Reduction Of Air Pollution Is The Responsibility Of Not Only The Elected Government But Also Of The Citizens Of The Nation:

Smoke rises from those tall, cylindrical beasts, filling the air with swirls of mercury, lead, sulphur and what not. These metals taint the air as they corrupt the pureness that breathes life into the world. Large, chunky monsters glide down the road, loudly roaring or softly purring as they present exhaust from the pipe to the earth.

Pollution, no matter in the air, water, or on land poses a huge problem for the world. It accounts for around eight million premature deaths annually across the globe. According to a joint study by ICMR in 2017, in India, air pollution is linked to a child’s death every three minutes, and every eighth death in the country is linked to exposure to poor quality of air.

Oft the question of its origin bothers my being, on a closer analysis I could gather the industrial and manufacturing emissions, burning of fossil fuels, home and farming chemicals (stubble burning), etc. as some of its causes. Breathing poor quality of air acts as a silent killer; which unlike Carona that claims its existence to China; takes some time to manifest it’s effects. While India’s capital, Delhi continues to debate the ‘tough’ anti-pollution measures announced by the city government, China’s capital, Beijing issued its first “red alert” on air pollution since 2013, taking tougher and immediate measures to deal with a problem which appears to be comparable to what Delhiites face at the moment. This is what is highly condemnable. Enough of discussions and deliberations; India ought to have a strong footing and take actions in real time. The list of to-dos not only includes engagements from the side of the government but also of the people at large. The ongoing pandemic has taught us that there could be a different way to live. We ought to cut down on our consumption level sooner and adopt a sustainable approach instead of the materialistic one, or else mankind would be forced to sacrifice a huge cost in order to realise that we might not need as much as we earlier thought we would.

The main issue with air pollution is that it is nobody’s baby. Yes, the environment ministry and pollution control boards do make a difference. But to curb air pollution, one has to transform the sources at the grass root level which are associated with poverty and underdevelopment such as solid fuel use in households and waste management practices. Solid fuel, including biomass combustion for residential cooking, is the largest contributor in the major states of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This can be attributed to lack of awareness and resources. Although I do appreciate the current government’s ‘Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana’ but its implementation on the ground level is quite questionable. what India needs is an umbrella policy for air pollution that is at the core of our industrial, transport, energy, urban and rural planning. This needs to be complemented by an inter-state and inter-ministerial body that can keep a track of compliance as well as a nudge in people’s behavioural patterns is essential. This nudge can be brought about by stringent and novel government policies; for instance a taxation policy based on personal carbon footprint can do wonders.