A clean and fresh environment is admired and desired by everyone but very few make an effort on their part to work towards that end. This realization hit me a few weeks ago when I started commuting between office and home via a means of transport which brings you closest to your environment - the motorbike. It was a terrible experience!
Before I ventured on this 'daily adventure,' I had enjoyed pretty good health. But one week of my motorbike commute, and I became afflicted with a plethora of ailments. I developed a severe flu, headache, sore throat and fever, and was unable to breathe well because of the forced inhalation of smoke and dirt daily.
The worst culprits were the vehicles that plied the route I ventured on every day, especially government and private buses. They release large amounts of smoke, a product of combustion, consisting of fine particles of carbon carried by hot gases and air. This carbon is very injurious when inhaled and can clog the lungs very easily. These harmful gases also damage the fertility of land and affect crops. They result in acid rain, which harms vegetation and falling rainwater, leading to contamination of water. Inhaling polluted air leads to irritability and short temper among the affectees. The plants and trees around us have lost their luster and freshness, and their lushness is only revealed when it rains.
One cannot but help sympathize with traffic policemen who inhale these harmful gases while performing their duties. One usually notices people and policemen wearing masks on their faces while passing thoroughfares like Murree Road, and other places. They resemble aliens rather than normal human beings.
We celebrate many international days; one of them is the Anti-Pollution Day. But we celebrate such days, including the Anti-Pollution Day, more as a ritual than anything else. Laws and regulations also exist for the protection of environment, but are rarely, implemented.
It is indeed an irony that as a nation we are consumed so much in our daily lives that we do not have time even to address the issue of clean air that affects us daily. I would like to make the following recommendations:
The steps I have stated above would go a long way in closing one source of damage to our immediate environment. Maybe somebody is listening.
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