Two serious adverse environmental consequences of development in India are:

1. Air Pollution: In India, air pollution is becoming a serious environmental issue in the urban areas of the country. Industrial emission and vehicular emission are seen as the major contributor to this. Carbon emissions, green house gas emissions are deteriorating the health standard of the country. Recently, Delhi government launched an odd-even vehicle policy to curb the problem of air pollution.
2. Land degradation: Land degradation is also emerging as a major consequence of development. It is due to deforestation, improper management of land, use of chemicals in agricultural activities, unplanned irrigation systems, et These factors lead to reduction in quality of soil, increase in harmful chemicals, soil erosion, etc.

India’s environmental problems pose a dichotomy because in rural areas of the country environmental issues arise due to poverty – people have to rely on forest wood and agricultural waste as the fuel for cooking and other related activities; And due to lack of water distribution facilities and awareness about sanitation, daily chores take place at the banks of open water bodies which provide water for drinking. In urban areas, environment issues occur due to maintaining of affluent living standards–industrialization, urbanisation contribute massively towards environment degradation. Further, land gets degraded due over-utilisation, water bodies get polluted due to sewage and industrial waste, air quality degrades and natural resources are getting depleted.