Pollution has become a nationwide issue, it is badly affecting the health of all.
Those live in Delhi NCR are being affected badly but no government can do magic to curb it if each individual doesn’t contribute towards eradicating it. Stubble (Parali) burning is a major factor for air pollution but it is not the only factor, it is not like that only during harvesting times we face severe air pollution but also during other months.
Smog looks so dangerous to us, our elders and kids but we don’t do anything concrete of our part, buying air purifier or accusing the government is not the solution. Not to forget that Air purifiers are not effective if the room is not properly sealed and also affects our immunity.
Cities like Patna also face severe air pollution, this is because whether it is Delhi NCR or Patna till the time people will not start thinking about the environment, nothing will change. And it is not about only air pollution but the environmental issues on the whole.
The ignorance of common people was best seen in 2017 when Apex Court banned BSIII vehicles and because of it people purchased it with a huge discount, nobody thought that why it is banned, how does it affect our environment.
In Delhi’s middle-class colonies you can see a common habit of people to park an old scooter at their parking so that no one can park his car at their parking and these scooters are used rarely but these scooters are never in good condition and always act as a source of pollution.
When it comes to Public vehicles in Delhi NCR government is very strict and have a rule of CNG based vehicles, why doesn’t this rule can be applied on private vehicles in Delhi, it is very easy if government increases CNG pumps then it can make a rule for private vehicles also to use only CNG in Delhi and there can be a switch so that if someone is going out of NCR then he can switch to petrol or diesel. If it is implemented properly with ample CNG pumps then people will also use it because within the city they can’t drive very fast and once it is made compulsory and everyone has a CNG kit then they will also like to use the cheaper method of traveling.
Nowadays, Electric cars are also available, but it is quite expensive, the government needs to increase the subsidy on these cars and help the people with charging stations but then also very less percentage of people can use e-vehicles so it is important to make CNG compulsory for private cars, but it needs a good groundwork by the transport department.
We can see the apathy of people in case of plastic ban also, everybody wants to carry plastic bags, they still argue with shopkeepers for this and shopkeepers also always keep it, when the MCD comes under action mode then they hide these plastics and after few days again the same thing starts, it is like a vicious circle, it is also true that without plastic bags many times people suffer but it is better to suffer for the plastic bag than to ruin the environment, keeping jute bags should become part of our lifestyle, also government can raise subsidy on eco-friendly carry bags so that normal shopkeeper can afford to keep this.
Disposal of waste is also a major issue and needs to be addressed, people need to be educated for this, we can have a strict rule for all the RWA (Resident welfare association) and societies to have a waste management center and to segregate the dry waste, wet waste and domestic hazardous waste at source to make compost.
Keeping Air conditioner in every room and stepping out only in AC cars is not the solution in summers, this increases the pollution, we need to understand the core issue and address the same.
For very basic things like green cover during construction people try to cover only that part which can defy the fine but no one thinks why it is essential, nobody thinks about other’s health, forget others health, people affect their health unknowingly to save some money which they finally spend in consulting doctors.
We call it a good step or bad but it is true that after the Motor vehicle act amendment people have started following traffic rules, not for their safety but due to heavy fines, now people use helmet, not for their safety but to avoid heavy fines, in the same way, the pollution issue needs to be handled because it is affection out planet very badly.
Our planet is facing water scarcity but in Delhi, we can easily see people washing their cars for hours, some people are so careless that they wash the car from their 1st or 2nd-floor balconies, wasting a large amount of water, we need to ban washing of Cars by water in this way and dry wash solutions need to be implemented everywhere.
From childhood the basic habit to save the environment should be inculcated at home and also it should be taught in schools properly with practical examples.
People bring religion in between when someone objects to cracker but they forget that even those persons who boast that they have never smoked are practically smoking more than 15 cigarettes per day because of this pollution.
Like foreign countries, governments should make lanes for cycles and encourage people to use cycles for local use instead of bikes. Every metro station can have rented cycle stand and carpools or public transport should be encouraged in such a way so that nobody should worry about his or her safety and comfort.
At the same point of time government should introduce means to effectively deal with the Parali issue so that neither the farmer is victimized nor the environment, Parali can be dealt with scientific method and subsidy should also be provided.
It is also learnt that Parali can be handled in a very positive manner, a commercially viable process is there which will not only convert biomass into CNG but it will also create jobs.
Conversion of stubble into coal, biofuel or paper pulp will help us tremendously.
So, we can say that to fight the pollution a collective measure and effort are required which involves the government as well as all the individuals and to win this fight we have to be strong and avoid thinking for small benefits.
Ashutosh Rabindra
Advocate
Studied at Delhi University(kirori Mal College and Faculty of Law)
