When will they ever learn?

If you were to go by numbers, you’d think that the population is still exploding. For, despite having peaked in the sixties, the rise in numbers continues. Every year, this living planet adds about 77 million people to its already populous base — that’s the equivalent of 10 New York cities.

And, as the population grows, another trend is being observed — growing urbanisation. The number of those living in urban areas went up to 2.64 billion in 1997 from 750 million in the fifties. And the trend is likely to continue. At current levels of growth, 50 per cent of the world’s total population will be at home in a city by 2005. For those living in rural areas, it seems as if a city is the proverbial place where the streets are paved with gold.

While it’s true that a city, particularly a megapolis, offers much more choice, vitality, money and opportunity, the fact remains that all this comes at a cost. This urban mass needs an enormous concentration of food, water and energy to keep it going day after day. Millions crowd it — so naturally, air quality suffers, water is scarce, sanitation is poor. Traffic jams are routine, pollution levels high. Education suffers, so does healthcare. In short, the quality of life goes down drastically. In fact, in megapolises, approximately 25 per cent of the population resides in slums. It is ironical when you think that it is for a better quality of life that these millions rush to the city.

But going by the way things are, there is no way that the quality of life can be bettered. Public health facilities will continue to go down the hill, nutrition and education for all will be just plans on paper. Increase in productivity, a better psychological index and an uplift in the quality of life — that’ll stay a distant dream. Isn’t it time we rang the alarm bell?