I just returned from India, my first trip back in 6 years. On past trips, saw the poverty, poor sanitation systems, and general disorder that is India. On this recent trip, after the first day I had trouble breathing. By the third day my skin had a rash over most of my body. Luckily, on my third day back all or dramatically better. I am begging my sister-in-law who's 5 months pregnant with her first child to relocate anywhere in the western world. A baby's immune system, unless the child is locked in a bubble, cannot handle today's India. Meanwhile, the normal stagnation persists in government and society. Change is evil, in spite of the fact their environment is now simply genocide.
33
Kant's dates: 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804. Sure looks like the 18th century to me.
2
I have lived and worked all over the world. India is the only country I ever manufactured in that made me book my trips with one goal only; the absolute shortest amount of time I could spend there. Everything in India is broken. I don't need to add my list to Mr. Taseer's well written article. I only add that nothing will change there because the problem isn't pollution. The problem is the caste system - yes, it's still a deep unchanging part of the culture and the politics - and the corruption it both induces and supports. Until the Indian people deal with the roots, the tree will continue to bear very bitter fruit.
71
Is the author talking about the same Modi who banned Greenpeace from India, and wants to cut environmental legislation aimed at polluting industries?
Sure, there are many cultural and economic arguments for the condition of India today, from the caste system and colonialism (which militated against civic unity) to over-population and under-development (which has led to vast numbers of homeless in India's cities, whose every activity is pretty much guaranteed to add to pollution). Corruption is a huge player, as is a fairly useless legal system. In the US, we were only a bit better historically (see burning river in Cleveland) and continue to despoil our landscapes and poison our communities where public attention and concern is low (see much of the South and North Dakota). But many Indians want first-world lifestyles, and in a country without adequate--or in many cases, any--infrastructure, that means apartment buildings that dump their raw sewage in pits, countless individual diesel generators, and millions of plastic water bottles. And in Delhi, one of the world's most horrifically polluted cities, 1400 new cars added to an already gridlocked city every single day.
But if Modi is serious about pollution, then he has to clean up government support a better legal system, and develop mechanisms to address pollution and its causes in a sustainable manner. And the average middle- and upper-class Indian has to see pollution as tied to their own actions and choices, and care.
Sure, there are many cultural and economic arguments for the condition of India today, from the caste system and colonialism (which militated against civic unity) to over-population and under-development (which has led to vast numbers of homeless in India's cities, whose every activity is pretty much guaranteed to add to pollution). Corruption is a huge player, as is a fairly useless legal system. In the US, we were only a bit better historically (see burning river in Cleveland) and continue to despoil our landscapes and poison our communities where public attention and concern is low (see much of the South and North Dakota). But many Indians want first-world lifestyles, and in a country without adequate--or in many cases, any--infrastructure, that means apartment buildings that dump their raw sewage in pits, countless individual diesel generators, and millions of plastic water bottles. And in Delhi, one of the world's most horrifically polluted cities, 1400 new cars added to an already gridlocked city every single day.
But if Modi is serious about pollution, then he has to clean up government support a better legal system, and develop mechanisms to address pollution and its causes in a sustainable manner. And the average middle- and upper-class Indian has to see pollution as tied to their own actions and choices, and care.
47
Start cleaning in the richest city! (Mumbai) Start with the wealthiest citizens whose cars block the intersections and whose (servant-led) dogs soil the sidewalks! At any expense, hire the man that could clean up those problems up in 2 weeks. India needs Rudolph Giuliani! No broken windows! Three Giulianis could clean up Mumbai! Two hundred, the country! One thousand, the world! I hereby volunteer to work on the bring Rudy to Mumbai campaign! (and I'm not even joking)
12
Of all the problems, the biggest of all is the population which is expected to exceed that of China.
The truth is this : for 1.25 billion people growing fast, our land resources do not grow, nor water availability already strained and often unfit for human use, nor housing, nor many essential health services, etc. The important key in my opinion is rapid education anx empowerment of people to accept personal responsibility to help achieve sustainable growth in every Dept of life, incl control of baby making industry. Do not make comprises in the population control, with appeasement to Muslims and Christians.
The truth is this : for 1.25 billion people growing fast, our land resources do not grow, nor water availability already strained and often unfit for human use, nor housing, nor many essential health services, etc. The important key in my opinion is rapid education anx empowerment of people to accept personal responsibility to help achieve sustainable growth in every Dept of life, incl control of baby making industry. Do not make comprises in the population control, with appeasement to Muslims and Christians.
27
Katherine Boo in "Behind the Beautiful Forevers" gives the most accurate and unflinching portrayal of the the underside and ugliness of Mumbai, India. Talented Indian writers are susceptible to the the jingoism emanating from the media and bollywood; and probably fear being condemned as unpatriotic if they they accurately depict the subcontinent, warts and all.
12
First, The India you are talking about in 1980s, was 42 years old. In 1980s, India was torn by war such as those in 1962, 1971, and 1985. At that time all the resources were exhausted by fighting the wars. The only country to support India was USSR, on the other hand Pakistan was supported by US. Regardless, to the supporting countries, India was managing an entire country of huge population without anyone's help. Born in 1996, I witnessed and went through the war of 1999, where soldiers everyday came back from front DEAD in the capital of India (where I lived). There were ditches built everywhere, steel shutters on shops, and rationed food. After that the government was busy funding those families who's son's or father died in war. The government slowly started building up the infrastructure, buying weapons to ensure the safety of its citizens. Hence, the improving process was slow, partially due to inflation in 2008. Sure, India in not a perfect country, but neither is any. But surely the days of India are better when compared to 1980s or 90s
2
If everyone, the writer of this piece included, will follow what JFK wonderfully stated --viz., do not ask what the country can do for you, but do what you can for the country, much can be achieved also in India. The problem I see in India is nobody seems to listen, and nobody seems to bother to alert others around that a system has to be followed for the betterment of all. I had always difficulty telling people to stand in line, or even to pick up after them, and my relatives and friends in India seem to always warn me that today's India is different and that you cannot suggest anything to others. I believe with an alert and concerned PM now, the country (India) will reorient itself to better habits. After all, we have had that social consciousness and the sense of public service and cleanliness earlier, we just have get back to our basics! I remain optimistic, as I remain optimistic about the filth and general degradation of public awareness here in the USA.
5
Based on all of the comments and Mr. Taseer's article, I think people are substituting "ugly" for "dirty?" Overpopulation and poverty can make a nation dirty, but to condemn it as ugly, I think is not accurate. A writer would recognize the semantical difference.
6
Many reasons -- the prominent ones I have seen is -- garbage outside is not the problem of the residents -- we expect some one else "govt" to clean it up. In Bangalore which ranked recently #7 on Swacch Bharat Index -- I routinely see garbage workers clean the piles with bare hands. No gloves, no protection and utils. Reason being -- garbage collection is outsourced to contractors, who could care less about their workers. So workers strike regularily due to poor working conditions.
One the positive note -- Mr Modi campaign is a good start -- It is great for a PM to acknowledge this problem and try to do something about it. Concerned citizens are taking up cleaning on their own -- see UglyIndian campaign. There are several campaigns to clean the lakes and rejuvinate them. The important thing is local residents should feel having a stake and just do it to clean their environments. Not expect the corrupt govt to take care of it.
One the positive note -- Mr Modi campaign is a good start -- It is great for a PM to acknowledge this problem and try to do something about it. Concerned citizens are taking up cleaning on their own -- see UglyIndian campaign. There are several campaigns to clean the lakes and rejuvinate them. The important thing is local residents should feel having a stake and just do it to clean their environments. Not expect the corrupt govt to take care of it.
8
I think overpopulation will eventually self regulate. In the same way crashes occur when the ecosystem can no longer support the population of a given species. This article suggests that the human population correction my be coming sooner than we think.
15
The real filth and the source of filth is the caste system that is embedded in Hindu culture. You want clean air and clean water end the caste system. Good luck.
13
The sooner humans are extinct, the better. As a whole, we are an abject failure.
24
Overpopulation. So many of the people coming to Kos are from the Indian subcontinent. The solution is to have a humane and open border policy for the excess population of the Indian subcontinent.
2
I left India for the U.S in 1960 after graduating from the Indian Institue of Science and tired of the socialist, corrupt regime of Indira Gandhi. The population was 350 million and the country was clean with breathable air and clear blue skies. It is tragic to see it overcrowded, polluted and getting worse every year. There are very manageable solutions. Most large metros have open fires leading to particulate pollution. More garbage is produced than the landfills can accommodate and are burnt. Power plants convert waste into power under controlled conditions to almost eliminate particulate pollution. Strict enforcement of existing environmental laws can cut industrial pollution at the source. Automobile pollution was cut in New Delhi before the wide use of Diesel Engine. Eliminate use of diesel fuel and where possible use CNG. Much the same can be done by minimizing use of coal in power generation. The government and the public are increasingly using alternate energy. Same with water pollution. Modi has launched a program to eliminate open defecation and is showing results. While, I despair of the pollution in India now, I am optimistic about its future.
7
India's population is 4 times that of the US with only a third of the land. It is impossible to expect the American lifestyle. Being born in India, you realize this very early on and plan your life accordingly. This 'ugly reality' is nothing new to us Indians. We have been facing up to this for quite a long time. Progress is slow, but we are definitely getting there.
7
Bollywood, Cricket, Family tradition and religious rituals - these 4 castle walls sustain Indians through blindness to the squalor around them - they dont need great and truthful writing to tell us what we already know - while in Delhi recently we could barely see the airplane next to us, so thick was the dusty smog
but Times are changing - the younger generation, while still scrambling for the latest cell phones - is exposed to information about how things can be, and how much each individual can do, not merely blame the Government, but take ownership of the problem.
Just as Teach for India has now young people on stipends willing to go to villages to teach children
they dont wait for the Bollywood star or the cricketer to clean up on TV, but seek to do it themselves.
there is hope even if there isnt a lot of time..
but Times are changing - the younger generation, while still scrambling for the latest cell phones - is exposed to information about how things can be, and how much each individual can do, not merely blame the Government, but take ownership of the problem.
Just as Teach for India has now young people on stipends willing to go to villages to teach children
they dont wait for the Bollywood star or the cricketer to clean up on TV, but seek to do it themselves.
there is hope even if there isnt a lot of time..
9
Gee, the rest of us have been aware of this for a long time. More birth control and education might help. Maybe, not.
12
I read all the negative comments and the article, I am sure written to raise the awareness. Instead of complaining, take on some task to help.
a subtle, or not so subtle reminder, what uncontrolled population growth does to land and people that inhabit it.
