Post-Diwali sobriety

What kills more people than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined? Three times the total casualties of these three scourges of mankind are on account of pollution; as it is six times the number of accident victims. A recent study by The Lancet medical journal gives a horrifying figure of 90 lakh premature deaths worldwide in 2015 because of exposure to polluted air, water and soil. India is, expectedly and unfortunately, among the worst-hit countries.  Air and water pollution in India is endemic and the biggest killer, with 18.1 lakh deaths a year linked to polluted air and 6.4 lakh to water.

The argument that in some way pollution is the price of development is false. It costs the country too much to fight pollution and its effects, including ill health, on the population. Indeed, such high figures should be a wake-up call to enforce pollution control measures more stringently, and to provide a healthy environment to the people who live in the country. Even though it is too early to arrive at any conclusion, anecdotal evidence suggests that the recent intervention of courts in imposing restriction on the sale and bursting of firecrackers has had a salutary effect. Now that Diwali is over, it may be a good opportunity to plan an initiative to reduce pollution due to the bursting of crackers in future. Vehicular pollution is another egregious offender, as is industrial pollution, which seldom get the attention they deserve.

Water pollution is of particular concern in India, especially because industrial units are located near rivers, into which they discharge untreated effluents, a situation exacerbated by civic bodies that do the same. Groundwater contamination by chemical pollutants taints drinking water supplies and causes diseases. In fact, both air and water contamination disproportionately affect developing countries, and we need to take proactive steps to actively fight pollution and its effects. Stricter implementation of rules, and a policy framework that does not allow citizens’ health to be held hostage to development promises, would be a good start.