My City My Responsibility - Raksha Bandhan 'Bond with Environment'

Dear All, 

With the Kerala floods making headlines everyday, we all are witnessing the dreadful impacts of ignorance towards our environment and its sensitivity as well as its potential at the same time. According to the Western Ghats ecology expert panel, most of the regions in Kerala facing this disaster were recommended to be classified as ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs). However these recommendations were either rejected or ignored by the government, giving priority to so-called 'development'. Madhav Gadgil, the chairman of committee thus termed this disaster as a man made calamity due to the irresponsible environment policies made by the state governments. 

Metro Pillars under water near Baba bhide bridge

Riverside road under water seen from Lakdipul

We are not far from facing such a disaster in our city, Pune. Areas around Pune, Mumbai, Konkan, Goa fall under the purview of Western Ghats, any illogical and inconsiderate development around these places is going to affect us sooner or later.

Its been raining in Pune since past one week continuously, the dams are full and water from the dams has been released into our rivers. The riverbed is fully covered under water, riverside roads are flooded and hence closed. Pillars being built in the riverbed for the upcoming metro rail are already under water. The city is facing heavy traffic congestion, causing delays in our day to day activities. In order to resolve the traffic problems we are constructing rapid mass transit options like metros, however if we ignore the climatic conditions and environmental flows we are going to create another menace. Pune will also be undergoing riverfront development soon which completely neglects the flooding nature of our rivers. We are underestimating the potential impacts of environment and climate change thus we are bound to face disasters like that of Kerala 2018 and Chennai 2015 soon.... 

Riverbed under water

In this era of changing climate and environment degradation, our very lives are at stake. It would therefore be madness to prioritise 'development' over these concerns! In order to save ourselves we need to advocate for rational environment friendly policies and actions at the central and state level. At the community level we need to be vigilant of all the development activity happening in and around our surroundings and raise voice against any activity that violates the norms of environment.

We also need to be prepared for disasters. Are we as citizens of Pune ready to face floods? Do we have the required infrastructure for giving early warning signals? Imagine if there will be no electricity, our mobiles will not work for more than two days. In such a situation, is there any alternative for us to communicate??? Does our disaster management cell reflect or train or undertake any such workshops or drills anywhere??? If NO, we need to demand such inputs. If YES, we need to review and promote such activities in our community. At an individual level we need to adhere to Eco-friendly lifestyles, reducing our carbon as well as ecological footprint is one of the first steps towards it. 

Just a thought, coming Raksha Bandhan where we celebrate the bond with our siblings, let us reflect upon our bond with our environment and pledge to protect it from irrational developmental decisions in order to save ourselves! 

Pournima Agarkar. 

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