147
I believe we,in the U.S.,due to no immigration limits.are going to find out,ourselves.
15
The apocalyptic state of the Indian environment presented in this article does not quite square with my own observations in several parts of India after a recently completed 18-month stay there. Yes, there are problems of pollution and trash, with varying levels, across India, but I attribute those to the fact that India is over-populated and still a largely poor, developing country with such attendant problems -- in the same way that Europe and America experienced them in their economically "emerging" decades. India, like China, is going through the same growing pains. It is true that no Indian government before the current Modi-led one gave any serious thought to tackling the menace of trash, filth and pollution, but it is gladdening that Mr. Modi is paying it a serious attention. Now there is even an emerging culture of ranking Indian cities on the basis of "cleanliness" and "livability."
14
The solution to pollution is dilution, but India as far too many people trying to live without enough space or resources. Unfortunately the consequence for India has been what is described in this article. Indian families need to show more responsibility with their reproductive choices. Otherwise, India's problems will continue to get worse.
67
Let me correct you.. Indian families in the North need to show more responsibility with reproductive choices. Most of south is already at or below replacement rate.
12
I remember visiting India in 1992 as a college student through a study abroad program. The best part of visiting Agra was getting on the back of the motorbike of a gift shop owner next to the Taj Mahal. He drove my friend and I to his house where his wife baked us fresh roti. And his daughter sang for us. It felt so authentic compared to the monotony of the restaurant food and scene at the air conditioned five star Sheraton we were stayng at, which was not unlike the food chains of Indian restaurants in Mamhattan. And another day I signed up to volunteer for Roofs for the Roofless a.d visit SOS childrens village for orphans. I took train from bustling Madras ( now Chennai) to small town, then a bus after there were no more train tracks, then a jeep, then a motor scooter bike when the jeeps couldnt get through the village roads,, until at last I arrived at a pristine village untouched by time and space on the back of a bullock cart filled with hay. There in the 110 degree heat, I drank coconut water from a freshly cracked coconut. I drank water in my palms and ate food with my hands on a banana leaf cooked in water from a clean stream that finally cured the nonstop diarrhea I had from drinking and eating five star hotel water and food.
26
Kant - eighteenth century, please.
11
The present human population comprises an appreciable fraction of all humans who ever lived. We are racing to exhaust the planet's capacity to sustain us.
36
Let's call the kettle black: most castes will literally not stoop to clean up their own mess. It is beneath them figuratively because of culture and religion, and so it must remain beneath them literally.
Add now another hurdle: the "blame it on the Brits" ethic that is currently in vogue—applied to everything wrong in India—is not helpful.
India is a wonderful country in so many ways. It is also caught within layers of nets that are woven of its own absurdities. Cultural heritage equates to myopia.
Add now another hurdle: the "blame it on the Brits" ethic that is currently in vogue—applied to everything wrong in India—is not helpful.
India is a wonderful country in so many ways. It is also caught within layers of nets that are woven of its own absurdities. Cultural heritage equates to myopia.
45
Having travelled the length & breadth of India for both work & personal trips, while I will agree that in general most citizens (educated or otherwise) do not have basic civic sensibilities. The reasons are plenty and actions are few. While large scale projects are required to cleanse these places it's the smaller day-to-day facilities which are the immediate need of the hour too.
I'll just take up one case here.
Lets consider an example of the govt administration whose duty is to provide sufficient waste-bins at every street corner. Their negligence here results in litter as people have fewer options left. I have seen exceptions to this which is visible wherever stricter rules are enforced e.g. beaches in Mumbai, most part of Chandigarh city, and a few more here & there.
But largely degradation of nature is a result of habit, and to change habits on a large scale requires stricter norms. If the govt machinery can ban smoking in public places, penalise rash drivers etc. then a stricter enforcement against littering will surely result in improving the scenario. Over time cleanliness will become a habit and the impact of this immediate action by the govt will not seem as harsh.
For a country with such a large geographic spread and an economically divided population requires a mix approach by both the citizens & govt administration to tackle this issue. Hopefully the India of the next decade will provide a different vision.
I'll just take up one case here.
Lets consider an example of the govt administration whose duty is to provide sufficient waste-bins at every street corner. Their negligence here results in litter as people have fewer options left. I have seen exceptions to this which is visible wherever stricter rules are enforced e.g. beaches in Mumbai, most part of Chandigarh city, and a few more here & there.
But largely degradation of nature is a result of habit, and to change habits on a large scale requires stricter norms. If the govt machinery can ban smoking in public places, penalise rash drivers etc. then a stricter enforcement against littering will surely result in improving the scenario. Over time cleanliness will become a habit and the impact of this immediate action by the govt will not seem as harsh.
For a country with such a large geographic spread and an economically divided population requires a mix approach by both the citizens & govt administration to tackle this issue. Hopefully the India of the next decade will provide a different vision.
10
I have found many places in US with high level of pollution, but USA does not want to accept that. If you go to any downtown areas in USA, you will find dirty streets and housed. Also India got only 68 years from the independence from British. USA got more time than India got. Also Modi never got political contributions like American politions. So he can do what he wants for the countries. EPA is also puppet of US corporations, Did sea dark yellow river? India is learning the effect of pollution. After few years, you will see very clean country.
7
To bad you cannot add pictures to the comments. I remember walking along the Ganges River in Rishikesh on New Year's Day 2011. The trash, plastic, everywhere, made me ill. I still have that picture.
18
This is also in part the result of a fatalistic outlook on life. If others suffer, it is their fate. If you suffer, it is the sins of a past life.
Modern India has evolved at the margins, but is still basically unchanged.
Modern India has evolved at the margins, but is still basically unchanged.
12
Climate change and environmental degradation is another litmus test differentiating China from India in this new century.
The Chinese political leadership is taking effective policy actions to address the challenge. The world public opinion knows the challenges will be met and solved successfully by Beijing.
The Indian political leadership, meanwhile, clings to old third world diplomatic rhetoric. That is, India can do whatever it takes to become a developed nation regardless of climate change and environmental impacts.
On climate change and environmental protection China is future and India the past.
The Chinese political leadership is taking effective policy actions to address the challenge. The world public opinion knows the challenges will be met and solved successfully by Beijing.
The Indian political leadership, meanwhile, clings to old third world diplomatic rhetoric. That is, India can do whatever it takes to become a developed nation regardless of climate change and environmental impacts.
On climate change and environmental protection China is future and India the past.
9
The writer is forgetting that India is a democracy. While China is a ruthless dictatorship. Just by mandating, China will not be able to solve its environmental problems.
Also, the writer seems ignorant about what happened just a few days ago - a disaster of major proportion due to the explosion.
Also, the writer seems ignorant about what happened just a few days ago - a disaster of major proportion due to the explosion.
You need to google Tianjin.
1
Thank you for telling it like it is.
In school we’d write lovely essays about how beautiful our country is – its diversity, landscape, food, etc.. And yet, something didn’t quite feel right. It hit me only much later – nothing of what I’d written matched the reality around me. Yes, we do have beautiful places in the country, but what about our cities?
I was born and grew up in Mumbai. I’m 30 now, and I look around the city and all I see is ugliness, and it pains me because I know just how beautiful the city can potentially be. And I ask myself: Have we stopped believing in the common good? Or maybe we never did…
At the back of my mind, I know the answers: the nexus between politicians, builders and corporations; the fact that slums were and continue to be a major vote bank; the lack of strong environmental laws (can’t afford to have stringent laws when you’re a developing country (!?)); the massive corruption; the lack of transparency and ownership in the system… The good intentions of a few well-meaning individuals and organizations come to naught when faced with these.. And yet, we bash on regardless, and learn to look for signs of beauty amidst the squalor...
We’d do well to remember what two wise men said – (1) Virtue lies in the middle, and (2) there is enough for every man’s need but not for every man’s greed.
In school we’d write lovely essays about how beautiful our country is – its diversity, landscape, food, etc.. And yet, something didn’t quite feel right. It hit me only much later – nothing of what I’d written matched the reality around me. Yes, we do have beautiful places in the country, but what about our cities?
I was born and grew up in Mumbai. I’m 30 now, and I look around the city and all I see is ugliness, and it pains me because I know just how beautiful the city can potentially be. And I ask myself: Have we stopped believing in the common good? Or maybe we never did…
At the back of my mind, I know the answers: the nexus between politicians, builders and corporations; the fact that slums were and continue to be a major vote bank; the lack of strong environmental laws (can’t afford to have stringent laws when you’re a developing country (!?)); the massive corruption; the lack of transparency and ownership in the system… The good intentions of a few well-meaning individuals and organizations come to naught when faced with these.. And yet, we bash on regardless, and learn to look for signs of beauty amidst the squalor...
We’d do well to remember what two wise men said – (1) Virtue lies in the middle, and (2) there is enough for every man’s need but not for every man’s greed.
76
I remember when Indian commentators used to tell foreign writers including Naipaul, "Why do you see only filth on your way from the airport to the five-star hotel?" In my hometown of Amritsar, arguably one of the dirtiest city in India, a well dressed man was seen to put a handful of water people use to wash their feet, to his lips outside the holy Golden Temple! Blind faith and superstition has something to do with it.
12
Taseer is a very good writer and I expected a better article than this. No doubt it is well written but smacks of of a hurried piece produced close to deadline.
The Mumbai I grew up in did not pay much attention to public hygiene. Fortunately then it was a less crowded place so perhaps it did not grate as much as it does now. When I returned for periodic visits home from USA, I was mocked for being a stickler for public hygiene with "don't bring your American ways here". It started changing as more and more Indians returning from visits abroad spoke vehemently about the contrast between other countries they had visited and what they saw at home.
Today most middle class urban Indians lament the public squalor but feel that it is some one else's job to remedy the situation. A combination of "outside my home is not my responsibility", the govt is responsible for cleaning this mess, no respect for manual labor, casteist ideas of cleaning being relegated to the low castes, etc has created a public inertia.
Though I am not a Modi fan, I am very glad that he has drawn so much attention to this mess with his slogan of "Swacch Bharat" (Clean India). Unfortunately he is better at trumpeting catchy slogans than pushing the govt bodies at various levels to drawing up concrete, workable solutions to tackle the problems. Nevertheless, it is a good start.
The Mumbai I grew up in did not pay much attention to public hygiene. Fortunately then it was a less crowded place so perhaps it did not grate as much as it does now. When I returned for periodic visits home from USA, I was mocked for being a stickler for public hygiene with "don't bring your American ways here". It started changing as more and more Indians returning from visits abroad spoke vehemently about the contrast between other countries they had visited and what they saw at home.
