Are we living in a “Kaliyug” hell?
Once upon a time, I used to dismiss talk of increasing pollution in Indian cities as scare-mongering by NGOs eager for funds and publicity…
I am a little wiser now…but this recent news-item really sobered me up.
Excerpts from “Mumbai. Delhi among world’s dirtiest cities”:
“…Mumbai and Delhi are among the 25 dirtiest cities in the world while the four Indian metros and Bangalore are among the 20 densest cities, according to the Forbes magazine.
The US business magazine also lists Sukinda in Orissa and Vapi in Gujarat among the 10 most polluted places globally.
While listing Mumbai as the seventh dirtiest, the magazine also cites a recent private sector proposal, Vision Mumbai, which seeks $1 billion government aid for infrastructure, pollution control and economic growth strategy.
Delhi at No.24 fares little better but gets drubbing for the pollution in Yamuna river, which is devoid of marine life and where “garbage and sewage flow freely, creating a rich environment for the growth of water-borne diseases contributing to extremely high rates of infant morbidity.”
Image courtesy: Reuters via coastalcare.org
In an earlier Forbes list of the 20 densest urban areas in the world, Mumbai and Kolkata occupied the top two slots, packing in over 23,000 people per square kilometre.
India and China combine to claim nine of the 20 slots, according to 2007 statistics from citymayors.com.
Chennai is at No.8, Delhi at No.13 and Bangalore at No.19 in the list of densely populated cities. Karachi in Pakistan is at No.3.
In Forbes’ list of 10 most polluted places on earth, two Indian towns figure. In Sukinda, Orissa, large swathes of the area’s surface water and drinking water contain very high covalent chromium levels, potentially affecting 2.6 million people, the magazine said.
Sukinda is home to almost all of the country’s chromite ore deposits and one of the largest opencast chromite ore mines in the world.
In Vapi, the pollutants are chemicals and heavy metals from industrial estates, potentially affecting over 70,000 people. Mercury in the groundwater here is reported to be 96 times higher than the World health Organisation (WHO) standards.
Local produce can contain up to 60 times more heavy metals, such as copper, chromium, cadmium and zinc than non-contaminated produce in control groups, Forbes reported.”
I am worried…very worried. Are our policy planners listening?
what a load of crap. On one hand, we have a booming pseudo free-market economy and they mismanage things so badly, they turn to the government for help? The Market shouldn’t act recklessly and turn to the government when held accountable; rather, they should lead the way and let the potbellied incompetent losers running the government learn a thing or two as to how to run things.
We don’t even deserve half these losers leading our pseudo free-market or our government if they display such reckless, irresponsible behavior.
DEar Sir,
What a set of losers we are. Once again the blame game. This is dirty that is dirty, this place city in India is the dirtiest in the world and we give numbers also to them!!!
What a shame? Should we not hang our heads in shame?
On the other hand. Eulogies for our friends and relations abroad. “You know how it ees where we come from— is it Mars, as if they have not stayed here or lived here or educated here!!!”
Why?? It is very easy. Do not take ‘No spitting laws’ easy, do not take ‘no littering laws’ easy, do not take ‘no parking laws’ easy, do not take “Q” here easy, do not take ‘no entry’ boards for putting clothes on!!! I can go on, on and ON.
So who is to blame we or the local politician.
Why? Easy once again.
A dhobiwala sets up shop on th platform next to your house, and what do we do. We encourage him for a reduction of ten to fifteen paise for the ironing.
A small shop selling sweets, blades, eggs etc. is set up on the platform next to your house and for the immediate ssupply of these things plus others we encourage that also.
Slowly a housing colony comes up there and they develop the local politician and then ONE IS LEFT WITH A SLUM AROUND!!!
Who did it we did. If all of us had banded together and taken them on at the firstr time itself without encouraging and SAVING a total of Rs. 100 per year we would not have the problem.
We encourage all types of subterfuge and when we find that it has reached Garangutan proportions and we are unable to match the needs and also when we have LOST IMPORTANCE FOR THEM, we create a hue and cry and blame everybody else EXCEPT OURSELVES!!
IS IT FAIR?
Regards,
vck
Excerpts from Environmentalists see red over green sops by Latha Jishnu (Mar 23 ’09)
…What is proposed in the draft notification (S.O. 195 (E) issued by the MoEF is a generous relaxation of the provisions of a 2006 law, the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification. This notification requires projects that cause pollution, displacement, destruction of natural resources, whether from greenfield ventures or through expansion, to comply with a number of laws.
…The proposed amendment sweeps aside most of these requirements. Instead, industries can expand simply by certifying that they are not polluting.
…Kept under wraps till a series of Right to Information (RTI) petitions filed by a Delhi-based advocacy group forced the hand of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), the draft amendment has caused outrage among environmentalists.
…
One of the reasons offered for granting such sweeping concessions is that MoEF was unable to create statutory environmental monitoring and clearances agencies, such as the State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities and State Expert Appraisal Committees, in several states since the EIA Notification was passed.
15 of the world’s most air-polluted cities are in Inidia:
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-20-most-air-polluted-cities-on-earth/
This is sad, tragic and shameful.
I hope to write a post on this soon.