“The environmental cataclysm not any more is knocking your door, it already entered and passed your drawing room“.
The impacts of global warming these days are visible very fast and furious. We do not have to wait for the next misfortune or mishap to take place before we act upon as it is already wrecking havoc on every step and stride of our life. Gone are those days to debate and discuss when we should act , now the time is already late and the damage already been caused and most of the time irreversible as expected. While situation had never been so emergent and alarming , so the issue is about how fast as well as how most we can do to manage the effect ie damage which is more needed than mitigate the risk of damaging(as damage already started to take over).So the time now is to understand this impact and undo all those misdeeds we kept doing till date sometimes knowingly and sometimes unknowingly at the cost of first your cohabitants in the great world, then your fellow nationals , next neighbor ultimately ending up to your near and dear ones . There is no escape route as you yourself closed that route by your every misdeed or misadventure. You reinforce this enclosure (of damage turned destruction trap) by your irresponsible use of fossil fuel for your jazzy car or sprawling air conditioned bungalow, by your careless attitude to nature , its fauna and flora life by never planting a single tree or preserving a single animal in your life. You choke the exit route of such carnage by just being oblivious of your neighbor or colleague’s ruthless exploitation of the nature by his or her own means . You never debated over the trade off between the chiseling and carving the road in front of your garage with chopping off the grandfather trees and trunks bearing the storylines of the green locality with its extended family of sparrows, jungle barbers and mynas which might be the source of those inspiring lullaby in your childhood to fall asleep on the lap of your mother. You never intended into any discussion on the great exodus from draught effected land of Bidarbha ,Maharastra or long absence of flamingoes or great Indian bastards which till very recent past rented its winter resort in your local lake or water body. Even you skipped the second page column of your local daily covered on the ever increasing PM percentage in your town. Yes you missed it on every count and kept living in your own illusion of leading a healthy and happy life without even knowing that every wrong action of yours and inaction against those misdeeds just boomerang to hit you harder and sooner. To repeat it will hit you , yourself harder and harsher.
Very recently our department realized it by loosing one of our dearest colleague Sri Pratim Adhikari who passed away in the age of 57 , quite premature but always presumed. Premature because the life expectancy of the man of his status could have been easily more than eighty . Presumed because he was suffering from a incurable disease called IPD. The debate about a death could have been ended here as disease not deterioration of environment caused his death. But with a second look we can find the different picture . As the name IPD or idiopathic pulmonary disease suggests , the cause so also its cure is always unknown but it was very much known how the whole situation , stress of the patient got aggravated due to high polluted air to live in for such patient. The 20 km road to office everyday he used to cover by sometimes public some times private conveyance were just stuffed with dust and dirt visible and invisible (and yes more dangerous they are )to settle on his already stressed and stiffed lungs(progressive pulmonary stiffness is the symptom of this disease). The history of this disease might have not allowed to reverse or recuperate but the breathing pure air , oxygen full inhale could have retarded the progression which could not happen. In his own count and the family’s count his death hastened fast forward part of which was surely this un called for exhaustion of journey and stayed confined in a polluted zone where our office is located. May be the comfort and coolness could not pose immediate problem for healthy one but for the stressed and sick , the surround is never very generous. So we lost the man next to us well before than expected which has hit us really hard. And while being in more ceremonial and compliance mode rather than committed or compassionate to our surrounding flora and fauna we are missing the finer points between those long narratives of pledge , oath and competitive catch lines. And that is how far we are serious and sincere to save ourselves who may feel sound today but very become fast sick tomorrow and succumb to al those ailment incurable , fast aggravating day after tomorrow. Saving environment is no more saving only the greater world but our closer world , the lives of our dear and near one. The causality of decay(environment) and death(life) and destruction (surrounding) has never been so faster and fully visible in front of our eyes.