Today most middle class urban Indians lament the public squalor but feel that it is some one else's job to remedy the situation. A combination of "outside my home is not my responsibility", the govt is responsible for cleaning this mess, no respect for manual labor, casteist ideas of cleaning being relegated to the low castes, etc has created a public inertia.
Though I am not a Modi fan, I am very glad that he has drawn so much attention to this mess with his slogan of "Swacch Bharat" (Clean India). Unfortunately he is better at trumpeting catchy slogans than pushing the govt bodies at various levels to drawing up concrete, workable solutions to tackle the problems. Nevertheless, it is a good start.
19
everyday as i go to some schools in pune in western india i see the school boards full of drawings of animals rivers lakes birds trees etc,On sundays these small children can be seen on nearby hills watering the plants which they have planted with care and as the monsoon rains fall the hills turn green.And the children get thrilled.As i speak i see children showing great interest in the environment.Yes we have imbibed all the wrongs from the industralised world...cycles are nowhere to be seen...slums sport airconditioners ...reckless use of fresh water to clean cars..but seems there is a change among the young ....the other day i see a group of chinese clicking away at the clear blue sky...a welcome sight from china...YES WE ALL HAVE OUR WRONGS
3
CLEAN UP, FIX UP The uglification of a nation has, tragically, found a place in India. That 4,500 children, on average, die daily from diarrhea cries out for relief. India's need to clean up can be combined with worldwide efforts to make life on Earth sustainable. Building sustainable energy plants could provide an important first step in cleaning up the air. Burning garbage and waste for electricity would be another. Cleaning up water using new filtering technologies would be a third great step forward. It's terrifying to contemplate the results of India cannot or will not decontaminate itself, for many innocent men, women and children will die from breathing poisoned air, eating poisoned food and drinking poisoned water. Carried to the extreme, the population would collapse, taking manufacturing along with it. The cost in human lives would be incalculable, leave alone the economic damage. We must study India carefully and support the restoration of its environment, for we are all headed along the same path to poisoning ourselves.
4
If you can't drink the water or breath the air, then what use is everything else?
60
I was touched by this author's clear bewilderness during his change from the article of faith, "India is a beautiful country." to "India is filled with raw sewage and trash."
I am not certain he has fully come to terms with India's true condition, in that the strong echoes of his "articles of faith" are still in him. He is still searching for a lexicon to describe his India, and his feelings for India, accurately.
I truly appreciate his embrace of future environmental changes, sewage treatment, etc. These projects will hopefully provide work for Indians, as well as clean water.
That the author shared his conflict so deftly, and subtly, while clearly explaining his journey toward seeing the true aesthetic of his India, is the mark of a good writer.
I am not certain he has fully come to terms with India's true condition, in that the strong echoes of his "articles of faith" are still in him. He is still searching for a lexicon to describe his India, and his feelings for India, accurately.
I truly appreciate his embrace of future environmental changes, sewage treatment, etc. These projects will hopefully provide work for Indians, as well as clean water.
That the author shared his conflict so deftly, and subtly, while clearly explaining his journey toward seeing the true aesthetic of his India, is the mark of a good writer.
30
Current PM Modi is all about industry and industry in India means coal and unabated development ( read: environmental destruction and increasing pollution).
Climate change, rising seas and changing monsoons along with decreasing farmland productivity will mean inevitable disaster for much of India.
Climate change, rising seas and changing monsoons along with decreasing farmland productivity will mean inevitable disaster for much of India.
15
600 million people depend on an aquifer that will be pumped dry within 20 years.
12
It is true that today's India is not beautiful as our poets depicted in their works - it is full of ugliness both external and internal. This ugliness can be removed only by Indians and Modi's Sacha Bharat is the starting point. I am now old in my seventies but I have faith in Indian spirit. Since Independance the Idea of India was challenged by many ways - partition, language problem, cast problem, economic problem, corruption - all were daunting tasks. Indian spirit was able to tackle or is tackling these issues. I am sure, India will solve its environmental problem also. The dream of beautiful India - external and internal will be realized. Only sadness is I will not be there to take part in it.
14
Modi's swacha Bharat is for PR and has achieved nothing to date. Let's not forget that he has also loosened the restrictions on industrial polluters, which to any logical mind would be contradictory to the idea of swacha Bharat (clean India).
4
Not sure you know what he has been doing in that regard. He is known to be a person who delivers. I do not expect the problem to be anywhere close to be solved in his tenure. But is awesomely great to have a person at PM level acknowledge the issue and try to goad the citizens and govt to do something. There is also the need to provide employment to the youth -- so cannot ignore the industrialization. The very large population cannot survive simply on a pristine environment.
ugly - but independent!
1
A few years ago my son took a trip to the Punjab, which he finished up in Mumbai. He has traveled a lot, and he of course took pictures. Never had I seen so many plastic bags smashed up, blowing around and fermenting in filth as in these unedited pictures.
It was shocking to handle pictures, which make you want to immediately wash your hands after handling. I've lived among the poorest in Southeast Asia, but never seen anything like the images of India. Finally, someone has faced up to the fact of India the pustulant, and it is about time.
It was shocking to handle pictures, which make you want to immediately wash your hands after handling. I've lived among the poorest in Southeast Asia, but never seen anything like the images of India. Finally, someone has faced up to the fact of India the pustulant, and it is about time.
41
Over the months each year spent in India for 35 years, the pollution has become unbearable. Once I was walking behind a man who dropped a large amount of trash. I tapped him on his shoulder and said, "Excuse me, you dropped something." He turned around and said, "This is India madam!" I said, "This is planet Earth sir!" He said I was right, and he said next time. He was not going to bend over and pick up his trash in front of a woman.
The elephant in the room is the communal caste system. It is always someone else's problem. The people who drop trash scream at authorities about all the trash. They throw garbage out the window of their homes, buses, cars, it is not their own environment so it is not for them to keep clean and clean up.
India has become one big parking lot. If everyone road bicycles, they would get to their destinations faster and get much needed exercise. You see not only obese adults, but children now. The pollution, over population, consumption of fast food, and more is a multi-faceted problem, but a lot of it rooted in the caste system and corruption. I hope the country can clean up.
The elephant in the room is the communal caste system. It is always someone else's problem. The people who drop trash scream at authorities about all the trash. They throw garbage out the window of their homes, buses, cars, it is not their own environment so it is not for them to keep clean and clean up.
India has become one big parking lot. If everyone road bicycles, they would get to their destinations faster and get much needed exercise. You see not only obese adults, but children now. The pollution, over population, consumption of fast food, and more is a multi-faceted problem, but a lot of it rooted in the caste system and corruption. I hope the country can clean up.
55
Westerners never understood India, India never stopped following west. Sorry, these pollution was not their in india where people had community identity. India was clean then. We could swim in the rivers. We could catch fishes from local streams. It is the western socialists who sold false plans without understanding their impacts, India ordinary India never understood the changes, always ridiculed for what she is to react, so we have this cesspool.
2
Any political leader of bussines will have to recognize that sustainable development is to cultivate the future of all nation Congratulation India
1
Republican Party heaven! No government planning, hurrah! No burdensome government regulations, hurrah! No jobs-killing Environment Protection Agency, hurrah!
62
Most, if not all, of the national parks in the U.S were funded by Republican donors and approved by republican presidents. Ignorant unlearned comments like yours just go to fuel the image we have of democrats. Sad, actually. Get a job and a life.
The very first and foremost problem with India is over population. That is the problem with many countries where a religious belief prevents the use of birth control or countries that have no or few women's health clinics that can help with women who want to limit the size of their families.
Until the problem of over-population is taken to be a major issue for religious leaders and governmental health aid is given, India along with many other countries will have larger and more pollution, broken and destroyed infrastructure, and even greater problems with health issues.
Until the problem of over-population is taken to be a major issue for religious leaders and governmental health aid is given, India along with many other countries will have larger and more pollution, broken and destroyed infrastructure, and even greater problems with health issues.
38
Everywhere in the world, where corporations have taken the reigns of control, you see the degredation of the environment and of beauty. It is the habit of the profit motive. If it doesn't make money, it has no value.
31
I notice that once again many people commenting disregard the influences of history. In the 18th century the Indian people were exploited by others, British American, high caste Indians to grow poppies for the Opium trade to China. This ruined the agricultural lands. To-day is simply a continuation of this policy: Just a change in the products from exploitation. Much of the caste system may have disappeared on the surface, but it still exists, mush as racism in this country.
3
As someone else has pointed out, India has copied all the wrong habits of some Western nations but not imbibed even one good habit. Case in point - Everyone wants to drive their car to work and throw their garbage on the street. The excuses are the same and correct - Not enough public transportation and not enough well trained sanitation workers. The Governments at the national, state and local levels have failed the people repeatedly and the people are not inclined to practice common sense self governance. In every way, India has moved as fast as possible from the Mahatma's sayings.
However there is hope - Young Indians are more aware, more educated and more willing to go the extra mile for their country.
However there is hope - Young Indians are more aware, more educated and more willing to go the extra mile for their country.
48
No even "one good habit"? What about democracy, free press and independent judiciary? The problems mentioned in this article are real and need to be addressed urgently. But it remains true that India is the only functioning democracy in Asia west of Japan.
In which western country do they have the habit of throwing trash on the street?
Functioning democracy? Not even the United States has a functioning democracy i.e. one that operates in the interest of the majority of its citizens. Just because you can vote doesn't mean you have a functional government.
2
I understand that India will be overtaking China in population by mid century. I am sorry folks, but we are kidding ourselves in thinking we can save the Earth's environment as mankind grows by billions. By the time we peak at eleven billion the only life on this planet will be us humans, the animals we exploit and the pests we can't eradicate. I am afraid we have forsaken our children's future by having too many of them. We here in the US are not immune because we are so pro immigration the United States is projected to grow by 100 million. Nothing nowhere is going to get better with more people!
141
Don't blame US growth on immigration; we breed like rabbits just like everyone else. We also live longer in general.
6
How can we "know" that the earth's human population will peak at 11 billion? What's going to stop the growth? And if something can stop it at 11 billion, why not slow and halt the burgeoning population at some point before that? This entire business of unfettered population growth is simply insane. One of the things that anti-abortion people bring up is that 45 million, or 60 million abortions have happened since the Roe v. Wade decision: depends on whose numbers are offered. But what they don't consider is that if all those pregnancies had been completed, we would be either near or past half-way to that hundred million increase in population. The real remedy is effective contraception, both to the conundrum of abortion and the problem of overpopulation.
