Damming rivers for hydropower plants has devastated river systems, submerged farmland and displaced thousands of people. Politicians, reluctant to make a pro-environment decision that might shut down a factory, cancel a dam or cost jobs, often do nothing instead. High on the list of problems is water. Rivers are increasingly polluted, and groundwater levels are falling several meters every year. Deeply bored wells are now used to irrigate more than 30 million hectares.
Environmentalists predict fierce competition for the control and use of major waterways.
Meanwhile, urban messiness is growing. Air pollution in New Delhi is among the world's worst, and auto sales are nine times as high as a decade ago. Most industrial pollution comes from small factories, which have multiplied from 15,000 in 1950 to nearly 2 million today. That sector has been shielded from environmental regulations by a succession of governments. But personal action can help.