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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By Mr Pankaj Bhatnagar

Since a total ban on the use of chemical pesticides is unlikely to happen in any country in the foreseeable future, ensuring health risk reduction from pesticides will largely depend on two aspects ;

One. Identifying pesticides that are human carcinogens and

Second, Working out a mechanism that is pragmatic and easy to implement, so that harmful pesticides do not reach our kitchens.

However, despite the Court’s directions nothing much has happened and No workable model/mechanism has been prepared by the authorised Govt agency ; FSSAI that can achieve the above objective.

Notwithstanding the above, as a responsible citizen of the country, it is our duty to devise and suggest a workable mechanism so that we can get rid, to a reasonable extent from this decontamination of fruits and vegetables.

Before, suggesting a model we need to evaluate as to why Govt agencies have failed to stop these harmful pesticides reaching our kitchen ;-

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