Pollution – awareness is the first step towards curbing it

1. Pollution – awareness is the first step  towards curbing it  We are all aware of the pernicious effects of outdoor pollution, thanks to the  wide attention the subject has received in national mainstream media in  recent years, be it TV channels or print media, both have done their bit in  educating ordinary citizens about the ill effects as well as the causes of  pollution. The good news about rising awareness among the people in the  society has been that today we are a lot more sensitive towards the  environment we live in. We as a society have realised that pollution is  something that hurts us as well as our children, more than anything else.  Some credible studies in the west have conclusively established the  connection between early deaths and rising pollution. In India an estimated 2  million people die every year due to pollution related diseases. You would  have heard about rising incidences of cancer and tumour. It is believed that  exposure to pollutants is the biggest cause of cancers and tumours. The west  was not always like the way we now know it, clean the healthy environment  with clear blue skies. It once was polluted and dirty. They then decided to  move to cleaner technology a few decades back and now the results are there  for everyone to feel proud of. 

2.   Being sensitive is the first step towards understanding the problem that  confronts us and it is only later that we can take actions to curb it.​ Action  would necessarily work around hunting for solutions to mitigate pollution.  Today, we are talking about the deteriorating air quality and the risk it poses  to our health. At the same time, we as a society are also discussing how  health could be safeguarded from the onslaught of the scourge of pollution.  The government agencies like the CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board), CSE  (Centre for Science and Environment) and the courts (EPCA – Environment  Pollution Prevention and Control Authority) have also come forward and are  sparing no efforts in making the representative governments in the states  work towards solving the problem. They are connecting with common citizens  and commissioning studies at various levels before hard decisions could be  taken to contain pollution. 

3.   At times one may feel frustrated at finding the government agencies doing  precious little at alleviating the​ ​problem of pollution​ or working at cross  purposes without much coordination. But whatever be the case, sooner or  later, we are hopeful of finding durable solution to this grave problem. What  is uncertain, is the time frame in which this would be worked out.  When I say that sensitivity is the first step, I mean that in our consciousness  we are aware of the problem and we are applying our mind in this direction.  Did we ever in the past hear of mechanised sweeping of roads or deploy  modern equipment at pollution monitoring stations to measure pollution  levels of the varieties of PM 10 or PM 2.5? Did we ever know the number of  days in a month that were very good, good, severe, bad and very bad in terms  of pollution? No, simply not because we were not sensitive enough towards  quality of our environment. 

4.   Do you remember that some decades back it was just the visible black  exhaust in the form of smoke that was identified as pollution? ​While today our  definition of pollution includes the fine invisible varieties of micro particles  called the PM 10 and PM 2.5 that invade our air. Did we hear of graded  response action plan to pollution?​ ​Was it thinkable in the past that  coal-based power plants would be shut down till the ambient air pollution  levels subsided? Did our schools shut down on the days when alarming level  of pollution was recorded? I believe that all this is positive development. We  as a society have realized in no small measure the enormity of the problem  we face.  The time has now come to move from being sensitive and aware to taking  credible action to solve the​ ​problem of air pollution​.​ ​Unless we make the  transition, all talk and no action will put us in a pitiable situation much  sooner than we think.​ ​No one else but us will be responsible for our fall.