Fuming Over Fumes
A quarter of Kolkata’s kids, said a report in a local newspaper, can’t go to school seven days a month on an average. The reason, as a recent survey by the Institute of Child Health has thrown up, is that they suffer from childhood asthma caused by the alarming rise in air pollution in the city. Since asthma attacks usually occur at night and worsen in the wee hours, these unfortunate children cannot sleep and are, thus, in no state to go to school in the morning. The culprit here is clearly the Bengal government that has been dragging its feet in controlling pollution. Vehicles are the biggest pollutants, but no measures are in place to control emission levels, penalize polluting vehicles, offer alternatives like bio-fuels or even CNG and check adulteration of fuels. For purely selfish political reasons. Taxis, auto-rickshaws and buses are the biggest polluters and most of the owners and drivers of these forms of public transport belong to unions affiliated to the CPI(M). They, thus, constitute a solid vote bank of the Marxists and also render critical help to the party by transporting people (for free, of course) during party programmes and rallies. Hence, they won’t be disturbed and will continue to pollute with gay abandon. So what if so many kids choke gasp their way through childhood while their parents fret and fume? The party’s interest is supreme. But wait, don’t these Marxists also have children who fall victim to asthma? Or does the party claim precedence over their children as well?