Is Development The New Name Of Pollution?

With pollution affecting our lives severely and an increase in the number of people suffering from health issues, it has made us ask the question ‘Is development necessary?’ 

At this point, I remember a quote by Vandana Shiva “It is not an investment if it is destroying our planet.”

 When someone raises questions about pollution, the common answer is ”If you want development, you have to bear the pollution.” How much should we bear with pollution? Until we all get chocked to death?  If we don’t oppose today, I don’t know whether we will be alive tomorrow. As we say, past is past, we are unaware of tomorrow, but we have today to drive a change.

Our country is facing one of the dangerous problems of pollution. The industries which play a significant role in pollution are Paper and pulp; Textile; Mining; Chemical; Tanneries and many more. This pollution didn’t even spare our monuments. Some of them who got affected are the Taj Mahal, Lotus Temple, India Gate, Charminar and the Golden Temple.

India leads the world in deaths caused by pollution and we act as it is not our business. According to a survey by WHO, about 9 out of 10 people breathe toxic air. Air pollution causes seven million premature deaths. Despite knowing that pollution is dangerous for children, we want development, we want to be a world power. But what will you do of money when no one is there to spend it? Doesn’t your money contain a bloodstain of people who died because of pollution? 

Our wardrobe consists of a number of clothes, out of which we hardly wear a few. It is a fashion to say “I have these many clothes ”. Hey, you foolish man. Do you know that the textile industry is a major contributor to pollution? Some of us change our phone once in 6 months or year, is it necessary? Because our status is defined by the mobile phone. To all those people who do this- ‘RIP’ to your status. 

You may ask, who are you tell me what to do? I am a rightful citizen of this country; if you want to die, why are you killing us? Most of the electronic gadgets that we throw accumulate in the landfills, where it is picked by ragpickers who unscientifically boil to obtain the materials present in the motherboard.

We say that young environmentalists are our only hope; this is the thinking from where the problem has started; we want others to work for our environment because we are busy. We want to grow rich and make money. To all those foolish people, money exists because of humans, not vice versa. Robert Swan said, “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”

Although our world is bright, is our future bright? Think twice when you buy anything asking yourself how much pollution is it causing. You may think silly of me, but remember: Small changes create a big impact. Our government has made rules, but only a handful of us follow it. I don’t whether you will reduce pollution, but I want my country to be pollution-free.

#GREEN INDIA CLEAN INDIA 

#IamYoungIndiaAndIneedchange

#CHANGE