Considering the factors of degradation and the national standards recommended for the quality of water, possible air pollution levels and the permissible noise levels in the urban areas, a recent study has revealed that Kerala’s urban health is under serious threat. Increasing concentration of people in the urban centers, owing to increase in the opportunities in the prominent cities are responsible for the rapid rate of exploitation of natural resources and various types of environmental degradation and pollution.

The state has witnessed reduced population growth between 1981 and 2001 while the density per hectare has increased to 61.09 percent between these two decades. Kerala as a whole and the prominent cities was previously considered as centers with a high standard of living because of better living conditions. That notion has changed now.

Thus, does it mean that the new urban centers are unsuitable for human beings because of marked lowering in the environmental quality and increase in the level of air, water and noise pollution, crowded streets and roads, slums, and an increase in the rate of murders, thefts, dacoities and other crimes? The levels of degradation set in some areas are quite evident.

In modern times building a Home in Kerala and that too in the prominent city centers is a costly affair. Added to the cost of building a house is the recurring health costs due to the increasing pollution levels in almost all the prominent urban centers. The ‘Gods own country’ is now increasingly turning into a total mess.

Due to the high pollution levels, people moved away from the city centers to the suburbs of the cities. However, that also did not help much. In cities like Kochi, where the urban boundary is being redrawn continuously with each passing year, it was noticed that the pollution levels are so alarming than the levels seen in the city centers.