Not a Day to observe and Pass but a Moment to Think and Act.
World Environment Day-June 5
Many a time people think the talks on ‘global warming’ and ‘climate change’ are issues that they can do a little and seek new ways to overcome the problems presented by this new world. When man found no water in the river he dug up wells: when water became scarce in the well and dried up he drilled deep bore wells. The deep bore wells are empty and today he purchases canned water for his home needs and he never steps out without a filled water bottle. Gone are the days of Dharma when, people used to get not only water but food and shelter too at the innumerable dharmasalas that dotted this land.
In Chennai you would come across plenty of Lake View roads but without any sign of lakes. Today water business is a billion dollar one and Indians quench their thirst with packaged waters supplied by Pepsi and Coca-cola. Forget the purchase; he pollutes the earth with tons of plastic every time he drinks. In fact he uses and insists on a cup for every sip. This scene is very familiar in any public place or in events where people dump the polythene cups invariably. This is about only the potable water.
The water for irrigation stands depleted. Most of our rivers are dead and the remaining is dying. The dead rivers come under various categories. Some disappeared and some show their deep brown scars after robbed of their upper layer by the construction industry. There are rivers in all our major cities across the world that carry sewage and mostly become stagnant. The dirty water ways are an eyesore for any civilization but people from the poor strata have made those river banks as their habitat. Today water disputes are common among states and countries.
Man has started to use recycled water and has gone for desalination plants. He forgets the cost involved for all these – man, money, power and the collateral damage they bring in on the environment. But he is just searching for ways to earn more money to establish plants or systems that would provide him pure water. Today in a big city like Chennai those who have no access to safe drinking water have to shell out about Rupees Two thousand per month for water. Even in remote, rural areas of Tamilnadu water pockets are freely available. It has become a habit that they fill the land with this undying polythene. Everyone thinks it’s only a small piece of polythene. But they forget when all do like this, the earth becomes unlivable.
If this is the story of water the condition of air is also pitiable. Today’s advertisements on housing speak of ‘green lung’ and every advertisement shows a water front with lush green lawns and a lone easy chair waiting for its occupant. In real terms the project would have a small city of concrete, steel and glass and every act mechanized. Why people have to be enticed with such advertisements is not a big mystery. Our cities are literally unlivable today. Our power plants are our biggest industrial polluters. Each year they pump tons of carbon dioxide into the air. Carbon pollution is causing climate change that drives dangerous heat waves and worsening smog pollution, which causes asthma attacks and other serious respiratory illnesses.
The lakes and oceans have become dirtier. Forest cover is fast depleting and the high rise mountains are becoming valleys after mining and green lands have grown into deserts. Cultivable lands are fast becoming housing or industrial sites. Man digs deep into the earth emptying the fossil and uses it as fuel.
As for the co-inhabitants of the earth many are extinct and many more are endangered. But for man every living and non-living is under threat today. The earth he lives is endangered. But he refuses to believe all these realities and is on a hunting spree for money and comforts. He is confident of the deception that he is the sole owner of this earth.
Let us realize that there is danger and it is near. The UNO while celebrating the World Environment Day on June 5th focuses on food waste and food loss through its Reduce Your Food print campaign. Indeed, at least one third of everything we grow on this planet is lost between the field and the consumer. It is an ethical, economic and environmental issue given the enormous waste of energy, water, fertilizers and other inputs as a result of food that is produced but never eaten.
Each one of us can do something about this and many things about so many things. Let it be a cloth/jute bag on our back when we visit a market or just throwing a mango seed in a watery area instead of dumping it in a dustbin.
If you think you are too small to be of use, you have never seen an ant or a honey bee.re too small to be effective, you have never been in bed if
By
RETTAVAYAL S KRISHNASWAMY Volunteer-gogreenindiacampaign
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