Vijay Phanshikar 

 

NOW has come a fresh directive from the State Government -- that the air quality in Nagpur is poor and therefore the people should avoid their morning or evening walks if they suspect that they may have to breathe in unhealthy air. This was, of course, expected, to say the least. For, if the whole nation has been breathing in bad air, then how could Nagpur be left behind? For, whatever is happening in Nagpur is happening elsewhere in the country as well. Most cities have turned into hellish places as far as environmental pollution is concerned. So, dear Nagpurians, now do not take your city’s good weather for granted. There is nothing good about it -- if one goes by the directive the administration has issued to the common people of Maharashtra’s second capital. That gives us Nagpurians a stupid feeling within. For, the very thought that once-clean city is no longer so, hurts deep down. By no standard can that be taken as a good omen for all of us. But friends, is this condition of our own making? But ask so-called experts and they will offer you countless reasons for why the city’s weather has turned so much bad. The administration too will put forward a whole range of reasons to place the blame for the city’s bad weather.

 

The purpose of all that exercise would, thus, be somehow to save the officers’ skins. This is what the State Government appears to be doing all the time -- helping the bureaucracy to escape the blame of its mistakes. In the case of bad quality of air, too, the State Government will resort to such a method. As step one in that direction, the instruction has come that the people in Nagpur should avoid taking their morning or evening walks if they suspect that the air quality is truly bad. The administration is also stated to have formed a task force to monitor the health issues arising out of poor quality of air. Prima facie, all this sounds good -- in the sense, it suggests that the State is so careful about the citizens’ health! Is that not why it has issued an advisory to the people?!! But then, this is how the administration works everywhere in the country -- issuing advisories. So, once that is done, the administration feels morally absolved of the crime of not having taken stiff measures in time to curb the ineasing air pollution. Simpleton common people, however, do not understand this official cunning.

 

They believe the administration -- in tune with their forefathers. But time has come for the people to ask tough and no-nonsense questions to the administration -- such as why did not the administration initiate right steps years ago when experts had expressed doubts about the sinking air quality in the city? It is time all of us in Nagpur wrote sharply-worded letters to the administration -- in lakhs, so to say, seeking to know the reasons for the administration’s lethargy or incompetence or both. If such a question is asked in a torrent from countless lakhs of people, then the administration would feel pinned down. It may still not do a thing to effect a correction in its own method and manner. Yet, the people’s question would force it to accept the blame. For a democracy like ours, this may a reasonable gain.