We just cannot go on this way.
We just cannot go on this way.
3
Wrong! According to the NY Times, DEC. 4, 2014, "the general fertility rate in the United States — the average number of babies women from 15 to 44 bear over their lifetime — dropped to a record low last year, to 1.86 babies, well below the 2.1 needed for a stable population." Without immigration, the USA would have a declining population.
3
Maybe it's time India did some "soul searching" about its environmental problems too.
23
The Clean India Mission ("Swaccha Bharat Abhiyaan" in Hindi) was announced with much fanfare last October, but as a citizen (and resident) of India, I have seen nothing in action; the mission just seems to be an empty slogan. Unless there is a closely-guarded plan in the works, though I don't know what the government is biding its time for. In my part of Delhi, which is considered an affluent area, the infrastructure was and remains abysmal. Potholed roads, unmaintained sidewalks (where people urinate freely so pedestrians walk on the roads instead), and recently all the streetlights have been turned off as well, making the roads pitch dark after sunset. Waste management is exactly what it was before; garbage gets picked up and dumped further down the road, well in sight and smell of anyone who takes a walk outdoors.
43
Sadly, what you are experiencing is true in Bangalore, too.
There was never an "article of faith" that India is a beautiful country. That is something we simply tell all foreigners; and they see threw it within five minutes of landing in India :-) NRIs too know this very well, which is why they are Never-Returning-Indians (which is OK. We only need your dollars - just subscribe to a GoI Bond)! Seriously, this is how the Brits left us 69 years back and we have preserved that legacy (and even added to it) over the last 69 years. This is how we are. Some take it. Some leave it. The pollution part if highly exaggerated. The filth is not.
12
I can see from the last comment - that the "pollution part" is highly exaggerated - that we who work in air pollution have some educating to do in the Indian community!.
As someone who has lived in New Delhi for the past 3 years, I can tell you with certainty that the pollution part is not highly exaggerated.
1
Like almost in the case of every problem India faces, corruption is at the root of this problem of dirty streets and pollution. At every level of government, services are not provided for waste removal, recycling etc for the funds allocated are eaten away by greedy officials and contractors. Households ignore rules on proper drainage and sanitation in collusion with local authorities who are supposed to ensure compliance. As Prime Minister Modi likened corruption to termites, unless drastic and sincere effort is made, it will consume the nation.
41
If (if!) the Indian government is finally taking steps to clean up the streets of Indian cities, that is very good news. I believe that it will take both government action and a change in attitudes. There is not much the average citizen can do about air pollution - which is also a major problem in China. But while parents in China also worry about the air their children breath, the streets of their cities are much, much cleaner than those in India.
In a total of four months traveling in India, mostly by train, and walking the streets rather than being driven everywhere, I saw trash cans only in Pondicherry, and some of those were broken. In the Indian section of Singapore there is no trash on the streets, so change is possible. The streets are also cleaner in Sri Lanka, where it is also much quieter - the noise pollution from the constant honking of horns is another problem. When I arrived in Sri Lanka from India I thought at first that I had gone deaf. (Lane discipline was also better.)
Aside from dealing with the garbage on the streets and in the rivers, the best thing the government could do is provide and maintain public toilets. This would be a major improvement in the lives of those living on the streets and in shanty towns, and it would also make it reasonable to fine those using the streets as public toilets. I am sure that the well-dressed men I saw casually urinating in the streets were not living on them.
In a total of four months traveling in India, mostly by train, and walking the streets rather than being driven everywhere, I saw trash cans only in Pondicherry, and some of those were broken. In the Indian section of Singapore there is no trash on the streets, so change is possible. The streets are also cleaner in Sri Lanka, where it is also much quieter - the noise pollution from the constant honking of horns is another problem. When I arrived in Sri Lanka from India I thought at first that I had gone deaf. (Lane discipline was also better.)
Aside from dealing with the garbage on the streets and in the rivers, the best thing the government could do is provide and maintain public toilets. This would be a major improvement in the lives of those living on the streets and in shanty towns, and it would also make it reasonable to fine those using the streets as public toilets. I am sure that the well-dressed men I saw casually urinating in the streets were not living on them.
20
As a life-long professional artist my understanding of aesthetics is the lotus, not the mud. But it is inextricable from the fact that the lotus grows out of the mud.
Yes Indians must awaken to their terrible life-style of so little sanitation and so much pollution and environmental desecration. And explosive over-population. However, India is the most beautiful place in the world. India has produced the greatest spiritual teachers of the world. Japan, Tibet, Nepal and some others have given the world many enlightened beings, cultures and the sciences of yoga for the body, mind and soul, but India reigns supreme.
Yes Indians must awaken to their terrible life-style of so little sanitation and so much pollution and environmental desecration. And explosive over-population. However, India is the most beautiful place in the world. India has produced the greatest spiritual teachers of the world. Japan, Tibet, Nepal and some others have given the world many enlightened beings, cultures and the sciences of yoga for the body, mind and soul, but India reigns supreme.
11
You speak like some people who were born in long before and have inspired many, through the squalor, misery , fear and full blossom. Nice to read your comment.
Not sure where this author grew up - when I grew up in India we knew India was ugly. When we travelled in India, we had to hunt for good, clean toilets for our mothers & sisters because we knew that India was ugly. We used to throw our garbage out on the street and admire the cleanliness of "foreign" countries - not because we wanted our streets dirty but because we did not know any better (I still remember how revealing the fact that America used a plastic trash bag liner in their trash cans was to my parents when they first visited there in early 90s).
The problem with Indians however is that they get defensive when some one outside starts to tell them that their country is ugly - but even here they will not challenge the underlying assumption but give excuses.
The problem with Indians however is that they get defensive when some one outside starts to tell them that their country is ugly - but even here they will not challenge the underlying assumption but give excuses.
68
definitely it should be accepted this falsified myth.. India is also hypocrite country as well as others developing countries are. sometimes whenever we proclaimed to be "JAGAT GURU " its make me laughable and force me to think its reality of. our leaders propagating this term to hypnotise our innocent illiterate people to get throne of politics. like Islamic militants. its saddened but true which we have to accept this reality without being delay , if we really want to have faith on such article: "India is a beautiful country".
3
That's interesting, because I have also read recently in these pages about the perilous state of India's tigers, which are being threatened even further by the fact that Modi is pushing as hard as possible for economic growth. The article stated that in order to smooth the path for more industry he is rolling back environmental laws which have long been established to protect the country's unique and world famous wildlife, including the most famous of all, the critically endangered Bengal Tiger. Anyone in their right mind would support cleaner air and water in India's cities but surely such an enlightened attitude should acknowledge that ALL life - human and otherwise - deserves a clean and healthy environment to prosper, if India is to be a country that one can be proud of. So which is real truth?
28
Mark, it is interesting that you mention tigers. You read the headline but perhaps not the article itself because in the article it said that the tiger population in India has increased, perhaps by as much as 30%. Perhaps that increase is to the credit of the older, Singh government, but it is also true that the population of lions in Gujarat has increased during the years that Modi was chief minister. BBC said on May 11, 2015: "India's lion population sees 27% increase"
I do agree that pollution, dirt, excessive numbers of cars are all problems. Will Modi be able to address them? Depends on whether he can create ties with the educated English speaking Indian community and make peace with Muslims. I do not take it for granted that he will not try or that he will not succeed. Let us hope.
I do agree that pollution, dirt, excessive numbers of cars are all problems. Will Modi be able to address them? Depends on whether he can create ties with the educated English speaking Indian community and make peace with Muslims. I do not take it for granted that he will not try or that he will not succeed. Let us hope.
2
Tigers are a symbol of India's generally degraded environment. Their habitats are being destroyed for the sake of economic progress. The tiger restoration programme has seen some successes but the article I mentioned - headed Is India's Government Selling Out Its Tigers? - stated that much of that success may be sacrificed due to Modi's emphasis on economic development over everything. I just don't know how you get economic progress without the attendant social hazards of a polluted and degraded environment, unless you have an extremely strict set of laws to prevent transgressions. Modi appears quite willing to discard those laws on the one hand and yet is promising people a cleaned up India on the other. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
To speak of India's beauty is a reaction fuelled by necronostalgia.
1
Seems to me the quote, “No one has ever breathed air as dirty as this,” is incorrect. There are probably several examples, but the clearest is from 79 AD, good old Pompeii. Their rather dirtier air did kill them, but it wasn't due to overpopulation, just ignorance of onrushing doom.
In India's case it's due to overpopulation. Whatever one might say about lack of sanitation, industrial processes, the growth of urban centers without environmentally sound infrastructure, the root cause of all of India's environmental plague is just too many humans.
Improving sanitation is not going to cut it. And heartrendingly callous as this may sound, 4,500 child deaths per day is not going to cut it either. India has to bring its burgeoning population under control, or its environment will continue to decline. After the tigers, the elephants, the cows, and other large mammals have been rendered nonexistent on the subcontinent, humanity's turn will come too. After that, thousands of years hence, the environment could well reestablish a life-sustaining level.
India can see the warning if it opens its eyes. Will it curb population growth or seal its fate?
In India's case it's due to overpopulation. Whatever one might say about lack of sanitation, industrial processes, the growth of urban centers without environmentally sound infrastructure, the root cause of all of India's environmental plague is just too many humans.
Improving sanitation is not going to cut it. And heartrendingly callous as this may sound, 4,500 child deaths per day is not going to cut it either. India has to bring its burgeoning population under control, or its environment will continue to decline. After the tigers, the elephants, the cows, and other large mammals have been rendered nonexistent on the subcontinent, humanity's turn will come too. After that, thousands of years hence, the environment could well reestablish a life-sustaining level.
India can see the warning if it opens its eyes. Will it curb population growth or seal its fate?
91
Most of India's sanitation problems is down to indifference and not population growth. You can reduce the population by half and nothing is going to change. Bringing up population is a cheap shot in my opinion. We are a very,very old nation. India had 200 million people living when it fell to the British in 1750. And has increased by six times since. The American colonies had 4 million in 1776 and 350 million live in the US now. That's nearly a hundred times rise in the population,most of whom were immigrants from Europe. And India, unlike Europe had almost zero immigration to the new world until the 21st century.
Having been there, I have a problem visualizing anyone so besodden with patriotism who thinks that India is a beautiful country. Naipaul, great writer that he is, never described the true horrors. Perhaps in the time of the Raj conditions were better but surely not in the last 50 years.
5
"India is a beautiful country?"
People used to actually say that?
