Worst polluted

Whatever the outcome of the Copenhagen summit and the supposed "accord", the fact that we are polluting the earth cannot be contested.

The recent study by the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi and the Central Pollution Control Board, shows the extent to which industrialisation increases pollution in our cities. The 10 worst polluted areas in the country are Ankleshwar and Vapi in Gujarat, Ghaziabad and Singrauli (Uttar Pradesh), Korba (Chhattisgarh), Chandrapur (Maharashtra) and Ludhiana in Punjab, Vellore in Tamil Nadu, Bhiwadi in Rajasthan and Angul Telcher in Orissa, all of which are industrial hubs.

These 10 of the 88 studied have been tagged as "very alarming" and indeed that may well be an understatement. The impact of the pollution is manifold. The immediate and most visible effect is on the environment — rivers full of effluent, loss of green cover and so on.

The less visible but insidious effects are on health — various diseases from breathing polluted air, drinking polluted water and even from consuming food products which may originate from the area. Both these are long-lasting effects and the populations continue to suffer for generations.

The Union minister for environments and forests Jairam Ramesh has declared that, "We might put on hold new approvals in these 10 polluted hotspots till their environmental health is restored." This restoration of health however requires a long and painstaking programme which covers all aspects of the degradation. Experience with industrial pollution around the world shows that once the problem gets entrenched, eliminating it may take years.

The cure can be as painful as the disease, especially for a country raring to go ahead with its plans for industrialisation. Let it be remembered that even agriculture has been industrialised these days and machinery and chemicals are ubiquitous.

The challenge before us is enormous and while this study paints a stark picture, it only reasserts or re-documents what people already know. Anyone who has passed through Vapi has seen water bodies which are red, yellow and green and has smelt the chemicals in the air. Vapi's destruction was not a secret. What is distressing is that many new areas have been added to the list.

The heat of the argument over climate change has done us one disservice. It has turned the argument away from environmental degradation, which remains a core concern. We have to, in today's fashionable language, fight this battle holistically.