I am confused. I don’t understand why environmental laws exist in India. No one cares about complying with them and every politician bends them to suit their individual needs.
Take for instance the second airport issue. The government finally decided to build the much-awaited second international airport in Panvel, just outside the city. But the area is covered with mangroves and any construction was forbidden. So what does the state government do? It just changes the law and construction is possible. Problem solved. End of discussion.
Why do we take the environment so lightly? Do we actually believe that we can abuse it all we want and nature will let us get away? Global warming is a natural phenomenon but what is alarming is its speed. The end result will be a regular occurrence of storms, droughts, famines and floods. India cannot escape it.
Neither can Mumbai. Let us not forget that we are a coastal city. If the ocean turns against us we will have nowhere to hide. Rising temperatures will increase sea levels and in a few years it may be virtually impossible inhabit Mumbai. Can we take such a chance?
A lot of countries including India are under the misconception that when the time comes they will deal with the environment. My advise to them is…please do watch the movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow.’ In the end there will be nothing left to be done except sit on the sidelines and watch millions meet their end in water and/or food wars. The time to act is now or the future will be lost.
Let us not forget that we are just custodians to the planet we inherited from our forefathers. The earth belongs to our future generations and we must do all we can to ensure that they inherit a better future than we did.
Jugal said
while i agree with your concerns on the rampant abuse of environmental laws in our country, i doubt if the example in ur argument is right. the second airport site at panvel, i have personally seen, is not ‘covered with mangroves’. there are small clusters here and there. which also proves that the place isnt exactly a conducive habitat for mangroves. i believe the airport project is of importance in order to de-congest the existing one. these are the words of an internationally reputed environmentalist – “people who are opposing panvel airport saying mangroves will be hacked need to be cut to size. given the public interest in the project and also the sparse mangrove cover existing, these attempts are gimmicks and bring a bad name to genuine environmentalists. there are much graver abuses going on and there nobody seems to be ‘crying out aloud for mangroves’.”