Development and the Environment: A Conundrum

Much like one needs some sort of a kitchen or pantry to cook in before having a meal, infrastructure - roads, railways, ports, bridges, airports, power, telecommunications - is required for economies to progress. It is required not just to build wealth but also to improve health, education and basic amenities on a local as well as global basis. Today, infrastructure development is the cornerstone for developing economies. And moreover, in a reversal of fortunes, the developed nations’ economies are becoming increasingly influenced by the markets in developing countries such as India and China.

The great tragedy is that for the most part, ‘development’ has led to irreversible damage to the environment. If this was what we read as prediction in childhood, it has become a fact of life in the past decade. Water scarcity, smogs, climate change and waste disposal problems are as much a part of daily life as power breakdowns, traffic jams and fuel scarcity.

To solve this conundrum of Development Vs the Environment, the emerging consensus is working towards Environmentally Sustainable Development.There are several viable alternatives which are coming into focus. Such as ‘green’ consumer electronics and cars, rain water harvesting and so forth. However, there are still larger, imperative and wide ranging challenges such as chemical water pollution, solid waste disposal, soil erosion, derelict land from mining, construction problems in difficult and intractable land to mention a few. Geotextiles (a generic term) is class of materials which is becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to address many of these challenges. It is the aim of this blog to highlight some of these issues and create awareness of economic and environmentally sustainable solutions for the same.

The posts in this blog are meant to initiate discussion and create awareness only. For specific technical solutions please email including details such as size of project and scope of work.