If you feel a person’s name relates to his doing something right or wrong, perish the thought. For, nowhere is the belief more wrong than in case of air pollution in the city.
On one side is the powerful transport minister, Subhas Chakraborty, the unquestioned ruler of everything that has to do with vehicles in the state.
Till this Wednesday the minister has not felt that auto emission – the toxic fumes in the exhausts of 3-wheeler autos and heavy vehicles – can ever be a cause of deadly diseases for human beings. [Refer TT story]
The image below explains the minister’s whims at different times, excerpted from yesterday’s TT.
Pitted against the minister on the other side is another Subhas. He is Subhas Dutta, the environmentalist, the crusader in many a courtroom battle on pollution.
It is because of his relentless efforts that the iconic Victoria Memorial is now being showered with care and affection.
Okay, let me come to the moot question as to what made the minister at last understand the perils of pollution on account of auto-emission. One answer is that the government’s own survey painted a very grim picture. See the pictorial illustration below. So, immediate actions cannot be postponed.
I feel a truer answer is that he has realized if he doesn’t remedy the situation, he may be held accountable for violating the fundamental rights of the people. And if this occurs, it can be a very serious charge indeed. See my article, 10 more years or eternity?
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