On this auspicious occasion ; the 75th year of independence, we need to look at ourselves objectively as to how successful we have been as a society , as a nation and ask ourselves - have we been able to fulfill the dreams that our forefathers had envisioned on the eve of independence.

When we look around and compare ourselves with nations that got freedom along with us, we find that few of them have gone ahead but many of them are still struggling – politically, economically and socially, they have still not come to terms with the situation.

Snake Charmers to 3 Trillion Economy; A Remarkable Journey of 75 years

We were then, in 1947, known in the world as a country of snake charmers. The Government in 1947, had inherited a poor, deprived, and a largely illiterate India (almost 88% were illiterate) from Britishers. It hardly had any industry, a scarce road network and public transport system, inadequate medical infrastructure, millions of refugees and a society which had just witnessed genocide, for instance ;

We could then produce barely 1300 MW electricity, that could lit barely 9 lac homes and now we have 3,83 000MW that lits almost whole country. We then had 2 Steel plants and now we have 1150 plants that have made India the world’s second largest steel producer.

Now we have a huge industrial base, we have democratic institutions in place which ensure that governance does take place, we have made tremendous accomplishment in the space arena and in technology as well. Our educational institutions have produced some of the finest young men who are today occupying the top positions at World bank, IMF , and are CEOs of top ranking fortune 500 companies ; Gita Gopinath, Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadela, Leena Nair, Indira Nooyi, Arvind Krishna, Sanjay Mehrotra and many more.

We have also been at the forefront in the field of art and cinema too and our artistes have earned international fame and not to leave sports both our men and women are now delivering results and have earned laurels at the international level.

So, one can state, with confidence, that we have grown slowly but surely. Its been a remarkable journey and we must congratulate ourselves for these achievements because they did not come easily. We faced external invasions, numerous separatist movements, strikes by trade unions, famines and food shortages, but we kept moving relentlessly and kept India’s unity and integrity intact.

This is an ample proof that our forefathers laid a strong foundation and the generations to come have benefited from that. Often it is said; when one starts a new enterprise, it’s the future generations who enjoy its fruits.

Lets not take Freedom for Granted.

Notwithstanding the above, let’s not forget on this auspicious occasion, what Ronald Reagan had said;

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. The Freedom is not passed to our children in the bloodstream. It has to be fought for, protected, and handed on for them “.

This implies that Freedom, should not be taken for granted and every generation has to work to preserve that freedom and pass it on to the next generation to do the same.

In that sense are we doing enough?.

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I had mentioned in my article a year ago during the mayhem caused by second wave that this pandemic is not going to go away without teaching the mankind the lessons that it ought to have learnt otherwise. Perhaps we all learn only when faced with a crisis. Now, many are acknowledging that it will have far reaching ramifications as perhaps the WWII had.

The covid menace has although receded from many parts of the world but the world is now facing two major crises situation; one the climate change. Two. The Economic crisis caused by Covid and the Russia-Ukraine war.

The impact of climate change has although nothing to do with Covid as it was something everyone was expecting sooner or later, but off course it’s quite possible that virus attacks may be the outcome of the climate change and we may have to face more such attacks. As the duration of high temperatures increase and the rainfall in many areas becoming scanty there will surely be an impact on food security, availability of water and so on which may result in migrations, health hazards , law and order problems and may be water wars ; internal as well as external , as described by Brahma Chellany in his Book titled - Water ; Asia's New Battle Ground.

All the political and business leaders gathering at Davos for the WORLD ECONONMIC FORUM meet are voicing similar concerns as their economies have come under repeated shocks ; one. Because of the pandemic that resulted into repeated lock downs and then the Ukraine –Russia war which disrupted the supply of grains and of oil thereby increasing the inflation and pushing up the cost of living. The world leaders are now talking about the Global recession.

When we examine these crises in detail we would realise that these were our own creations.

Consumerism driven growth model and our irresponsible behavior has led us all to this path.

Just to give an example,

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By Mr Pankaj Bhatnagar

Recently an article in Times of India about IIT (M) Stüdy on Cauvery river Pollution provoked me to write this Article on water safety. IIT (M) has done a study for two years and collected samples from 22 spots along the upstream and downstream of Cauvery, and They found 11 pharmaceutically Active compounds (PhAc) and Heavy Metals Like zinc, manganese, lead Chromium, Nickel , copper, aluminium, mercury, arsenic and cadmium.

All above PhAc and heavy Metals are highly harmful and toxic for People, as well as for aquatic animals So what are we doing? What Government is doing? Are we drinking safe Water? What about aquatic population in these rivers?

