The 14-year old boy, Faaz, was a great lover of nature. He would love the view of massive mountains full of magnificent green gold(forests) from the view of his window. Every Time at the magical dawn which was serene and calm, he used to lift the curtains of his window ,to breathe in the fresh air deeply which would relax him & remove all his worries and anxieties .He used to love the pleasant smell of soil after rain. He would love walking on the green velvet grass .The sight of clear bluish sky would bring him calmness & the melodious gushing river with crystal clear water flowing nearby his home would soothe his soul. He was in love with the chirping of birds on the tallest tree near his home beneath the shade of which he used to play & do his homework. On Sundays, he used to go for a boat ride across Dal Lake with his family. He also used to watch the beautiful Hanguls jumping happily & roaming freely which would bring a smile on his face. This pulchritudinous natural environment surrounding him made him feel his home was in an area, no less than the heaven.
But with increasing years, Faaz grew up & so did the population of his area, thus changing the environment completely with every single day. Now he cannot even remember the last time when he had enjoyed the view from his window because the atmosphere is too polluted to even open the window completely, let alone taking deep breaths at the dawn & looking out from it, only to witness the dark grey, smoke evolving from the chimney of newly set factory near his home. He just leaves a tiny gap of his window open to let at least some light enter his room because he doesn't hate his lungs to let in the outside polluted air which has become toxic enough to infect his respiratory system in a matter of few days.
He isn't able to focus on his studies because of the noise of the machines of the nearby factory & street traffic passing nearby his window. Faaz hates it when every time he is about to recapitulate the exact formula while solving a Physics numerical & suddenly a loud noisy horn "Pumm.." shifts out his focus & he forgets it all. His place has now been a total chaos which makes him feel anxious & depressed daily. Whenever he goes to the garden to escape from depression and feel somewhat calm, the scorching heat of the sun forces him to go back & sit inside his room .Unfortunately not even a one single tree is left where he could enjoy the shade or melodious chirping sounds of colorful birds. Whenever he wants to quench his thirst, he has to use water from" Pure it" rather than from the river which flows even today but only to be used as the waste bin of his area.
Last time, there was a marriage function in Faaz's neighborhood. The marriage was celebrated with zest & fever, streets were cleaned, not even a single wrapper was left out & it really looked beautiful. But the very next day, a huge pile of rotten food, water bottles, cans & other trash items could be seen on the same street, some were thrown in the river. Dogs, eagles & filthy flies were enjoying their party on this pile and the atmosphere was unbearably filled with foul smell.
It is difficult to pass by that road even now because that pile is still there, left untouched by people. Dogs have outnumbered the area & children are afraid to walk on the road alone. Last time, Faaz had a narrow escape from a dog who was about to bite him. He is really thankful to the boys standing there at that instant .They somehow managed to kick the dog out otherwise Faaz would've become a Rabies patient. Every time any friend of his visits Faaz, he has no other choice but to listen patiently to the list of complaints his friend makes regarding his pure, filthy area.
Whenever alone, Faaz still longs for the area he used to live in when he was a child. His lungs crave for the clean & fresh air of the dawn. He just wants to hear the chirping of birds & the melodious sound of river with crystal clear water again. He truly wishes to have the pleasant, scenic view from the window of his room .He again wants to ride boat in the crystal clear waters of Dal lake (which isn't any more clean).He wants to enjoy freedom of Hanguls' again & experience the serenity & calmness once again but Alas! he cannot.
The Almighty Allah had gifted us, humans with this amazingly beautiful earth & it's alluring environment full of numerous resources including air, water, land & forests so that we could benefit ourselves & pass them to our upcoming generations ,in the same way as did our ancestors but today we've become too selfish and greedy to even think of our fellow human folks & share our resources with them, let alone caring for the future generations who are even yet to come.
We've devastated our environment totally, destroying it's green lush forests, which were even more precious than any wealth or treasure. Due to reckless deforestation, we have a large number of area left barren resulting in great risk of heavy landslides, floods & storms, decreased rainfalls ,droughts & famines..Also after destroying large hectares of forests which are natural habitats of wild fauna. Due to this, their moments i've now become unpredictable as they're left homeless. All this can lead to a more thickening Red Data book which records endangered organisms who are on the verge of extinction & are hustling to survive. The movements of these homeless wild beasts have become unpredictable .Now they can often be spotted wandering in the cities, causing fear & havoc among people ,even attacking humans. Recently a leopard killed a little four -year old girl in a village of Budgam leaving people in shock. Who pushed these wild beasts to come to populated areas are none other than we humans. This disturbed natural balance in the environment.
We've polluted all the water bodies, filled them with trash & toxicity to our Dal Lake isn't any exception. Wastes from house boats, boats of vegetable hawkers, chemicals from hospitals & factories all go inside these water bodies, fertilizers from farm lands all get washed off into these water bodies thus polluting them and killing the fish & other water organisms. Diseases like Cholera, Hepatitis-B & diarrheal infections. Also there is already a water crisis & shortage of fresh water at many places of the world like Beijing, Jakarta and many others.
