DELHI CHOKES

DELHI CHOKES

Delhi is choking. Yet, inhabitants of Delhi keep deliberating the merits of the Odd-Even Formula for private vehicles to be in operation from the New Year. While deliberations are always welcome, the way they are being conducted seems to indicate that the people are yet to awake to the fact that soon Delhi will have to be evacuated of its population if stringent measures are not immediately adopted to counter the menace of the deadly air pollution that threatens the life of the capital city of our country. Now is not the time for idle deliberation but is the time for emergency action. The people have been made aware of the menace of air pollution much faster and in a much more effective way by them being prospectively subjected to the inconvenience of delimitation of private vehicular commuting. How far the Odd-Even Formula will work in combating the poor air quality obtaining in Delhi remains to be seen but a beginning will have been made from where the adoption of further measures may follow which hopefully will be more effective. Any restraint on air pollution needs to be welcomed now as there may still be time to just about redress the badly tilted balance. Any further delay may prove catastrophic as, at the current rate of growing pollution, Delhi soon will become uninhabitable. It is time to wake up and start working to reset the air quality of Delhi which is now the most polluted city of the world.

PLANT TREES

Ultimately, the air pollution problem may be traced back to the indiscriminate felling of trees in man’s mad bid for urbanization. Trees photosynthesize to remove carbon dioxide, liberate oxygen and transpire water vapour to usher in rain which cleanses the atmosphere. The sidewalks of Delhi are denuded of trees as massive building projects spew dust into the air. Vehicular pollution is an added menace, especially those that run on diesel which emits seven times more pollutant into the air than petrol. Trucks commute through the avenues of Delhi whole night at an alarming frequency damaging the air quality dangerously. The rapid growth of industry, the high population and its concomitant demands on the city’s environ and the recent cold-wave sweeping across North India have made Delhi’s air toxic beyond parallel and needs immediacy of emergency action and a long-term action plan to back it up if our capital city is ever to be environmentally healthful. The government of India must make it mandatory for corporate houses to plant trees by way of CSR to the tune of 1% of their net profit over and above the 2% they are liable to spend as of now. It should be the top priority of the governments, both at the Centre and the States to go about a massive tree-plantation programme. Children should be taught gardening in schools and practical gardening should be included as a subject in all school curricula.

CITIZEN'S PARTICIPATION

The crux of the problem is that the average man is neither aware nor willing to take the lead and do something to combat the menace of pollution. Selfishness is the root of desire and desire the impelling motive for consumerism which in turn is the cause of pollution. Limiting desires through spiritual awakening will result in change in life-style and help to curb pollution. Human need should be catered to and not human greed. Exploitative capitalism and its concomitant evils coupled with the demands of an ever-exploding population is the root cause of the damage to the environment. But in the current global scenario there seems to be no alternative to capitalism in some form or the other. Hence, the welfare element, which theoretically is the hallmark of the Indian economy, needs to be activated on a grand scale and governmental effort needs to be backed up by citizen's participation to bring about a transformation in the current status of the air quality obtaining in Delhi and elsewhere in India. Every Indian must commit himself/herself to the health of the environment and must pledge his/her service to the nation to clean up the air. Else, we shall all share a catastrophic common fate.

HOPE

We cannot give up without a valiant effort to clear up the mess we have landed ourselves in. We must conjointly work with a united resolve to clean up the air we breathe. Success is bound to come if we stand united on this front. Hope is the single attribute that failed to escape the box of Pandora. It is abreast in us and shall be the springboard for our actions as we endeavour to bring back the air quality in Delhi and other polluted cities and towns to normalcy. Every act undertaken in this bid is welcome and is the harbinger of a brighter day, a clearer air and a bluer sky. Let us hope that such a day soon dawns on us and may we work incessantly towards the ushering in of such a dawn. Jai Hind!