Ever since the beginning of civilization, history is replete with records of crime committed by man against nature, green forests have been cut down, verdant valleys hallowed and ploughed mercilessly and then left dry and fallow, free flowing streams stopped, diverted or hemmed all in the pursuit of greater and greater material advancement.

With the invention of power driven machines and development of modern techniques of exploitation of mineral wealth, man’s lust for material comforts increased by leaps and bounds.

In pursuit of a good life we have not stopped at merely destroying or polluting our environment but also polluting our indoors too.

How do we rescue our environment from hazards of an industrial society? There is no clear cut answer. But people like Sunderlal Bahuguna and Baba Amte have at least tried to awaken our conscience.

We can adopt an area and keep it clean of garbage and other forms of waste.

We should get our vehicles checked, generators in office and buildings should be cleaned periodically.

If we work in a factory, we must make sure that pollution control measures are being enforced without any compromise.

We must try our level best to minimize the smoke and level of noise. It will go long way to purity our environment.

Save the earth from pollution

For centers now, mankind has turned a deaf ear to the pleas too save the mother earth. In the name of development, natural resources have been misused and now mankind is standing on the brink of ecological disaster.

Now the time has come when mankind must listen because air pollution has never been as bad as it is now around us to-day than before. But even as we benefit from them, we must ensure that the very air we breathe remains empoisoned.

Alarming signals are emerging in our cities. Hundreds of tones of suspended particulates are released into the atmosphere every day. This poisonous waste ends up in our lungs and severely affects our health. Dome of it passes into our bloodstream to set into motion a slow but irreversible process of decay and diseases in the body.

The time to act is now before it is too late. We may not be able to prevent deforestation but we can plant a few in our neighborhood.

Effects of pollution

Our health is dependent on several factors. Personal hygiene, drinking water, and the air we inhale, the garbage we produce, drain water, the food we eat, fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture –all these affect health. Nearly 60 percent of the diseases are water-borne, spread due to chemical effluents and solid wastes.

Vehicles smoking, hospital wastes, house dust water and used plastic things affects our health in town and cities. Fire-wood smoke, chemical fertilizers and pesticides affect the health in our villages. All these not only harmful our health, out also destroy plant and animal life. A situation has arisen wherein some of the species might become extinct. Fossils that speak of our history and culture have also become victims of pollution.

How does pollution affect us?

• Fluoride in water deforms the teeth leads to deformation of body skeletal structure.
• Plastic garbage blocks flow of drain water and breeds mosquitoes causing fevers like malaria and dengue.
• Smoke from vehicles causes burning sensation in eyes, breathlessness, cough, lung effects and heart-attacks.
• Burning of domestic garbage with plastic material produces carcinogens like dioxins and furons which mix with the air
• Sulphur and nitrogen oxides released into the air by factories and vehicles destroy ancient monuments and beautiful buildings.