7:05 AM
Nevin
The next time someone says his/her plans to buy a new AC
owing to ‘global warming’ to you, smack him/her on the head as hard as
possible. It is this kind of ‘immediate solution’, the inability to foresee,
that has brought mankind to its 11th hour. We’ve abused Earth and
its resources for a long time now. There remains very little on Earth.
We’ve reached that penultimate hour. Our very existence on this planet depends
on how we react to this predicament.
Yet you are surrounded by people who ruthlessly loot the environment in the name of ‘development’ and livelihood. Quite hard to believe, when you see the effect these moves have on the people - The rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Recently I had the unfortunate displeasure of visiting the Mithi River in Mumbai. The distressing sight of the river along with the words of Mr.Abhay (a friend and local resident) gave me nightmares for weeks. “When the chief minister himself calls the river Mumbai’s sewer, what hope can one carry”, he had said.
The situation is the same everywhere. The story of River Yamuna and its troubled marriage with Delhi is another example of such gross negligence. Indian government, for its part, has been doing nothing. The ‘developing nation’ tag must not mean money at the sake of environment. It is not a license to rape Earth of its resources. This is precisely the “inability to foresee” that I had pointed out initially. Isn’t it only sensible we that invest on environment friendly technology? Neglect river Ganga and build IT farms everywhere. And what happens (in the near future) when the water in the holy river is termed undrinkable? You will provide the entire central India “technological solutions” to quench their thirst?
 |
| A body floats in River Ganga |
 |
| A man drinks water from the same river (Image courtesy: www.jacobmurphy.com) |
Source : http://www.chinasmack.com/2010/pictures/filthy-india-photos-chinese-netizen-reactions.html
Deputy Chairperson of the planning commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, on a recent global
investor’s meet ( ‘Emerging Kerala’ project) asked the Kerala government to
“move on from its insistence on traditional paddy cultivation and use the farms
for creating IT hubs and tourist resorts.”
“These paddy fields are not merely production centres of paddy, but are
wetlands and the richest water source of Kerala, maintaining the water table.
If the average water level in a paddy field is one foot, an acre (0.4 hectare)
of the field would be holding 1,200 cubic metre (1.2 million litres) of water.
This percolates down and replenishes the ground water” - Usha S, national convener
of Save Our Rice campaign, a network of interested groups working for the
sustainability of paddy cultivation. The lack of political will to support
anything that goes along with the Nature’s way is shocking.
In the following days I shall be highlighting some shocking environmental
dangers that Kerala ( where I live) face.
Stay tuned…
