Air Pollution - Serious Threat

In the year 2015, all UN member nations adopted 17 goals named Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by the year 2030. As in many a case, on paper, these seem to be so impressive and initially all member states expressed a lot of enthusiasm and substantial progress was made. But the onslaught of COVID-19 disturbed the pace and as of now most of the nations are struggling with one issue only and that is how to feed the population and enable them towards self-sufficiency. Though this is an important goal out of the 17 others all must go hand in hand for sustainable outputs, though they may not progress on a parallel path. Before I focus on one particular SDG (though that may seem to be a little odd for someone who expects me to share my thoughts on education mainly) let me mention all the 17 goals in brief.

1.  No Poverty- End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

2. Zero Hunger - End hunger, achieve food security and promote sustainable agriculture.

3. Good Health and Well-Being - Ensure a healthy life and promote well-being for all at all ages.

4. Quality Education - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

5. Gender Equality - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

6. Clean Water and Sanitation - Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

7. Affordable and Clean Energy - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

8. Decent Work and Economic Growth - Promote sustained and inclusive economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

10. Reduce Inequality - Reduce inequality within and among countries.

11. Sustainable Cities and Communities - Make cities and human settlement, safe, resilient and sustainable.

12.-Responsible Consumptions and Production- Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

13. Climate Action- Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact.

14. Life Below Water - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. 

15. Life on Land - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystem, sustainably manage forest, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions- Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

And

17. Partnerships for the Goals- Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

 

If we look at all the SDGs all are so well chosen, though appear to be different but are very much connected and dependent on each other. If the first two goals are achieved, then the rest of the goals will be easy to reach and to achieve these two, the fourth one is of utmost importance and my concern is this one. Here we talk of quality education but even education is a distant dream for majority of the people across the world. So education needs to be given utmost importance along with nutritious food. But before all this, when a child is born, he/ she requires healthy air and clean water before anything else. Even if we provide food and water, clean air is of the utmost importance. Goal three mandates good health and well- being and goal 13 advocates for climate action. Unfortunately, this is one area which has received a lot of attention in talks but very little on ground has been done for it. We are about to enter the year 2024, and are left with only 7 years before the set deadline of 2030, hence need collective and effective steps. Along with the governments working, we as citizens must also own some responsibility. The recent past, in India, there was a lot of concern shown by everyone regarding pollution in the capital city and other major cities also. Does this mean these are only the isolated areas affected by pollution? Certainly not. Newspaper reports are an eye opener in which smaller cities of Rajasthan and other states have been having the same level of pollution as Delhi, rather on some days more than that. This was the first time I came to know that Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh cities of Rajasthan had pollution levels more than (AQI 400) Delhi on more days during November 2023. The first time because the AQI meters were installed the first time. It means if the AQI is measured in all the cities (small or big) that may cause seizures for many of us. The newspaper reports about the impacts on the public, especially children and adults during that time were scary. I would suggest you to read IE dated 12 Nov, 23 and TOI of the same date at least just to have an idea. TOI report discusses the factors largely responsible for pollution and the IE report talks in detail about the effects of the pollution on senior citizens and the young kids. The governments fulfil their duties by asking the schools to remain closed and advising the adults not to come out of their houses. The responsible people do not realise the negative impact of this on kids. The report of Dr Rajesh Sagar, Professor of Psychology, AIIMS Delhi shares THE IMPACT OF AIR POLLUTION ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF THE CHILDREN in an article written by Ankita Upadhyay. She has cited the case of a 6 years old child, Arjun Shrivastava, the son of Ananya and Gaurav who live in Dwarka. The child was born in 2017 during this peak time of pollution and his condition has remained bad right from that time. The pollution does not negatively impact asthmatic people only but healthy people are also affected badly and they tend to develop hypertension and eventually heart problem because of the high quantity of PM 2.5 narrowing the arteries. The children are not affected physically but their remaining confined to home (that too in a room only), they severely get impacted mentally and emotionally. The children who are born in Delhi or any other polluted city during October/November suffer the most because right after their birth they are forced to remain confined to one room. The newly born need more exposure to the world than perhaps the others but due to health concerns, they are not allowed that kind of exposure. The school-going children who are forced to stay home due to the closure of schools are now deprived of peer environment which is very important for their mental and emotional growth. Parents cannot do anything else but keep them home, as for them physical health is of great concern. I have experienced it myself. Our granddaughter born in the third week of September this year is kept in one room with air purifiers on work twenty-four hours. We are unable to let her explore (in her own ways) the outside world despite the fact we know this might have some negative impact on her mental and emotional health.

On the same page of the paper, an article by Anonna Dutt alarms that Delhi is no city for walks, in which the case of one retired engineer who worked in Delhi for more than forty years has been cited. This couple who are in their late sixties are not able to go out for walk etc., due to high pollution. Breathing issues are taken care of by staying indoors but a lack of physical activities adds to other physical and mental ailments. These are just two examples, but millions of people suffer because of pollution.

Every year, from November to February, the newspapers and TV channels discuss a lot about this problem but for the rest of the period of the year, nobody even remembers that there was a problem of this magnitude. We, citizens who consider ourselves responsible for the health and the future of our children must come forward and compel the government machinery to solve the problem and come out with some concrete action. There are many studies citing the reasons of the pollution and all efforts should be made to address/ curb them.

If the number of vehicles are to be reduced so, reduce it.

Ensure that school children travel minimum so that their transport is not a source of pollution.

If crop burning is the reason, then a permanent solution should be found out. The farmers must be compensated or crop remains be procured and either used or destroyed by some scientific method which does not cause pollution.

The use of EVs must be encouraged for which subsidies must be given in adequate amounts.

Burning of coal to heat water etc., during winter must be discouraged because many people staying in slums do that.

The condition of roads must be improved.

The markets should be developed in close vicinity of the residential colonies.

There can be many more solutions to curb pollution, but the most important is the sincerity and commitment of all concerned.

Nonetheless, the mental and emotional health of children should also be on priority as all the other notions of growth depend on it. Mental and emotional health is the deciding factor for one’s demeanour when one grows up. It affects how one thinks, feels, acts, makes choices etc., and resilience and commitment follow in later life. Managing emotions skilfully will make the path of progress easy for an individual as you will be able to connect, empathize and nurture the bonds both at home and workplace. Being able to slay anxiety, stress & frustration becomes a boon in the journey of life. It is said that mindfulness will give a greater relationship satisfaction as one behaves patiently and responds rather than reacts in a given situation. Hence, it is imperative to cater to emotional well-being right from infancy.

I hope all those who are concerned about the physical, mental and emotional health of the future generation will awaken, arise and contribute positively to curbing the menace of pollution for a better future of progeny.