Aparna R M
Introduction
Imagine this: you’re sipping your morning coffee, scrolling through the news. The aroma is rich. The taste, comforting. But what if I told you the beans in your cup might have grown in soil laced with heavy metals? Or that the milk in your chai could trace its source to cows drinking toxic water? Or worse—what if the air you breathe as you enjoy your meal is slowly chipping away at your health?
This isn’t a dystopian fantasy. This is India in 2025—where pollution is not just in the air, water, and soil. It’s already on our plates.
Air Pollution: The Silent Killer That Doesn’t Knock
Figure 1 – India’s PM2.5 Concentration by Region (2022): A Visual of Invisible Harm
In 2024, India was the fifth most polluted country in the world, according to IQAir. Six of the world’s ten most polluted cities were in India, and New Delhi led the charge with PM2.5 levels 18 times higher than WHO’s safe limit.
Stat Check: PM2.5 in Delhi averaged 91.6 µg/m³, while WHO recommends only 5 µg/m³.
Air pollution in India isn’t just about coughing fits and grey skies. It’s reducing our life expectancy by over 5 years and is directly linked to lung diseases, heart attacks, strokes, and asthma.
But here’s where it gets alarming: crops are suffering too. Ozone pollution is cutting wheat yields by up to 40%, especially across the Indo-Gangetic belt—a region known as India’s breadbasket. That’s billions in economic losses, but more importantly, it’s less food on our table.
Figure 2 – Deaths Attributed to Air Pollution in India (as of latest data)
Water Pollution: A Crisis Flowing into Every Glass
India’s rivers, once worshipped, are now waste channels.
The Yamuna River, which flows through the heart of the capital, now contains 2.3 million fecal coliform bacteria per 100 ml of water—over 11,000 times the acceptable limit for safe bathing.
A dip in that water isn’t just dangerous. It’s deadly.
Meanwhile, groundwater contamination is a hidden epidemic. Over 66 million people are exposed to excess fluoride, causing skeletal and dental deformities. In parts of West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, arsenic levels are dangerously high, increasing cancer and cardiovascular risks.
What does this mean for you?
– The rice is irrigated by these waters.
– The vegetables grown with this contamination.
– The tea leaves were rinsed in arsenic-laced streams.
All end up on your table. You don’t have to drink dirty water to be poisoned by it. You just have to eat.
Soil Pollution: Poison Beneath Our Feet
We often forget that the food we eat grows from the soil. But in India, that soil is getting poisoned.
Farmers, pushed by the Green Revolution and hungry markets, are now using chemicals excessively—fertilizers, pesticides, and banned substances like DDT and Endosulfan.
In one study, over 75% of soil samples from agricultural belts had pesticide residues exceeding WHO limits.
And in industrial areas like Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, soils contain dangerous amounts of lead, mercury, and arsenic—the same soil where vegetables, grains, and even spices are cultivated.
Pollution is Now a Food Problem
Let’s connect the dots:
– Toxic air kills beneficial insects and reduces crop yield.
– Contaminated water stunts plant growth and poisons produce.
– Polluted soil alters the taste, nutrition, and safety of everything from wheat to coffee.
Even India’s coffee—grown in states like Karnataka and Kerala—is now facing soil acidification and contamination that could affect its flavor profile and export quality.
You could be drinking coffee that’s not only bitter but potentially carcinogenic.
Health at Risk, Culture at Stake
Every polluted bite you take carries long-term risks—cancer, hormone disruptions, birth defects, liver and kidney damage, and more. But there’s more at stake than our bodies.
Food in India is culture. It’s prayer, it’s love, it’s identity.
If our rotis come from wheat poisoned by ozone, if our dals are watered by rivers carrying fecal matter, if our vegetables grow in chemically dead soil—then we’re not just losing our health, we’re losing who we are.
What Can We Do?
1. Support local farmers who use organic and regenerative methods.
2. Advocate for stricter pollution controls and demand accountability from industries.
3. Raise awareness—share facts like these to start conversations at home and in parliament.
4. Consume consciously: Know where your food and water come from.
Your next cup of coffee isn’t just a drink. It’s a story—a story about the air, water, and earth it comes from. Right now, that story in India is one of neglect, contamination, and slow poisoning.
But it can be rewritten. With policy. With awareness. With action.
So next time you sip, think:
Are you drinking a beverage—or a warning?
References
- IQAir India Air Quality Report 2024: https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/india-ranks-5th-in-world-air-quality-index-with-most-polluted-cities-iqair-125031100434_1.html
- India Water Portal – Pollution & Health: https://www.indiawaterportal.org/faqs/water-contamination-and-pollution-growing-challenge-health-and-biodiversity
- PNAS Study on Crop Losses: https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2207081120
- WHO and BIS Data on Pesticides: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11615616
About the contributor: Aparna R M is a student at Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. She is a fellow of EPAYF 2.0 – Environment Policy and Action Youth Fellowship, Cohort 2.0.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
Read more at IMPRI:
Viability Gap Funding for Offshore Wind Energy Projects in India 2015: A Comprehensive Analysis
Between Heatwaves and Policy Gaps: Climate Justice and Adaptation in Delhi’s Informal Settlements
Acknowledgement: This article was posted by Khushboo Dandona, a research intern at IMPRI.
