The following tale is about my known friend. He has recently moved
into a new apartment, 20 storey’s giant building. No wonder it has a panoramic
view, the sea on one front and a huge cluster of other apartments on the other.
But even as he opened the windows and took into in the wonderful
view, he noticed a thick pall of the grey matter that lay like a cloud over the
city. Of course, that is not rain clouds but the cloud of pollution rising from
the ground and blanketing the city.
I remember an article stating that the lungs of coal miners show
up black deposits at autopsies. This is probably exactly what our lungs will
throw up, too.
Vehicle exhausts, smoke from the fires that cook meals by roadside
and in the slums, industrial fumes and other unseen hazardous emissions, dust
from unpaved roads, from road works, everything adds to the deadly spice that
factually mantles the city.
And yet, we take it as a part of development, of progress.
I am not against the progress. None of us who live here and
enjoy the bustle and throb of this worlds pace is. But the more buildings that
come up and the more vegetation is cut away, the more our lungs and the lungs
of this city will choke.
New and efficient constructions in the city are welcomed. But
adequate steps need to be taken to ensure that the pollution is cleared.
Lets
us preserve the green we have, just for own sakes. Let’s plant more, grow more,
and banish the cloud that hovers over our health.
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