Lord
of Misrule
We live in a
country of paradoxes, on the one hand we have our Prime Minister going hammer
and tongs with the “make in India” campaign, rightly so I must admit, and on
the other hand farcical hand, we have the environmentalists shutting down the
already “made” Indian industries in the name of pollution!
More than a
decade and a half ago, as soon we crossed borders to a lesser populated state
in terms of vehicles, my son would be gasping for air and we would reach for
the inhalers. Numerous visits to the child specialist revealed that his lungs
were weak and when exposed to dust, climatic changes and cracker pollution
would be in choking trouble. It had nothing to do, at least in his case and I
can only vouch for my personal experiences, with the emissions of automobiles
because hardly there were any at the place where we were domiciled, and that
too diesel vehicles plying in those days were without Euro norms or other
emission standards!
The dust was
invariably from untarred country roads that threw up lot of grime and particles
which was a major irritant to the small collapsed lungs. The climatic
conditions were not related to temperature dips, as I stayed in a tropical
region with no known winter but the moisture content in the air with cool
breeze caused more hardships to my little son then. The fire cracker dust and
smoke was an annoying factor that aggravated his problem further. The fact that
he suffered more during the months of July and August and again during October
and November logically point fingers to my reasoning, as October/November
normally is Diwali time and beyond doubt the season of bombs and rockets!!!
It is also surprising that the apex court has
resorted to the extreme steps to curb pollution by faithfully following the
study conducted by our premier institute, the IIT Kanpur. With no vengeance to
the portal of learning or trying to settle scores, I have my own lack of faith
and scepticism on the conclusion of the study by their incubator that has
revealed an alarming statistic of 60% pollution contributor as diesel vehicles,
a matter of scrutiny and debate is necessary as I find lot of anomalies and aberrations
in the findings
I can quote
umpteen surveys across the country over the years which have given startling figures
of asthma patients in other parts of India where the number of diesel vehicles
are way low in number!
These surveys
carried out by recognised bodies have narrowed down on various determinants for
asthma, prime among them being industrial pollution, construction materials and
debris, dust, pollen grain, domestic mites and other allergens and vehicular emission
appear down in the list in many of the research papers.
Our automobile
manufacturers have strictly adhered to the emission norms as laid down by the
Government and have constantly upgraded their vehicles to match the
requirements which have been very challenging. It is only recently that the
automobile sector has turned the corner and looking up. The automobile sector
is contributing almost 10% of India’s GDP according to the latest figures which
is without doubt a major chunk. This is in addition to their contribution to
the exchequer in the form of excise duty and exports. Apart from this, it has
also provided jobs and helped in the setting up of ancillary units thereby
augmenting the growth of the country.
Be that as it
may, I for one in my individual capacity been driving a home manufactured
Mahindra Scorpio from 2008 with an engine capacity of 2200 CC, and proudly so for
the simple fact the emissions have always been well within the limits and never
discharged copious smoke! I feel disheartened to see an automobile manufacturer
such as the M&M at the receiving end of the ruling of the Supreme Court!
The situation in
the capital Delhi and the region around may be grim and alarming but the causes
are many and few wise people may argue that well begun is half done without
realizing the consequences of the action. The construction activity in almost
all cities across India is one of the major contributors to our cup of woes and
topping the list to our health hazards. The dust and storm raised by the
materials and the debris left behind uncleared is a cause for concern!
The panic button
has been depressed by the Delhi Government, which is synonymous with a state of
anarchy and the hapless citizens floundering in chaos and confusion. Soon by
this standards, a large country like ours with huge potential in all fields
will be woefully reduced to a banana republic, thanks to the reign of misrule
by a few!
Political antakshari courtesy:
Because its easier to ban diesel vehicles than to stop all (illegal) constructions sponsored by the politicians. They will be losing big. By putting ban on diesel vehicles they can claim "atleast they are doing something".
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely and the poor car manufacturers have to bear the brunt.and they have a major market share in NCR region...imagine the losses they have to surmount..
DeleteI have come to believe that, all the correction measurements generally taken are meant to promote some other related business. For ex. Ideally, a helmet is compulsory for 2 wheelers, but it nobody cares. Someday, one of the close personnel of a minister happen to have a related business, and then suddenly helmet compulsion comes into picture. So, you are right. Such abrupt changes brought doesn't make sense.
ReplyDeleteWell said...now I wish that our Dilli CM owns an automobile company!!!
DeleteI always wonder to what levels they can stoop to and lie... misrule is such an understatement...
ReplyDeleteCheers, Archana - www.drishti.co
Yes Archana...the politicians are indeed a species that we abhor and loathe for their eccentricities!
DeleteI wish the so called rulers will hear your or our cry and help people live in an unpolluted or less polluted India without making huge slogans like 'SWach Bharath'. Let us hopefully wait and see
ReplyDeleteYes..they are bats in the belfry and never behave sensibly or rationally...
DeleteIs Democracy going to help the current situation in India?
ReplyDeleteAre the countrymen going to change for the better with the current political scene?
Will there ever be a complete non-corrupt politician and will he/she/they be able to implement clean governance in Democracy?
Do we really think Democracy will change the face of India?
:) I can only throw questions allowing each of us to answer for themselves.
Very revealing post. I agree with you. There is no point in focussing attention on one issue ignoring the other in the name of development or reform. It has to be a multipronged attack but reasonable and unimposing.
ReplyDelete