The Endangered Environment

  Pollution has always been a familiar word. Thanks to the school teachers who made the question important for all exams. While the marks scored using those questions have given a green signal to our careers, the same marks failed to show the red signal to the fact that we are enslaving the nature and have endangered our environment. 

 A newspaper report on air pollution in our country conveyed the hazardous pollution levels in our country. The gargantuan levels mentioned there haunted me to breathe and I was appalled that we still survive inhaling them. The report says 94  among 300+ cities surveyed across our country have violated the Air Quality Standards. 5 of them have trespassed the levels in both PM10 and NO2.  To feel how worse the level of pollution in our country is, I surfed through aqicn.org (which I suggest everyone of you to see, especially at peak traffic hours at night). I was shocked that no city was marked safe at that time . I wondered how India remains the second most populous city in spite of having such a poor air quality. Then I realized why our country is called "Incredible India".

On the other hand comes the oil spills at Chennai harbor. Blue sea and creamy brown sands which have been kissing for thousands of years is now having a black obstacle in between them in the form of oil. Medias have stopped covering the water pollution as they had to cover the "political pollution" in the state. Beaches, which were for entertainment, relaxation and romance have now become the showcases for the pollution. Fish have migrated to the shores, sea gulls have parked themselves permanently on sand, but our heads remain unmoved. The health hazards of the people in those areas and safety of the people involved in cleaning are seldom getting attentions. So are the culprits who caused the damage. But the latter are happy not having attention unlike the former who are suffering.

So what can I do if two ships collide? How can I stop factories emitting harmful gases? The answer  is not a rocket science. The answer is to dig our memory and retrieve the forgotten  important questions of pollution and implement them in our life . Of course we cannot stop two ships colliding. But we can stop people clearing acres of forest in Coimbatore in the name of God. If we avow a big no to the peace obtained from the ' natural violence' who would dare to cut a tree in the name of god. Even more answers lie in those 'important questions' we learned years back. Those answers when retrieved back will give us lives this time, unlike the now useless marks we obtained.

The passage will appear theoretical as long as we lose our loved ones due to our own car exhaust. It is better we prevent ourselves now than to commiserate the losses in future.