Pollution has become a major problem for the entire world. Every nation is trying its best to remove it from the earth. In order of achieving the same goal, India observes National Pollution Control Day every year on the 2nd of December. The Pollution Control Day is a national event to be observed in every part of the nation and by the people of every religion and community. It is very important to control pollution from the world and also from India, for which we all have to be united. Perhaps this is the reason why there has been one day of the year dedicated to resolving such an important issue.
National Pollution Control Day 2020
The National Pollution Control Day in the year 2020 is falling on Wednesday. There is a great need to celebrate this day in a big way this year because it works on a problem which needs the attention of the whole world. The problem of pollution is increasing every year, so it is very important to take appropriate steps as soon as possible. According to the data available, the ratio of pollution has significantly increased in the past year.
History
The National Pollution Control Day is observed every year in memory of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Every year, we celebrate National Pollution Control Day to attract the attention of the world towards this issue and keep it alive always.
Bhopal Gas Tragedy was a dreadful incident that happened in the year 1984. It was the mid-night of the 2nd and 3rd December in 1984 when there had occurred due to the leakage of Methyl-Iso-Cyanate in a factory in Bhopal that polluted the air of the whole city and caused many serious damages to the health of the people living there.
This incident took many lives, and only human but also birds and animals were also affected by it in a large number. It was the worst chemical disaster in the history of the world. Because it took many lives and directs the world toward air pollution, the nation observes National Pollution Control Day every year on the 2nd of December to remember the incident and pay homage to the people who have lost their lives in this incident.
Activities/Celebration
The main way to celebrate this day is to spread awareness among people for management and control of industrial disasters and to try to prevent pollution. A special tribute meeting is held every year for the people who died in this tragedy. Along with this, many programs such as seminars, speech programs are organized by NGOs, civil society and citizens to prevent pollution.
On the occasion of National Pollution Day, the Pollution Control Board of India (CPCB), an organization that oversees pollution control, organizes a public awareness rally on December 2 in cities like Bhopal, Kanpur, Delhi, and Mumbai. In this, people are warned against increasing pollution and adverse effects. Taking out a public awareness rally on this day is also important because the cities of India are also included in the list of world’s most polluted cities.
In various schools, colleges, and educational institutions across the country, children are exposed to pollution and losses due to exhibitions and additional classes. They are also told how we can overcome this problem and keep ourselves healthy.
Many government and non-governmental organizations and also NGOs celebrate this day by planting trees so that a positive message can reach people. They also show the world that they are ready to fight with pollution.
Objectives and Significance
There are the three major goals for which the National Pollution Control Day works. It is a day to tell people how much polluted our world has become, and we all are responsible for it. Secondly, it aims at teaching the methods through which we can control it in an effective way. And finally, making people think seriously about air pollution and its disastrous consequences.
Besides raising awareness among people regarding air pollution, National Pollution Day is also observed to make aware of industrial accidents and take proper protection. On National Pollution Control Day, various organizations release their latest data regarding pollution and industrial accidents in India which are helpful for the Government of India for forming new policies regarding pollution control in India.
Bhopal Gas Tragedy
Bhopal’s Gas Tragedy is the biggest accident in the industrial history of the whole world. Thousands of people were killed by poisonous gas (MIC or Methyl-Iso-Cyanite) from Union Carbide’s factory in the midnight of 2 and 3 December 1984. There can be differences of opinion about the death toll, but no one will doubt the seriousness of this tragedy. So suffice it to say that the death toll was in the thousands. Do not be surprised if the number of affected is in lakh.
According to government figures, three thousand people were killed within a few hours of the accident. Non-government sources, however, believe that these numbers were nearly three times higher. Not only this, but some people also claim that the death toll would have been more than 15 thousand. But this sequence of deaths started that night, it went on for years. This continues even after three decades, while we are engaged in an exercise to learn from the lessons of tragedy.
Some verified sources say that about 40 tonnes of gas was leaked from the carbide factory and the reason was that the water had mixed in the factory’s tank number 610 from poisonous Methyl-Iso-Cyanate gas. The incident was followed by a chemical process and resulted in pressure in the tank. Eventually, the tank opened up and the gas spread to the atmosphere.
When a large number of people, affected by gas, reached the hospital complaining of eyes and shortness of breath, the doctors did not even know how to treat this disaster? The number was also so high that there was no place to admit people. Many could not see anything, and almost everyone was having trouble breathing. It is roughly estimated that about 50 thousand people were treated in the first two days.
Initially, the doctors did not know exactly how to treat people. There were no doctors in the city that had any experience in treating people suffering from MIC gas. Although Bhopal was considered to be free from the effects of poisonous gases eight hours after the gas leak, it has not completely recovered from this accident happened in the year 1984, and there will be no possibility of recovery till it is remembered.
Data and Statistics on Pollution in India
The pollution has become a serious threat to the world while India is suffering most with air pollution. Out of 30 most polluted cities in the world last year, 21 were Indian cities. This sentence alone is enough to show how detrimental conditions are there in India.
The problem of air pollution in India is major mainly in metro cities. Living there is like living with heart diseases. More than 1 million deaths last year in India were caused by breathing in polluted air. Even around 20% of deaths in India in the year 2018 were caused by air pollution. Based on the result of bad air quality, the life expectancy of people in the metro cities has reduced by 12 years.
India has the highest pollution through industrial and vehicle activities. All these situations together have worsened the situation and people here are forced to live with it.
Conclusion
National Pollution Control Day is a step towards making the world a better place to live. At the same time, we should also remember that our participation in reaching the objective is very important. We all are responsible for making our air and environment polluted so it is our duty to clean it. Only then we can survive here and can provide our next generation with a healthy and fresh environment.