“We have largely treated Air pollution
as a local issue, rather than a national or even international one. Expecting
local leaders and Chief Ministers to solve the problem is akin to expecting the
captain of a small boat to clean the water around the boat, when in fact the
whole lake is filthy”
Title: The Great Smog of India
Author: Siddharth Singh
Publisher: Penguin Viking
ISBN:
978-0670091171
Genre: Non Fiction, Environment
Pages: 272
Source: Flipkart Review Program
Rating: 4/5 Air Pollution cuts average Indian’s life expectancy by over 4 years.
Thick haze engulfs Delhi, air quality
remains severe.
Delhi smog reveals a global failure on climate change
These headlines make me sick, every time I scroll twitter or any digital news site, especially when I hear about Delhi. I have spent 5 years of my childhood there, particular area was in developing mode then, we had parks, gardens, of course traffic would exist, still situation was not that exhausting, and now ? I feel suffocated, after knowing that people has started buying oxygen packs.
Is this for real? Is that something
we are working hard for? If we have wound in a part of our body, doesn’t the
whole body get affected? That’s what happening to me, that’s why I needed to
read this book, THE GREAT SMOG OF INDIA by SIDDHARTH SINGH. Though we can’t recover
what is already lost but we can surely act towards right direction to save what
we have left.
Without stuffing data and statics, author
created a well researched book. Isn’t it great? I read a non-fiction that too
on serious issue, still I have been enjoyed it thoroughly. The way Siddharth
Singh conveyed message into the form of storytelling is commendable. Readers
are not generally interested in major views, they want to know, how air pollution
impacted human lives. On this note, author did a great job. Simple language
makes this book gripping. Author turned it into a must-read by including human case
studies.
This book considers the fact about biomarkers
and its impact on our genetic material; everyone knows the damage that leads to
cancer
In a chapter, author mentioned an
experience of an athlete, Sania, how Delhi-Smog robbed a runner of her passion
and left her distraught. Of course, Sania is not alone who suffered, there are many
complaints of severe headache and constant
coughing hours so much so that it has been degrading life quality on daily
basis.
Air pollution kills over a million
Indians every year, silently. The silence around the issue is not merely a
function of inaction, our government has been working continuously to cope up
with crisis, taking several measures towards reducing emissions, still there
are holes left in the strategies which need to be reviewed. And this book is
perfect eye opener for everyone.
Author mentioned that “air pollution,
crisis is also beginning to step onto toes of India’s image in the
international arena. For instance, in December 2017, Sri Lanka’s sport Minister
Dayasiri Jayasekra made an official complaint to the International Cricket Council
about the critically poor air quality to which players were subjected during a
fife day test match held in Delhi”
Add to this, The Smog of India by
Siddharth Singh, explores many facets of air pollution in India and what gives
rise to the great smog every winter.
Author states clearly that “The
state governments of Punjab and Haryana had mandated that the timing of the
rice planting should coincide with the monsoon rains which lash the region
starting early July. Since 2009, there has even been a law called the Punjab
Preservation of Subsoil Water Act that has prohibited the cultivation of paddy
before a date is decided by the government.
Owing to such mandates and
regulations, the two crop periods of Kharif and Rabi in the case of rice and
wheat moved close to one another, leaving about fifteen days in between the two
crop cycles.
This put pressure on farmers to
prepare the farm for the next crop in a handful of days, and burning the
residue has proven to be the cheapest and quickest way to do so”
In the beginning, author talks about implications
of air pollution on human health and freedom. What are the key factors behind
this pollution? Along with transport and industries author didn’t forget to
consider the geographical and meteorological factor that impacting air quality
of Delhi.
I liked the way book ends with some
takeaway and potential answers. Air Pollution imposes the second highest
disease burden in India after child and maternal malnutrition. You can't escape from it but insulate yourself by being aware of it. Reading this
book is a wake up alarm for Indians, more than that opportunity to regain our
fundamental right to live a happy life.
Highly Reccomended!
ABOUT AUTHOR
Siddharth Singh is an energy,
mobility and climate policy expert. He was selected to be a German Chancellor
Fellow in 2016-17 under the guardianship of Chancellor Angela Merkel's office.
In the past, he has worked at the Wuppertal Institute in Berlin, Fridtjof
Nansen Institute in Oslo and TERI in New Delhi. He has a graduate degree in
international studies and diplomacy from SOAS, University of London, and an
undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Delhi. The Great
Smog of India is his first book.
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