Published in Dwarka Express on 22.8.22

A tender coconut seller was seen in Merina Chennai, freely distributing the banned straw for his customers, a vegetable vendor in Malleswaram, Bengaluru freely hands plastic carry bag to the buyer. When asked about the ban on use of plastic carry bags, the innocent vendor blankly looks at us . Neither the buyer cared to tell him that it is a banned item. The situation appears to be the same almost in the entire country. 50 days is gone after the blanket ban on Single use plastics (SUP) came into force. Enforcement of the ban on 19 SUP items is yet to take off or at least  appears to be an uphill task. It appears that many have not taken it seriously. Even earlier occasions also several state Governments like Karnataka and Delhi proposed ban on the SUPs but the states have seen that the usage of SUPs was not stopped effectively. Going by available data, in the whole country, the plastic generation amounts to nearly 42 lacs tons per annum and SUPs count for 10-35% only. In most of the states the SUP generation has been effectively stopped. It is the need of the hour to enforce the laid down norms effectively. But whether the usage of the already available SUPs is a clear indication that the same is ignored yet. One important aspect in the process of the ban is stopping of manufacturing. Many violating industries in small scale segment are being penalised for not stopping the single use plastic. This is indeed a good step and will be still better if the Government proposes some concessions and subsidies for the owners of these small units, who have lost their breadwinning activity. It is  true that change cannot come overnight. It is a process and active participation, continuous monitoring and creating awareness periodically are the keys. Like the displays in TVs for cigarette smoke ban, it is important that the media ads from Govt can create good impact. But it is not seen or felt that the Government creates enough awareness to awaken the sleeping Rip Van Winkles

Published in Dwarka Express on 13.8.22

While the nation is excited to celebrate the 75^th Independence Day, with fun and fervour, joy and patriotism, it is also pertinent that the rulers and people alike deliberate on the substantial issues that are conspicuous and showing threat to the very existence of the democracy. Indian population has surpassed 1.4 billion and the unabated growth coupled with the depleting natural resources is posing threat to the prospective future of the nation. While the life expectancy of the average Indian is hovering around 70, thanks to the improved medical facilities, one is still at a loss to comprehend whether the situation is conducive to the overall livelihood. The global warming is staring at every global citizen. In India, time and again, huge challenge is posed to environment due to the frequent changes in the acts that are ‘presumably’ against development. Whenever an environmental activist starts voicing his views, he is castigated as disruptor. In India has seen Guru Das Agarwal who has sacrificed his life to save Ganga. History has explained already how Bishnoi community sacrificed many lives to save nature. We also have seen rural womenfolk embracing trees to save them from felling. Today, thousands of cases are pending in NGT and other courts in one pretext or other to fight against the onslaughts to environment. In Karnataka, even the court verdicts to protect the eco sensitive zones (ESZ) are protested by locals. In Delhi AQI is crossing the permissible limits quite often. More than 16 lac people are dying every year in India due to pollution related diseases. It is high time that the states and centre jointly think of addressing the environmental issues. Water table is depleting already. Deforestation in the name of Infra development projects including mining also continues.  We celebrate all important days to emphasize conservation. For instance, this week alone, the world is celebrating World Lions day on 10^th August and World Elephants day on 12^th August. But literally we are seeing elephants that intrude human settlements while Lions population is just limited to Gujrat. We need to revisit the entire subject in the interest of posterity. The real freedom is achieved by doing all these. Freedom from all evils of the society is not achieved freely, it needs hard work and sacrifices from all concerned !

Published in Dwarka Express on 6.8.22

One has to visit Cambridge Public e-School, Kaveripattinam, Krishnagiri Dist, Tamilnadu to believe what I say below. Yes, one can call it literally an Organic School and the architect behind this venture is C T Sanatkumar, who proudly shows us his organic farm in his school which is managed by the students. Students in his school try their little hands in organic farming during their school days. Sanatkumar is the founder of the school. Moving enthusiastically around the school in his automated wheel chair, he commands respect and appreciation from everyone. Once Hon Abdul Kalam visited him and felt honoured to move his wheel chair. South Express talked to him to know more about his work. He becomes emotional when he talks about organic farming. Right from ploughing the land, students involve in seeding, de-weeding, watering and harvesting vegetables. One wonders whether there is any other way, one philanthropist could groom the future citizen of India. South Express wishes him long life and achieve many more laurels.