A Cry For Help
A Cry for Help
“Mother Nature”, we call her. But maybe it is just in humanity’s nature itself to suck its own mother’s blood. We loot and plunder her. We pollute and we kill her wildlife. When will it stop? When will we realise that the consequence of her destruction is our own destruction? When will we realize that she will strike back?
In a vast and developing nation like India with a population of one billion plus, it is difficult to spread the message about the importance of a healthy environment and get proper feedback. For some people, it is even difficult to make ends meet, let alone think about the well being of nature, but what about the elite, the rich and especially the politicians? They can do something, can’t they? Yes, they can, but with all the corruption going on, who is interested in saving nature?
In Meghalaya, the indiscriminate jhumming of trees is of grave concern to the thinking public, but there is little being done, by the government, to stop this act of crime. Although, there are quite a number of reserved forests and tree plantations in the state, the question now, arises as to whether it is enough. The answer is a big negative.
Shillong was rated as the nation’s least polluted city in the year 2000. How is this supposed to make us, Shillong-ites, feel? Are we supposed to hold our heads high, or are we supposed to feel ashamed?
“Shillong”, the so-called “Scotland of the East”, has not really lived up to the title given to it. One might go to the park named “Lady Hydary Park”, s/he might be impressed by its cleanliness, but if s/he would care to look at the hidden corners and toilets, the first word that would jump out of his/her mouth would be “Yuck!” or something in that line.
The sights of Shillong from “Shillong view point” is beautiful, but what about the sights of garbage dumps in the city? The over polluted streams and rivers, the plastic bags scattered all over, the dirt and grime in Bara Bazaar and Police Bazaar, the improper sanitation, the choking sensation during heavy traffic hours, the city’s garbage disposal site. It goes on and on. How is one supposed to feel about all this? Should we feel proud and hold our heads high at the fact that despite all this, our city was rated as the least polluted one in the nation, or should we hang our heads down in shame at the fact that India is so polluted, it has Shillong as the least polluted city?
Pollution is not a new problem, nor is it a problem only in India. It is a global problem, affecting Shillong, affecting Delhi, affecting Tokyo, affecting London, affecting New York
Human’s destruction of nature is not inconspicuous. In fact, almost everyone knows about it, but only a handful is brave enough to raise his or her unheard voices. Why is that? You might ask. Well, the answer is simple. [next page]