Vijay Garg
The air quality in the country’s capital Delhi and its surrounding areas is becoming very poor or rather, it is becoming deadly. The air quality index has crossed 400 in many areas of the capital. The apex court is also serious about the increasing pollution in Delhi and the National Capital Region and has asked for strict measures. From the central government to the governments of Delhi and surrounding states, they have been making different claims, but this does not seem to bring any major relief in the pollution level. Even though the Delhi government has taken many measures and issued instructions to control pollution to overcome this serious problem, they are not proving effective. The latest report of the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that globally the air has become poisonous to such an extent that the poison is slowly dissolving in our breath. The lungs are clogged with pollutants, which can prove to be a major cause of slow death. WHO report states that every year about five million people die prematurely due to exposure to poisonous air. They say goodbye. According to a report by Greenpeace, an organization working for the environment, the capital Delhi is the most polluted among the capitals of all the countries in the world. The question is why the National Capital Region of Delhi, which has been continuously facing this crisis for the last few years, does not get the light of any permanent solution? Why are governments and politicians not ready for solutions instead of holding each other responsible? The report of the World Health Organization states that on the basis of PM 2.5, most of the world’s 15Among the cities, 12 cities are from India. According to the report on air quality, the 30 most polluted cities in the world are in India, where the annual concentration of PM 2.5 is the highest. A study by “BMJ” has found that many people die every year in India due to pollution. PM means ‘particulate matter’ is a variety. Its particles are very fine which flow in the air. PM 2.5 or PM 10 refers to the size of particles in the air. These particles present in the air enter our body along with the air and dissolve in the blood. This causes many problems in the body Health diseases like asthma and breathing problems may occur. The thing to note is that India suffers the most loss in terms of population, hence considering it as its responsibility, it will have to take some meaningful and concrete measures immediately. At present, most of the diseases in the world are occurring due to environmental pollution. More people die each year from diseases caused by pollution than from malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis combined. However, the question arises that what is the difference in deaths caused every year due to air pollution?What steps are being taken by the government to stop it? The government and society have known this for decades, but both remain indifferent about it. It seems that people are completely oblivious to their tragic future. In fact, the problem of air pollution is becoming so complex. That the future seems bleak. In fact, today man has become so addicted to the indulgent lifestyle and is selfish that he is polluting the very air, the basic foundation of his life. Forgetting all morality and duty. materialistic lifestyle andIn the blind race of development, today man has forgotten how important clean air is for life. The increasing number of vehicles and the smoke coming out of factories have polluted the air, the cutting of trees has polluted the life-giving gases and the filth spread by humans has polluted the water at such a speed that now diseases are spreading at double the speed. This trend continues even today. There has been so much change in human thinking and ideology that no one is worried about the future. There is no doubt that today man is depleting nature.As a result of which, due to environmental imbalance, critical situations like global warming, acid rain, melting of snowy peaks, rise in sea level, drying up of plain rivers, loss of fertile land and increase of deserts etc. are being created. All this is the result of human carelessness. Sadly, we are still not waking up. As a result, air pollution is continuously increasing in India. Be it the Central or State governments, no one seems serious in dealing with pollution. Obviously, to fight pollutionThere is a need to make long-term policies, while people need to make all efforts at their own level to prevent the air from becoming poisonous. It is true that the Central and State Governments had taken many steps to deal with air pollution. Yet we proved to be a laggard in dealing with air pollution. In such a situation, India’s responsibility becomes bigger and more challenging, because we will have to adopt the measures being taken in both developed and developing countries. Actually, air pollution is an issue which is of concern to the whole world.It is a subject matter and cannot be resolved without mutual consent and honest effort. To tackle air pollution, sustained efforts are needed rather than immediate action. Measures such as adopting clean energy sources, controlling the number of vehicles and promoting public transport can have a long-term impact. To solve the problem of stubble burning, it is necessary to provide better technology and subsidies to farmers so that they adopt more environment-friendly alternatives. Besides this, pollution at construction sites Strict adherence to control measures and stringent laws are required to control industrial emissions. It is necessary to evaluate the air quality throughout the year through a systematic monitoring system so that the pollution levels can be kept under control in time. Air pollution not only means planting trees but also preventing land pollution, air pollution, water pollution and noise pollution. Only then will something concrete be visible. Time to do something, not to think.
(The writer is Retired Principal Educational and Columnist).