’s river plastic comes from India (Science, 2021). Five percent of waste is recycled, so as urban agglomerates grow, it ends up in our landfills and rivers.

Policy: The Plastic Waste Management Rules and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) require that companies are accountable for what they make; however, a CSE (2025) study notes that only 8% of plastic is collected. The rules exist, but it is easier and cheaper for companies to pay fines, which are not big money. Swachh Bharat made people aware, but the systems are not in place yet.

Gaps: Bigger Cities' policies and residents have found ways to sort waste and compost, while smaller societies and towns gather litter and block city drains. Villages and small towns do not even have a wasteland pickup. Residents either burn the litter or dump it, even after Swachh Bharat messages were communicated to all villages.

Deforestation and Loss of Biodiversity

Data: According to Global Forest Watch (2024), India has experienced a 19% loss of tree cover since 2000. The Western Ghats, in the last 10 years, have lost 5% (WII, 2024). The forests, which are home to tigers and elephants, are declining in size, which is detrimental to animal welfare, nature, and the climate.

Policy: The Green India Mission aims to achieve 33% of land covered by forests, up from 24% in 2025, contributing to planting 2 million hectares since 2019 by utilizing funds from CAMPA. Planting may be achocolating, but it does not support native species, so soil and animal habitats don't see much improvement. 

Gaps: Unlawful tree cutting continues to occur in Northeast India as regulations or enforcement are weak, and wood is a necessary resource. Animal pathways, such as elephants moving through Odisha, become blocked by mines or roads, leading to 30% more human-animal encounters in 2024. Communities are not engaged enough in the conservation of forests.

Success Story: In Rajasthan, the Arvari River project resulted in growing 70 km2 of green land through community involvement. If 20 rivers planted trees with engagement, it could possibly grow back animals and water. Small initiatives can lead to large impacts.

Digital Tools: Online tools like Parivesh and OCMMS exist to help track regulations, but only 40% of factories are utilizing them for environmental impact to date (MoEFCC, 2025).  Even if villages knew about the online tools, it does not demonstrate that the tools would help in a village context.

Conclusion

In 2025, India is battling bad air, missing water, unusual weather, too much garbage, and less forest—serious issues that will take effort to resolve. By 2035, we hope to see cities and towns where breathing is easy, taps running in villages, farms surviving droughts, clean cities, and forests full of animals—using the information we build today to plan for our future.

  It asks individuals to take actions such as planting trees, reporting illegal dumping, or advocating for stricter legislation—small actions and big picture actions, collectively, allow us all to share the burden of keeping India green, just as we are collectively - to work towards the promise made by the world with our OWN device.

Over a billion people, from farm owners to multi-national companies, have all the power. Collectively, they can make 2035 a success story by showing our current issues are simply steps on a path to a green and joyful country.