Anupam- The Dreamer

About 21 years ago, there came a song which went away from the public memory as soon as it came :D. It went like this:

सारी रात जगाये रे.. प्यार तेरा ..दिल्ली की सर्दी

हवा जब हवा चलती है ..हवा जब हवा

नशा ही नशा रहता है.. नशा ही नशा….

At that point of time, the import of the song was not understood fully as only the सर्दी of Delhi was famous to kill poor people sleeping on streetside on cold shivery nights. But it was like a prophecy made long back by the lyricist that there is a certain नशा in हवा of Delhi. The words could not have been more true in the Delhi of present times. There is indeed an uneasy नशा (hallucination, intoxication or poison, as you may want to call it) particularly in the winter season due to the prevailing meteorological factors, which only keeps on increasing in intensity and frequency every passing year.

I read an article called “Choke De Delhi” in Economic Times, which said that 19^th December was the worst December Day in past 3 years, with a staggering AQI of 451 (severe plus category). It was aptly worded as “Choke De” because the air quality has degraded so badly that it can literally choke the less-than-healthy, infant and elderly individuals. I read the heading once again, lest I thought it should have been “Chak de Delhi”, but instantly I realized it was a pun intended by the author of the article. But, the moot question before us is that why have we come to this situation where we have to replace “Chak de Delhi” by “Choke De Delhi”?

We would have to go back a little when the situation was better, near about the time when “Dilli ki sardi” song was written. Back then, the air pollution was not a topic of household discussion on daily basis. The air pollution was back then, just a type of pollution that I used to read in my NCERT coursebook of “Disaster Management”. The business went as usual with no or little concern over the major causes of air pollution like vehicular pollution, industrial pollution, stubble (parali) burning, construction dust etc. The air used to be cleaner and people were happier because there were zero curbs on their bursting of crackers on any day! But, over time, all the contributing factors to air pollution continued unabated, with coal-fired thermal power plants sprawling in mega cities, vehicles multiplying faster than the rabbits multiply, big high-rise construction burgeoning all around, and the infamous stubble burning continuing as usual. Some other small factors coupled with these caused Delhi NCR to turn into “a gas chamber” (although I would refrain to call it a “gas chamber” as this term is associated with a much harsher and inhuman holocaust, but the Hon’ble Courts and the political leaders have preferred to call it so). A gas chamber, where there is no clean air to breathe in! Clean air! Yes, one of the basic fundamental essential needs of a human being to live! Clean Air! And that has also become elusive these days.

We all know many causes and we all know many solutions to this problem of air pollution, therefore I would not delve into that discussion as of now. Obviously, the remedial measures have to be taken at every step by every stakeholder, like the lawmakers, government, judiciary, private sector, NGOs, etc. etc. But, I would like to focus on what we as an individual could do to make this “common good” (which is for the benefit of common people) of air cleaner, purer and breathable. Let me start by ruffling some feathers here!

We all await the festival of “Diwali” with great joy and fervor. And why not? Because it is one occasion, where the families and friends unite to celebrate the festival of lights, and pray for the prosperity and well-being of all. What is essential on this festival is the worship of Gods, praying for imbibing good values, and sharing of joy and prosperity with all. What is not essential is the bursting of fire crackers! The Diwali as used to be celebrated in very old times (or as it started) did not involve the fire crackers and the associated pollution. But over time, new ways of celebrating festivals gets evolved and why not. If the festivals are not celebrated as per the ethos of current times, then they would soon be out of sync with the present generation. But, there has to be a demarcation, a boundary sort of thing. If there is something which is harming the society as a whole, then some drastic measures become necessary. So, willingly not bursting crackers can be an individual’s way of making his/her contribution to solve the pollution problem. But, if people don’t stop on their own, then drastic measures will come from the judiciary and the government, whether you like it or not (and also you will have no choice whatsoever). The Hon’ble Supreme Court has recently pushed the governments in Delhi, and adjoining states of Haryana, Rajasthan, UP, to ban the manufacture, store, sale and bursting of firecrackers all year round. Yes, all year round! Delhi and Rajasthan governments have agreed to follow the Hon’ble Supreme Court order in Delhi NCR, with other governments not having any other option than to fall in line in due course.

Some people will argue that we burst only on one day, so what’s the big deal! The big deal is not that it is on one single day, or when India wins world cup, or on new year, or on other festivals etc. The big deal is that we are already sitting in a boiling pot like a frog, which is sitting comfortably unmindful that the gradual increase of temperature, which seems good earlier, will eventually end in boiling him up and ending his life! And we don’t want to wait for the next 15-20 years to read the news that AQI in Delhi is 2000 and people are dying daily due to air pollution! We don’t want a “COVID” like situation again, when the hospitals are overflowing with patients needing immediate attention due to air pollution!

It is for this reason that we have to act at the individual level also to stop air pollution at its source. There are certain other steps that we as an individual could take, such as ensuring the plastic covering during construction of homes, planting of more trees, adopting vehicles with cleaner fuels (BS rating), checking PUC of vehicle regularly and phasing out old vehicles, not burning waste on roadside, not throwing house dust on to the roads openly (as some people do it) etc. If every individual can do such small things, it would add up to a lot. If 2 crore people of Delhi NCR (and likewise of other cities and towns) can do it, it will certainly make a huge difference in the air quality. The biggest question that arises is- Why should I, when others don’t care? But, what if everyone of us can think positively instead of adding up one more cynic to the society. As they say it, the ocean is made up of every single drop! And the ocean belongs to every drop! So, the drop has to “feel” that it is a part of the ocean and doesn’t have any existence bereft of it.

We need to delve inside. What do we want to be? A part of the problem or a part of the solution?

Till next time….