To get a closer look at the harsh reality of India's environment, check out the facts listed below:

1. 70% of Indian sewage goes untreated

As per the report of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) published in March 2015, sewage generation from urban areas is estimated at around 62,000 mld(million litres per day), whereas the total treatment capacity available is only 23,277 mld (37% of the sewage generation).

2. The quality of air has deteriorated to a hazardous level

A CPCB report for January 2016, data of some of the most-polluted cities is shown below with Varanasi and Muzaffarpur showing extremely high levels of pollution.

Value 0 to 50 is good and >300 is hazardous quality.

The air quality index takes into consideration eight pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3, and Pb)

India is home to the world's largest population - around 595 million people and nearly half this population defecates in the open.

According to Unicef, Indians produce around 65,000 tonnes of faeces into the environment each day.

4. Loss of bio-diversity.

According to a comprehensive study of world species by the World bank, 95 mammal, 80 bird and 326 plant species are on the threatened species list.

The above-mentioned figures might be shocking but are, unfortunately, facts. In lieu of talking and debating, let's make an honest attempt to prevent our country from becoming a barren, noxious desert land.

A population of over thousands of millions is growing at 2.11 per cent every year. It puts considerable pressure on its natural resources and reduces the gains of development. Hence, the greatest challenge before us is to limit the population growth. Although population control does automatically lead to development, yet the development leads to a decrease in population growth rates

The people must be acquainted with the methods to sustain and increase agricultural growth with damaging the environment. High yielding varieties have caused soil salinity and damage to physical structure of soil.

It is essential to restore the water quality of our rivers and other water body as lakes is an important challenge. It so finding our suitable strategies for consecration of water, provision of safe drinking water and keeping water bodies clean which are difficult challenges is essential.

At present out of the total 329 mha of land, only 266 mha possess any potential for production. Of this, 143 mha is agricultural land nearly and 85 suffer from varying degrees of soil degradation. Of the remaining 123 mha, 40 are completely unproductive.

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The remaining 83 mha is classified as forest land, of which over half is denuded to various degrees. Nearly 406 million head of livestock have to be supported on 13 mha, or less than 4 per cent of the land classified as pasture land, most of which is overgrazed. Thus, our of 226 mha, about 175 mha or 66 per cent is degraded to varying degrees. Water and wind erosion causes further degradation of almost 150 mha.

Nearly 27 per cent Indians live in urban areas. Urbanization and industrialization has given birth to a great number of environmental problems that need urgent attention. Over 30 per cent of urban Indians live in slums. Out of India’s 3,245 towns and cities, only 21 have partial or full sewerage and treatment facilities. Hence, coping with rapid urbanization is a major challenge.