I spent several months traveling around India 40 years ago – north, south, east west, large city, small city, village, rural area -- and a week or so 4 years ago. So I certainly can't claim to know India thoroughly, but I've seen far more of it than most Westerners.
I didn't think of India as a "beautiful country" 40 years ago, and it seemed even more non-beautiful 4 years ago. If there's some reason to return to India, or to recommend that anyone else visit it, I'll confess that that reason escapes me.
It used to be fashionable here in the US to say something like: "India is so [SOMETHING GOOD] once you get past [A VERY LONG LIST OF BAD THINGS." This statement always seemed to suggest that one who didn't like India probably hadn't spent enough time there (or perhaps any time there), or wasn't a careful observer if he had.
Well, I've spent a fair amount of time there, and I consider myself a fairly careful observer. And my impression of India is that it is a very ugly, very dirty, very poor place that I have utterly no desire ever to return to and which I'd never recommend to anyone else. I'd carve out Kashmir, and a few other relatively remote spots, but the exceptions are few and far between.
People used to actually say that?
I spent several months traveling around India 40 years ago – north, south, east west, large city, small city, village, rural area -- and a week or so 4 years ago. So I certainly can't claim to know India thoroughly, but I've seen far more of it than most Westerners.
I didn't think of India as a "beautiful country" 40 years ago, and it seemed even more non-beautiful 4 years ago. If there's some reason to return to India, or to recommend that anyone else visit it, I'll confess that that reason escapes me.
It used to be fashionable here in the US to say something like: "India is so [SOMETHING GOOD] once you get past [A VERY LONG LIST OF BAD THINGS." This statement always seemed to suggest that one who didn't like India probably hadn't spent enough time there (or perhaps any time there), or wasn't a careful observer if he had.
Well, I've spent a fair amount of time there, and I consider myself a fairly careful observer. And my impression of India is that it is a very ugly, very dirty, very poor place that I have utterly no desire ever to return to and which I'd never recommend to anyone else. I'd carve out Kashmir, and a few other relatively remote spots, but the exceptions are few and far between.
71
Good for you, most people don't have the courage, conviction or the absence of wisdom to hold onto such beliefs.
This comment is unfortunate and purely one man's opinion. I've spent a lot of time in India and am confident that like myself, other visitors will be stunned and charmed by the beauty of its landscapes, people, diversity, religions, traditions, intellectual culture, wildlife, arts, etc. I urge people who can make the visit to go see India.
Yes, there is trash in the streets of cities and I would not consider a dip in most bodies of water near an urban centre but Indian people are getting more aware of the problem and are looking inward and outward for solutions.
Yes, there is trash in the streets of cities and I would not consider a dip in most bodies of water near an urban centre but Indian people are getting more aware of the problem and are looking inward and outward for solutions.
"The Indian writers I grew up reading didn’t write about the squalor of our towns and cities; they either edged it out, or they emphasized those aspects of Indian life that would appeal to foreigners."
This does not seem representative of Indian writers at all — most Indian writers write in Indian languages, and are read by Indians, not foreigners. Maybe Aatish Taseer grew up exclusively reading English-language Indian writers who do write for an international audience (i.e. for "foreigners"), English-language Indian writing is a very small proportion of Indian writing, much of which contains incisive social criticism and does not fit the above description at all.
This does not seem representative of Indian writers at all — most Indian writers write in Indian languages, and are read by Indians, not foreigners. Maybe Aatish Taseer grew up exclusively reading English-language Indian writers who do write for an international audience (i.e. for "foreigners"), English-language Indian writing is a very small proportion of Indian writing, much of which contains incisive social criticism and does not fit the above description at all.
4
I visited India in 2010. Suffering still from jet lag, but restless, I hit the familiar streets of Chennai where I wandered as a teen. I saw several folks with handkerchiefs tied like masks around their mouths and noses. The air was stifling to breathe and a haze hung in the air, dimming the sunlight. I thought I was losing my eyesight for a bit before I realized the miasma was the pollution. The India where I grew up was, indeed, beautiful. Parrots and mynahs in the trees, kingfishers, electric blue, fishing in lagoons and backwaters, kites circling in the sky, butterflies in meadows and the smell of jasmine spilling from gardens. There was plenty of filth too, cow dung and human waste, open gutters with mossy waters and gaping manholes and beggars galore. But nothing as fetid and putrid as what I saw in 2010. I told myself--this is what London must have been like when the plague swept through it. The open defecation, the lack of public toilets, the lack of water, the casual casting of litter into every public place imaginable including on train tracks filled one with dread. Indians themselves are impervious. The rich live gated and drive everywhere they go. The high tech India of Tom Friedman fame is no more than a labor force for the West. Of what use high tech to India, when most Indians live without toilets and without running water? I wonder if Friedman ever walked on an urban Indian street. Bogus is the man's blah, blah about India.
121
After all we are living in a society which was ruled by Rajahs, Moguls and Brits, in a summary, the common man was only 'used' and 'slaved' by these autocrats (and castism). The main objective of a common Indian was to earn the bread-and-butter and not to be clean. So the huge population has been 'evolved' with these thoughts.
The change has begun and the change has to be multi-dimensional: Family, Society, Education, Law and Governance - All should talk about this, work on this and action on this;
Results? Wait for a generation!
The change has begun and the change has to be multi-dimensional: Family, Society, Education, Law and Governance - All should talk about this, work on this and action on this;
Results? Wait for a generation!
8
China was the poster child for environmental degradation and lethal pollution. Until this was made clear by the American Embassy through independent monitoring, the polluters operated freely for profit while literally killing millions of Chinese per year. Now that the pollution is indisputable, the government is at least paying some lip service if not actual deeds. In India, it was recently revealed by the Western press that its pollution is even worse than China. Until then, everyone thought it was fine. Hopefully, the government will implement at the necessary changes to prevent the premature deaths of millions per year.
7
I would like to add to this article and say that there is not even a single place in India that we can say is clean. It is a very depressing fact. We take great efforts to attract foreign tourists to India, but we make no effort at all to make at least the tourist places in our country clean. Some tourist places are horrible regarding cleanliness with very large crowd visiting these places and making the place dirty day by day.
And I have no hope at all that Indian towns and cities can achieve a clean image in the next 100 years or even further. Compared to the mega cities and town, the villages are better at least in some parts of the country.
With rapid urbanisation and ever growing corruption, things are going from bad to worse and the place is becoming inhabitable. Even in small towns you can find wastes in plastic bags and huge sacks whether it be plastic,organic, chicken and fish wastes strewen in the roads and people have to walk these streets holding their breath. The authorities concerned don't see them at all and it is not their concern at all, for them the main effort is to get max vote in the next election.
Another pollution is the visual pollution, contributed by political parties, businesses, institutions and individuals. In each and every street you can find huge flex boards with faces of politicians,super stars and mega stars and all the like. These flex boards are kept illegally and are a hindrance to drivers views in many place. But nobody cares.
And I have no hope at all that Indian towns and cities can achieve a clean image in the next 100 years or even further. Compared to the mega cities and town, the villages are better at least in some parts of the country.
With rapid urbanisation and ever growing corruption, things are going from bad to worse and the place is becoming inhabitable. Even in small towns you can find wastes in plastic bags and huge sacks whether it be plastic,organic, chicken and fish wastes strewen in the roads and people have to walk these streets holding their breath. The authorities concerned don't see them at all and it is not their concern at all, for them the main effort is to get max vote in the next election.
Another pollution is the visual pollution, contributed by political parties, businesses, institutions and individuals. In each and every street you can find huge flex boards with faces of politicians,super stars and mega stars and all the like. These flex boards are kept illegally and are a hindrance to drivers views in many place. But nobody cares.
26
"Every society has its articles of faith:.....'India is a beautiful country'."
I have never been to India so I have no first-hand knowledge of reality or perception, but I do remember a series of articles in The New Yorker by Ved Mehta, who was a staff writer for decades at the New Yorker (1961-1994), with these articles, basically an autobiography, describing inter alia the filth in India when he was growing up, especially the waste, human and animal everyplace (blind he may have been, but he had other senses).
But then I guess Aatish Taseer might not have considered Mehta, living in the West, an Indian writer.
I have never been to India so I have no first-hand knowledge of reality or perception, but I do remember a series of articles in The New Yorker by Ved Mehta, who was a staff writer for decades at the New Yorker (1961-1994), with these articles, basically an autobiography, describing inter alia the filth in India when he was growing up, especially the waste, human and animal everyplace (blind he may have been, but he had other senses).
But then I guess Aatish Taseer might not have considered Mehta, living in the West, an Indian writer.
5
The great benefit to the U.S. of having India in the world is that it serves as a kind of early warning system for trouble that is heading our way. Right now, I figure they are about 25 years ahead of us in falling down bridges, trains that fall off their tracks, building collapses, air and water pollution, blackouts, massive fires caused by spontaneous combustion in garbage dumps, religious riots and human stampedes. Of course, the U.S. is doing an excellent job these days of trying to close these gaps, so the actual time needed to catch up with them will likely prove to be considerably shorter.
71
I lived near a river in the state of Gujarat and emigrated to the States back in the early 80s. We bathed in the river and drank its water. Something happened in the late 80s. I was itching from bathing. In the 90s I would hear incidents of boys being poisoned or gravely ill from eating fish caught from the River. During this time factories had sprung up that dumped their waste water into the river or dug a well and dumped the waste water.
The 80s were beginning to fade away bicycles, bullock carts, and walking; motorcycles were becoming more popular in our area as a means of transportation. The city of Surat where textile mills were everywhere, the local creeks were colored red or dark blue. Nobody cared about the consequences.
Corruption was becoming an eyesore. My grandfather, an honest and patriotic person was retiring and new more aggressive set of men were taking up leadership roles.
The current prime minister Mr Modi, must've seen this as well.
It's going to be an uphill work. The public, local leaders, and the businessmen need to understand the benefits of clean, green, and pollution free environment. NEW competitive industries that are profitable yet less taxing to the above entities should be invented or placed in the country. All three sectors need to pitch in part of their man hours everyday to greener environment. Since this involves making or losing money, all nations need to play fair about slowly reducing polluting factories.
The 80s were beginning to fade away bicycles, bullock carts, and walking; motorcycles were becoming more popular in our area as a means of transportation. The city of Surat where textile mills were everywhere, the local creeks were colored red or dark blue. Nobody cared about the consequences.
Corruption was becoming an eyesore. My grandfather, an honest and patriotic person was retiring and new more aggressive set of men were taking up leadership roles.
The current prime minister Mr Modi, must've seen this as well.
