Population Explosion, Resource Extraction and its Impact on the Urban Environment: a Case Study of Kolkata Metropolitan Area

Type Working Paper - Scientific Annals of „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi
Title Population Explosion, Resource Extraction and its Impact on the Urban Environment: a Case Study of Kolkata Metropolitan Area
Author(s)
Volume 59
Issue 1
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2013
Page numbers 121-136
URL http://www.analegeo.uaic.ro/index.php/SciGeo/article/viewFile/169/pdf_8
Abstract
Population explosion in the cities has a direct impact on the space, environment and quality of life. The growing population in cities consumes more resources and generates more waste. In the past the size and the economic base of the city was limited and the cities ecological footprint remained relatively local, but today’s context is completely different from the past. Recently most of the megacities of the world particularly in the developing countries are under the phase of rapid expansion, globalization and development. The city’s population as a result bears the capacity to draw resources from far beyond its immediate region and have increasingly appropriated the carrying capacity of the rural region, with little apparent regard for the environment. Kolkata is one of the mega cities of the world, experiencing the huge population pressure. In this paper an attempt has been made to quantify the resources used by the Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA) and assess its impact with respect to the supply and demand. Here the case study of KMA has been shown where the basic need of the metropolitan areas population in terms of housing, water supply, food, and other welfare provision has been analyzed. This has been done to show the capacity of Kolkata Metropolitan Area to extract resources and study its impact on the environment.

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