Preserve the planet

In the southern parts of India, along the coastal state of Kerala, it should HAVE BEEN raining now. Raining really hard. Instead we have a dry weather with no rain for the past few days which is very unusual during this time of the year. Ironically, Chennai which receives rain only during the month of November is experiencing rainfall.

A lot of changes have occurred during the past decades. The timely rainfall has taken a toll and the weather has become extreme. When it is summer, it is extreme heat and people are not able to cope with the amount of excessive heat that sort of engulfs the whole state.

It is said that when peacocks appear, it indicates drought. For the past few days, we have been hearing the calls of wild peacocks. The days are sunny and there is no sign of rain. I hope the rains do appear otherwise it will not only affect agriculture but also the hydropower plants upon which we rely for electricity.

What can be done about it?

For once, let people start using public transportation if it is possible instead of using their own vehicles. Let there be laws like that of countries like Singapore where taxes and fines are extracted for unnecessarily using private transport. People should also be fined for polluting the land, water, and air.

Recently, the waste plant in our city caught fire and it raged on for several days causing great trouble for nearby residents. Many were hospitalized after experiencing breathing difficulty because of the smoke and smell of burning plastic. The fire is suspected to have been caused by criminal-minded people who of course escaped punishment because of the corrupt government.

The water is constantly polluted by the factories in my hometown. The wastewater is let into the river that provides drinking water for the city. The authorities ignore such stuff and just dump chlorine into the plant for purifying it forgetting the fact that chlorine can damage the human body. City people cannot use well water and are at risk. Marine life is also affected by such practices. Many a time, consumers get to buy fish that is not fresh but preserved using harmful chemicals.

So, when one part of the eco cycle is affected, all the others are affected too.

As for landfills, it is a hopeless case because people literally litter every place with cans, bottles, plastic covers, and whatnot. Even if the authorities promote cloth bags or brown paper bags, juice cartons, plastic juice bottles, and covers of grain powders such as wheat flour, maida, etc, and not to speak of ready-to-eat foods. When it comes to littering the beaches, people do not give a second thought to the life that thrives around the waters and polluting it.

When the floods affected Kerala, the water threw back onto the land the waste that had been deposited over the years back to the land and people were literally ashamed when they saw all the plastic waste. Nature does repay.

It is our duty to preserve the beauty and the life of the planet and not destroy it by polluting the lands, waters, and air. It only takes an extra few seconds to dispose of the waste in a proper manner instead of throwing that emptied juice can into the water or land.

image - own