From time to time, one gets to hear personalities including politicians and functionaries in the Government establishment and society emphasise on the need for bringing out more ‘positive’ stories to motivate ‘proactive’ response instead of focusing on ‘negative’ stories. On the other hand, there are some who maintain that news is factual and realistic instead of being positive or negative.
Whether it is viewed as positive or negative depends on the perception of the consumer of news. However, as the emotionally influenced people that many of us are considered to be, we prefer to maintain our strong biases to perceive any situation in either black or white while pushing simple logic and facts aside. Even when it comes to issues linked to whether or not the existence of human society and life on earth will thrive, the majority of us appear too busy trying to ensure continuity in generation of waste and varied type of pollution.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also focused on the issue of sanitation and various works are currently underway in this sector. Not to be pessimistic, but it often appears as if Governmental and societal efforts are missing out the root cause and focusing more on visibly ambitious and costly programmes without getting the fundamentals right.
Recently, a report in The Guardian stated how Scotland’s environment agency had warned the country’s industries and farmers about how their waste and inefficiency has overtaken pollution to become the biggest threat to the environment. The regulator’s chief executive would be urging businesses, farmers and manufacturers to adopt a “one planet prosperity” policy designed to cut their energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, waste and resource use, the report said, while also adding that developed economies like the United Kingdom’s are now consuming resources at a rate which is about three times the planet’s actual capacity. The gist was that the major threat to environment is now posed by humans overusing the planet as a resource base.
The concept of wastage in Indian society appears to be warped in general with wastage of various resources being a regular feature even in efforts purportedly aimed at reducing waste or managing it.
Recently, while attending a press conference addressed by the State chief of a national political party in Dehradun, some media persons pointed out to a party office -bearer that the ceiling fan above them was too slow to provide relief from the heat and humidity while the vacant part of the hall had lights ablaze in broad daylight and fans swirling up air where there was no one to benefit.
Someone pointed out the lack of sense in wasting electricity to the discomfort of the gathering while another person recalled how the Prime Minister passionately pushes for efficiency and public participation to prevent wastage and improper garbage disposal. The office-bearer in question defended the wasteful approach mumbling evasively and with a brief blank glance at the media persons, went back to fiddling with his ‘smart’ phone. Evidently, many in society have remained far from a sensible mentality which was among the factors evidenced in civilizations that thrived in ancient India. The saving grace was that at least both sides of the paper had been used in the party’s release handed out to the media. Such issues may be considered as inconsequential and not worth addressing by many but such ignorant views only worsen the situation.
While some developed international communities have been focusing on minimising waste generation for some years now, we appear struggling to handle disposal and recycling of garbage with minimisation of waste remaining an uncommon aspect at least in the mainstream.
Considering the common ‘habit’ of perpetually wasting electricity and keeping bio-engineering limited mostly to academics, it appears as if we have not even comprehended what wastage is or have mistaken it as some distorted sign of ‘wealth’. At least 45 million tonnes of garbage is left untreated and disposed of by local bodies unscientifically across the nation every day fueling health problems and environmental degradation.
Dehradun generates more than 300 tonnes of solid waste per day with local rivers either dead or turned into carriers of sewage, plastic waste and toxics through protected forest areas eventually deposited in the Ganga river. Forget about making great ‘efforts’ and ‘sacrifices’, try to observe even if for just one day, how much wastage and contamination do you and your actions cause even in routine activities. Hopefully, that may help some see the light.