The population is increasing at an unprecedented rate. It is making a bomb that could explode very soon. Currently, Pakistan’s population is growing at a rate of 2.55 %. Its repercussions can be felt in health, economy, and climate. It will spread the waves of melancholy that would be unbearable to feel. The increasing population is like a parasite which sucks the blood of the nation mercilessly. Despite the fact of a dire population crisis, our policymakers are in a deep sleep. Let’s discuss the impacts of increasing population on social, economic, and climate spheres in the country.
The increasing population adds insult to injury in poverty. Since unskilled manpower burdens on the shoulders of the country, it paves the way towards abject poverty. According to the report of the Asian Development Bank in Pakistan, the proportion of the employed population blow dollar 1.90 purchasing power parity a day in 2022 is 2.4%. Due to the menace of poverty for everyone, 1000 babies were born in Pakistan in 2021, and 63 died before their 5th birthday.
The soaring population has led to the birth of expanding urbanization. There are various impacts of increasing urbanization on the environment. As people expand houses to agricultural lands it not only is a serious threat to food production but also changes the ecological condition of the country. According to the National Institute of Population out of 242 million,93.5 population lives in urban areas. Such a high number expands the canvas of urbanization and adds fuel to the fire of the many social evils. Crime increases in the areas where the mass displacement settles in the cities without having employment. Just Karachi is an example of the menace of crime. Poverty is the main reason behind the crimes.
Let’s diffuse population bomb it before it explodes.
The uncontrollable population is an imminent threat to human development in Pakistan. 6 million children are being added to the country’s population as if they were just numbers added to the calculator’s screen. The fertility rate of around 3.6 (UNFPA’s 2017) directly impacts the human development condition in Pakistan. It gives space to human inequality. According to the UNDP Human Development Report, Pakistan had a human inequality coefficient OF 30 for the year 2010, which was almost unchanged at 30.2 in 2018 by contrast, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have improved dramatically and in 2018 had lowered this inequality coefficient to 16.8, 23.6 and 11.8 respectively.
Let’s have a glance at how the unprecedented growth of pollution impacts the economy. The young age population has become a burden on Pakistan rather than an asset. Most of the youths are unskilled as every professional work is being completed by global experts. It impacts the economy drastically.
Pakistan’s economy is consumption-led. As the population increases, consumption increases. Since Pakistan imports more than its production in the country. Hence, the unskilled and unproductive population has become a burden on Pakistan’s spinal cord.
Unemployment is one of the major drawbacks to our economy. Most unskilled youth depend upon their parents. According to research conducted by the Ministry of Planning and UNFPA Pakistan’s working age for the dependent population was 90 in the 1980s while it is currently 67. While Bangladesh stands at 47 and Iran at 49
Population bursts not only impact the economy but also exacerbate the climate crisis. Food insecurity is one of them. The increasing population is worsening food security in Pakistan. As the land because as the land became too small to produce too much for the demand of an overpopulated nation. Resultantly, it leads to conflicts, social disharmony, inflation, and other social inequality. As per the reports of World Food Programme WFP 2020 reports that over 3 million people in the country are experiencing severe food insecurity mainly in the drought-affected districts of Balochistan and Sindh. Similarly, over half a million people in these provinces are described as having an emergency condition.
The increasing population is an imminent threat to the national natural resources of the country. Pakistan will be water scary country by 2030. Overpopulation is the major cause of water scarcity and gas shortage in the country.
Additionally, overpopulation paves the way for the mass development of families as the size of the families grows and they tend to mobilize the cities and agricultural land exacerbating the social and environmental situation of the country. As per the report of the National Institution of Population (NIP 2019) more than 57% of the migrant population is long stayers. So, they moved to their current residence ten or more years ago. So, it exacerbates the social and security conditions of the country.
Why does the country face overpopulation menace? There are various reasons. The prime reasons are low literacy, no family planning, a son-oriented approach, and no contraceptive use are the major reasons behind our population increase in Pakistan. As indicated in Pakistan’s demographic and health survey (2017 to 2018) key indicators report the contraceptive prevalence rate in Pakistan is low, just over 30 per cent compared with over 50 per cent in India and Sri Lanka and over 60 per cent in Bangladesh and Iran
There are some useful remedies to counter the non-traditional threat, of overpopulation. Policymakers should introduce punitive measures to cope with the menace of overpopulation. There must be house-to-house family planning programs, electronic media, rewards, radio campaigns, sought help from religious scholars, and heavy fines on those who take births to their children beyond the suggested number by the policy makers of Pakistan. Pakistan must learn lessons from its neighbouring countries such as Iran, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, how they arrested the growth rate of population and paved the way towards economic growth and human development. It is pertinent to defuse the population bomb before it explodes.
The writer is a freelance columnist.