Tuesday, 1 May 2012

Essay 37 (Industrial firms to rural areas?)






Many countries want to move factories and big industrial firms out of big cities and towns and into rural areas.  Do you think the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
 
Relocating manufacturing firms and plants from big cities to smaller towns and rural areas can certainly address many issues related to excess urbanisation.  Although the negative impacts of this issue should also be given due consideration, I would consider, the advantages of such a move are much greater.

In the first place, shifting manufacturing units from cities can reduce pollution in urban areas to a great extent.  To be clear, the effluents and gas emissions from many factories add to the already polluted cities and create huge environmental issues.  Whereas, rural areas usually have large areas of uninhabited wasteland and effects of pollution can be managed efficiently.

Again, urban migration and crowding of cities can be controlled if more and more jobs are available away from the city.  For example, many states of India have started Industrial Parks in rural areas and given tax incentives to companies to set up factories.  This has prevented many unemployed youth from moving to the cities for employment.

On the other hand, the arrival of big factories can definitely disturb the peaceful atmosphere of villages and small towns leading to increasing levels of pollution and congestion.  Lack of transport and other infrastructural facilities may be a handicap for industrial units as technically qualified professionals and skilled labourers may not be interested in moving to such places to work in factories.

To conclude, having considered both sides of the argument, the benefits of shifting factories to rural areas seem to be a very favourable idea as it can create a large number of job opportunities for the rural youth and reduce urban migration to a great extent.  Hence, the minor drawbacks should not prevent governments from going ahead with this policy.



What do you think about this essay?

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