Shining India....

The Blacksmith Institute declared the top 30 most polluted places (Dirty thirty) of the world. The list is based on scoring criteria formulated by an international panel that includes researchers from Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, and Mount Sinai Hospital. Specialists from Green Cross Switzerland also took part in this year's assessment of more than 400 polluted sites. China and India's contribution together account for a third of the world's 30 most polluted places. Sukinda in Orissa and Vapi in Gujrat have acquired top 4th and 5th position respectively. Mahad industrial estate in Maharastra and ranipat in Tamilnadu are the other Indian area present in the list. The Central Pollution Control Board in consultation with State Pollution Control Boards has identified 24 areas in the country as critically polluted areas.

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Environmental hazards are responsible for about a quarter of the total load of disease worldwide, and almost 35 percent in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Health Organization. Beside the well studied players there is another “hidden master” also that is Indoor pollution. For example, Indoor air pollution caused by burning traditional fuels causes significant damage to the health of particularly women and children. Use of biomass fuel causes acute respiratory tract infections in children, chronic obstructive lung diseases and pneumoconiosis in the residents. Cataract and adverse pregnancy outcome are the other conditions known to be associated with the use of biomass fuels. But unluckily about half of the world’s population and up to 90% of rural households in developing countries still trust on crude biomass fuels such as wood, dung and crop residues. A recent report of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that in compared to other countries, India has among the largest burden of disease due to the use of dirty household fuels and 28% of all deaths due to indoor air pollution.



So the big question is that what will India’s environment look like in the coming future? Will India ever be able to check pollution and, if so, when? Most of the Indian rivers are today toxic drains. Groundwater, which is a major source of drinking water and most of which is drunk without any treatment, is becoming polluted. In short, the picture of all kind of pollution is nothing short of frightening. A new analysis of air quality in Delhi carried out by the Centre for Science and Environment has disclosed that ground level ozone has “begun to raise its ugly head in the city”. The number of days violating the WHO guidelines for ground level ozone began to increase from February onwards when the climate warmed up. So when the capital is in threat then who cares about other parts of country!!!!!!!! Pollution control has yet to become an electoral issue in India. Indian politicians have no braveness to take on the big polluters – the corporate sector as well as small fries which too have shown lack of interest in controlling pollution. Therefore, India’s electoral democracy is evidencing to be very weak to face up the curse of pollution. As a result, pollution control laws of India are not even worth the piece of paper on which they have been published. Since pollution control requires tremendous discipline and efficient regulation but given the state of political and bureaucratic corruption it is extremely unlikely that pollution control laws will be implemented with any level of effectiveness. So it would be the responsibility of every Indian to live with pollution awareness.




Heartiest well wishes to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr for "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change" and winning The Nobel Peace Prize-2007