China’s grasped the pollution nettle
cover that 28% of pollution deaths worldwide are of Indian citizens and that 75% of these victims stay in rural India. India may not be topping the charts in any other sphere, but we are miles ahead of others on this dubious front.
How bereft of sensitivity our politicians are on this issue is evident in the verbal skirmishes that the chief ministers of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana engaged in. Pay attention! Three different parties are in power in the three states but they appear to be united when it comes to brushing this subject under the carpet.
The numbers made public by the Central Pollution Control Board last week affirm as much. After examining the air quality of 65 cities, they discovered that the quality of 60 of these was poor.
Delhi and the areas adjoining it are in the grip of a serious pollution crisis. These numbers are scary, but let me help you get acquainted with another scary statistic. Isn’t it a matter of shame that just 65 cities in such a large country as ours have government facilities to measure pollution?
If the pollution levels of every city in the county were to be evaluated, the statistic will be enough to make every citizen anxious.
It isn’t surprising that even migratory birds from distant countries such as Siberia have begun to give India a skip. The number of migratory birds at Delhi’s Yamuna Biodiversity Park has been reducing in the last three years. If the pollution continues, even birds will turn their back on us. Needless to say, it is birds that initiate the process of migration and the process often ends with human beings.
This could be the reason why a recent study discovered that 35% of its residents want to migrate from Delhi. Clearly, the Capital has lost some of its sheen.
Nature is sending out a clear signal: Mend your ways or you’ll perish.
Shashi Shekhar is editorinchief, Hindustan letters@hindustantimes.com