What Next (Part III)

The Human Touch Contd...
Do we take notice of the degradation of our environment or keep hoping that someone will find some solution? Can we rely on hope?
NO
Hope is never rational.



My Delhi is one of the world’s most polluted cities. My Delhi is also one of the greenest capitals of the world. How come both these designations are associated with one city!

The fact is Delhi is a city of more than 10 million people. Thousands of trains and trucks and millions of human beings come to Delhi every day. In New Delhi-1 and a few other areas where our political masters and the multimillionaires live there are parks, there are drainage facilities, playgrounds and lawns. There are other places like Tughlaquabad, Okhla, Badarpur and so many others where life is but survival. The struggle for food, for land, for air, for water, for sunlight…continues every day and night.

The question one may ask is why blame the rich and the powerful when every next person wants to be one. The issue is when you have a four member family owning eight cars, four TV sets, four laptops, four freezes, and an air conditioned duplex beside innumerable electrical gadgets, there is a problem. The issue is when you become a party to increasing carbon footprints; you become responsible for every single problem that results out of ecological imbalance.
Let me explain the how and what factor. India basically is an agricultural country. Around two-third of people in India are directly or indirectly depend for their livelihood on agriculture. Even if India can provide jobs to all of them in other sectors, which is anyway an impossible assumption as it would require market equivalent to three worlds, it’s not something sustainable. A country of 1.1 billion cannot afford to survive without food security of its own.


What has been happening in India is just its reverse. Agriculture has lost its charm. Well the reasons are overpopulation; lack of agricultural research, credit availability etc. But the most important reason is that we are unable to provide the necessary irrigation facilities. And behind this apart from policy and implementation matters are global warming and the resultant imbalance in the weather cycle. The recent flood in Bihar, Tsunami in December 2004, floods in Mumbai and Rajasthan, draught in parts of Andhra, Tamilandu, and Maharashtra and UP are all results of the growing imbalance in the weather cycle.

The resultant is massive migration of people towards cities, putting stress on the available resources making life miserable for the poor masse. Delhi is just one typical example of this. This is the situation that prevails in most of the developing world from, Mumbai to Durban, from Dhaka to Brasilia. The climate change affects mostly the poor as they are the least equipped to face any catastrophe.
To be continued...