It's going to be an uphill work. The public, local leaders, and the businessmen need to understand the benefits of clean, green, and pollution free environment. NEW competitive industries that are profitable yet less taxing to the above entities should be invented or placed in the country. All three sectors need to pitch in part of their man hours everyday to greener environment. Since this involves making or losing money, all nations need to play fair about slowly reducing polluting factories.
5
We have too many people on our planet and its getting worse.
Despite efforts to increase resources we will end up with a predictable result.
Its likely we will be faced with major droughts and natural disaster's in the future We need to reduce our population to reasonable numbers.
Despite efforts to increase resources we will end up with a predictable result.
Its likely we will be faced with major droughts and natural disaster's in the future We need to reduce our population to reasonable numbers.
29
Good luck cleaning India up. You're going to need plenty.
4
Is not India set to surpass China in population? Is not size of population related directly to pollution?
16
Well articulated the reality of India. unfortunately, many
in the middle class are obsessed with GDP and
the growth rate at any cost. Prime minister Modi
wants clean India but also wants easy acquisition of
land for the industrialists to mine the coal, iron ore,
build factories and highways which will also destroy
the habitat of dwindling number of species and
do further damage to the environment. Government needs
to formulate a sensible environment policy and pursue
sustainable development. Coal fired plants already
polluted air in Delhi, Punjab and more such plants will
aggravate it further. Another life essential,food, is
polluted with the chemicals. Heart disease and cancer
cases are rising rapidly, and unfortunately, at young age.
There is a big job for Mr. Modi and his government to
clean up India, not just the roads but air, water and food
as well. All eyes will be on him in December at Paris
meeting. He should join hands with president Obama
to push aggressive targets on environmental clean up.
in the middle class are obsessed with GDP and
the growth rate at any cost. Prime minister Modi
wants clean India but also wants easy acquisition of
land for the industrialists to mine the coal, iron ore,
build factories and highways which will also destroy
the habitat of dwindling number of species and
do further damage to the environment. Government needs
to formulate a sensible environment policy and pursue
sustainable development. Coal fired plants already
polluted air in Delhi, Punjab and more such plants will
aggravate it further. Another life essential,food, is
polluted with the chemicals. Heart disease and cancer
cases are rising rapidly, and unfortunately, at young age.
There is a big job for Mr. Modi and his government to
clean up India, not just the roads but air, water and food
as well. All eyes will be on him in December at Paris
meeting. He should join hands with president Obama
to push aggressive targets on environmental clean up.
1
I left India more than 25 years ago, but visit every now and then. I fully sympathize with writer on contradictions of India and Indians. Modi is the first PM to raise cleanliness of India as one of the the core problems. He has to be commended for his courage to fight the false sense of pride that Indian maintained and some of them (who have not seen rural India) still maintain. Is this the price of a fake democracy that Indians have to pay for or corruption that Nehru/Gandhi Family perpetuated. Thanks to the internet age that Indians are able to see the world. With the Chinese economy five times bigger, Indians have to worry if system is really working for them. World has put a lot of hope on Modi. Things look very grim if he fails or falls.
2
Well, if I had ever thought of going there, I'd be re-thinking it now.
I know a professor here who says his absolute best graduate students are from Bangladesh. They sleep in the lab and generate lots of data and papers.
Why? So they can show the US government they're an asset to this country and so not have to go back to Bangladesh.
I know a professor here who says his absolute best graduate students are from Bangladesh. They sleep in the lab and generate lots of data and papers.
Why? So they can show the US government they're an asset to this country and so not have to go back to Bangladesh.
4
You lost me when you began to write about aesthetics. Pollution is far more critical. The pollution you describe smothers all life in ways both large and small. Even if your child survives the fecal contamination, poor air quality alone may be a key link to Alzheimer's down the road http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/05/air-pollution-dementia-al...
We have reached the point that every poor habit of a culture is multiplied by hundreds of millions, or in India's case, over 1 billion. Modi needs a miracle.
We have reached the point that every poor habit of a culture is multiplied by hundreds of millions, or in India's case, over 1 billion. Modi needs a miracle.
17
It’s heartening for an American to see public recognition by an Indian of the pollution that fouls the subcontinent; particularly so in light of the environmental regulation President Obama imposes on Americans primarily through EPA – because ours is a global biosphere, and we can do all sorts of things in developed countries that cost us middle-class jobs, but unless China, India, Russia and MANY other countries make acute sacrifices as well, those we make won’t amount to much strategically. Publically recognizing and accepting pollution is the first step to curing it.
However, that said, this likely isn’t the mission of a few years for India. Theirs recently became the world’s most rapidly growing economy, surpassing China’s at 7.5% -- every major sector but agriculture has surged ahead. What this means to India’s still-immense numbers of subsistence-poor can’t be overstated. It provides a source of jobs that give many an opportunity for some measure of prosperity their families have never known before. Serious programs to diminish the pollution that plagues India can’t help but negatively affect that wild growth, in part through regulation that redirects capital from the basic growth to means of mitigating the pollution, in part through diminished consumption.
There will be resistance, not least from those who cannot exploit opportunities that no longer exist at the same levels to escape generational impoverishment. It will take time.
But it seems they’ve made a start.
However, that said, this likely isn’t the mission of a few years for India. Theirs recently became the world’s most rapidly growing economy, surpassing China’s at 7.5% -- every major sector but agriculture has surged ahead. What this means to India’s still-immense numbers of subsistence-poor can’t be overstated. It provides a source of jobs that give many an opportunity for some measure of prosperity their families have never known before. Serious programs to diminish the pollution that plagues India can’t help but negatively affect that wild growth, in part through regulation that redirects capital from the basic growth to means of mitigating the pollution, in part through diminished consumption.
There will be resistance, not least from those who cannot exploit opportunities that no longer exist at the same levels to escape generational impoverishment. It will take time.
But it seems they’ve made a start.
1
Our educated Indian friends in cosmopolitan cities -- leave aside the semi-literates in smaller towns and rural areas -- are offended when their visiting relatives from foreign countries advise them to do something about filth, garbage and waste management in their localities. Some say it's cultural; some say it comes from the caste system. Yet, there are many who ascribe dirt and pollution to lack of education, civil awareness or corruption in the local administration. All of the above is true.
People and the provincial governments seem to cringe a little when the news line about open defecation in India appears in international journals, but it's forgotten soon. Years ago, a scheme was launched to have a low-cost toilet made for the poor. There are public toilets as well. Still, the number of people going out in the open to relieve themselves is alarmingly high.
During our stay in hometown, Darbhanga (Bihar), last summer, we found to our amazement that, not very far from our house, there were working families without proper latrines. My wife and I offered help to those families to have applications written for small grants or to have the private facilities made with local contribution. But, the family members -- especially men -- didn't show much enthusiasm. They believe bringing or using a toilet commode within the precincts of home is an unclean practice, a compromise. They would rather go to the bank of the nearby river.
Needed are more than education or grants.
People and the provincial governments seem to cringe a little when the news line about open defecation in India appears in international journals, but it's forgotten soon. Years ago, a scheme was launched to have a low-cost toilet made for the poor. There are public toilets as well. Still, the number of people going out in the open to relieve themselves is alarmingly high.
During our stay in hometown, Darbhanga (Bihar), last summer, we found to our amazement that, not very far from our house, there were working families without proper latrines. My wife and I offered help to those families to have applications written for small grants or to have the private facilities made with local contribution. But, the family members -- especially men -- didn't show much enthusiasm. They believe bringing or using a toilet commode within the precincts of home is an unclean practice, a compromise. They would rather go to the bank of the nearby river.
Needed are more than education or grants.
18
Do a quick Google search for Varthur lake, in Bangalore. It is horribly polluted. Large blobs of foam pile up and float across the road. The causes? Illegal encroachment. Raw sewage flowing into the lake. But nothing is being done. The reason: Corrosive (pun intended) and endemic corruption. Instead, officials point fingers at each other and absolve themselves of any blame. It's wrenching. And depressing.
6
Several decades ago the urgent concern was that India's teeming millions will starve themselves to death. That did not happen, thanks in part to Borlaug's Green Revolution. But, after a respite, India now is in danger of choking on its own refuse. For a country with India's enormous population and large population growth rates, the two dangers are always present. To be able to maintain its large population densities, India needs to transform itself into a relatively affluent society. Prime Minister Modi's focus on sanitation is commendable. But, in the end, it is only a much more affluent society that can afford to do the things that are necessary to ensure that children don't go hungry and don't suffer from malnutrition brought about by an insanitary environment.
1
Many thanks to Mr. Taseer for drawing attention to this mess. The situation if anything is much worse than described by him. The full details are not suitable for a morning newspaper. What makes the problem monumental is the common acceptance of these dirty conditions and practices as normal - even by the resourceful well educated and well informed classes in India. People who do so much to keep the inside of the homes clean are accustomed and silent to the filth outside. And, the ever growing shortages of water is going to make the things more difficult.
If Mr. Modi wants to show results, he does not need to travel far. The pristine waters of the river yamuna - coming from Himalayas - are turned into sewer by Delhi itself.
If Mr. Modi wants to show results, he does not need to travel far. The pristine waters of the river yamuna - coming from Himalayas - are turned into sewer by Delhi itself.
5
The government of India should look into composting toilets. This isn't a total solution because you have to properly deal with grey water. But it's a real solution. This would be a start. I'm going to post an example. There are many others.
http://www.compostingtoilet.com/
http://www.compostingtoilet.com/
Gigantic UGGGGG...!!!
As ever, it is India's elites who are blind to the realities of their own country. I'm pretty sure the people living in the midst of the squalor need no reminding of their own filth.
What India needs above all is a community in which _all_ people suffer and strive equally. If the brightest and richest Indians had to suffer the same garbage the poor have had to suffer for centuries, this country would turn itself around in a generation. Instead, the elite strive to join the _global_ elite and depend on "charity" and other good-will nonsense to solve systemic problems affecting all those left behind.
India should not be a "good" country or a "pure" country or a "spiritual" "beautiful" or "holy" country. It should strive to be a _functional_ country. That is morality: making sure everyone can eat, can read, can earn a living, can live with some degree of hope and security.
India is never further from this than when it basks in the so-called 'morality' of its traditions or the aesthete's need to turn what is a life and death situation into his own personal literary quandary...'never giving up on beauty'...disgusting!
As ever, it is India's elites who are blind to the realities of their own country. I'm pretty sure the people living in the midst of the squalor need no reminding of their own filth.
