Conserving our resources

Finally, some rain and — more importantly — snow in the hills. Throughout the dry, gloomy months behind us, as pollution levels soared to frightening levels, a sickly pall of dust lay everywhere. The trees and plants lost their lustre and while these were alarming signs in themselves, it was frightening to reflect on the prospect for summer when water shortages would hit the country. If there was no snow, what would feed the rivers of North India as most of them originate in the Himalayas?

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The climate change debate has been shaking the world for many years, but despite all the high-minded resolutions and moralities spouted, no country is taking the matter with the urgency it ought to. However, before we lay the blame on this country or that or at this government or that, let us try and do what we can to help the planet. Let me take you back just a generation and tell you how spoilt we have all become. The use of air-conditioning is now seen as a necessity for no one can survive in the high summer and humidity levels of the rainy season without temperature control. While one can understand that one needs a good night’s sleep for maximum human efficiency, are we taking this comfort level too far? Schoolchildren now ride in air-conditioned buses or private cars to school and study in air-conditioned classrooms. Naturally, fewer open-air activities are to be seen. The sight of children playing outdoors is now rare. In our own colony, despite a large open park on the premises as well as a designated area for basketball or cricket, I see few children out. The reason is that they are over-burdened with private tuitions or are addicted to their devices. Or just unaccustomed to good, healthy sweaty games.

Just a generation ago, our children would either walk or cycle to school. They sat in hot classrooms and after their lunch and homework, would rush out to play until it became dark. Similarly, our lecture halls in Panjab University were airless, poorly-ventilated ovens where the lectern for the teacher was placed between the two ceiling fans in front. I have terrible memories of teaching with sweat running down my legs and back. I don’t know whether matters have improved since then, but as the learned architect who designed these halls probably never spent any time on the worthlessness of glass-fronted windows that had more decorative than functional value, that was not his concern.

Come now to water. Chandigarh (as most other towns and cities then) had strict water rationing, and in summer, we were forbidden to water our lawns. There were actually teams sent out to cut off the supply if one was caught violating this rule. The same was true of the sarkari colonies in Delhi. We scrambled to fill buckets and filters (no ROs then) before the municipal water supply was shut off by 10 am. Of course, we grumbled but we followed these water-conservation rules, mindful of the fact that water was a precious commodity not to be wasted. When we visited our families in Almora, only the really old and venerable were allowed exemption from water rationing. Most of the old Almora homes then had no piped water and taps, except one in the courtyard that serviced the neighbourhood. Everyone carried buckets and wars were fought over who had jumped the queue.

I am not advocating a Luddite return to the back-breaking days of lugging heavy metal buckets on steep staircases, but pleading for some simple rules to conserve our resources. Leaky taps left carelessly to drain away stored water from tanks, lights and fans left running even when no one is in the room or running multiple ACs, instead of sharing spaces. How many of us will remember that in those days, ACs were switched on only between 9 pm and 5 am. Children slept with parents on mattresses on the floor without fastidious demands for privacy.

The point I’m trying to make is that our attitudes and bodies have softened over time. Granted that the small cement boxes we live in now require temperature control measures more than those high-ceiling, large, airy houses with verandahs, skylights and thick walls, but can we not innovate ways in which to keep a check on soaring and irresponsible waste? In a country like ours with sunshine almost through the year, solar energy is a possible solution. Readers will remember Aamir Khan from the film ‘Three Idiots’, who later ran a remarkable school in Ladakh that used natural resources. His character was based on a real-life hero, who is a passionate advocate of alternative energy. I do not know why the government does not hold him up as a shining example of enterprise to encourage others to innovate.

There is so much that can be done by an innovative reworking of traditional wisdom, whether in architecture or energy conservation. We have had a Ministry of Alternative Energy for so long, yet I can’t think of any earth-shattering work that has been done by it. I may be wrong but if such lassitude continues, then we may be looking at a very bleak future indeed. In the next 25 years of our journey to the centenary of Independence, I hope we may be able to prove that where sustainable development is concerned, we can lead the world.