Up in smoke

Amarjit Thind

The region has been in the news for all  wrong reasons and environment is no exception. While the felling of thousands of trees to expand highways was accepted as the price to be paid for economic prosperity and progress, farmers setting their fields on fire to clear paddy straw became a natural favourite for anyone espousing the cause of environment.

National Green Tribunal (NGT) rapped the three state governments of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh for not having a concrete and time-bound plan in place to tackle stubble burning. Meanwhile, the matchsticks were out and the so-called ban on burning went up in smoke. It’s another matter that the Central Pollution Control Board data showed that farm residue burning comprises less than 10 per cent of the pollution in the country, the major defaulters being industry, vehicles and thermal plants.

The sight of the cricketers in face masks and the national capital all smogged out left imprints on everyone’s minds. But that was not all. We had man-made reasons — unregulated construction, blocking the natural flow of water channels and choked storm water drains — behind the annual flooding of Mumbai and Chennai. To add to the woes, there were floods in Gujarat that claimed the lives of 200 persons and caused massive destruction.

Similarly, floods in the Northeast were caused by the overflowing of the Brahmaputra in Assam, thereby affecting Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur and claimed the lives of 85 persons and left thousands homeless. 

Closer home, the Ghaggar and the Sutlej continued to be sewers. This also proved the  apathy of politicians and bureaucrats towards the environment. A fortune was allowed to go down the sewer, literally, in the name of cleaning the environment and setting up sewage treatment plants. Cyclone Ockhi, too, caused large-scale destruction, besides claiming the lives of more than 70 persons in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Data worldwide shows that countries across the globe — developed, developing and under-developed — have faced disasters that were largely wrought by climate changes. The severity and frequency of such calamities has increased since the 1970s.

Sounds grim, but we are indeed hurtling towards bad times.

Disaster mismanaged  

Seventy four persons lost their lives and over 214 went missing as Cyclone Ockhi wrecked havoc in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. While the cyclone hit the coastal areas on November 30, it was just a day before that the Indian Meteorological Department issued warnings, raising doubts about state’s disaster management authority’s efficacy.

A long way to go

According to the expert panel headed by Shashi Shekhar, secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, report to the NGT, restoration of Yamuna floodplains will cost Rs 42 crore and 10 years. The Art of Living organised a three-day World Cultural Festival in 2016, which allegedly caused massive ecological damage to the floodplains.

The price of clean air 

Delhi enjoyed its cleanest Diwali in three years after the Supreme Court banned the sale of firecrackers in the National Capital Region. The decision was given a communal angle after Chetan Bhagat questioned the possibility of banning Muharram bloodshed in his tweets. The SC expressed anguish over the twist given to the ban.

Road traps

Several accidents occured as smog enveloped parts of northern India, and even parts of Pakistan. The worst and most heart-wrenching incident took place in Bathinda where nine students lost their lives and four were injured as a speeding truck ploughed into them. In another incident, 24 vehicles piled up on the Yamuna Expressway, causing a massive traffic jam. A similar incident in Karnal saw a pile-up of 10 vehicles.

As you breathed poison 

As Air Quality Index (AQI) touched 900 in Delhi, Indian Medical Association declared public health emergency in the Capital. Owing to the ‘severe’ air quality and thick blanket of smog, the Delhi Government ordered the schools to be shut till visibility improved and AQI dropped. Later, the state government proposed the odd-even scheme, which was dropped  after the National Green Tribunal questioned its effectiveness.