What India needs above all is a community in which _all_ people suffer and strive equally. If the brightest and richest Indians had to suffer the same garbage the poor have had to suffer for centuries, this country would turn itself around in a generation. Instead, the elite strive to join the _global_ elite and depend on "charity" and other good-will nonsense to solve systemic problems affecting all those left behind.
India should not be a "good" country or a "pure" country or a "spiritual" "beautiful" or "holy" country. It should strive to be a _functional_ country. That is morality: making sure everyone can eat, can read, can earn a living, can live with some degree of hope and security.
India is never further from this than when it basks in the so-called 'morality' of its traditions or the aesthete's need to turn what is a life and death situation into his own personal literary quandary...'never giving up on beauty'...disgusting!
3
Thanks for writing this article. Its on the spot.
After growing up in India for 25 years, I was completely desensitized to the filth and pollution in every city, big and small. It took me another 10 years of living in the US to fully get the perspective that distance provides.
Now I can barely visit India for more than a week at a time. The glamour and glitter of the cocooned middle class life in India is too jarringly at odds with the filth, squalor, and poverty that lies right outside their homes. I just can stand it. And the main reason is that most Indians just don't care. No matter how much garbage gets thrown on the ground, they shake it right off and keep living right on top of it.
After growing up in India for 25 years, I was completely desensitized to the filth and pollution in every city, big and small. It took me another 10 years of living in the US to fully get the perspective that distance provides.
Now I can barely visit India for more than a week at a time. The glamour and glitter of the cocooned middle class life in India is too jarringly at odds with the filth, squalor, and poverty that lies right outside their homes. I just can stand it. And the main reason is that most Indians just don't care. No matter how much garbage gets thrown on the ground, they shake it right off and keep living right on top of it.
18
What is the point of waking up? The Indian PM talks about 'Swacch Bharat' or 'Clean India' but he seems blind to the reality that there is no government or private agency in a single big or small city (companies like 'Waste Management' here in the US) that handles public waste disposal. Until that changes having movie stars or politicians pose for pictures with a broom is not going to lead anywhere. Equally importantly, the reason India is so dirty is because Indians believe that their responsibility to maintain cleanliness extends only to encompass the inside of their own home. Indians do not hesitate to empty the trash from their home on the street outside. Businessmen do not hesitate allowing pollutants from their factories into the air and/or water sources closest to the factory because they believe they are safe inside their expensive "phoren" cars with windows up and AC on and with "Aquaguard" filters in their own kitchens. Indians talk about "people's lack of civic sense" without ever accepting that they are also part of the same "people". And that is never going to change. Indians are great at talking the talk... but walking the walk never ever happens.
12
What India will get in it's efforts to clean up the squalor is what they have come to expect, lip service. You'll see.
3
Growing up in small town India. Never did see the grim reality. Now it is all pervasive. I hope that Clean India mission does take root.
1
Both my husband and I feel very strongly that even if someone gave us an all expense paid trip to India, we will not go. Sorry. Have heard too many horror stories from friends that have traveled there. One lady has traveled to many countries but India is the only one post travel she had to be hospitalized. One guy made sure even the water he brushed his teeth with was bottled water, yet he still suffered vomit and diarrhea.
7
I lived in US for over 15 years.. Travelled frequently to India. Only took precautions of using bottled or boiled water and cooked food. Never had any issues following that. You are probably over stating the issue. Water is a basic precaution you need to take in countries like India -- since water as we know is responsible for 80 % of all illness.
a few other articles of faith I heard growing up: 'Unity in diversity', 'Brotherhood of all Indians', 'Wisdom of saints'...looking back I realize the greater the propaganda, the greater of its chances being a complete falsehood...live and learn...
1
Cleaning up India will require not just government efforts but private efforts also. It was very essential to bring the issue into focus and Modi as you say is the first PM of India who put spot light on the issue. It will take two generations of government efforts and huge effort to educate public which needs to be brought back to realize that they all need to treat outside the walls as much their home as inside. Infrastructure to treat solid waste, water pollution and air pollution will require huge investments and land acquisitions and redistribution of population in some cases. None of it easy in a noisy democracy. Also there are other issues also that require capital even more urgently i.e. power, water supply, irrigation etc. etc. so as a start it will have to be public awareness and focus on providing sanitation facilities in schools for girls and boys, for example. It is impressive that Modi through government and private effort addressed that problem in first year of his PMship. It is a very good start.
11
This article is as one sided as the points about India being a perfectly beautiful country. India is called a subcontinent for a reason - it's huge, diverse and sprawling, encompassing some of the world's most stunning scenery in the mountains, valleys and palaces as well as some of the world's most polluted cities. Both beauty and ugliness are simultaneously true - as they say whatever you think about India, the opposite is also true.
7
I spent a lot of time in India in the 1990s. I initially found the squalor and pollution of the big cities shocking. You needed a strong immune system to survive. My wife and kids suffered from asthma so I decided that that a holiday in India was not a good idea. You have not seen real poverty until you have traveled around India.
4
Thank you for writing this. I can't imagine writing it through the sadness.
The largest cause of environmental degradation in the world, by far, is animal agriculture. India has, by far, the highest percentage of vegetarians of any major country in the world. In the most important measure, India is doing extremely well.
1
Reading about the horror of India's environmental situation is deeply disturbing and alarming. The horrors being done to the environment rival the destruction being done to India's female population and the enormous impoverished masses of people.
India's environment disaster also rivals the horror of that nation's Tsunami of Abortions and suicides.
India is in desperate need of spiritual, financial, environmental and medical help--let's pray all of these arrive immediately.
India's environment disaster also rivals the horror of that nation's Tsunami of Abortions and suicides.
India is in desperate need of spiritual, financial, environmental and medical help--let's pray all of these arrive immediately.
3
It's too late for India. It does not make sense for the "elite" artists of Indian descent to for example, install an art work titled the "Dirty Corner" in the Versailles Garden. Anish Kapoor's next project should be gracing the Taj Mahal with a sculpture of bloodied hands or the national airport with a title, the "Entrance to Many Dirty Corners." Pushing the race with technocrats would not necessarily help the situation, as long as the desis are going to be so high-nosed about how the lives of the ordinary citizens of the country of their roots count less than theirs. Why would there be huge train accidents after PM Modi makes a move?
"The India of the 1980s became every day an uglier country. It was a place where the very elements of life — earth, water, air — had been poisoned. The land was strewn with garbage, the rivers and urban waterways were choked with plastic bags and white chemical foam."
And yet life Expectancy in India has risen from 54.4 years in 1980 to 66.5 in 2013 indicating the gross changes have occurred have been conducive to longer life spans. Perhaps poverty is the chief enemy of longevity, rather than pollution. Should India give up its extra decade of life span for a billion people (that's 10 billion years) if it could go back to its environmental state prior to 1980?
We may have to make similar decisions regarding our wealth and global warming spending.
John
And yet life Expectancy in India has risen from 54.4 years in 1980 to 66.5 in 2013 indicating the gross changes have occurred have been conducive to longer life spans. Perhaps poverty is the chief enemy of longevity, rather than pollution. Should India give up its extra decade of life span for a billion people (that's 10 billion years) if it could go back to its environmental state prior to 1980?
We may have to make similar decisions regarding our wealth and global warming spending.
John
6
But other species have not fared so well. Currently there are more tigers in captivity in Texas than in the wild. Malthus was right, and the only reason his predictions of great die-offs of humans has not happened is because mankind has pawned the dying off on other species.
3
India is collaborating with Israel on water and waste management, and desalinization. Hopefully this will be productive as Israelis are world leaders on this.
3
I have one word for you: overpopulation. India is on course to surpass China in population. India needs to get a handle on this.
13
I moved to Delhi in the mid-80s... Just before Japarnese cars entered the market. The roads were wide open, the air clean. Yes, there were piles of garbage and the poor burned wood and kerosene stoves. But there is no comparison to the state about 10-12 years later, after the population suddenly grew, cars, buses and trucks multiplied and air and water pollution worsened exponentially. By 1998 I developed bronchitis and sinus problems. Leaving the country solved them both.
1
Thank you for writing this, so realistically. Most Ind. Americans would only talk about the gleaming aspect of India. Some 20 yrs ago when I went for a medical conf. in Mumbai at a fancy hotel, the rent there was about as high as at a fancy hotel in Downtown Chicago, or close to in midtown Manhattan; I didn't stay there. I complained about that high price to my Indian Am. fiends here; they all dismissed it. In fact they were & still are proud that hotel room prices in large Indian cities are comparable to similar hotels in the US. The nominal per capita income in India was then about 2-3% as it was in the US, still under 3%, but in PPP it's about 10%.
India has several dozen $billionaires, while 10 million bonded laborers are paid, I believe <1$/day; millions of rural manual laborers in UP, Orissa & Bihar are making, I think <$2/day - tensXK laborers come to Kerala where daily wage for unskilled manual laborers is >$7/day [believe it or not, enough for a family of 5 to live comfortably], traveling over 1K miles. (Per capita PPP in Kerala is only slightly higher than in the Northeastern states, lower than in Northwestern states)
The "filthification" of India is a product of economic liberalization & free-market reform of India, removing barriers for importation of fancy consumer goods, for the sake of some 200M affluent Indians, the Middle Class by western standard. Their interests have become nation's interests, after Indira Gandhi was assassinated
India has several dozen $billionaires, while 10 million bonded laborers are paid, I believe <1$/day; millions of rural manual laborers in UP, Orissa & Bihar are making, I think <$2/day - tensXK laborers come to Kerala where daily wage for unskilled manual laborers is >$7/day [believe it or not, enough for a family of 5 to live comfortably], traveling over 1K miles. (Per capita PPP in Kerala is only slightly higher than in the Northeastern states, lower than in Northwestern states)
The "filthification" of India is a product of economic liberalization & free-market reform of India, removing barriers for importation of fancy consumer goods, for the sake of some 200M affluent Indians, the Middle Class by western standard. Their interests have become nation's interests, after Indira Gandhi was assassinated
3
Partly true, partly myopic. India isn't a monolithic entity. The different states of India are stationed at vastly different levels of economic development. Cultures across India vary widely and Bollywood isn't India's only film industry, though better known than the rest due to its often kitsch and vulgar content. Mr. Taseer could have produced a better piece had he made the effort to venture outside the comfort of his Hindi cultural cocoon.
Waste management in many parts of India is actually a growing problem. It may be that rapid unplanned development coupled with an impoverished population untrained in the basics of waste disposal are to blame. However, it is also true that in the last few decades, rapid economic growth has pushed out more than a 100 million Indians out of poverty. Let people have breads on their tables and a roof over their heads first then we shall consider the luxury of aesthetics.
