Unavoidable?
Environmentalists might cry from rooftops that doomsday is near, but no society or individual will give up growth for earth’s longevity

Melting glaciers, failed monsoons, 12-hour power cuts in the capital, 43 degree temperature and need for ACs in Dehradun, schools’ closure in hill station of Shimla due to heat and water problem. It’s a summer of discontent. Well, summers are a season of discontent anyway, but the sad news is, we will have more of these news bits to share, than some pleasant surprises, like for example, early rains or prolonged winters or tolerable temperatures in June/July.

And the point is, can we do anything about it? The answer is a simple no. Environment is at loggerheads not just with development today — development in terms of mega projects of big builder lobbies. It is also at loggerheads with individual aspirations. Any human, whatever his circumstances, aspires to a life to the fullest, in terms of material comfort, career growth and his family’s wellbeing. He might or might not adhere to all the responsibilities of a civilised world, but he demands all the rights. Try stop him from attaining that! Therein lies the conflict. With one billion people in India alone striving to a life of dignity, where does the concern for environment fit in? And this is at a stage when 400 million are living in abject poverty. Can we — those who have achieved our goal of dignified living — ask our less

fortunate brethren to give up their dreams, in the name of clean air and pure water? Sad it is, that though we are entitled to clean air, we are on politically wrong side in demanding that. This issue of discussion came up a few months ago, in March end/ early April, when my friends from other South Asian countries were rejoicing the launch of Nano and hoping that it would hit their roads too. I told them about the environment concerns that had been aired. They retorted, “But it’s a matter of rights. How can one set of people tell other set of people not to possess cars?”

This is the crux. Who can stop whom from advancing? How can the western world dictate to the developing countries to put a curb on its growth? How can the rich section of the developing world demand sacrifices from its poor brethren when they already have nothing to sacrifice?

That being the case, what are the alternatives left for the world to save the environment from apocalypse? Innovation on war footing, to bring in better technology, now that it’s obvious that no country, no society and no individual is ready to take a step backward. After all, steps on war footing have been taken when economy has suffered. Billions have been offered in bailouts to resussicate companies. Why can’t countries get together to work on war footing for environment, rather than being at war on the issue?

Here I would like to end by reiterating — and this is what I have said on earlier occasions too — that India will have to pick up again the population control programme. Since last few years, that project has been more or less abandoned. We will be dishonest if we refuse to recognise that our huge and poor population is as much a polluter as the sparse, yet rich population of the West. Poverty doesn’t give one the licence to pollute the earth.