“Modiji, my city Bengaluru has been polluted. I am breathing carbon dioxide. People are building apartments for money. Please can you help India?” says a grade 1 student’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On Children’s Day, students of Inventure Academy wrote to the Prime Minister about pollution and bad traffic — issues they are keenly aware of and suffer from daily as many spend hours on commute. While some letters have been emailed, others will be posted on Monday.
The high school children, who were part of the initiative, had earlier participated in the #MahadevapuraDemands protest, which saw residents take to the streets to demand action from their elected representatives and civic agencies.
In their letters to the Prime Minister, students highlighted some of the problems they face. A grade 12 student wrote: “Every day, I see Varthur lake’s froth threatening to rise above and over its boundaries, spilling into the roads. The loss of greenery is clear as compared to the ‘Garden City’ of less than a decade ago. The Bellandur lake, through which nauseating sewage flows and has a thick layer of froth on it, routinely catches fire. This is horrifying and harmful to everyone On behalf of students across India and everyone experiencing the horrors of pollution, please help us out of it. Make the country healthier and safer for us and those that will follow after us.”
Through drawings, paintings and essays, students from grades 1 to 12 put their concerns across to Mr. Modi, and highlighted how the city has changed in a span of less than 10 years.
In his letter, a grade 12 student described how lakes have disappeared and traffic and infrastructure have deteriorated over the years. “Six years ago, my family and I would attend several functions and events around the city without the fear of being stuck in traffic jam for two hours. But we don’t do that any more. Four years ago, my friends and I would cycle on the main roads without the fear of plummeting into potholes. But that is not the case any more. Five years ago, we would go jogging around the nearby lake before basketball practice, but that very same lake does not exist any more.”
And through her art work, which shows two sides of the earth — a happy, green one and another hit by drought, a grade 5 student said: “I may be young, but I can make a difference.”
Published - November 15, 2019 12:20 am IST