Waste management in many parts of India is actually a growing problem. It may be that rapid unplanned development coupled with an impoverished population untrained in the basics of waste disposal are to blame. However, it is also true that in the last few decades, rapid economic growth has pushed out more than a 100 million Indians out of poverty. Let people have breads on their tables and a roof over their heads first then we shall consider the luxury of aesthetics.
7
A country that can't even pick up the trash or supply clean drinking water to many of its citizens, yet funds an expensive space program is a delusional mess.
4
Oh, so you consider managing filth, garbage or unhygienic stuff as the "luxury of aesthetics." The average Indians may be asked why they treat their kids to chips and soda pop -- a very recent phenomenon and a health hazard -- but they don't train them to have the waste disposed off properly. "Rapid economic growth" and respect for environment/cleanliness can go hand in hand if we had set our mind to it. But, we didn't.
4
You must have missed the part about pollution leading to health problems. It HAS to be addressed, and addressed before other problems otherwise those other problems will never get resolved.
1
Mr. Taseer concludes, “The greatest aesthetic discovery of my life, as an Indian writer, has been the ability to first see India’s ugliness, and then to find a way to write about it — to find a lexicon for ugliness.”
OK, but how does writing about India’s ugliness in the New York Times help achieve Prime Minister Modi’s “Clean India Mission?” Does Mr. Taseer believe that he can stir up the Indian diaspora in the United States to do something about it? If so, it might have helped if Mr. Taseer had been more objective about achieving the mission, then regurgitating the problem? But it is rather obvious from Mr. Taseer’s conclusion, he is happier to be able to finally freely write about India’s ugliness than suggesting any practical ways to alleviate the problem.
OK, but how does writing about India’s ugliness in the New York Times help achieve Prime Minister Modi’s “Clean India Mission?” Does Mr. Taseer believe that he can stir up the Indian diaspora in the United States to do something about it? If so, it might have helped if Mr. Taseer had been more objective about achieving the mission, then regurgitating the problem? But it is rather obvious from Mr. Taseer’s conclusion, he is happier to be able to finally freely write about India’s ugliness than suggesting any practical ways to alleviate the problem.
1
Pollution these days seems to be everywhere. I walk down streets and pick up litter because I don't want anyone to think it's normal and acceptable. Toilet and drain-fed pollution is another matter. I can't fathom how this waste doesn't end up the ocean and in other water systems, that eventually water the land and/or become the water we drink. Nature is a unified whole -- it seems -- except when it comes to us humans.
1
This is bound to happen because of over population combined with scant respect for surroundings cleanliness. Further, industrialisation and modern living methods have contributed their share of environmental disaster.
All said and done, the writer hasn't given any solution except adding muck to what New York Times writers have been bombarding negative side of India of late through a series of articles.
Every Indian can play his or her role in a small way. People should also keep the surroundings clean in addition to keeping their homes clean. They can refuse to take thin polythene bags, refuse to buy new vehicles, compel the polluting industries to take effective steps in reducing pollution, not to pollute lakes and rivers.
Like in America, Indians also should segregate trash in different trash bags instead of throwing trash in trash bins. Municipalities concerned should provide closed trash bins rather than providing open ones. Further, municipalities should either provide or hire only closed lorries for carrying trash instead of open lorries.
People should discard their old polluting vehicles. They should travel by car pool, public transport to their work places rather than travel alone in their cars or two wheelers as a means of status symbol.
There can be segregation of office, school and college timings, segregation of weekly offs to avoid traffic congestion. Governments concerned should opt for providing as many flyovers as possible as is done in America etc.
All said and done, the writer hasn't given any solution except adding muck to what New York Times writers have been bombarding negative side of India of late through a series of articles.
Every Indian can play his or her role in a small way. People should also keep the surroundings clean in addition to keeping their homes clean. They can refuse to take thin polythene bags, refuse to buy new vehicles, compel the polluting industries to take effective steps in reducing pollution, not to pollute lakes and rivers.
Like in America, Indians also should segregate trash in different trash bags instead of throwing trash in trash bins. Municipalities concerned should provide closed trash bins rather than providing open ones. Further, municipalities should either provide or hire only closed lorries for carrying trash instead of open lorries.
People should discard their old polluting vehicles. They should travel by car pool, public transport to their work places rather than travel alone in their cars or two wheelers as a means of status symbol.
There can be segregation of office, school and college timings, segregation of weekly offs to avoid traffic congestion. Governments concerned should opt for providing as many flyovers as possible as is done in America etc.
2
20 years ago when I was a teenager my grandmother took me to India to see her village. Within two days of landing in Delhi I noticed that every time I sneezed into a tissue, black goop would come out. I didn't think much of it until it happened during my second trip as an adult. There are some beautiful places in India, the Golden Temple is always on my itinerary for example, but I hope that they can do something about the pollution before it's too late. Now before you make comments about how smoggy Los Angeles is, we've improved our air quality over the past few years. I was born and raised here and have never had black snot come out of my nose anywhere else in the world except for India.
5
Yes the India of the past was beautiful because people had not dived headlong into Western Consumer disposal style living; people barely made a living outside agriculture or keeping records for the empire both past and present. Population growth is not the main culprit; it is the lack of clarity about how many people the country can support with the modern lifestyle thrown in. Where to go from here, and how to manage within the confines of resources is a big problem no one in the world has an answer.
1
Raise your hand if you want to abolish the E.P.A. and follow India's lead. C'mon. Raise 'em. Let's do count.
86
Human extinction...people carry on as if that's not actually an option. We're in the first wave of the the sixth mass extinction and if there's any hope for the earth and all future life, humans won't make it past the first cut, they just don't deserve to.
2
On "India Finally Faces Up to an Ugly Reality," Op-Ed article by Aatish Taseer, Aug. 16, 2015. This article is a bold piece of journalism. Aatish Tasweer's decision to write it on the occasion of India's 69th Independence Day is a sign that India is, finally, maturing as a nation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's India is not afraid to let people abroad know that it has dozens of major problems to deal with, but none more important than what Mr. Taseer calls its ugliness, stemming from lack of sanitary facilities for millions of people; streets and sidewalks filled with filth; and polluted air, rivers and ponds.
Mr. Taseer is right in saying that cleaning up India is not anything the government can leave to the people. True, a large percentage of Indians need education in personal hygiene and environmental cleanliness, but the workers, materiel, and machines needed for the clean-up should be provided by central and state governments.
A point Mr. Taseer does not emphasize adequately is that the persistent accumulation of garbage all over the country can become a source of catastrophic epidemics capable of destroying the country's economy. So, no amount of money spent on national clean-up will be too high.
India has much to offer tourists; a cleaner India will attract more of them.
Mr. Taseer is right in saying that cleaning up India is not anything the government can leave to the people. True, a large percentage of Indians need education in personal hygiene and environmental cleanliness, but the workers, materiel, and machines needed for the clean-up should be provided by central and state governments.
A point Mr. Taseer does not emphasize adequately is that the persistent accumulation of garbage all over the country can become a source of catastrophic epidemics capable of destroying the country's economy. So, no amount of money spent on national clean-up will be too high.
India has much to offer tourists; a cleaner India will attract more of them.
The current issue of SIERRA Club magazine contains an article, 'An Indian Coal Plant's Human Rights Crisis,' 'The Overburden' by Jake Abrahamson, which contains an incredibly shocking account of human rights abuses by present-day developers of a coal-fired power plant in India. Villagers are abused to deprive them of their land, which the Indian utility wants for a coal mine and generating plant. The utility lies to them. Those who protest are taken away and beaten by police. The actions described in today's India easily match Communist Eastern Europe in 1960-1990 at its very worst. This is worse than 1970 Communism.
If Prime Minister Narendra Modi is sincere about his Clean India Mission, his government urgently needs to rein in - and punish - criminal acts by Indian coal plant operators. India has not only the world's worst air pollution, India ranks with countries like North Korea in allowing horrifying civil rights abuses.
If Prime Minister Narendra Modi is sincere about his Clean India Mission, his government urgently needs to rein in - and punish - criminal acts by Indian coal plant operators. India has not only the world's worst air pollution, India ranks with countries like North Korea in allowing horrifying civil rights abuses.
4
I'd always assumed the passive acceptance of dirt and filth in India related to the belief in karma and reincarnation - if you are born into poverty, it's because you had bad karma from a past life so you deserve it - nothing to do here.
I've actually stepped over a dead body of a woman as I came out of Patna train station - didn't see it until it was too late - looked around - crowds of people all going about their business - ignoring the dead woman. I've also seen a bloated purple dead baby floating in the sacred Ganges at Varanasi - I guess Indians would say that's the best chance for a good reincarnation.
Add corruption to the mix - it seems to be the main driver of Pakistani politics for example - plus a million gods meaning everyone can worship their own god and ignore everyone else - a million mutinies - a competitive society where men don't share information with each other for fear it may be used against them, and you have a large passive population who blithely ignore dirt, filth and social problems as they walk (or rich people may drive) through their dirty cities.
I've actually stepped over a dead body of a woman as I came out of Patna train station - didn't see it until it was too late - looked around - crowds of people all going about their business - ignoring the dead woman. I've also seen a bloated purple dead baby floating in the sacred Ganges at Varanasi - I guess Indians would say that's the best chance for a good reincarnation.
Add corruption to the mix - it seems to be the main driver of Pakistani politics for example - plus a million gods meaning everyone can worship their own god and ignore everyone else - a million mutinies - a competitive society where men don't share information with each other for fear it may be used against them, and you have a large passive population who blithely ignore dirt, filth and social problems as they walk (or rich people may drive) through their dirty cities.
11
First about the asethetics- aesthetic is not simply an art per se rather an appreciative faculty of mind that captures the hidden beauty in the art object as perceived and presented by the artist. Again, in Indian tradition the concept of beauty has never been a stand alone category but a unified sense of plurality combining Truth-Good-Beauty as one and inseparable. As about the environmental awareness in India, it's ingrained in India's collective mind that's conscious of cosmic unity and balance with an appreciation for the symbiotic relationship between nature and life. If such awareness remained dormant or unnoticed, it was not because of a sense of conscious neglect but due to the compulsions of hard daily life aggravated by a lack of the people centric public policy pursuit by the post-independence ruling elite. The catchy slogans wrapped in the Gandhian concerns or the much hyped clean India mission appear to be an empty rhetoric, having nothing to do with the awareness, that was there but sunk under widespread poverty and ugly life realities- the bane of independent India.
4