Religion, crackers, pollution and politics
Every year in winters Delhi and its surrounding areas gets engulfed in a smoke blanket. Disappointing is the fact that this blanket does not keep the poor from dying on roads but adds to the list of those prone to cancer and asthma. It is largely believed that crackers constitute a big chunk of the PM 2.5 suspended in the environment, the facts tell a different story. The sale of crackers in the last three years has gone down by almost 50 per cent. To the disappointment of religious fanatics, this by no means indicates that crackers do us any good. But this is a message for the intellectuals that everyone is focusing on trivial issues and ignoring the elephant in the room. Courtesy: Bar and Bench The fact that pollution levels are rising every year despite a decrease in sales of crackers forces us to introspect. Also, it underlines that a fine or imprisonment for stubble burning and last moment interventions by the honourable Supreme Court are not helping the cause. Imposing...