There are many more questions come to our mind. The government has established Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and The water (Prevention and control of pollution) act was enacted in 1974 for the prevention

and control of water pollution and for maintaining or restoring of whole someness water in the country. This act was amended twice in 1988 and 2003. The CPCB in 2018 identified 351 polluted rivers in India. The Maharashtra has the highest number of Polluted river stretches (53), Assam (44), M.P. (22) Kerala (21) Gujrat (20) Odisha (19) and W.B & Karnataka (17) each. So it clearly shows that rising pollution of after 20 major river basins and is major Concern of govt. & population.

It is a major concern because37% of Agriculture land inIndiais irrigated by these rivers , apart From that several wildlife sanctuaries are located on the banks of These rivers The rivers of India provideLivelihood of millions of people’s And source of drinking water toMany big & small cities and its Population. Because of the importance of rivers in India , It isNecessary for us to knowthe reasons of their pollution and its Conséquences

There are several causes of Pollution but some most common Causes across the country are as Follows –

1. Chemical Effluents or Industrial waste.
2. Garbage dumping
3. Municipal sewage
4. Cremation & last rites

CPCB assessed the total volume of municipal waste water generation in the country at about 61,948 MLD as against the installed sewage treatment capacity of 23,277 MLD leaving a wide gap of more than 38,671 MLD. Similar observations were made by WHO in its reports on water pollution.

These major sources of Pollution mostly lead to following consequences –

1~Health & diseases

The carcinogenic compounds Like heavy, metals leads to Many Health related issues and some times Turn into severe health issues Like cancer, TB, Skin allergies and Digestive system problems.

2~ Impact on aquatic and landAnimals

These polluted rivers poses A big threat to aquatic animals Like fish, turtles etc and Also on land animals as many Wildlife Sanctuaries are situated On the banks of many Rivers.

3~ Impact on agriculture and land

The polluted water is used for Irrigation purpose and it’shazardous chemicals pollutes the agriculture produce which in turn againHave impact on human health. It has slow but grave impact on soil condition and its fertility.

Conclusion.

The rivers and Water bodies pollution is major Area of concern, though government Has taken many Decisions to reduce the Pollution to rivers but its high time

For State govt, and for we people To create awareness among citizens of India to change the rituals And habits which in turn pollute Our rivers, lakes and ponds.

Author ; Mr Pankaj Bhatnagar has an enormous experience behind him, having spent almost 40 years in the  Food and Agriculture Industry. He has served the industry for such a long period that he is well aware of its nitty gritties and the problems/challenges that Indian agriculture and the farmers face, consequently he is able to provide a Holistic view of the various aspects that have an impact on Indian agriculture and Food industry.

DISCLAIMER

Views expressed above are the author's own

Democracy as being in vogue now is under strain everywhere. It has become divisive, inefficient, indifferent to people’s needs, unable to manage crisis situations and it encourages mobocracy.  

Recently Biden, the US President, to get his rescue plan based on spending on infrastructure and social services,  that was stuck in Congress due to slug-festing between the Republicans and Democrats, had to urge them saying - “We have to prove that Democracy Works”. 

This clearly shows that even the world’s most powerful democratic country is doubting the efficacy of Democracy. 

 Why Do We Elect a Govt ?

South Korea and Taiwan had started with a dictatorship to attain economic prosperity before granting people the right to elect their government. Whereas, India on attaining Freedom straight moved on to become the world’s largest democracy with barely 10 % literates and 85% population living in poverty. Chinese communists took control of China two years later i.e 1949 and by now, it has become the second richest nation, with 387 billionaires and barely after 30 years of economic reforms, China managed to move some 850 million people above the $1.90-a-day poverty line, according to the World Bank, and the remaining 98.99 million did so by the end of 2020, where as , millions of Indians continue to live in abject poverty even after 30 years of economic reforms. Lets take the case of America, the world’s wealthiest nation and second-largest democracy, some 34 million people still live below the poverty line.  

Besides the above, whether its handling of covid in Democratic countries, or protests in US against the cruel murder of George Floyd by Police or Anti CAA protests or Farmer’s agitation or Jat agitation or Koregaon violence, the outcome was same ; property worth crores was destroyed, ordinary law abiding citizens were subjected to harassment and whole lot of institutions watched helplessly, all in the guise of democratic rights to Protest. The fact is ; there was NO LAW AND NO ORDER. 

These realities raise a valid question - What is important ;  

Democracy or reducing the sufferings of people 

Better management/ governance or ameliorating the living condition of the people. 

Provide Better Governance or only democratic rights to the people.  

However, off late the Govts world over are behaving as if they are there only to save the democratic rights of the people rather than providing better governance.  

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