Poison in the air that one breathes ! High level of air pollution
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: March 20 2019 -

When it rains it is all Leikhom-Leinang (muddy and slushy) and when it is dry it is all Uphul-Waiphul (dusty).

This about sums up the state of majority of the roads in Imphal, though it is to be admitted that there has been some marked improvements in the last few years.

Just think beyond Imphal and the situation can only be imagined.

Not yet ‘hazardous’ or ‘very unhealthy’ but definitely more than ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ to enter the stage of ‘unhealthy’ as per a finding by AirVisual, an air quality monitoring group.

The report of the findings from AirVisual occupied prime space in the English edition of The Sangai Express on February 20 with the report filed by the Churachandpur correspondent on February 19.

Air pollution, everyone seems to be familiar with this term or description of the quality of air that one breathes but not everyone seems to be at all concerned with the quality of air that one breathes.

So while political leaders of all hues and colour continue to talk about India’s progress and where Manipur stands on the development index, how law and order situation has been put under control, no one seems to have given any thought to the fact that the most powerful and richest man or woman in Manipur continues to breathe air that is highly contaminated with chemicals and dusts.

This reality becomes all that more stark at this point of time, for all political parties and political leaders are more obsessed with touching subjects which can bring them vote but not about the quality of air that the citizens have to breathe.

How can air pollution or the need to ensure everyone breathes quality air ensure votes ?

The findings by AirVisual put the air quality of Churachandpur at 197 and Imphal at 182, all falling within the category of ‘Unhealthy’ which has an index of 151-200.

Just short by four to break into the ‘Very Unhealthy’ category in the case of Churachandpur and very nearly there in the case of Imphal at 182.

The index of ‘Very Unhealthy’ is 201-300.

If this is the quality of air that the people are being exposed to breathe then what does it say about the overall health of society ?

A sick and unfit people can never be expected to excel in anything they do and in this age, when everything is about excellence, this is a scary thought.

Apart from the Government and its agencies failing to take up any proactive action to address the problem of air pollution, the people too should come to the point that the air one breathes, the water that one drinks and the earth that one walks on are the natural resources of the people.

And polluting the natural resources of the people is nothing short of criminal. Again it is not only air pollution that comes to mind.

Just a few days back, The Sangai Express carried a report on the acute shortage of potable water at Ukhrul district headquarters.

The reasons for the depleting water supply in a place where it rains heavily have been spelt out and the Ukhrul story is yet another instance of how the people have been slowly and gradually polluting their own natural resources with the Government satisfied with just looking on.