Babu thinks nature will clean oil spill on its own

While covering the recent oil spill off the Mumbai coast, I encountered two sets of people — each harmful to the conservation of environment in their own ways. The first was utterly oblivious of the ill effects of the pollution caused by a human error, and the second set comprised fanatics who were against any development. They would happily live in caves and vehemently oppose any brick and mortar project.  

The first set mostly comprised bureaucrats who had minimal knowledge of environment. One of them working for a nodal agency which controls pollution told me in a very matter of fact manner that he did not see any reason for furor over the spill. “How do a few litres of oil in the vast ocean cause any problem,” was his way of reacting.

According to him, nature has its own way of healing itself. “Whatever damage we do, nature will bounce back. There is unnecessary panic over climate change and global warming,” he said. 

On the other hand, environmentalists in their zeal to make the babus and public pay attention to their ideas, oppose every good thing. A well-grounded Green explained the reason behind their fanaticism. “Fanaticism grows on you when you keep encountering indifference to your opinions. Most of the time, environmentalists, unlike other social workers, are pitted against popular public opinion and do not get support for their campaign. This makes some of them aggressive and they lose sight of their cause,” he said.

However, there are environmentalists who can appreciate the need for development as well as the value of natural resources. Even though they are few, I feel better knowing that there will be a sensible voice for both the sides. I sleep peacefully at night thinking that the silent lush green jungle I enjoy every time I trek will have a sensible supporter who will make others think twice before planning any development project there.