The atmosphere too has become completely lethargic full of lethal gases of Carbon monoxide, C.F.C's ,Methane ,dust particles & smoke evolved from vehicles ,factories & industries all over the globe. More & more people are suffering from Asthma, a common respiratory problem ,chest infections & from other severe pulmonary diseases The greenhouse effect has increased causing melting of glaciers & ice caps ,& destruction of Ozone layer largely
.The peace and calmness has, as if vanished from this globe which is replaced by noise & chaos all around thus increasing the heart diseases, hypertension & anxiety.
In nutshell, we humans have intervened in the environment, crossing all the limits, have given open invitations to all the catastrophes & are even facing them repeatedly, be it in the form of diseases, floods, droughts, famines, landslides, storms. These catastrophes are destroying us and if we won't mend our ways, then the day isn't much far when all our resources will become exhausted & this will ultimately wipe off the human population will be wiped off in a large number because "environment reacts"! it's reaction will be the tremendous destruction for human kind .
Before we reach this dangerous level, we need to save our environment from getting destroyed. We should not take any resource for granted .As is said; The lost thing is valued the most. So we should realize the value of our environment before we lose it & would've nothing left in our hands but regret just like Faaz.
World Environmental day is celebrated on 5th June of every year to awaken our conscience for the environment and its resources. Throughout the week, environmental programs are conducted to let the world know why & how to protect our environmental resources.
We should try minimizing the use of vehicles as they emit harmful, air-polluting gases from them which eventually deteriorates the quality of air .We should promote public transport usage & using vehicles which run on gas. Using bicycles as a means of transport, should be normalised. Electronic vehicles should be developed in the whole world. Also we should prevent smoking as it risks both our health as well as our environment.
We should set up factories in regions which are away from populated areas & should ensure that the smoke coming out from their chimneys is properly filtered & the waste is properly discarded. We should fit silencers in our vehicles, factories , industries, vehicles & increase afforestation as it prevents noise.
We should judiciously use water. Water plants should be increased so that they'll purify the dirty water & bring that back to it's utilizable form. Taps should be tightly closed & water leakage in pipes should be repaired immediately once detected. We should properly discover toxic materials from waste coming from hospitals from throwing them into water bodies. Constructions along the banks of water bodies should be demolished if they try to degrade the quality of water. Water logging should be prevented.
We should try our best to reuse & recycle our worn out materials before throwing them out. Plastic bags should be banned totally as they're chemically inert to soil. Instead cloth bags & paper bags should be used. A well drainage system needs to be built.
We should stop wasting paper as it is obtained after cutting trees. This can be done by promoting usage of e-newspapers, e-magazines & e-calendars. Using e-books should be encouraged.
A yearly lockdown throughout the world should be imposed every at least for a week in order to give earth a break, to let it heal itself but in that meantime, everything should continue through online mode. But daily essential services should be offline.
Fossil fuels should be minimized as they are a great source of air pollution. Instead we should bring hydral energy solar energy in usage for electricity purposes. We should use energy saving appliances instead of high energy consuming ones.
Wild flora and fauna should ensure maximum safety . Poaching should totally be banned and a high amount of fine should be imposed for the one who, in any way harms the environment. We should try to attain the natural balance in environment back.
Natural fertilizers should be used which are animal wastes or manures instead of chemical fertilizers. A separate land should be made available at every place for dumping waste materials. Also there should be dustbins with lids in all the localities. Solid waste & liquid waste should be well separated.
Rain water harvesting system should be developed. Sprinkle irrigation & drip irrigation should be made into usage often. To prevent floods, landslides & soil erosion at hilly areas, terrace farming should be used. Over grazing in fields should be monitored.
We should try to develop empathy inside ourselves & put ourselves in the shoes of the upcoming generation. What if we exploit every resource, so they won't be able to survive for much long and this'll extinct the human race. Development of this mindset will stop us from over exploiting resources & conserving them for future generations. This is called practicing sustainable development which really is essential & need of the hour for environmental protection.
The most important thing which we can do is to create awareness regarding savage of our environment by uploading posts about it on social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter & Instagram etc).We should write about it so that everyone gets aware of importance for protecting environment & it's resources for ourselves & for ones to come or else we would be left with no other option other than regretting upon our flaws & careless nature but it would have been already too late to change anything.
When simple water is quenching all my thirst, it would never be my second love but my first,
Making the dry earth moist & fertile, from which we grow our food is really precious, the soil.
There's Oxygen from plants in every breath I take, So I can never hate environment even by mistake
Food comes from nature, which you post online. Have you ever thanked nature before you dine?
Unfortunately, toxic gases from vehicles have occupied the clean air, They've also destroyed our protective Ozone layer.
The water bodies too are being treated no less than a waste bins, Filled with all kinds of plastic wastes, chips wrappers & cold drink tins
Toxic, harmful chemicals have degraded the soil's chemistry, it's going to affect our diet very severely.
If we don't react against all this pollution, then I feel the end is near. So before that , let's pledge to protect land ,water and the atmosphere.
You're in the environment and the environment is in you. If you pollute it's resources, it'll in turn pollute you.
All gadgets are made from the elements of the environment. Now what else do you want to know to start loving the environment.
Crops growing in soil, with the help of rains from the sky, Nature gives freely to all without asking "to whom & why"
This world will be a beautiful place to live in every season, if you show your love & care to environment, being Nature's netizen. Environment is much more precious than diamond & gold, Take care of it without being told.
(The author is an Honours student from ICSC department of Zoological Science and can be reached at shahwasil100@gmail.com