The enormity of air pollution in India can be gauged from a 2013 World Bank study that diseases from burning fossil fuels and outdoor pollution are costing India a small fraction of its GDP each year. Also, a recent study by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune in collaboration with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Colorado, U.S. showed that air pollution caused by pollutants and ozone has reduced the average life expectancy of Indians. A study in Lancet has also shown that those living near heavy traffic might develop psychological problems. Incidentally, one dreads to think of the fate of our traffic policemen whose thankless job entails working in a perpetually polluted ambience! Smog-ridden Beijing is already witnessing the sale of bottled clean air sourced from the Canadian Rocky Mountains!
All this calls for urgent measures for redress. By 2030, India should slash its emission intensity by 35% and make renewable energy 40% of the total energy share. Efforts towards achieving this should be made on a war-footing. What is the use of singing “ sujalaam, suphalaam, malayaja sheetalaam ...” when the natural resources we use are turning killers?
C.V. Krishna Manoj,
Hyderabad
