Tuesday, December 8, 2009

India's contribution to Climate Change


The smoke emitting from the pit

It nearly white out

And still we are getting used to it

How Green was my plain or was it ever

The Sanitation officer






These pictures were taken on November 26,2009 from the balcony of my h
ouse to highlight how seriou
s we actually are, as a country and as a society towards the problem of climate change.
The big black spot here is a pit which was originally dug for creating a lake to conserve rain water. But after protest by the nearby residents the plan was shelved and instead it was created to produce compost. But such is the
education and empowerment levels of Indi
a's Government employees (or Sanitation Workers) that irrespective of a Supreme Court order towards
prohibition of burning dry leaves a twigs, still they are burned out quite openly, without even thinking the
gases it emit are one of the premier causes of lung diseases of which people will eventually die.

I might be sounding sarcastic and virile, but it is fact, and to this major contribution is also from common men like us who would prefer to plead innocence in the guise of ignorance. But the fact is in spite of erratic monsoon and strange weather patterns (it is raining in the deserts and even is December Delhi is facing problem of dengue) we are not learning anything, except demanding more.

14 comments:

harini calamur said...

it seems odd talking and hearing about copenhagen without a mass campaign to change individual habits vis-a-vis the environment :(
somehow we have forgotten individual responsibility.
someone was telling me about their wife teaching in an IB school- where kids have an average of 5 AC's in their household, on all the time !! her environment assignment for them was to get them to calculate their own carbon footprint .

Anu Lal said...

You said something that I almost always projected through my blog.

Our prime minister's visit to Copenhagen seems to the real sarcasm!!

Mridula said...

What telling pictures!

Tarun Mitra said...

@Harini, thats the irony, telling a devil about destruction caused by his fire. But all such exercise are pointless if the individual habits don't change.

@Anulal, very thanks for sharing your views...sarcasm or not it will only be an useless exercise unless we conservation efforts are adequately compensated and promoted

@Mridula, thanks...just pure timing

Megha said...

It hurts to see such things happening :(

even if you try to tell people, they don't listen..

Tarun Mitra said...

Thanks Megha...

Anonymous said...

Hey are you a professional journalist? This article is very well written, as compared to most other blogs i saw today….
anyhow thanks for the good read!

Tarun Mitra said...

Mr. Anonymous, I am not at all a journo...and please comment without being anonymous, u must have a name..

Sowmya said...

Tarun,
Just what was on my mind for environment related issues to blog about. Nice Pictures. Wish we could do something more than just write about such this.

Tarun Mitra said...

Hey Sowmya,

Thanks for stopping by..
Hopefully we could by our own little ways..but sometimes these little ways are blocked by giant obstacles...:(

Keep Visiting
Cheers

ANDAMAN & NICOBAR THE HISTORIC INDIAN CORAL ISLANDS said...

Well highlighted!

In fact, this is a common scene in our country and one of the prime reasons behind the brazen inaction is the rampant corruption, Tarun!

The Port Blair Municipal Council has strictly banned the use of plastic bags etc. in the city, just a couple of weeks ago. This was done about five years ago, too, but could not be sustained as the administrators changed seats and with that the intent changed too. It's the big 'M' factor that rules the brains, my friend!

What's required is a concerted and collective effort on the part of one & all, regardless of age, gender or anything else, to take up the issue with the administrators/govt. on a war footing and for that to take place, the pre-requisite is mass awareness and association.

The scores of NGOs that are operating in the country ought to mean business and act in tandem with the aware groups of people towards the burning causes.

And as Gandhi said, "You need to be the change, you wish to see," we all need to get inspired & contribute on the nail... before it's out of our hands. It's already too late...


SHRINATH VASHISHTHA
Port Blair.
Andaman & Nicobar Islands (India).

Tarun Mitra said...

I concur with you what you have said Mr. Vashishtha, yes we need to change our habits. I try to my bit. But you might also have noticed that mere banning of plastic bags won't help, where are the alternatives. Government doesn't streamline or provided initial subsidy (or fiscal support) to biodegradable bags so what to expect in result..violation..

In Delhi general understanding amongst grassroot is that..they agree plastic causes pollution but they say they don't have a good choice..

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Tarun Mitra said...

Glad it helped....But please give ur name while commenting...